Episode 18 Fairy Tail’s 100-Year Mission

So it looks like we didn’t get a new short this week, but considering this episode was already packed, I’m not complaining. The film is pretty action-heavy, as most of it is dedicated to the climax of the fight between Natsu and Aldoron, and while it’s not exactly a great show, it does make for a pretty solid spectacle. . But more importantly, this episode also marks the end of this story, and since it’s outlived its popularity, I’m excited to see what’s over the horizon now that we’re finally moving on to something else.

The fight between Natsu and Aldoron is pretty simple compared to what else we get in this arc, as it mostly consists of Natsu trying to burn his plants with fire. Unfortunately for him, the heat of the flames wasn’t enough to cause any actual damage, and Natsu ended up needing some outside assistance. That help eventually comes from Brandish, who ends up getting caught in the crossfire of last week’s antics and offers to help the others by turning Gajeel into a titan so he can fight Aldoron’s main body directly , watching Gajeel transform into the full Ultraman and wrestling Aldoran like they were in a monster battle was honestly the best part of the whole thing, and if that ends up being the payoff, I might prefer to retract some of my complaints about how long this arc already is. Alas, it wasn’t intentional and the sequence ended up only lasting a few minutes, but it was still pretty funny, so I thought I’d give it my best shot.

This start leaves Aldoron more vulnerable, and Natsu eventually finds the optimal heat output to burn him, but sadly the rest of the fight isn’t that exciting. It looks pretty good and is one of the better animated fights we’ve gotten from a sequel so far, but Aldoron himself isn’t a very interesting villain. His entire deal boils down to the belief that humans are nothing more than a form of food for him, and he never wants to coexist with the humans living on his back as he only sees them as livestock. I did kind of like the angle where he justifies his actions as being no different than the way humans consume animals and plants, but the whole speech mostly felt like a way to solidify that he’s evil enough that Natsu doesn’t have to Think Twice While Baking He’s Dead is a somewhat underwhelming climax after what we’ve spent so long building up to. I guess if nothing else, it’s nice to see that the Dragon Gods do have different motivations and that not every encounter with them ends the same way, but it all just makes me wish the remaining three were better than him There’s more going on.

Fortunately, this battle doesn’t take up the entire plot, leaving just some breathing room. The entire guild comes together for a party after being brought back, and we get some great jokes, including Gajeel bragging about how he’s going to tell his kids about his epic monster battles, and everyone’s still trying to figure out how they Get there first. We’ve also seen Gray and Juvia start to act more like an actual couple, and Jellal seems to have gotten over his guilt enough to actually hug Erza, so it’s nice to see some light on this all Real romance progress, even though I’m still not very invested in either couple. Meanwhile, the most we really get from Joy teasing Kara about Tuca is that she’s basically indifferent about having a “rival,” though This could still go somewhere, but part of me still hopes Majima sticks with Touka’s interest in Natsu, because it could at least be an excuse for him and Lucy to make some progress on things.

In addition to all the partying, we also get some preparation for future events, as Moon Dragon has noticed Aldoron’s failure and has become more interested in taking on Natsu and the others himself. The Dragon Eaters also decided to send one of their most powerful members to help deal with Fairy Tail while they hunt down the Moon Dragon, and since Kiria still seems obsessed with Laxus, I do wonder if he’ll end up being roped in Follow the rest of the quest in some way. Finally, there’s a more immediate question about the White Mage, since she’s still unconscious and they haven’t quite decided what to do when she wakes up, so if she’s going to stay, I’m hoping we’ll eventually start talking more about Get to know her. As is always the case with this series, it’s hard to know how well this will all be executed, but there’s still plenty of time for it all to pay off, so hopefully it will as we move on to the next storyline.

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