Summary Key Points:

[spoiler]

• Erza uses every armour at her disposal to try and defeat Azuma
• Azuma uses the power of the Tenroujee to knock Erza out
• From his cell at the Magic Council, Jellal calls out to Erza
• Erza wakes up, thinking she heard Jellal’s voice, and continues the fight
• Azuma uses the Tenroujee power again, but this time it protects and sides with Erza
• The power of all of Erza’s friends joins up  with her to take down Azuma.
• The episode ends with Erza victorious and Jellal smiling inside his cell

[/spoiler]

Opinions: (A)

Two words: “EPIC BATTLE”, are enough to describe this episode. Its rare that Fairy Tail focuses so much on a battle, one thing that sets it apart from other shounen series. Unlike say Bleach or Naruto, even the big battles wrap up inside on episode, with plenty of other things littered throughout the episode. Thus, it was kind of really refreshing to have the entire battle dedicated to a battle, and one with none other than Erza. The fight was fast paced, action packed and JUST the right length that made it perhaps the best battle we’ve had from Fairy Tail, eclipsing perhaps, battles faught by the main character Natsu himself.

Erza really did pull out all the stops to defeat Azuma. Every armor she had ever used, as well as a few we hadn’t seen. I admit, before this battle, I didn’t think of Erza any stronger than say… Natsu, but in this battle we really get to see the distance between the two. Sure Natsu pulls through in moments of need, more so because of his Dragon Slayer powers and hidden potential. Erza on the other hand, has perfected her re-equiping as well as her fighting skills.

Azuma, was definitely a fearsome foe as well, and there’s no surprise that he was able to defeat Mirajane. Had Mirajane continued the battle, she would’ve had to deal with his powers in full force. In many ways, what we saw of his power in his battle with Satan Soul Mirajane wasn’t all he had. Then again, where he was fighting Erza, had the most extreme advantage. Unlike an open feild, the forst is where the Tree Mage has his best field advantage.

The fact that he had the power of Tenrouje, the tree the size of an Island, well… It was slightly unfair for Erza to have to take him on. Of course, that unfair advantage turned out to be his very end, since Tenroujee ended up siding with Erza when Azuma tried to use its power a second time to blow Erza away.

Also this episode, Erza x Jellal fans were probably extremely giddy. While I’m not a diehard Jerza fan, I do find myself rooting for the couple, and it was definitely cool to see Jellal be able to call out to Erza and get her up the first time she went down. At the same time, its kind of interesting plot wise. It seems that there’s some sort of telepathic link or something between the two of them. Not only could Jellal tell when Erza was facing one of the worst enemies ever, but Erza could hear Jellal’s encouragement.

This also clued us in to where Jellal is currently. It at least shows that he’s not dead, even if he inside a Magic sealing chamber. Also, I’m sure someone noticed the little plug of that annoying villain from the filler arc pop in there. It is nice to see things being kept consistent, although why you’d waste those frames on that annoying character, I know not XD

In the end, Erza was able to use the power of her friends to succeed and beat Azuma. Its safe to say that Azuma realized how amazing the Fairy Tail guild was, and it seems to be a pretty standard pattern among those that are being beaten. Both Azuma and Meldy have realized how amazing and family-like Fairy Tail is. Now I wonder if they’ll end up eventually joining Fairy Tail or not, but Fairy Tail continues its “bad guys see the light” thing with this episode’s resolution. We also saw Meldy helping Juvia when her magic was being drained.

So now the board is reset. I’m sure all the other big fights will resume now. Overall, this was a pretty sweet episode, and one of the best battles I’ve seen come out of Fairy Tail.

Preview:

Everyone else is back on their feet! let the fighting commence! Next week!

Bonus Stuff:

[spoiler]

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I’ve noticed a few blogs are doing these “full length” images, and I kinda like the idea, so I’ll be throwing them, as well as any fanservice screenshots in this little corner here. For those of you who want it, enjoy! XD

• Ian

  So if Rustyrose and Bluenote fall the next episode, only Ultear will be left standing before the inevitably final confrontation between Fairy Tail and Hades.

  You know what else I think is inevitable? A fight between Gray and Ultear. Why? Because Gray hasn’t gotten into a good, non exam-related fight all arc. Sure, he was fighting against Caprico, but that was a group effort that Loke ultimately ended up taking over. Plus Ultear is such a prominent villain who’s been around since day one (she may have only first appeared in episode 2 of the anime, but in the manga, she was literally the first character seen), pulling the strings of the Magic Council and Jellal. Of course, that’s not to say all the other lives she managed to ruin not only through her puppets, but on her own in order to awaken Zeref. I mean, she practically blew up Meldy’s hometown and killed countless people. And to think Meldy considers her a second mother, she’s either very forgiving or very clueless.

  It’s hard to believe that whatever Ultear has been telling Gray and what she will tell him in the near future isn’t complete bull in order to make him into another one of her pawns. There’s no telling what other kinds of issues she has at this point, especially with her mom. I mean, she considers herself an insignificant speck in Ul’s life, and HATES being called her mother’s name for short. As a matter of fact, Ul told everyone else, even Gray, that her daughter was dead. So either Ul was more callous than we thought, or this is the most tragic comedy of errors I’ve ever seen. Either way, there are things Ultear is responsible for that cannot go unpunished, and whatever Gray deals to her would no doubt be sweet, poetic justice.

  • Anonymous

    Agreed. I’m looking foward to Gray’s time to shine. As you quite nicely point out, Gray has been kind of on the down low so far.

    In fact, for a good chunk of the series, we haven’t seen Gray shine. I’m very interested in this battle between Ultear and Gray.

    Agreed, Ultear is attempting to manipulate Gray, and it won’t be long before he wises up.

    I am curious to see what the issue is between Ultear and her mother. I don’t think Ultear was ever abandoned, because Ul is just not that sort of person from what we know. Then again, Ul could have changed when she eventually ran into and took in Gray.

    Agreed, its long due that Ultear gets whats coming to her, but I have my doubts about it happening this soon. The series has been building up Ultear as one of the main villains, and probably the ultimate nemesis for Gray. If anything, I feel this arc will simply set Gray on a path to be ready to take on Ultear.

    That, and there’s been no hint whatsoever of any fight in the OP/EDs and I feel like its very unlikely that we’ll get an epic Ultear versus Gray fight.

    • Ian

      I dunno, if the end credits are going through the trouble of recapping virtually the entire series thus far from episode one, that must mean that something really big is gonna go down really soon. I mean, you remember what Lucy said the other episode, how they were so confident in their victory at the time. So if Gray and Ultear are gonna fight, they’re probably gonna have to do it now.

      I mean, Jellal was being built up like a main villain, and look what happened to him. There was also Ultear behind him, who was taking orders from Hades, which makes Hades responsible for a bunch of bad stuff that’s happened, kind of making Hades the closest thing this series has to a main villain.

      Of course, that’s after Zeref, if not that “Predator of Death” thing he seems so spooked about. I’m referring to episode 106, where Ultear managed to take him down while he was freaking out over some kind of thing (for lack of a better word) that is apparently “coming.” And I seriously doubt that this “thing” is that all-killing death wave of his. Because predators don’t kill things randomly or indiscriminately. They target and hunt.

• Clinton

  In the manga the the chapter ended after Erza was knocked out so we all thought that Erza had lost the fight. We did not learn until next week that the fight continued.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, I can definitely see the emotional impact missed. But at the same time, it would’ve felt like a bit of a cop out if Erza just rose back up an episode later. At the end of it all, I liked the fact that both segments of the fight were gelled together in one episode. =D

• Anonymous

  This was one hell of a battle for Erza. A couple times she kind of tapped into Natsu’s (won’t fall no matter what) power, but really she did everything she possibly could here. It was a good thing the power sided with her in the end since that allowed her to finish the fight and really save everyone in the guild from being defeated.

  Does make clear that Mirajane never had a hope. Maybe if she hadn’t gone through the trauma of losing Lisanna and was at top form she might have had a chance.

  This fight was good at showing just how powerful some of these characters are and especially why Erza is S Class, she’s just that strong.

  Erza’s fight was great in so many ways. Visually it was fun since she brought out so many different armors. Of course was held back from using her Fairy armor since it was being repaired, but still used what she had available. Liked the Jellal parts if only so we’re sure he’s still alive there. Does make you root for that pairing for sure.

  Anyways, fun episode.

  • Anonymous

    That is indeed what I thought. After how much Erza had to pull off to beat Azuma, its safe to say that Mirajane never had a ghost of a chance to take down Azuma.

    Haha, I think since friendship and immeasurable willpower is a running theme in the series, I wasn’t surprised to see Erza channel a bit of what makes Natsu so powerful in this battle. If anything, the main role kinda shifted to her for this episode.

    Agreed, fun episode!

• Ana

  I completely forgot to come here before, sorry!

  As you can see, Jellal’s return was something that pleased a good part of the manga fandom, including me, which wasn’t counting to see him any soon. (looks like we have at least one of the 3 Jellals for every arc XD)

  I see none of the manga readers mentioned this but Jellal’s jail is. Completely. Different. From the manga!!!!!
  I have absolutely no idea why the hell the animators keep changing most of the backgrounds as they please!!!! In the manga his jail was a completely ordinary one, like just any decent prison should be. What the anime did? Put him inside some cristal thing. AT LEAST HE HAD A TOILET IN THIS MANGA PRISON!!! Poor thing.

  Let me show you how it SHOULD look like -> http://www.mangafox.com/manga/fairy_tail/v28/c236/21.html

  This is some hidden scream from the animators like “Look we have original ideas!! See?? SEE????” Pff, I dunno what’s worse, their stupid Natsu X Lisanna obsession (which seems finally admitted defeat) or this. I’m still angry for they changed the tower of heaven for some stupid sewers tower.

  That exactly why I don’t recomend anyone to watch the anime over the manga. This is so full of lies.

  Oh, sedution armor. They didn’t censor that.
  I just want to know exactly what the animators will do about what will happen in the episode next to this week’s one.

  ….I’m telling you, this thing of nakama power, seriously, got old. The author seriously CAN’T think in a more logical way to win a fight over POWER OF FRIENDSHIP? There’s more than willpower, for boots. Erza, please don’t imitate Natsu. I hate him already because of that bullshit of plot armor and you now just did the same damn thing.

  And for her, friendship is more important than love. Way to go.

  ….

  You know what Setsuken? I decided one thing. For now on I will only comment here about the episodes that are minimally interested for me. I watched the pointless Natsu VS Zancrow just to comment here. Because every time I see one of these episodes with nakama power I don’t think nothing but annoyance. And despite this episode marked Jellal’s return, I hated it. When saw his prison in the anime, I wanted to close the windom of the video. It’s no use to keep forcing me to watch things that don’t mind me and making you to read my whinning about these flaws.
  Fortunately at least the next two episodes will be interesting. I will comment these ones. But I know in some point I will disappear. I prefer to make very resumed points later when is safe for me to return.

  Sorry for this.

  • Anonymous

    That is very interesting to know.

    The differences between the manga and Anime are definitely something that, are, if nothing else, interesting.

    However, personally, I find that what the Anime did makes more sense plot wise. If I were to imprison Jellal, I’d put him in some place where he couldn’t use magic, as opposed to just a normal cell. It just seems a tad bit dangerous to leave him in a normal jail cell as opposed to some place that completely sealed his powers.

    That said, I can understand why changes like this can piss off passionate manga purists, but I dunno, I’m a bit more forgiving. Some things just have more visual impact on screen, or sometimes even the mangaka himself reflects on something he might have wanted to do in his manga, and has the Anime do it.

    If you think about it, drawing that really crazy, colorful, anti-magic chamber would’ve been very hard to do right in a black and white manga panel or page. Thus, you never know what the Mangaka’s intentions might have been. Sometimes limitations of the medium come into play.

    I personally prefer the Anime to the manga, but again, there are tons of people I know that prefer Manga to Anime.

    The trade off is simple. Manga = better story, Anime = Everything moving, with sound, voice acting and special effects, and some minor story edits.

    At the same time, I agree, if I were reading the manga, I’d probs find an issue or two with the Anime. That’s just how it is.

    As for the Nakama power XD, I think its a running theme in Fairy Tail that the mangaka wanted to and wants to focus on. I remember reading or hearing an interview with the guy where he talked about how Fairy Tail’s main theme was friendship and redemption.

    That said, you’ve also got to understand that this is Shounen manga, and we are all kinda adults and above the intended audience at times. I mean, this is the kinda stuff pre-teens and teens probably enjoy a lot more, and find a lot more plausible than us adults.

    The fact that a shounen series can interest and appeal to adults, is in itself, amazing XD

    —

    On the subject of what to comment on, I agree and disagree with you. Firstly, I love reading your comments and opinions, whether positive or negative. You always say it like it is to you, no holding back.

    If something sucks, you say it. And more importantly, you always throw in some proof. Not only that, your comments are generally the source for me to realize the diferences between the Anime and manga (without me having to read the manga itself). That really helps me out, and informs my opinion so I appreciate it.

    At the same time, I do agree, that you shouldn’t force yourself to watch whatever it is that you don’t enjoy. No one should do that. And by all means, do NOT force yourself.

    That said, your comments, negative or positive, are very appreciated, so don’t hold back just because you feel like you may be whining, which in my eyes, you are not.

    If we just keep praising everything, then nothing will strive to get better =D

    So in the end, LONG as hell reply, but a lot of interesting things were said by you, and that speaks volumes about how awesome your comments are XD

    • Ana

      That’s some quick replay!

      Anyway, the cell in the manga looks ordinary but it has loads of seals in the door, to prevent him to escape. I just found very odd to put him in very little hygienic crystal, lol Yes, there’s no evidence if the author thought actually about these kind of cells or not, but is very unlikeble. I’m afraid the animators made this to get some self credit, because I don’t believe they were uncapable to draw the backgrounds since as you know, anime basically has no limits in illustration now.

      Yeah I know this a shounen manga and this kind of predicable stuff like friendship is a running gag. But wouldn’t hurt if they would win by cold logic for a time or another, right? Even kids get tired of getting the very same result, lol. That’s why FT is the only anime with a manga that I’m watching…..alright now I’m watching Naruto too, but JUST because now in the anime it’s focused on Nine-tails! The fox is the only reason why I’m reading Naruto.

      Don’t worry, there’s not going to be many episodes that I’m going to skip. The next two ones I will watch and WITH PLEASURE! However when you will watch something purely about nakama power, or Natsu or Lucy cutchi cutchi nakama power-ups or stuff, better to not count with me.

      I’m glad to know that my comments aren’t being a pain to deal at all

      • Anonymous

        haha, this time is the time of the week and day that I’m kiind of free.

        I agree, but the cold logic kind of stuff is why Anime like Code Geass and Death note exiist XD

        On a side note, I’ve been tossing around the idea of covering Naruto weekly, the anime I mean. I’ve noticed that not many major blogs cover it, and recently, it has gotten rather interesting. (I dropped the manga while back because it was getting kind of lame, I stopped at around the time when the war started XD)

        So yeah, I might start blogging Naruto weekly, I take since you’re watching, I can expect a comment or two XD

        • Anonymous

          Also, I doubt I’ll be as positive with Naruto as I am with Fairy Tail XD

• Lu

  You can download the chapters of One piece ?:)