Anime Reviews: Fairy Tail Episode 94 - Bye-bye, Edolas

 

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Introduction
The arc closes in on the finale, as everything comes to an end in Edolas. Will Mystogan's plan succeed? Or will Natsu throw a wrench in yet another plan?

Plot Summary
The draining of magic continues. Edolas Fairy Tail heads to the city to see if there is anything they can do. Minister Nadi watches while Lily and Mystogan argue. Lily refuses to kill Mystogan, but that instead he will paint himself as the villain, and Mystogan will be the hero that stops him. A guard comes in to tell Lily that people are panicking in the city. Lily and Mystogan go to see what they can do about the riots.

When they arrive at a walkway overlooking the city, a guard tells them that only three people are rioting. Natsu, wearing a cloak and fake horns, loudly proclaims that he is the Great Demon Lord Dragneel, and he is stealing the magic power from Edolas. He has King Faust captured.

Edolas Gajeel gets the plan, and starts helping out by inciting the crowd. Gajeel wreaks havoc with his powers, while Wendy needs a little help scaring people.

Natsu reveals that Mystogan is the prince. While Mystogan runs to stop Natsu, Nadi reveals to Lily that he overheard their plan, and told Natsu and the other two about it. Natsu's actions give Mystogan a chance to look heroic in front of his people, so they will trust him.

Nadi tells Lily to prepare for what will happen to them. Nichiya and his men turn back to normal, and start freaking out when they see what is happening.

Mystogan tries to use his magic, but it too gets drained by the reverse anima. In the eyes of the people he is the lone hero with no magic, facing against the power of a demon lord's magic. They fight for real, though Natsu holds off on using his magic, to make it look as realistic as possible. While they trade blows, Natsu starts his version of the Fairy Tail Farewell Ceremony.

Mystogan knocks Natsu down, and shortly after that the anima starts sucking up the Earthland characters and the Exceed. They are able to say their goodbyes, though I can't help but wonder what it must look like for the people to see the demon lord who stole their magic yelling goodbye.

My Opinion
Natsu has some really great faces this episode. That should be all I have to say, but I suppose I'll go into a little more depth.

A major flaw of this arc was the involvement of Mystogan. I fully enjoyed that he finally played a front and center part of the story, but it didn't get developed as much as it could have. I complain a lot about fanfictions that expect readers to feel something for an original character they've added to the existing cast. But they don't put any work into it, and in the end it just comes across as an amateur trying to play in the big leagues.

I'm not comparing Mashima to a fanfiction writer, since I sincerely like Fairy Tail. Despite its flaws, excessive use of fanservice, and nay-sayers claiming it copies One Piece (that only makes me like Fairy Tail more, how is a series being similar to my favorite series a bad thing?) I still really, really like Fairy Tail. That doesn't mean I don't think Mashima could do with a little forethought in his stories.

If he intended for Mystogan's being left behind in Edolas to mean something, then he should have put the work into making him a character we would miss. He never did anything in the story, and really only showed up three times before this arc. We know he's the alternate universe Jellal, but that really doesn't mean much for his character. I would compare it to Dobby's death in The Deathly Hallows Part 1. If he were actually involved in the story, the end would have had an emotional impact.

There was so much Mashima could have done with his character. Erza was obviously shocked to see he shared Jellal's face. And after the Nirvana arc, where Jellal partially redeems himself, it is made very obvious that Erza still has feelings for him. That's a plot thread that could have been played with. Create a love triangle between Erza, Jellal, and Edolas Jellal.

Though I suppose they did kind of do that in the second OVA. Which, by the way, is absolutely hilarious and not an excuse to show off Lucy's tits.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!