User blog:LastationLover5000/Anime Corner True Finale - Fairy Tail: Priestess of the Phoenix

"Natsu...is magic good...or is it evil?"

- Lucy Heartfilia

Welcome to the Episode Review Corner



Hey guys! Like I promised in the last review, the anime corner's true finale is here. We're going to review the first (and sadly, only) Fairy Tail movie. To those new to my blog, welcome. To my continued readership, all I have to say is, thanks. SARA, start the broadcast.



Are you ready to begin?

This...I was actually surprised. Given how Fairy Tail has been frustrating me for the past few weeks, seeing something good from Fairy Tail again was genuinely surprising. As this was a movie, I will give it's plot a look-over, as well as the normal review material supplied by Per. Without further ado, let's begin.

Overview
This movie specialises in mood whiplash. As it begins, we're not given dialogue, just music reflecting the mood. We're greeted with a young woman dancing, only to see her entire people destroyed by soldiers as a man tries desperately to save her. We go from this epic drama to....

....something pretty casual, actually. Just another job request for Team Natsu (you think mine and Per's own guild would do more of those, but...oh, the apocalypse, and plans for a coup d'etat, they kinda keep you busy.), and they're trying to catch the leader of a bandit group. I like this. A casual start to a movie where the beard is grown really quick, it puts you off, like "oh, what could possibly go wrong he...BLOOD!?" Oh yeah, that reminds me, this movie totally defies the Fairy Tail anime's rules on blood, but more on that later. This section even showed off a bit of Wendy's power, and that's always a pointer with me. They sadly fail in their mission:



And Lucy goes home broke

Meanwhile, the Council and Guild Masters meet to discuss possible destruction on the horizon as mountains are getting destroyed. Who let Madara loose? Lucy, on her way to be by herself due to her recent failure, meets a girl by the name of Eclair, according to Happy 2.0, I mean, Momon, some little bird.



Hello, generic spoiled rich kid template with a god complex, how are you today?

That is our primary villain, Prince Kream. I think they consulted Toriyama on naming themes here. His goal? Generic villain stuff. This man is a copytemplate of the most generic villains around. Spoiled rich brat? Check. Immortality Seeker? Check. Callous disregard for mankind? Check. They could have just designated him a role and number, and he wouldn't look any less off of an assembly line of villainy. He's hired Carbuncle, a (Dark?) Guild to steal the secondary half of the Phoenix Stone, a stone with a few magical properties applied to it that has been passed down in his family. As Carbuncle make their plans in a bar, Fairy Tail are watching Eclair eat, she's apparently the quiet, jerk type. As she gets up to leave, Charle gets a convenient vision of where Eclair is headed, and that it's dangerous. She also has a thing against mages. Interesting enough, as magic can cause sorrow. News flash, so can words. Anyway, Team Natsu volunteers to protect her anyway, deciding to restore her faith in magic.



...Why do you guys take Natsu on vehicles?

As it turns out, Eclair is also amnesiac. She can't remember most of her past, but knows she has to go to that forest. Like birds, or salmon. Anyway, then leads to one of my favorite scenes, and it has to have almost no dialogue. Simply everyone in the Fairy Tail guild enjoying themselves at this festival. It's comedic, relaxing, and not at all overbearing despite the fairly serious tone we just came from.



Did I mention Gray gets arrested?

We're then shown an example of the first rule of Fairy Tail:
 * 1) If there is a way to get Lucy naked, make it happen. If there isn't a way, create one.

I had to show this and you know it.

As they settle down in their hotel room, Lucy and Eclair are attacked by a mysterious, shadowy mage with daggers, and proceed to flee. Please note Lucy is in a towel at this point. She flees through the street...in a towel. Said towel never comes off, and I am curious as to what it is stuck on with. Natsu and Gray chase the assailant, but he gives them the slips. Also, Lucy loses her towel. Eclair clues in that the stone she wears is why someone is after her, and they have to get to the forest to see a mage named Kalard. After they actually arrive at the forest, they find a message from Kalard himself, who turns out to be Eclair's father. What a tweest! He developed dispelling magic, a powerful magic that can be used to dispel the Phoenix Stone. This becomes important later. This breaks the stoic attitude that Eclair kept up, and she cries out all her grief in Lucy's arms, before making an official request of Fairy Tail to dispel the Phoenix Stone on behalf of her father.

Hear that? That's the sound of shit getting real

Carbuncle, however, attacks Fairy Tail for the purpose of kidnapping Eclair and taking the stone, a goal at which they succeed. Did I mention Carbuncle took Natsu down like he was nothing? Makarov comes back to see his Guild got...'remodeled', and explains everything he knows to the Guild at large. Lucy decides to rescue Eclair, and Team Natsu + Gajeel and Juvia head out while Makarov goes to the Magic Council. Meanwhile, Kream, or as I call him, Generic Villain Insert Number Here, goes to taunt Eclair (who naturally strikes back), and declares her as a sacrifice. Makarov, meanwhile, all but orders the Council to protect the citizens from the oncoming threat, who seem to be just tossing over this, like the word of Makarov isn't good enough. As she is being led to be sacrificed, Eclair regains her memories of pretty much everything. Meanwhile, outside.... This, right here, is Gray's idea of an executive pass into the royal castle

Fairy Tail storms the castle as they square off against their designated (or in the case of Wendy and Lily, undesignated) opponents. I love how Lily sees Wendy as someone he can actually fight alongside here, the moment she shows her resolve. Also, and here's what I particularly loved, everyone that isn't Natsu won their fight. There's a reason I love Dyst, he beats Natsu around like he was a simple ragdoll.

We don't need no water—Let the motherfucker burn!

As Kream combines the stones, they light Eclair on fire, as per the sacrifice he had mentioned earlier. While I don't dislike Eclair, this fire is what kills Momon, who tried to save her, and I am grateful for that. Then Dyst pulls a Kokuto, turning on the man he was working with, and he begins to summon the Phoenix from the stone to gain it's blood and eternal life. And he succeeds in summoning the Phoenix.

....Uh....derp?

Even Dyst is confused as to how this is a Phoenix. What I am disturbed by is how much this is like the Gehaburn plot Dawn is taking, and I came up with that before I saw the movie. Very very interesting. The Phoenix proceeds to utterly wreak havoc upon the area, causing everyone to flee in terror whilst Dyst tries to drawn blood from the beast, not understanding it's "blood" is the tear from when it was sealed. Natsu fights off Dyst as we learn that Eclair is immortal, having drunk the blood of the Phoenix and exists to keep it from ever being re-summoned. She failed, obviously. Meanwhile the entirety of Fairy Tail arrives to help, while Makarov stole an arrow from the Council. Natsu, actually being clever, manages to beat down Dyst, with the help of Laxus, who, by simply arriving on the scene, takes down the Phoenix, tripping it over it's own feet. This is how you be badass, folks. However, the Phoenix, who is not Rising, decides it's had enough, and decided to put all the time it read Dragon Ball while sealed to good use, stealing all of the magic from the world and forming a giant sphere, where it will destroy everyone in the world and rise from the ashes.

Just....awesome.

Makarov reveals the arrow he had was created by Eclair's father, and can dispell the Phoenix, however, anyone who drunk it's tears will die. Eclair, tired of immortality agrees to this (though Lucy does not) and Erza (who is now a Master Archer, thanks movie) fires the arrow dead into the beast's eye. This destroys it, the energy, and sadly, Eclair, who passes on to be with Momon. The end was very heartwrenching (depressed me for a bit), and if you watch past the credits, it appears Eclair got reincarnated.

"Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads. Their tears have healing powers." — Albus Dumbledore

All in all, this movie was awesome, I loved it, and now, let's break things down into the normal anime review, aye?

Breakdown
Animation: Holy cow, was the animation in the movie freaking amazing; considering that this was the last thing satelight animated on Fairy Tail until it's inevitable revival, they really sent this movie out with a bang. There was absolutely no derpy animation—the frames flowed consistently and fluidly; overall, it was generally a treat to watch; the animation of this movie. I wish that when they revive the series, that when they make another movie, the quality is as consistent as this one.

Effects: The effects utilized to portray the magic properly was a feast for the eyes—the very best of the best; and everything, from Natsu's flames to Dyst's telekinetic bursts were well-animated and created. Additionally, there was blood in the movie; which was a big plus for me—as FT's bloodless carnage dips straight into 'can't take it seriously'.

Voice Acting: The voice acting in the movie was absolutely stellar; as expected from the cast members who slowly but surely grew into their roles as the guild mates of Fairy Tail. Sadly, this is Aya Hirano's last performance as Lucy; and quite possibly her last major role ever, so give her a round of applause, people. Also, Dyst is played by the same guy who voiced Accelerator, but he doesn't sound like a psychopath here, sadly. All in all, a great performance from both the old and new voice actors for the cast.

Without further ado, let's bring up the scoreboard.

Score
The movie was almost perfect in every way—in fact, I'm wondering why it's not canon. (Naturally Hiro wrote the movie, but still...) Either way, the music, the animation, they were perfect. The plot, well, it is chock-full of awesome and feels moments; it's just breathtaking. Meanwhile, the voice acting is probably the best out of all the episodes; and it ended the anime's run on a high note, really.



This was a blast guys. The Fairy Tail anime was a great piece of work, better than most anime airing in Japan nowadays, and this movie was the best way to cap off a very good review corner on this wiki. When the Fairy Tail anime returns, we'll be right back here to review those episodes, even if it's years from now. Until then, everyone? Stay gold.