Written by Shiggins
Two-in-one review!
Yes, this one has been a long time coming, and it covers both anime and films so go me! For those who are unaware, this is the second movie of the Fairy Tail series and has only had two advertisements. One of them was a trailer, and the other was an epic poster of Natsu with a dragon wing and claw. Is the result worthy of that badass image? Well...
First of all, thank God that the colour is back! My biggest complaint with the Tartarus Arc was that they took away the colour to create a very pale palette, and nobody looked as good as they should have. Here however, it is practically shining and that is how Fairy Tail should be! It is literally a world full of magic! Magic is not dull! Dragon Cry is lovingly animated from start to finish, and I hope they keep this up when the anime returns later this year.
Voice acting is satisfactory, but I don't speak Japanese so can't properly judge them. Moving on.
For what its worth, this film definitely feels more like Fairy Tail than Phoenix Priestess did. Instead of overly dramatic situations with a joke infrequently tossed in, we get the jokes, action and Lucy in a skimpy outfit that we all expect. As a fan of Fairy Tail, this is what I'm used to.
The McGuffin of this particular story is a staff called the Dragon Cry, which was stolen by a villain from the Kingdom of Stella, and so Team Natsu have been sent to retrieve it and discover why it was stolen. Along the way, they battle new villains, make new friends and make sure to look damn good while doing so.
Being a film based on the series, there are obviously going to be some negative effects. For example, the villains are boring. Their designs are okay, I suppose, but they have very little motivation and their powers feel weird for the sake of being weird. One muscled man uses two cursed dolls, but not like Bickslow did. Another kicks really really hard.
Another problem is that this film can't make any massive developments, since it needs to exist without interfering with the plot of the main series. Nobody can grow in any significant way, since it is technically filler. Filler with the blessing and storyboard artistry of Hiro Mashima-senpai, but filler nonetheless.
The story is competent, although nothing special. Just an excuse to make some jokes, show some cleavage, and kick enemy arse. It's set between the Avatar and Alvarez Empire arcs, which means we get to see Carla in her human form, Lucy putting on a Celestial Dress, and even a really cool post-credit scene that I won't spoil but is definitely worth checking out.
The poster of Natsu with half a dragon body indicates that a lot of this is going to be about Natsu dealing with his identity as the son of Igneel or unleashing the power of E.N.D (even though he doesn't know what that is yet) or maybe the power of Dragon Slayers taking him over. I assure you that this is not the case. In fact, it is barely referenced at all until the finale and this really is not a strong enough story to earn those issues anyway. So in a way, this form is like the one Goku used during his fight with Lord Slug. It exists and looks pretty cool, but only serves to guarantee a final victory.
Oh and the classic music from the first anime come back. I cannot stress to you how freaking amazing that is. The second anime had decent music, but it couldn't compare to the original Dragonforce theme. So this film made a wise decision on that front at least. In fact, everything on the technical side is great. Gold star.
Movie Rating: 6.5/10
Best Performance: Tetsuya Kakihara as Natsu Dragneel... I think.
Best Scene: Looking at the stars.
Yes, this one has been a long time coming, and it covers both anime and films so go me! For those who are unaware, this is the second movie of the Fairy Tail series and has only had two advertisements. One of them was a trailer, and the other was an epic poster of Natsu with a dragon wing and claw. Is the result worthy of that badass image? Well...
 |
| Anime-only fans are going to be sooo confused. |
Voice acting is satisfactory, but I don't speak Japanese so can't properly judge them. Moving on.
For what its worth, this film definitely feels more like Fairy Tail than Phoenix Priestess did. Instead of overly dramatic situations with a joke infrequently tossed in, we get the jokes, action and Lucy in a skimpy outfit that we all expect. As a fan of Fairy Tail, this is what I'm used to.
 |
| They Magical Girl'd the shit out of her! |
Being a film based on the series, there are obviously going to be some negative effects. For example, the villains are boring. Their designs are okay, I suppose, but they have very little motivation and their powers feel weird for the sake of being weird. One muscled man uses two cursed dolls, but not like Bickslow did. Another kicks really really hard.
Another problem is that this film can't make any massive developments, since it needs to exist without interfering with the plot of the main series. Nobody can grow in any significant way, since it is technically filler. Filler with the blessing and storyboard artistry of Hiro Mashima-senpai, but filler nonetheless.
 |
| I'll admit that this form far outclasses the one we got in canon though. |
The poster of Natsu with half a dragon body indicates that a lot of this is going to be about Natsu dealing with his identity as the son of Igneel or unleashing the power of E.N.D (even though he doesn't know what that is yet) or maybe the power of Dragon Slayers taking him over. I assure you that this is not the case. In fact, it is barely referenced at all until the finale and this really is not a strong enough story to earn those issues anyway. So in a way, this form is like the one Goku used during his fight with Lord Slug. It exists and looks pretty cool, but only serves to guarantee a final victory.
 |
| Juvia, if you're going to take his stripping habit then go all the way! Please! |
Movie Rating: 6.5/10
Best Performance: Tetsuya Kakihara as Natsu Dragneel... I think.
Best Scene: Looking at the stars.
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| "I Love Lucy." |
Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/
That was a good review! Most other reviews are just "OMG SO GREAt 10/10" or "Ew bad 0/10" without explaining anything
ReplyDeleteThough, did you like Phoenix Priestess more, or this one?
Really? I've not even checked out the other reviews myself because I wanted to remain impartial. But thank you!
DeleteAnd I preferred this one. Personally, I thought Phoenix Priestess was really bad. It had too much drama and very little charm.
Nice review!!
ReplyDeleteI do think this movie was quite enjoyable, especially seeing everybody stronger after the timeskip. The plot was meh though.
Overall, I agree with the score. Still one of my favourites of Shounen anime movies(they usually suck anyways).
Surprised you hate Phoenix Priestess. Many people think it was quite good and > Dragon Cry.
Personally, I also never really liked it - it felt too much as if it is from another anime.
P.S
The post credit scene was hype though. Makes me excited for the return of the anime!! I just hope it fixes some glaring problems from the manga.
Thank you!
DeleteMost Shonen anime movies are just cash-grabs. I'll give this movie credit for actually feeling like it was attempting to tell a story, rather than just make money.
Nah, PP is rubbish. It's dramatic, forced and tries too hard to make me care about a character that barely got time to exist.
That post credit scene was brilliant, yes. It looked gorgeous and it is exactly what I want the next anime to look like. None of that pale sepia from Tartarus arc. (No, I can't get over that and probably never will!)
Heh, I actually liked the "paleness" in Tartaros. I think it fitted the dark theme pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI do want it to change though. The timeskip should be more bright, since it's going to focus on more exciting and fun things.
I agree it fit the dark theme quite well but there were a lot of magical moments in Sun Village and Tartarus that lost quite a bit of allure because of the paleness. Like the dragons, or the bath sc... I mean, Lucy's spell to defeat Jackal-chan.
Delete