English Dub Review: Fairy Tail “The 7th Guild Master”

Makarov left some big, pointy shoes to fill.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Fairy Tail has finally come together, and the team is hard at work rebuilding the guild hall as they eagerly await their former guild master Makarov’s return. Spirits are high and the mood lighthearted as everyone catches up with each other and spends some much-needed quality time together as a guild. While everyone is keen on getting back to being a guild, they still need to be officially recognized as a guild by the magic council once again. To do that, they need a guild master, someone to act as the interim guild head until Makarov returns.

Everyone gets a little rowdy by having a nice brawl, but Erza stops everyone in their tracks with her cold glare. This makes it clear to everyone who should be the guild leader: Erza Scarlet, the only one with enough authority to keep everyone in line. Soon after Erza’s appointment, the mysterious guild member, Mest, shows up with a dire warning that Makarov is in trouble. Mest takes Erza to a secret chamber below the earth where the first master of Fairy Tail is sealed away in a crystal. Natsu and the others soon arrive as well, and Mest shows them all his memories from ten years ago.

As it turns out, Mest had been sent to infiltrate the Magic Council by Makarov under the name Doranbolt in order to find information on the western continent. After many years, Mest had nearly gotten all the info Makarov needed, but then Makarov made the decision to break up Fairy Tail. The Alvarez Empire on the western continent was too dangerous to go up against since they have a military power without equal. Makarov then decided to travel to the western continent to negotiate with the Alvarez empire as a measure to protect the guild. And that was the last Mest had heard of Makarov.

Back in the present, Erza and the others take in the implications of what they’ve just learned. They decide that they must be the ones to save their former guild master, but Erza speaks up against their impulsive heroism. Rather than rushing into danger, Erza states they need to rebuild Fairy Tail’s reputation and respect their master’s wishes. However, that means its just going to be those present in the room who go to save Makarov.

Our Take:

I had a really good time with this week’s episode, which serves to show that you don’t have to be the most ambitious show in the world to be good. With well-made characters and consistent writing, even an episode that’s mostly flashbacks and exposition can still be interesting. This week’s Fairy Tail sets up the hype for the coming arc, while still giving us quality time with the cast we know and love to bring us back into the groove of things. Fairy Tail has spent a good amount of time without the eccentric cast that has earned the show its place as a shounen mainstay, so its good to see the show get back in the saddle with all of its pieces lined back up.

What separates the members of Fairy Tail from other shounen casts is the quality and sincerity of Fairy Tail’s “surrogate family” atmosphere. Goodness knows, there are other shows that try to make this idea work, but very few are able to really pull off making a cast of this size interesting and likable. And it’s no real secret why Fairy Tail is able to make its immense cast work. Quality characterization and storytelling exist in the little details; the thoroughness of filling out a story to be more than just the barebones elements necessary to keep the plot moving. The members of Fairy Tail feel real and alive because they act like real people, and are capable of the full range of emotions that we all feel. Even though Fairy Tail is as brash and eccentric as, for example, the members of the Black Bulls in “Black Clover”, their interactions have a natural flow and energy that can only exist because of the strong empathy the audience has for each of them. Though their characterization is certainly exaggerated, (This is an anime, after all, I’d feel cheated without over-the-top characters) none of them are cardboard cutouts. Cana is a drunk, but she’s also charming as a way of showing affection for her family; Elfman is a musclehead, but he has a sensitive side that rounds out his character. This episode lives off the sincere joy of seeing this ragtag group of friends come together.

On top of all that, this episode isn’t short on plot either. Mest’s infiltration backstory hits all the right notes. Its intriguing, well-paced, and even delivers on some comedic notes to keep things feeling fresh. Not to mention, it reminds us why Makarov is such an important figure to Fairy Tail. Why he isn’t just the guild leader, but the surrogate father to all its members. And that gets the audience excited to see how everyone will save him; the stakes are established and the story set up, now we get to enjoy seeing how it all turns out.