User blog comment:Omega natsu2/Fairy Tail Episode 218: Believe, Review./@comment-2125188-20150131225346

I think the studio just half-assed this arc cause they thought since Hiro Mashima wrote the rough plot it would turn out good. I think had the studio handled this arc with more care it would be much better. If we actually had real one-on-one battles with decent fight choreography, better animation, and more explanation then this arc could've been something great. And that's also the reason this arc gets so much hate. It's honestly nowhere close to the worse filler i've seen. It's because this arc had so much hype and promise, and even had a promotional poster, the anime website changing most of the site with content from this arc, and Hiro Mashima tweeting the character designs. Majority of fairy tail fans were actually excited for this arc.