User blog comment:Omega natsu2/Fairy Tail Episode 197: Hisui Rises, Review./@comment-25111584-20141108084219/@comment-7418318-20141108085228

Maybe the director told them to talk really slow, so they could stay on their faces for longer. That way they didn't have to animate as much fighting or come up with other ridiculous scenes to fill the time of the episode up.