Template:TMITA/May 2014

 



Just to get me in the mood the episode starts with an awesome OST... *narrows eyes* These guys are getting good

So, we're back with Gray and Rufus for the after commentary of their fight, and it would seem Gray also has teleportation abilities because he and Rufus are suddenly God only knows where and totally not in the open library they were in when the fight ended last episode .-.

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s557/LilOrangeCat/b9aeaa3e-afce-4e30-b45b-9284ac4bd463_zpsfa424128.png

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s557/LilOrangeCat/GrayvRufus2_zpsedb31a60.png

Becaaaaause... consistency!

Continuing, we faff about for a bit with the FT members' reactions to Gray's win, and at least everyone is looking nicely animated here - I mean, heck, even Macao and Wakaba got a nice treatment :D

~*~ Masayume Chasing Chasing - God, I love this opening!! ~*~

Omg... more fucking recaps of scores. Legit... is there anyone seriously daft enough that they can't remember the placings of four guilds...??

FT Wiki: *cough*

( -__-)~ Bloody hell...

And as Sabertooth look on at Rufus' defeat and Rogue's scarf begins to talk, we have a flashback of what happened after Sting holepunched Jiemma the night before.

This was very well animated I thought (well, Minerva always looks like a bullfrog, but that's just her character design~) except I guess I was a little upset with Minerva's speech. Remember her being all creepy in the manga?



Yeah, we get none of that here :<

But enough of the GMG for now, because we are cutting back to the Rescue Team, where Natsu has collapsed. Is it sad that I figured out the joke before it was even revealed? :P

The team are in trouble though, as they are lost in the labyrinth and have found no exit, so as they travel the NaLu fans get a little hit and there is some nice filler with Yukino thanking Natsu for what he did to Sabertooth on her behalf. I really do have to appreciate such filler. It can be dry at times, but at least the conversations have purpose and aren't just faffing about. Yukino thanking Natsu is legitimately something she would do, so thumbs up to whomever decided to script that in :)

But woah! Woah woah WOAH!! Did Kama just appear and snap his fingers!?

Heck, that's so cool!

Anyways, snapping now apparently causes earthquakes and a passage opens up for our crew to pass through. I think it was very smart of the anime to incorporate that the passage looked like it was melted into place, rather than a natural formation like the manga had it. After Lucy squeezes her chest through and we get EVEN MORE NaLu (seriously NaLu fans, be grateful, damn it!) we find...

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnn!!

Arcadios \( .__.)/

Fun time underground >__>

But hey! There are more people here! After a very nicely executed (lol, punny!) introduction, anionlys get their first look at the Garou Knights!!



I remember pretty much reacting like Natsu when these guys first appeared in the manga, but they did look pretty cool here I must say. Though, I am questioning why they changed Cosmos' entire theme from flowers to flytraps...?? I mean, are flytraps really easier to animate than flowers? o__O

Heck, lets have a fucking vote! Because... voting!!

What do you think would be easier to animate? Flowers Flytraps

Moving on (these aren't the droids we're looking for) and we head into filler...

...and this is where the episode takes a mighty turn for the worst :(

Lemme know in the comments anionlys because I'm genuinely curious: do you notice these changes in pacing/can you pick out the anime-only moments?? I know I'm completely biased, but it just seems so obvious in these battle scenes.

I mean, I know FT sometimes gets hate because people argue that the fights are too short, but I think they're great most of the time. Seeing other mangas/animes where the fights last forever really has me questioning if the characters have God-like stamina and stuff, so I like it that FT fights are very fast-paced and to the point.

If I'm giving credit where it's due, seeing Natsu and Wendy team up was okay filler. But! And this is a big but, Mira and Lily standing there watching on was just stupid. I mean, have them rush in and be engaged by Uosuke and Neppa sooner, rather than them just standing around. Just... so freakin' pointless >__>

So with this filler going on I'm wondering how we're going to end this thing... aaaaaaaand...

...it's with Wendy being swallowed by a flytrap ( .__.)



Because if Wendy was ever going to die, it would be in the most anticlimactic, stupidest and bizarre way possible .-.

No, seriously... did anyone actually believe she was in danger? Even for a second??

The anime team seems to want you to, cause they're pulling a cliffie!



After legitimately 2 full minutes of recap, we get to see what has become of poor Wendy-chan...

...oh wait ( .__.) She's already been busted out by Mira...

We stuff around some more with more boring filler (really not much to say) and then finally Grow Flow comes around...

Or, should I say Grow Flow Junior? Cause this shit ain't nowhere near as impressive as it was in the manga...



But, either way, our delightfully bright protagonists decide to blow up the flower and only succeed in getting themselves separated from one another and locked into battle with a member of the Garou Knights.

Because I really cbs flipping back and forth between these groups like the anime does, I'll summarise:

WENDY/COSMOS:

For filler, by gosh this was funny! I know it wasn't up some people's alley, but I find the running dried plums gag to be hilarious, so I was laughing at this entire scene. Poor, poor Wendy-chan :(

NATSU/KAMA:

Hey, what can I say? I like Kama, so I liked the clips he was in here :3

LUCY&YUKINO/UOSUKE:

Not bad, but I thought the extended filler just dragged on a wee bit too long. Chalk it up to my preferences, but I grew bored waiting for the cooler stuff to happen.

MIRA/KAMIKA:

Why was Kamika going on about Mira being an ex-S-Class Mage? Uhhh?

LILY/NEPPA:

... ( -__-) *yawns*

Aside from these fights, we also get a little filler clip of Mavis and Asuka conversing about Mavis' appearance as a child...

...even though Asuka isn't a full-fledged FT member and has no mark, and therefore shouldn't be able to see Mavis...

I... have no comment on this filler, so let's talk about some filler that I found amazing.

FREAKIN' MILLIANNA AND MINERVA!

Holy hell was this a good idea. I can't really get into it without spoiling for anionlys, but lets just say this filler was a very good addition that I'd argue Mashima was quite silly for not including in the manga. I mean, it just made sense and didn't distract from the story (in fact, it enhanced it) or seem boring, so a huge thumbs up here from the Carrot :D :D :D

I think I'll end on this happy note :) I know the actual ep ends with Arcadios wading through lava like it's water, but let's just pretend Mils is the last scene ^__^



Did this whole scene with Arcadios wading through the lava seem so much more desperate and well done in the manga? I dunno, it just seemed really slow here :/

Like... really... Lucy and Yukino in the anime had sooooo much time to turn around and grab Arcadios' hand and pull him up ( .__.) Plus, I guess everyone in the anime just seemed too relaxed. I mean, heck, Carla just lies there watching Arcadios sink into boiling lava and says in a matter-of-fact tone "he's sacrificing himself."

You don't say!? Has this just become so standard in FT that it's no longer surprising in any way? Don't care about a little old sacrifice anymore?



Because that totally doesn't look painful in any way, shape or form...

Hmmm... *sighs* The rest of this episode is just such a mix-up of filler that I don't even know where to begin ( -__-) Like, seriously...

Aiya >__> Well, let's start with something that really ticked me off: Kama being given a form of Magic.

For those anionlys who read this article, Kama was never given any form of Magic in the manga - he fought just with his own athletic finesse and that was so cool imo. I mean, this non-Mage matching a normal Mage with none of this dispel crap and stuff, well, it really made me appreciate his character a lot more. He murdered with his own hands, making sure he passed his scythes through his enemies with his own strength. There was no floating weapons, special markings or easy ways out and this made him a much more interesting fighter. As such, I was saddened to see him reduced so :(

As for the Yukino/Lucy v Uosuke fight, well, the filler just dragged and dragged...

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

...and dragged

FT Wiki members: Okay! We get it!

Good... I was just trying to make a point ^__^" I mean, EVERY Spirit had to be pulled out and EVERY one of them had to screw around with Uosuke and EVERY one of them just did what they always do in these fillers, so I was just over it.

Finally, towards the very end we get back into canon material and we get to FINALLY see the true form of Pisces :D



YAY! \( ^__^)/

The episode ran pretty smoothly for these last few minutes.. but then... THEN!!

Just to screw with us manga readers and our feels, the anime ends with Aquarius being summoned (__;)

Because screw feels! Who needs them anyways! :<



I think I should make a general comment that I should have made a while ago, but I was VERY happy this month to see that the animation seems to have levelled out at a rather nice standard. I mean, yes, there were still awkward moments, but NOTHING compared to the crap that was episode 177. In general, everything is looking pretty impressive, so a round of applause to the anime team for getting their act together. Please keep up the great work ^__^

Anyways, on with the show and we hit episode 183. Aquarius has just been summoned and we are rearing to go~

But wait... what's this? It seems we're flipping to Mirajane instead .-.

I'm sorry, but I was so freakin' over Mirajane's lines. I mean, all she did was just say "Oh! This paper does this!" and "Oh my! That paper does that". Like... I CAN SEE THAT MIRAJANE! SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING!

But FUCK THAT! Why do something productive, like, I dunno, FIGHTING BACK when you can stand there being useless?

To avoid more Mirajane uselessness, we cut to Natsu v Kama and Lily v Neppa... both of which just bored me with the whole lotta nothing that was going on .-.

Omg... Aquarius... Finally...

But wait again! With more filler, Lucy and the mermaid stand around discussing her relationship issues(?) with Scorpio.

Uhhhh? I know I should care, but because I know this is filler, I... Uhhh... I really don't ( -__-)~

And then there's this boiling water... I mean WHAT? I literally sat there for the longest time going "can't Aquarius just use that water? I mean, so what... it's hot? Does this make a difference?"

In the end it doesn't of course, but that doesn't come for a bit because we cut between the other fights and then even to the Domus Flau for some really rather odd filler with all of the minor FT peeps.

Can I just point out how ridiculous Elfman looked for this entire part of the episode??

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s557/LilOrangeCat/Elfman183_zpsbf522c7a.png

Attack on Elfman?

OMG! FINALLY! FINALLY MIRA IS DOING SOMETHING! She gets into Satan Soul and we're ready to roll and kick some a-

Omg .-. No. Apparently NOT because Mira has to get stuck in some GOD DAMN filler spell that has her remember Lisanna's stupid "death".

Well, you all know how much I hate Lisanna and how her death was handled, so I think I should just skip over this for my sanity and yours. Sufficed to say I was not impressed.

So we cut though the other fights and then some epic music plays just as I'm about to give up on this and I'm back in and FT kicks some ass and makes a comeback onto all of the Garou Knights, flinging them through walls and conveniently reuniting everyone once more.

Hahaha. Just before I continue can I point out how ridiculous Natsu's little run at 21:42 was? XD Hahahahah! If you're looking for a laugh, check it out once more. Just so awkward XP

So, our team is back together and heading off for more shenanigans and from the looks of the preview we will be getting some threesomes and fangirl battles next episode :) Some of the panels there were looking a little iffy, so please anime, don't screw this part up!!

OH AND GIVE US SOME JELLALEZRA FILLER WHILST YOU'RE AT IT! ;D This is the perfect time for plenty of JellalErza filler :3

Pretty please?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/nomaidenfair/tumblr_lqkrmtNrfl1qdfww1o5_250.gif

Well, that's it from me ladies and gents.

A month of heaps of filler, and from the looks of the magazine previews we will be getting even more in this next month with Ultear o__O Not really sure how that's going to work unless they're doing some intense foreshadowing, but, we shall see I guess~

I'd just like to see some CrimeS. I've really been missing them in the manga as of late T^T

Until next month my lovelies :)

Carrot out~