English Dub Review: Fairy Tail “The Lamia Scale Thanksgiving Festival”

Fairy Tail returns…well, some of it, anyway.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Natsu and Lucy are traveling around the country, looking for the other members of Fairy Tail so they can reform the guild that was once their home. It’s slow going, but Lucy has accumulated a bunch of evidence to aid in their search. After some shenanigans with Natsu beating up some goons stealing a wagon, the two of them arrive into town where Wendy and Shelia are performing a duo song together for a show put on by Wendy’s new guild, Lamia Scale.

Lucy and Natsu invite Wendy to join them in their mission, but she refuses, saying that Lamia Scale is her new guild and she can’t just abandon them. The others in the guild try to convince her to go if it would make her happy, but Wendy decides to stick to her guns. Later that night, the town is attacked by a rival guild, Orochi Fin, which sends a swarm of monsters to wreak havoc on Lamia Scale, no matter the cost of collateral damage. Looking to help, Natsu and Lucy get ready to fight, though Shelia kicks Natsu in the face and steals happily away to make use of his flight powers. Natsu, enraged, dives headfirst into the horde of enemy monsters, destroying them with his incredible strength.

Our Take:

Fairy Tail has returned to Funimation for what is presumed to be its final season which brings the series to a close. After some time away from the anime scene, Fairy Tail is still the bright, colorful shounen fans have come to know and love, though this episode probably wasn’t the best foot to get started on after such a long hiatus.

This is one of those episodes that’s necessary, but not especially interesting. It is important that we get Natsu and Lucy’s quest set up for the episodes to come, but there isn’t a whole lot that happens in this episode to pull me in. The conflict is dismal, with Natsu just steamrolling some goons as he usually does, and Lucy hanging back talking trash, as she usually does. I like the story that they’re building to, here, though. Having to reacquaint themselves with all the members of Fairy Tail gives our main characters a lot to do, and a lot of chances for fun side stories with characters who might not usually get enough spotlight.

Where this episode really falls off, though, is with Wendy. There isn’t a lot of reason for her not to come with Natsu and Lucy other than “This is my guild now”, which isn’t terribly compelling. Not to mention, her other guildmates even said it was cool for her to go back to Fairy Tail, but she still doesn’t take the opportunity. Perhaps this was done better in the manga, but having a whole episode dedicated to this sub-par plotline is kind of disappointing. There could have at least been some drama added with the other Lamia Scale guild members, but they seem to be here mostly for recognizability. Just cameo appearances to give the viewers a sense of continuity.

Fairy Tail is one of the last vestiges of the old school “Super long” running shounen series that have been falling out of favor lately. (With some exceptions) It’s a much-beloved series that deserves its final season, and I’m looking forward to the kind of stories it can put forth to bring inspiration and excitement to its viewers’ days. As for this episode, though, the only word to describe it is “Skippable.” Maybe wait a few weeks for this show to get rolling, because I don’t think the weekly simulcast is going to do it any favors with pacing.