Chapter 4 Fairy Tail’s 100-Year Mission

Okay, I said last week’s tonal whiplash near the end was a real sign that the series was fully back on track, for better or worse, but this week’s episode definitely goes a step further in that regard. I was on a roller coaster of emotions: in the space of over 20 minutes, I went from feeling most exhausted by this sequel to actually being curious about where it was headed. In that regard, it feels like a great microcosm of what works and what doesn’t work for the series, as it showcases some of its best strengths and worst excesses simultaneously.

So, let’s start with the bad, because luckily(?) it’s centered at the beginning of the episode. After fighting the Dragon Eater, Natsu’s team split up, with Lucy and Gray left in the middle of the ocean while Natsu, Wendy, and Erza were captured. Elsa’s situation is especially bad because she’s still under the effects of the Shaming Curse, so she’s being paraded around like a dog by Kiria, and…yeah, that’s not good. This is certainly nothing new to the series or Majima’s writing habits in general, but even though it’s fairly customary now, I do wish humiliation wasn’t one of his default forms fan service Or that he could at least be a little less excited about it.

Still, I found the way the whole thing was resolved a bit strange; as for all of this, Elsa… snapped off the collar while Kelia was asleep, and while the others were getting ready for round three with Dragon Eater Time to rescue them. The explanation is that Erza’s magic eye weakened the effect of Kiria’s spell and caused it to wear off after a while (somehow not fast enough to save her from being restrained by a leash for a few hours, I digress ). While this makes sense for manual operation, it feels a bit anticlimactic in execution. This is the latest instance of Elsa getting out of a situation she may not be able to get out of on her own. Still, we didn’t need her to be Kiria’s pet for another 10 minutes, so this is a case where I’m willing to ditch the old “because it’s Erza” excuse.

Thankfully, while everything on the ship was pretty disappointing, the episode made up for it elsewhere. As Lucy tries to track down Natsu and the others, she meets Brandish (who happens to save Gray) and fills her in on what happened to Spriggan 12 after the final battle. With Zeref gone, some of them took over the kingdom, while the remaining survivors were imprisoned for their crimes. Since it’s been a while since I last saw the events of this arc, I’m not sure what the fate of each of them will be, but it’s nice to have at least some follow-up. However, while Brandish herself has left the group, she is not yet willing to be friends with Lucy, as she reveals that Aquarius’ golden key is somewhere in the country and she hopes to get there first. While I’m expecting the Aquarius thing to resurface at some point, it’s nice to see that it’s already back in play, and knowing that there’s at least one other person out there looking for it does add a bit of urgency to Lucy’s need to track it down down, so hopefully the hunt will get more attention in the coming weeks.

Oddly enough, what ended up being the biggest saving grace of this episode was the Tuca plot, which otherwise dragged on until now. When Jellal attempts to question Tuka’s identity directly, he is stopped by Laxus, who warns him not to lay his hands on one of them. Fairy Taila member of. Jellal decides to back off for now, but not before warning Gajeel that the reason white mages like Tuka are a threat is because they believe magic can be overused, and that her worship of white mages, called rebellion, has worn out did their best. Laxus still decided to support Tuka and told her that as long as she had the guild’s badge, she was considered family and that he and the other members would do whatever it took to protect her. However, he also told her that because of this, it was important to be honest with them and that if she had anything to hide, it was best to say it openly. It’s a bit cheesy indeed, but while the whole guild members being family thing can be repeated in this series, there are definitely times when it works, and seeing Laxus of all the characters gushing about this sentiment really shows how much he’s grown out of himself How much he has grown since the beginning of the series.

Sadly, this emotion isn’t enough for Tuka to open up, but when she confronts Jellal in person, we finally learn her big secret. Although her attempts to attack him and drain him of his magic confirmed his fears of her to be well-founded, she hesitated long enough for Gajeel and the others to overpower her. This makes Jellal realize that Tuka and the White Mage are not exactly the same person, as they are two completely different personalities living in the same body. If there’s one thing Majima is good at in storytelling, it’s crafting plot twists that are compelling enough to keep you interested in where he ultimately ends up. Even though the early parts of the episode frustrated me, it was a good enough twist that I was more interested in learning about Touka than before, so I guess it worked. Of course, given Fairy TailDepending on our overall record on this, the answer could be disappointing or satisfying, so time will tell which side we end up on.

this dubbing Also back last week, it seems like they’ve more or less got the whole band back together, save for a couple of replacements (who actually sounded accurate enough that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been announced ahead of time). when i last left dubbing Everyone was more or less on point somewhere early in the Alavares arc, and it’s great to hear from people like R. Bruce Elliott As Makarov, Breanna Palencia As Juvia, especially David Wald Their performance sounds as enjoyable as ever, as does Gajeel, who remains my personal favorite of the entire band.

But strangely, while the supporting cast seem to fall into character quickly, that’s not the case with Team Natsu. although Newton PittmanGray and Britney KaboskyWendy’s voice is the same as before, no change Colleen ClinkenbidIt’s likely that Elsa is just a side effect of playing Luffy permanently changing her voice over the years, Todd Haberkorn and Cherami Leigh It does sound a bit out of tune with Natsu and Lucy. The latter doesn’t quite have the energy I’m used to in terms of comedic timing and the other characters’ crazy antics, while the former feels like Haberkorn is struggling a bit to maintain his voice. Of course, it’s been a while since they last played these characters, and they have other jobs. So they may need more time to fully get back into character. However, aside from this complaint, dubbing Otherwise it sounds as consistent as ever, so if you’re a fan you’ll almost certainly still have a great time.

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Fairy Tail: The 100 Year Quest Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.