I might not be doing a weekly Fairy Tail blog anymore, but I am still actively watching Fairy Tail and decided to write up an impression on the arc that just ended. The Edolas Arc started off pretty dramatic. Watching the entire city get “destroyed” was quite shocking. Needless to say it was quite impacting and left me curious to find out what was going on. The introduction to the world of Edolas was great as well. I loved the fantastical floating islands and most of all I liked how Natsu and Wendy couldn’t use their powers. I don’t know if I really could accept the fact that being Dragon Slayers was the reason that hey weren’t turned into Lacrima, but it still kept me interested in the arc. I also glad to hear that Gajeel would have a prominent roll in the arc since it was focused on Dragon Slayers. The alternate characters were a lot of fun to watch, even if it didn’t make much since that Lucy and Juvia were in Fairy Tail since they only joined Fairy Tail due to specific circumstances that happened in the story.
Even with all the promise at the start of the arc it really started to go down hill after the first few episodes. When Lucy showed up and started using her magic I thought the reason for that was because she used Spirits, which are called through keys. Since all the magic on Edolas are used through objects I thought that it would’ve been great that the characters could use their magic, but it had to be through an object. That would’ve been a very interesting trick to the arc. Imagine having to watch Gajeel, Natsu, and Wendy having to use weapons instead of their normal powers. It would’ve been very exciting to see that. The pill giving them their powers back was a pretty lame idea. Why didn’t Mystgan give this pill to Wendy when he saw her in the city before it all went down?
The most underwhelming part about this arc were the fights. The fights just were kind of odd and just didn’t do the series justice. They were very whimsical in nature, which I could’ve accepted except for the fact that they did have their full magic powers so there was no need for them to be so clumsy. The fights of Gray, Natsu, and Lucy at the carnival were just lame. Natsu’s fight consisted of him getting whooped until he decided that he wanted to kick his ass. It was a pathetic show of Natsu’s growing power throughout the anime. Lucy’s fight was slightly better. I did like how when she called Aquarius that she was unable to use her powers. That was an amusing twist that I enjoyed quite a bit. I also enjoyed it when Lucy was confused and thought Byro was trying to steal her keys. I laughed quite a bit at that. However, that was it and those weren’t even during the fight between the two. I don’t quite understand why Virgo just so happened to have a magical whip with her during that fight. It looked pretty stupid too, like the Ghostbusters crossed their streams, which is bad.. very bad. Never cross the streams. Gray’s fight was probably the worst fight in all of Fairy Tail. It went from Gray kicking ass to Gray chasing Sugarboy who was sliding on his chest plate even admitting that he doesn’t know how he was doing it. Gray was chasing him on a bike and where did he get that bike from? Did he learn how to call it in after the Racer fight? If so, then I am dumbfounded at him gaining such a random power. It would make more sense if he found the bike lying around. The most disappointing for the fights was most definitely the fight between Gajeel and Lily. Right away it promised something cool, but most of the fight was done off screen and the fight wasn’t finished.
The only fight that I enjoyed was the Ezra Knightwalker vs Ezra Scarlet fight. The idea of Ezra fighting Ezra in itself is already really awesome, but Knightwalker’s magic lance was pretty damn awesome. Watching them destroy an island was over the top and beautiful. I loved the passion that they both had and it really made the intensity of the fight much higher. It didn’t hurt that they pretty much beat the clothes off of each other too. The last fight between the King and the Dragon Slayers looked like it would be cool, but it kind of teetered off toward the middle of the fight and watching them combine their powers in the end was just not very satisfying. More so because it was the same idea that Natsu has been gaining massive powers throughout the series to that point and none of them were used. I did find that Wendy being able to boost powers was a really cool magic ability. Wendy is proving to be a very useful character addition to the series and I want to see more of her magic develop.
Ultimately the one thing that the arc did well, more often than not, was the story and plot of the arc. The whole idea of a world losing their magic powers looking for a new source of magic was pretty cool. The alternate versions of the characters were definitely fun to watch. I liked the Exceed’s role in the arc. Charle and Happy’s storyline proved to be the most interesting in the arc. I might be getting a bit ahead of myself, but Charle gaining powers of reading the future, which is why she lead them the was she did was curious and fit well into the arc. Happy’s unwavering devotion and determination was pretty great. I only wish that he had more of a role in teaming up with Gajeel because that would’ve been funny. The biggest reveal about this arc was how they finally explained quite a bit of what Fairy Tail had been keeping a mystery about. Mainly I am talking about Mystgan’s role in all of this. Him only using staffs and why he looks like Jellal now all makes sense. It all fits in nicely and I only wish we got to see another fight of Mystgan before he left the series. His fight with Laxus still remains as one of my favorite fights of the series.
The ending of the arc was handled fairly well. The idea that Mystgan was going to play the bad guy was great. It really is true that for a nation to unite you need an enemy for people to be against. I don’t know if I liked how they made it comical. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel dressing up like lame 80s villains just wasn’t very convincing. Still made for a great smash in the end. The ending did bring some unexpected changes to the original Fairy Tail world. I didn’t expect all the exceeds to get transported to Earth Land. I did expect Lily to go because it was fairly obvious that he was going to become Gajeel’s cat. The biggest twist ending was Lisana coming back! I guess it wasn’t too unexpected because if the Fairy Tail anime should be known for one thing it is the spoilerific opening and endings. It just kind of reveals what is going to happen. Either way it was a curious way to get her back into the series even if it is somewhat of a cop out. I really don’t know how I feel about her coming back to life. I tend to like it when characters stay dead because then I don’t feel like their fake death was just a cheap way to incite emotion into the series. I know there really isn’t anything romantic between Lucy and Natsu, but I am hoping that she brings tension into their relationship and I wonder if there will be a love triangle at some point in the series. She did grow up to be quite sexy so I can’t wait for more delicious screens from her~
Overall the arc was average. I feel like in some areas it exceeded, but in others its underwhelming performance just didn’t fill out the arc very well. If they played out some of the more unique qualities of the alternate world and improved the fights, then it could have been a far better arc.