review provide by Luther

Title: Fairy Tail Collection 3 Blu-ray/DVD Combo

Director: Shinji Ishihara

Studio: A-1 Pictures and Satelight

U. S. Distributor: FUNimation

U. S. Release Date: Jan. 6th, 2015

Genre: Magical Adventure and Comedy

Format: DVD/Blu-ray Combo, 600 minutes, 24 episodes

Age Rating: 14+

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Synopsis:

The last battle was over and Laxus was kicked out of the Fairy Tail Guild, but other members of the Thunder legion have stayed. Now Juvia has stayed as part of the guild, sporting a great new look. Master is still considering leaving, but everyone wants him to stay.
Lucy hadn’t won the Mis Fairy Tail pageant, so she is still looking for a way to pay her rent. When a reporter from Sorcerers’ Weekly comes to do a story, Lucy is hoping that fate is coming her way (in the form of money and romance) and it is time for her big break. The reporter is an enthusiastic fan boy, who is so excited that he continually spouts words like Cool! and Amazing! She does meet a new guy but when someone puts it in her head that she ought to be with Natsu, she begins to read that possibility into almost everything. She is getting embarrassed around him and her thoughts are going crazy.

Juvia is in love with Gray and gets a love potion from a not-so-great shop. It doesn’t go the way she expected and now all of the guys are getting all macho and challenging new rivals. The whole guild hall is in a tizzy.

Lucy’s father shows up. He’s broke and is now traveling to a merchant guild to join. She doesn’t really want anything to do with him, but when she hears that something bad has happened at that guild, she find herself stepping in to help.

The dark guilds have become more active. The light guilds need to stand together. A coalition of magical guilds forms an Allied Force to confront the Orashion Seisu, which is posing a serious threat. Fairy Tail sends Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Erza. They meet the other ally members, which includes The Blue Pegasus team of 3 very charming guys, and from another guild, a kid named Wendy who is a blue haired  girl with a companion, a flying cat named  Carla.

The Orashion Seisu is seeking to release the magic of Nirvana. Part of its destructive power is the ability to change someone who is wavering on the lines of good and evil away from their co nature. As the coalition allied force attempts to stop them, the Orashion Seisu is plowing through them. Erza is the most seriously hurt and is close to death. Wendy and Happy are kidnapped, it seems her type of magic can be the key to resurrect a wizard to unleash Nirvana. The allied force splits up in search of Wendy only to be confronted by minor dark guilds in big numbers.

Nirvana continues its march to destroy Wendy’s guild along with a dark secret. Team Natsu and the coalition – as well as an unexpected ally – go full-force against the top sorcerers of Oracion Seis to expel the ancient city’s evil curse before it becomes unstoppable!
Then, when Natsu goes on a mission to see a woman about a dragon, his trip becomes a trap that could force him to turn Magnolia into ash and rubble! Can his friends snuff the Salamander’s involuntary rampage without torching their friend?

Commentary:

Fairy Tail is an anime that can appeal to a wide audience and I am thankful that is dubbed because that keeps it available to everyone. It has a little of something to fill most wish lists. There is lots of creativity with this anime, seemingly endless on the various wizards characters and their different magic, as well as in the locations and story lines. Occasionally, I thought it was getting a bit formulaic in spots. For example, with the overwhelming foes that they end up beating, but wait, they aren’t quite down yet. There is plenty of dramatic or intense moments, that are woven together with slapstick and silly times. My favorite comedic moment is when Happy answers the question to why he is blue.

One area of strength for Fairy Tail is its cast. It continues to grow. There are plenty of cute characters to go around. I can see that after looking back, there is lots of character growth. They are all getting stronger and developing their skills. Even the relationships are building. Lucy seems to really star in many of the episodes and although she down plays her importance, she has grown the most. Natsu is stronger, but his impulsiveness is his weakness. Some of the characters, especially the villains have some odd characteristics or qualities that only seem to serve the purpose to be odd. Odd for the sake of odd was distracting, memorable yes, but not a plus for the series. One last note on characters, dead people aren’t always dead.

I really enjoy the art work and details. The color alway looks great  and well planned. The visuals match the creativity of the story, the endless ideas and the cool magic techniques are portrayed skillfully. The special effects are great. Since there are all these different types of magic and power, they keep producing new ways to show them. Take time to listen to the music, it does a great job at supporting the story and action.

Fairy Tail continues to deliver a great product. They keep upping their game and still maintain the quality of the story content and action. It is one of those anime that is fun to watch again.  It has definitely gotten to the point where you have to see what happens next.

It is very typical for Fairy Tail to load itself up with action. but this set is overflowing. I was truly assented with how fast this set moves. From the battles with the Oracion Seis to the potential destruction of Magnolia the episodes speed past and leave you breathing heavy at the end.

Well at least they are lots of fun. While watching these episodes I found myself thinking about other long running shonen series and how they always end up on the goofy lead character who manages to sustain themselves in pure righteous indignation and always take up the armor of love and friendship to help defend against the evils that would threaten their families. Several times I saw Naruto saying “Believe It” and then Ichigo going on about friendship but it wasn’t until at one point when the relationships slipped into the classic Naruto vs Sasuke love/hate thing that I almost turned it off. I stuck it out and was not disappointed. I’m sure everyone who watches will see what I am talking about when you reach that point. I guess the point I am trying to make is that even though the plot and structure of the story may be tried and true I guess that it is the way that these characters help bring it together that makes the difference.

Overall Personal Rating: A-

When it is all said and done the final question is if this is fun and entertaining? In the case of these 24 episodes I have to say yes, very much so. I think the only detractor that I have is that the creative staff and even Mashima and Sogo have made Lucy way too much of a wussy. I get that she still lacks a high degree of self-confidence, but she doesn’t need top be that weak. She has plenty of power and to be a full member of the team she needs to be stronger. Other than that I think that Fairy Tail Collection 3 is simply put, just fun.

Any time you can build a full blooded series on top of friendship and love it is almost impossible to miss as long as you are able to keep it moving. Fairy Tail has done that so far and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the 175 episodes. Still 103 more to go.