I don't know about you guys... but this episode was perfect. An awesome adaption of the final two chapters of the Tartaros arc. And it looked so pretty. Just see the shots above. The anime can do justice to Mashima's art when they try.
I really don't have much else to say... so I think I'll just try to do a little review of the Tartaros arc as a whole in the anime. Overall... I think the anime has improved a lot of issues that the manga may have rushed or even skipped. As I've already said, the anime is able to work really well with flashbacks. So we have Mirajane's past.. a little bit of Minerva's past, which in fact, made Erza vs. Minerva, one of the most anticlimactic fights bearable, or even, good. Because Minerva's surrender actually made sense.
The strongest points of the anime adaption of this arc are definitely Wendy vs. Ezel, Lucy's sacrifice of Aquarius (yay another great flashback) and the subsequent battle of Celestial Spirit King. Animation-wise, I should mention, again, Mard Geer vs. Celestial Spirit King, Laxus vs. Tempester round #2, Natsu, Sting and Rogue vs. Mard Geer and I think that Mard Geer's final battle against Natsu and Gray was nice enough, especially Gray's finishing move. Gray vs. Silver was cool, as well. Actually, just look at the Tartars arc trailer to figure out the good parts. .-.
The weakest point for me is definitely Acnologia's arrival. The absolute lack of animation in that episode, in spite of the great-looking art completely destroyed the epic moment for me. Second place is given to the start of Erza vs. Kyoka. Da hell was that?
Next issue would be inconsistency, mostly with clothes. But honestly, who cares about that? Only nerds like us. Pls no more dumb Lamy filler tho, kthx
All in all, the Tartaros arc, or rather, its anime adaption gets a 8/10 grade from me. Many times, it exceeded my expectations, however, some issues with the budget, recaps and alike made some parts less enjoyable than they should've beeen. However, as a whole, it was a really nice work from the anime team.
So what's next? Yep, we're gonna see the history of Mavis and the Fairy Tail guild! That should be - and will be, I can promise that, I loved the prequel manga - a nice watch. Stay tuned for the new opening and ending as well~