English Dub Review: Fairy Tail “Magic of Hope”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

We open on a 400 year flashback to when dragons and humans lived in peace.  Acnologia meets with a human doctor who helps heal him. They speak of the dragon slaying magic rumored to be spreading. Back in the present day, the members of Fairy Tale are preparing to combat the great dragon in the best way they can: with a plan put together by Lucy.

Meanwhile, the dragon slayers are still stuck in the time rift fighting with Acnologia. They don’t have much luck, even with their toughest fighters doing their best. Acnologia’s physical body is lured to Hargeon by Minerva and her team in order to get him seasick on a boat.

Our Take:

The end is starting to draw ever closer, and things aren’t looking too positive for our heroes. Acnologia is a seemingly undefeatable antagonist, and even with all the magic in the universe, it won’t make much of a difference since he’s immune to all types of magical attacks. But what about magical defenses? Lucy’s idea to try a defense spell called Fairy Sphere on him is a long shot, but it’s the best plan they have considering the circumstances.

Magic of Hope is, for the most part, an episode where nothing really happens. Sure, Natsu, Cobra, Wendy, and the other dragon slayers keep going in their battle against the spirit of Acnologia, but they don’t make any forward progress. Despite all of them pitching in with all their combined might, the arcane dragon is too powerful.

Not much happens back at the guild, either. Acnologia is on his way ( his physical form at least), and there’s really nothing they can do to stop him. Lucy is able to come to with a longshot plan which involves luring the dragon to a ship so they can put a defensive spell on him called Fairy Sphere. This only works on theory because of his sole weakness, as with all dragon slayers, is getting seasick. Regardless of how silly this is, it doesn’t even get a chance to work, because Acnologia destroys the ships before they can utilize them.

This week’s dub is solid, with some great performances by a lot of supporting cast members. “Never underestimate what a shrimp can do.” Wendy is powerful, but not even her skills can affect Acnologia. ” Magic created by close personal bonds that even Acnologia can’t break.” I suspect that this will be key in defeating him. ” My flesh form is on the path of resident destruction.” Same, Acnologia, same. “ He just fried the Fairy Tale Guild Hall.” This line just made me laugh because of the phrasing. “Magic attacks and taunts don’t work?” You know it’s a boss when not even taunts work. ” Final? We haven’t even begun to fight. But this will be your end.” For such a powerful dude, Acnologia sure takes a while to wipe them out.

In the end, Magic of Hope turned out to be a pretty boring episode that didn’t even advance the plot, since the destruction of the ships puts everyone right back where the episode began: with no plan and no time. It’ll be interesting to see how they get out of this situation… it should be if they do it right, at least.