User blog:LastationLover5000/Fairy Tail 168 - Laxus vs. Alexei

"Master's enemies are my enemies."

- Laxus Dreyar

Welcome to the Episode Review Corner

Every time I walk through that door...it feels like the first time. To those new to the blog, welcome, to my continued readership, all I have to say is thanks.



Let's get things started...with a bang.

Last Time, On Fairy Tail I didn't watch or review the previous episode. I think Cana stripped.

Ok guys, I'm really sorry, but due to Per's holiday, it threw our entire schedule out of whack when you finally returned. Starting from this review onward, we'll be looking at every ep and reviewing them as close to on time as we can. On a side note, this is my first time seeing the new Opening and...the only thing I like about it is that it has Wendy. Breakthrough was much better. Now...let's get this party started.

Animation: Honestly, the animation in this episode was as good as it usually is. In fact, Fairy Tail is the only anime adapted from a shōnen manga whose animation is actually good. Except for a few scenes where Laxus was taking a beating (facial distortions), there was nary a trace of off-model in sight.

Effects: As usual, the lightning effects produced by Laxus' magic was awesome to look at this episode; and honestly, the illusion magic Alexei/Iwan used was pretty amazing. I mean, that effect of purple shrouding the screen was rather unique and innovative.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack; well...no further words needed. It was just bloody amazing; everything meshed together nicely, blending in with each individual scene rather well.

Voice acting: For one, Raven Tail (the whole damn group) certainly the "talk like psychos" thing down pat. The fact that Laxus sounded really calm while he was talking to Alexei/Iwan, even when he was about to fight all of Raven Tail made him even more of a badass, too.

Additions: This episode has a whole load of new additions to the chapter, such as the battle between Millianna and Semmes is actually shown, rather than just depicting the outcome of it, and Semmes is shown to have a special attack, called Wild Spin! An injured War Cry is seen watching his comrade fight in the Games; though we all know Quattro Cerberus is still useless as hell.

Also also! Eve and the most broken character in the series' fight is prolonged; with Rufus' finisher turning the area red with heat to finish Eve. And lastly, the moment that Alexei's Illusion Magic is in effect, Laxus learns that the course of their battle can appear differently to the people who are watching. Illusion!Laxus then begins to deal damaging attacks on Illusion!Alexei, before he is then easily beaten again. Now, that wasn't in the manga!

I actually don't have a favorite scene this time.

Score
The animation was good, with Fairy Tail, it almost always is, but there were a few errors here and there that detract from the score it could have had. 7/10. The voice acting is always great, Raven Tail, when they speak, you know they're evil. 9/10. The story wasn't bad. This consisted of just one chapter, but the filler additions weren't bad, so, 8/10. The music...it's friggin' Fairy Tail people! Overall, a very good episode.

Fairy Tail is all done for today, but it'll be back next week with Fairy Tail 169 - Wendy vs. Chelia. There's no way we're gonna miss that one. As usual, all of you, give a huge thanks to Per, who does quite a bit of work for these, if it wasn't for her, the episode blogs would be quite bare. Also, we will still be reviewing an additional OVA as soon as we can, so, look forward to that! As always I enjoy comments, and I don't mind if you keep it clean.