Fairy Tail : Battle of the Dragon Slayers (Anime)

Episode 173

In quite a brilliant episode last week. Men. Were we found out who Blue Pegasus rabbit was. Men. We were able to forget the gruesome torture of Lucy. Men.

This week the double battles continue as the competition starts to heat up....

Men...

I promise that will be the last one (unless Ichiya is in it!)

***SPOILERS***

The episode starts in cute fashion with Wendy and Carla looking after Lucy who has only just came round from a nap. Apparently Natsu will come and see her before his match which is lovely. Good old Natsu!

So the battles start with the second match up. Lyon and Yuka from Lamia Scale v Millianna and Kagura from Mermaid Heel.

In all fairness that looks like a brilliant match up, but before it even starts you get that feeling it'll be just as.... Manly as the one last week. OK I promised it would stop and it hasn't. Man.

Erza carries on being such a wonderful character, even though she is the same age as the rest of them she has wisdom surpassing her age. Being able to understand Gray even though maybe others wouldn't, giving Natsu the advice she knows will get him fired up. Her love for her friends even when they are in another Guild (Millianna) is testament to her strength as a person. As we are always reminded. It is the little moments like these that mean more to me when it comes to Erza over the big emotional battles she constantly has to win.

The moments with the Guild in the stands always reminds us what the teams (or team as it is now) are fighting for. Levys reaction to the men basically drooling over Mermaid Heel was funny and Juvia as always manages to raise a smile. Her day dreams are as vivid as ever and the girls banding about her hysterics to give advice was sweet.

I love how the battle is so serious but there are so many non-serious moments surrounding it. The fact Kagura sends Millianna out to fight on her own to begin with, Lyon lusting over Juvia (who is shaking the life out of Levy) and Lamia Scales master going round the spin. It all adds to the enjoyment of the match.

Millianna is a bit of a weird opponent, even though the match is semi-serious her fighting style is so stupid. The match was a real mix of the stupid and the quite awesome to be fair.

Then Kagura steps in. If anything she is a character I could really start being a fan of. Her sheathed sword technique is interesting and she's a real hard opponent, just like Erza. It didn't surprise me at all she'd defeat Yuka so easily, no offence to that character but he is just one of Lyons cannon fodder.

Lyon telling Kagura she needs to snap out of her hatred was a good moment as she is a lot like most of the characters in Fairy Tail were hatred leads them to stupid things. She won't listen but it is nice to have it shown that some characters listen to the lessons they learn.

And a big credit to whoever drew Erza's "I knew it" face when it became obvious that Gray DID care about how Lyon did in the fight!

It was nice the match ended in a draw.

Now onto the bit we've been waiting for (not least because it is half way through the episode and the title is based on the next fight) DRAGON SLAYERS V DRAGON SLAYERS!

I would like to know what Lucy said to Natsu (probably will but as I'm typing and watching I just thought I'd put it here in case).

The last battle is Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth v Natsu and Gajeel from (obviously) Fairy Tail.

And Natsu and Gajeel look as stupidly strong as always, even against other Dragon Slayers. They hit straight off the bat (YAY) and just beat Rogue and Sting. Don't count a come back out though...

And with that the episode ends.

This week was such a strong episode, it showed off all Guilds involved in a good way, showed the friendship and love of Fairy Tail which is the Guilds cornerstone, it showed off Lyon, Kagura and Millianna and got us ready for the big showdown next week.

It is a nice reminder that even though we're in the middle of a tournament there are real feelings and real life rivalries as well as just good natured fighting.

The draw for Lamia and Mermaid I believe was important, thing is Mermaid can be a serious Guild in the future, just like Blue Pegasus who have their moments (men) but are such an important ally for Fairy Tail. Lamia Scale IS the sensible one, as much as you can say that, out of the lot of them and as Sabertooth at the moment are the ones that people aren't meant to like you won't see anything but serious "I want to torture Lucy" attitudes from them. It is important to make sure that Mermaid are kept on the same level as Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, though to be fair Kagura does seem to super powered at the moment without even having much of a magic thing going on.

I loved the feel of the episode, it felt more like the family were together watching this, no foreshadowing of gloom from Future Levy no evilness from Minerva. Just good old fashioned fighting and Guilds being proud of their teams.

Of course everyone wants to see the battle between the Dragon Slayers and the episode only really introduced that this episode so it will be fun to see it in the next episode.

And of course before the hiatus/cancellation there is only two more episodes! So what a penultimate episode they have in store for us!