Fairy Tail: Final Season

Episode 283

And once again it's official: seven Fairy Tail wizards are more powerful than an army of 2,000. In all honesty, that probably means that six Fairy Tail wizards are equal to about one thousand and Natsu as he currently is makes up the difference. That seems to be the implication this week when he manages to be the deciding force in the fight against the Avatar cult, not only ploughing through magical plexiglass like nobody's business, but also taking down a gigantic god-monster with the combined powers of his magic, his frustration, and his love for his friends. Even Erza's impressed, to say nothing of the shocked villains.

That this comes off as exciting and decidedly not corny is part of the magic of shounen series. In many cases, the “it's because I love my friends and family” battle cry that gets paraphrased in scenes like this one can come off as unbearably cheesy, more the sort of thing you'd expect to hear in something like Paw Patrol, but Fairy Tail and similar shows pull it off. In this case that's because of the importance of being together that the show has implemented with its guilds, and that Lucy and Natsu are currently working to get Fairy Tail reunited definitely helps to back that up. Natsu's also motivated by his determination to save Frosch and prevent Sad Evil Rogue from ever happening, however, which pushes the show's envelope in that it doesn't limit things to within a single guild. We saw that when Wendy's new guild fully expected her to go back to Fairy Tail as well – there's a real friends-and-family vibe to the series that makes it all work.

That's of course going to come under closer scrutiny as soon as next week, which is getting ready to take us into some darker (and sadder) territory, so it's definitely worth emphasizing this time around. The show seems to think so as well, as we can see Natsu and Lucy noticing that they're not the only ones invested in preventing future Rogue tragedies at the end of this episode. For the most part, however, the focus is on how awesome Natsu is, from his teeny tiny form running full-bore up the monster-god's sword to his fiery takedown of it.

Fortunately there's still time for humor as well, and everyone's total refusal to believe that Gajeel currently works for the Council is a good piece of that. Of course, Lucy's well aware of what's been going on – and it looks as if she and Levy kept in at least some contact over the past year, or at least Levy's been reading the magazine Lucy wrote for – but everyone else's instant assumption that there's a Gajeel lookalike enforcing for the Council is pretty great. His retaliatory efforts to arrest them all (poor guy can't come up with a plausible-ish not-creepy way to get Wendy) are good too – although he may be the only person to ever call Lucy “sexy.” Watching Gray geek out over how adorable Frosch is makes for another great moment, although one wonders how insecure Juvia is that she asks if she needs to see a cat in a frog suit as her rival. (“Very” is always my answer. I just want her to find worth in herself as opposed to in Gray.)

So Fairy Tail is continuing to move right along. The art shows some improvements this week, thank goodness, although there are still a few off moments like Sting's weird hips and some distance shots. With major truths about to come to light, the story is set to get a lot more intense from this point on, so be sure to enjoy the silliness and lightness while you can.

Rating: B

Fairy Tail: Final Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.