The subtitle for this particular anime is this: Will you kill someone you love, because of love?
Sounds familiar? We get this a lot in fiction books -- especially supernatural or/and fantasy books targeted at teens. (e.g. Vampire Academy) but that's not the point. It also sounds strangely like euthanasia but that's not it either. It also sounds like star-crossed lovers but that's not it too. Since this isn't a romance anime. In this anime, two girls are forced to make the choice. Any ways, I'll begin with the Opening theme!
And oh, do not judge this anime by its first episode. The first episode is not what it seemed to be. It's actually... well, the start of the ending of the anime.
This is a heartbreaking, tragedy, supernatural story (maybe horror?) about two sisters, Kagura and Yomi and the choices they made and how it impacts everyone. Yomi's choice in killing Mei, and accepting the sesshouseki (some weird red stone that makes her go all bad and stuff), and finally, her choice of being killed by Kagura. In Kagura's case, her choice in killing the school nurse and her beloved sister, Yomi. Basically, it's beautiful story of sisterhood, love, as they are forced to make inevitable choices.
What makes this a really sad anime is the fact that you already know what's gonna happen and you're watching it happen. You're relieving Kagura's and Yomi's past memories, all the fun and sad times that shared as they grew closer and closer as sisters as they work in the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division, battling paranormal forces as part of their everyday job after school, along with other side colleagues and friends.
(Left) Yomi and (Right) Kagura Aren't they cute? >.<
Thoughts
The story was captivating, touching and heart wrenching to the point that I got a little depressed after finishing this anime. It's definitely a tragedy type of anime but it has its share of humour as well, usually generated between Yomi and Kagura as well as Yomi's fiancé, Noriyuki.
I liked how the deep bond between the sisters were portrayed in the anime and how its was an emotional roller coaster ride from the beginning. Speaking of the beginning, I almost stopped watching after the first episode. You shouldn't stop watching after the first. Keep on watching. It's gonna get awesome and more awesome. This anime doesn't follow the cliché start. One of its notable points is how uninteresting and how irrelevant the characters in the first 3/4 of episode 1 are. They all died, basically. I'm gonna spoil this so hang onto your seats. Yomi killed'em.
Poor poor poor Kagura, she had a hell of a traumatic experience one after another in the anime and Yomi...well let's just say that she isn't living in a paradise either. She has her own share of issues and problems due to her being an adopted child and such.
Did i mention that this is a prequel to the Ga-Rei? It's a manga series which i haven't got around reading. Kagura looks quite different there though.
Well, I'll keep this post short(er) and I'll end off with this question in mind:
Will you kill someone you love, because of love?
Personally, I would.
Monday, 27 May 2013
I was watching clips from The Idolm@ster and Love Live!: School Idol Project yesterday while studying and I got so caught up with the songs and dance movements that I just want to watch the entire series all over again. And then I started thinking, listing down all the anime that i wanted to re-watch.
- The Idolm@ster
- Love Live!: School Idol Project
- Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
- Ga-Rei Zero
- Fate Zero
- Shakugan no Shana Final
- Hidan no Aria
I think I'll re-watch Love Live! and Hidan no Aria during the June hols. Maybe Fate Zero too. -sighs- so many things that i want to do but so little time. -sighs again-
A few (of the many) clips that i watched yesterday:
Friday, 24 May 2013
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru has reached its climax. Everything has been revealed but the episode ends off with a typical cliffhanger.
Episode 8 of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru.
The episode is the continuation of the previous one whereby Yukino, Hachiman, his sister (i forgot her name), Yui, Saiko, the homeroom teacher of Hachiman's class (who insists that she's younger than 30) and the other "gang" who they don't hang out with, went on a voluntary trip to facilitate an elementary school camp.
However, nearing the end of the episode, a plot twist smacked right into our face.
The car that crashed into Hachiman (during the first day of school) when he saved Yui's dog when it ran out into the road was actually Yukino's car.
Yukino's black car and Yui's dog
First we learn from earlier episodes that Hachiman got into a car accident on the first day of school as he was trying to save a dog that ran out into the road.
Then we learn that the dog is actually Yui's. (Yui was pretty guilty by this and it took i think one episode for them to resolve this issue of misunderstanding that Hachiman had - he thought that Yui was taking pity on him by being his friend or something)
And now, we learn that the car is actually Yukino's. Yukino never said anything before and i suspected she knew it all along. The question is why? Why didn't she say anything?
The final scene:
"Yukinoshita Yuki and I would not meet again"
I'll end this off with a question: In such a situation, who's fault do you think it is?
I shall start by declaring this. Umi and Maki are mine. No one shall have them.
Anyways, I finished watching this sometime last month but never got around doing a review on this for various reasons. This anime, Love Live!: School Idol Project tells the story of a group of students who formed a School Idol Group, as they try to make it to the famous Idol competition, Love Live, in order for their school to gain recognition to attract new students the next year so as to prevent their school from closing down.
The School Idol Group started off with only three childhood friends, on the whim of the group leader, Honoka.
From left to right: Sonoda Umi, Kosaka Honoka, Minami Kotori
However, the Student Council opposed this idea and sought to disband the group. Well, mostly the Student Council Prez, Eri. (Btw, she's half Russian)
Ayase Eri
Toko Nozomi - Vice Prez
Nonetheless, the three of them decides to go ahead with being school idols, with the approval from the school's chairman. They only had limited time before their first concert and got their idol name, μ's and decided to use it. Their first live song is "Start: Dash!!"; however, things don't go as planned as nobody showed up. The auditorium was empty, save for a senior - Niko, who hides herself behind the chairs, and later on Hanayo and Rin who runs in to see the live. Despite this, the trio decided to continue with their concert.
This anime tells the story of how the trio gets more members - 9 in total including the trio, the challenges they face, the fun, happy times they share and how hard they work, setting "Love Live" as their goal.
Hanayo, Rin and Maki joined soon after, followed by Niko, and finally, Eri and Nozomi
From left to right: Hoshizora Rin, Nishikino Maki, Koizumi Hanayo
Yazawa Niko
My Thoughts
What I liked about this anime is the realistic side high school, and how people don't become idols so easily. Being an idol here wasn't depicted as something that can be easily obtain but rather, it comes through hard work and determination. Honoka, Umi and Kotori's first live concert didn't draw anyone in at first even though they advertised, gave out flyers and put of posters and all. But no one came, save for two or three. Despite this, they never did give up and persevered on, with the aim of trying to save the school from being closed down.
The way they searched for new members, or rather, how they got their members was sort of expected but still fun to watch, especially when you have Eri and Nozomi in there. I liked how each of their personalities are varied and different - you have the easily embarrassed one (Umi), the upbeat and cheerful one (Honoka), the tsundere (Maki), the super shy and soft one (Hanayo), the wise one (Nozomi), the one who never faces her real feelings and would often neglect them for the sake of others (Eri) and etc. When all these people come together, you get a very interesting bunch working together towards a common goal.
Umi having stage fright
Hahaha Rin, What on earth are you doing?
Each character is not without their own flaws and this is also explored later on in the series. Tension starts to rise in the group, especially within the three childhood friends.
Kotori's outburst towards Honoka
The climax and the peak of the story:
When Honoka faints during their rooftop live and the events that happen soon after (including the fight with Kotori):
Honoka faints after rooftop live of "No brand girls"
Honoka' decision, feeling that it was her fault that μ's dropped out of the top 20 School Idol Groups qualified for Love Live since the concert that determines their final rankings is cancelleddue to her fainting.
I think this few episodes were awesomely portrayed and executed, showing how fragile human beings are, their emotions and all, as well as how little things could change a person. In this case, Umi gives Honoka a big fat slap across her face after she said that she's quitting.
Drama and more drama. I love dramas.
Anyways, though i expected some sort of drama like this near the end of the anime, i wasn't let down by what i saw. And as per all "break-ups", there's always a "make-up". Though it happens at the very last minute as Honoka chases Kotori all the way to the Airport to get her back to school, when Honoka decides to return to μ's after some (tough) convincing by the group, just in time for their next school live. And this time, to wrap up the whole series, the song that the 9 of them sang is the same song that Umi, Kotori and Honoka sang for their first live - Start: Dash!! And this time, the auditorium is packed with people.
Music
In my opinion, I think that their music's quite good, their voices/seiyuus were rather good in singing though I prefer Umi's, Maki's, Honoka's and Eri's singing. Kotori's singing is fine, perhaps a little to cutesy for me - but still good nonetheless- and (I'm sorry Niko fans) I don't particularly like Niko's singing voice. It feels like there is a bit of dragging in her singing... Hanayo's, Rin's and Nozomi's singing are fine though.
I appreciate the 3D effect of them when they sing and dance but it feels too 3D-ish, to me anyway. Well, I'll get used to it :) Their dance movements are unique since it's hard to choreograph dance moves for nine people with different strengths and weakness and thanks to Kotori (choreographer) and Umi ("Trainer") and Eri (Later episodes), they managed to pull off wonderful dances, uniquely to them.
Speaking of Umi being the "Trainer", she's a demon. Since she's already fit from kyūdō (the club she's in), she takes charge of training the others into getting them into shape which includes running up and down xxx times the stairs near the temple which Nozomi works in and practising the dance moves to death.
Overall
I really liked this anime and to anyone out there who's looking out for comedy or music genre of an anime, you might wanna consider this. ;) I've said that before and i'll reiterate it again. Umi and Maki are mine.
Btw, did i mention that the 9 characters here were actual idols that was adapted into an anime in accordance to the fans' choice in each characters' future?
Umi when she gets woken up by Honoka and gang's pillow fight in the dead of the night
Maki getting popular~ They totally should have a Maki fan club or something.
Harsh training. Looks like Umi isn't the only demon trainer.
They've released five singles and are all available on Youtube :3 "μ's isn't μ's unless there's nine members." ---- Eri to Nozomi
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Watching 7 episodes in a row of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru made me think about human beings in general. What makes us human? The fact that we are all selfish, self-centered? The fact that we have emotions? The fact that we have desires and wants? The fact that we have compassion? What are human beings really like? Are we really just animals who think highly of ourselves? That we are above animals and savages just because we are living in a 'civilised' society?
When we say that we care for someone, do we really care for them? What is caring anyway? Concern and worry for a certain someone? Are we actually just deluding ourselves into thinking that we are caring for someone?
Is someone really your friend? They may outwardly be friendly with you but inwardly, they hate you to the core. And you wouldn't know. Appearances are deceiving.
In my opinion, people are just keeping up facades and farces. Whatever we do is a pretence.
"I am not that I play."
I'm inclined to agree with that, quoting from Viola, from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Wherever we go or do, we are not ourselves. In front of different people, we act differently. We are deluding ourselves by saying, "Oh, i'm only myself when i'm at home/with you." That's utter bull. There is always a level of pretence. I realised that we tend to exaggerate stuff as well, or add spice and toppings to the actual story. We put words into people's mouth as well.
By the way, I'm stereo-typing here. Let's say there's a group of friends. In that group, there would always be a central figure, the one everyone loves or likes. The charismatic ones. There would also be the follower who has a weak personality who can't say no to the group's 'self-appointed leader' . There would also be the "kind" one and "blonde" or "bimbo", or rather, the one who likes to attract attention and has everyone at her beck and call and etc.
Yahari ore no seishun love come wa machigatteiru
I'm sure many would disagree with me but this is just an example. There is a hierarchical organisation in the group. When the link, or rather, the charismatic one in the group is gone, the whole group kinda splits. The blonde guy with the cool hairstyle in the middle, that's Hayato. He's the outgoing one, the one everybody loves. When he's gone, the rest of the guys in the group don't really talk to each other. The people in the group are all friends of Hayato but they are just "friends of a friend" to one another. They seem to get along well together in a big group but once the central figure, Hayato is gone, poof, the rest of the guys are suddenly not 'best friends' anymore.
Hypocrites. You tell someone not to gossip behind other people's backs because it isn't right. But the next moment, you'd find yourself gossiping, whether intentional or not. It's human nature. You can't not talk about others behind their backs, whether your'e criticising them or not.
That got me thinking, what are friends anyway? What do you do to have friends? Who really are your friends? Just integrate yourself into a clique or a group and pretend who you really aren't so that you have someone to hang out with or so that you wouldn't seem like a loner? Or would you just 'be yourself' and mostly ended up being alone as you assert your own individuality.
Humans are superficial creatures. That's what i feel anyway. People are often not honest with one another, not wanting to hurt a certain person so that they wouldn't hate you. Saying things they don't mean. Talking and criticising others behind their backs. Pretend to be supportive of others, to care for others just for the sake of it or because everyone is doing it. And there's nothing we can actually do about it. Most of us do not take the extra step. We go on with our lives, going with the flow of the modern society.
In GP class, my teacher once mentioned about the gender equality and discrimination of females in the less developed countries. She showed us images, and told us stories. Oh, they were gruesome and cruel to the core. But what she mentioned got me thinking: "But what can we actually do?" Nothing. We can't do anything about it. We would watch news on the television about horrible things that happen in the world, and we get sad or depressed about it for a while, and the next few days, we would forget about it and do nothing about it.. That's how life works.
Let's say, there's someone in your class who's loved one just passed away. At everyone in the beginning would pity him or her just because of his or her situation -- It's like "Oh, that's so sad." and everyone would go "I'm sorry for your loss". That's all we can do to help. There's nothing much we, especially outsiders, can do to help alleviate the sorrow of that classmate. Furthermore, not everyone understands the sorrow that classmates experience and some don't even feel sorry at all since it has nothing to do with them but still says "sorry" as though they mean it. I mean, if you don't mean it, please don't say you're "sorry". Other close friends who want to do something are at loss as to what he or she can do. Haiz. You'd worry over whether you're friend would appreciate it, whether your friend wants to be left alone or be comforted by you.
In Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru, two of the protagonist are cynics. They are pragmatic to death, and usually don't get along with people.
Hi there, i was just thinking about how cool it would be if my reviews actually did attract people to watch'em but well i guess that's just wishful thinking. You know what they say, "In your dreams!" I mean, of all the anime that i'm watching right now, my number favourite (on-going anime) is still To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and i'll attribute it to the setting, the plot (the sisters arc) as well as the characters. I mean, who wouldn't love Misaka Mikoto? The level 5 Railgun, the Electro Princess, the Ace of Tokiwadai Middle School.
Shingeki no Kyojin might have been a little gory or bloody but still, it's the second on my list for now on par with Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru - A slice of life, social, psychological and romance anime.
Fairy Tail and One Piece are my all-time favourites, and i'm currently up-to-date with the chapters of the manga which is also on-going but i've stopped reading One Piece just a while ago, waiting for the latest arc to finish before reading it so that i wouldn't be too confused by the scenes and story plot.
Anyways, i just wanted to share the opening themes of the on-going anime that i'm currently watching every week. Well most of them anyway. Except i'm a bit behind on One Piece (10 episodes) , Red Data Girl (4 episodes) and Fairy Tail is (sadly) on hiatus till the re-run of "Fairy Tail best" ends.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S. It's a side-story of To Aru Majustsu no Index, with Misaka Mikoto, dubbed "The Railgun", as the main character, about her life in the Academic City, where 80% of the population is students, measured from level 0 to level 5 in terms of their esper abilities. This season takes you to the "Sisters Arc" whereby Misaka deals with finding out that there is a mysterious and hidden project involving the use of her clones.
Shingeki no Kyojin, aka Attack on Titan. This shows the story of a boy, Eren Yaeger and his friend and adopted sister, who enlists in the military to defeat the Titans, driven by vengeance as they discover the truth and mysteries surrounding the Titans who invaded the cities and villages.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru aka My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. A cynical but beautiful and smart girl, Yukinoshita Yukino is the leader of the Service Club and Hikigaya Hachiman is another cynical boy who is a loner, and is forced to join the club by his teacher. Both are similar yet different. Pragmatic to fault, both of them are often alone, not that they minded. Throw in a girl - Yuigahama Yui - who's cheerful and outgoing but with a weak personality and see what happens.
Red Data Girl. Suzuhara Izumiko is a vessel for a Shinto spirit known as kami, and Sagara Miyuki is a Yamabushi, tasked with protecting her. Both transferred to the same high school as per Izumiko's father's order and their supernatural story begins.
Fairy Tail. Lucy Heartfilia joins Fairy Tail Guild, invited by Natsu Dragoneel. Full of magic, action, adventure, comedy and fantasy, Fairy Tail takes you onto a whole new level of what friendship, comrades are as they take on a variety of jobs, alongside their friends and at the same time, dealing with their own pasts.
I've been anticipating this episode FOR DAYS since we get to see Misaka's fight against Accelerator.
Basically, this episode shows the epic fight between Misaka and Accelerator. And unfortunately, as well all know, whether from the manga or the index anime, that Misaka lost to him. It is to be expected since Accelerator's the strongest Level 5 while Misaka's the third strongest. Their powers can't be compared. On top of that, Accelerator has a bad-shit personality. Anyways, the episode goes on to show one of the Misaka clone's interaction with the high-school scientist who partook in the Level 6 Shift project but ultimately quitted after she realised that those clones are in fact more humane than they are. Misaka spent the night outside feeling depressed and that made Kuroko and gang worried about her but she returned to the dorm the next morning. The episode ends off with her resolving and determined to "clean up the mess" that she created by giving the doctor her DNA map when she was a little kid.
My Thoughts
This episode is touching, and it breaks my heart to see Misaka struggling with her feelings and anger of her clone being killed brutally by Accelerator. She goes nuts, screaming and all, charging towards Accelerator in madness and in extreme anger - her eyes were wild and crazy - and even used her ultimate weapon, the Railgun, only to find out that she could not even land a single hit on him.
What hits me the most was when Misaka saw her clone's leg that was ripped off and the pool of blood under the debris of what's left of her clone. She grabs her own arm, as if in pain as she discharged powerful electricity at Accelerator. She collapsed in defeat, more of an emotional collapse, when the rest of the clones (dubbed as 'sisters') stopped him since if he were to kill the original Misaka now, the experiment will be affected.
Misaka struggles with the guilt of causing all this "mess", feeling that it was her fault for the birth of the sisters whose sole purpose was to be killed by Accelerator. And as usual, she puts up a brave front in front of her friends. Her facade didn't last long as you could see that she wasn't in the right state of mind especially when Saten asked where she went the previous night and Uiharu asking about the code that Misaka asked her about the previous night. Misaka, of course, didn't tell them the truth, instead crafted something up but when Uiharu asked her about the code, you could see that she was deeply affected by yesterday's events as images of her clones, the ripped off bloody legs, Accelerator's mad face flashed across her mind. Saten, knowing that something was up but didn't want to force Misaka, suggested that they go to the arcade so that she could have another match with Misaka. I liked how Saten and the others gave her the space she needed and how they were so concerned about her when she saw her distraught look. Such wonderful friends they are~
Anyways, Touma has yet to make his official appearance in the show but i think we'll get to see him soon. Maybe two or three episode later. I'll be waiting patiently for that day.
On another note, i feel a little sorry for Kuroko. Even though she's obsessed with Misaka, (her "Onee-sama". And yes, she swings the other way though Misaka always electrocute her when she tries to *coughs* do something *coughs* inappropriate *coughs* to Misaka.) she really deeply cares for her as her best-friend. She's worried sick about her but didn't probe further when Misaka refused to tell her the truth. I believe that Kuroko really wants to know what's going on but didn't want to force her Onee-sama in telling the story and would rather wait passively until she decided to tell her. Kuroko's often a character that's deemed, "disgusting", "weird", "obsessive", "funny", but even though she's the comic character of the series, with Misaka electrocuting her and all, she's a kind and caring person who would do anything for Misaka.
Misaka's character is such that she takes everything upon herself, not wanting to rely on people and also not wanting to burden them with her personal issues. She feels that the whole "Level 6 Shift" project was her fault and seemed determined to bring it all to an end, further edged on by the nightmare she had of the bloodied clones blaming her. She knows that she has friends she can count on but she doesn't like to involve her friends in her personal problems. Though i wished that she could've at least told Kuroko, since she's the closest to her.
The episode
This episode shows the cruel side of a place we call reality. Reality is harsh; it smacks right back into your face. Misaka is experiencing an emotional crisis and she has to learn to trust her friends and to rely more on people to solve certain problems that couldn't be solved by oneself. Misaka is a well-sheltered girl and such an experience would of course, traumatise her as she learns of what reality is actually like - not all fluff and pink. Character development would be expected of Misaka as her mindset changes, making her more mature than girls her age, and that is what makes this particular episode or rather, anime a good one to watch - besides all the action and comedy of the 'science world'.
Some scenes from this Episode:
The first Misaka clone that (the actual) Misaka sees and talks to
I watched this particular movie last year in AFA in Expo Singapore in November. Like a die-hard fan i was, i purchased the stage access tickets just to watch this particular movie. Wait, that was a lie. I also saw several seiyuus like Toyosaki Aki...and i can't remember the rest. .__. with Danny Choo as the MC (and another woman who's name i can't remember at the moment) And oh, Loki's seiyuu made an appearance once he heard that the Fairy Tail movie is showing up-next.
Anyways, presenting to you, Fairy Tail the Movie: The Phoenix Priestess.
Gist of the movie
Members of the Fairy Tail Guild - Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy and Charles went on a job to catch a thief but due to a mistake on Lucy's part, he escaped. Dejected and guilty, Lucy went home after the gang travelled back to Magnolia. On the way home, she passed by an amnesiac girl who fainted right afterwards. Thus, Lucy brought her back to the Guild.
This story revolves around trying to gather and remember the amnesiac girl's forgotten memories which seemed really important as the Guild once again gets into trouble with another Guild, Carbuncle, who kidnaps the girl as part of a sacrifice to revive a Phoenix. The gang then chased after her, trying to save her and in the midst, saved the world as well.
Meet the Gang:
Natsu Dragneel. A Fire Dragon Slayer in search for his foster father - Igneel, a Fire Dragon who disappeared 7 years ago. Carefree and reckless in nature, he is fiercely loyal and protective of his comrades and friends, and would usually solve problems by charging head-on rashly. He's always seen with his partner, Happy, the blue cat. (who flies)
Did I mention that he has a serious case of motion-sickness?
Lucy Heartfilia. A Celestial Spirit Mage in Natsu's team. She is the daughter of the wealthy and influential Heartifillia family but ran away from home prior to the series due to her estranged relationship with her father and the death of her mother. She's a smart, kind and caring person and one of the few Celestial Spirit Mage that actually genuinely cares for her Spirits, treating them as her friends instead of a tool for battle.
Eclair. She carries a mysterious stone named "Phoenix Stone", which plays an important role in this movie. She was a priestess from the Fire Village and she's often seen with her bird-like (or flying squirrel) friend, Momon.
Gray Fullbuster. He's an Ice Mage, using ice-make magic. He has a laid-back personality but will get serious when called for. He has a friendly rivalry with Natsu and would often get into a physical and verbal fight with each other, only to be stopped (unfortunately) by Erza. He was rather obstinate and reckless when he was young but now, he's more serious and deals with problem carefully. He is very loyal to his comrades and would not allow anyone to harm his comrades.
Also, he has this habit of unconsciously removing his shirt...
Erza Scarlet. Dubbed "The Fairy Queen, Titania", she's an S-Class Mage who uses Requip Magic. She is a very (very) strict person and most of the Guild members are afraid of her (initially), for fear of invoking her wrath. She has a great sense of justice and pride in being a member of Fairy Tail and . Her tragic childhood was one of the reasons why she was always alone when she was younger. According to Lucy, she's a "cool and beautiful, warm and full of passion". She fights to protect her friends and those she loves, even at the expense of her own body, battered and injured.
Isn't she cute? :3
Wendy Marvell. She's a young Sky Dragon Slayer, formally from Cait Shelter Guild and officially joined Fairy Tail after the events surrounding Nirvana. She is a very shy person who's polite. She's accompanied by her companion, Carla/Charles. (a flying white cat) She cares greatly for her guild members and becomes more confident and brave as time passes. She tries to help whenever she can and she doesn't enjoy fighting but if it's for the sake of the Guild or her friends, she would fight without hesitation.
My Thoughts
To be honest, i was expecting alot from this movie as Mashima Hiro, the author of the manga had a part in the movie. And i wasn't let down. The movie was smooth and awesome, with the elements of humour/comedy, sadness, and heart-warming scenes. I suppose since it's the movie, that they had to keep the fight scenes short but i really enjoyed the fight scenes. It's not everyday you get to see Natsu being flung around and losing to his opponent twice/thrice in a row. Not to mention Erza buying a wedding dress and fighting in it.
The first part of the movie was humorous, as the movie introduces the main characters one by one as they fight the villains, each using their own methods and magic to fight off the crooks. You'd see Happy being burnt and iced and then blown away by Natsu, Gray and Wendy respectively. Wait. Did Erza tried to cut him as well...? Never mind that. The point is, the movie effectively shows us the main characters and the type of person and magic they are and have in just a few minutes alongside interesting and funny fight scenes.
The drama starts when Eclair entered the scene, with Lucy being the one closest to her though Eclair was cold to her at first. Both of them became good friends as they shared an emotional hug, both understanding each other's feelings and emotions with Lucy promising to protect her. But things starts to go nuts when Eclair got kidnapped.
I won't spoil the story for you guys so let's just say that the ending was rather unlike Mashima's style. I mean, we all know that he has a thing for awesome tragic characters but this was rather unexpected. To me, that is. It was very emotional at the end of the movie with Lucy and Eclair, and i loved it. The voice actors did an awesome job in their respective roles that it captured my heart and emotions right from the start of the movie. Hell, the movie trailer caught my eye the first time i set my eyes on it. And finally, the famous scene with Lucy crying painfully in Natsu's arms that made NaLu fans scream and jump appeared.
This is the manga version of the scene that Mashima drew.
Finally...
I wish Lucy had more action time. She doesn't fight much in this movie though a few of her Spirits made a number of appearances. I mean, i want to see her FIGHT, protecting Eclair.
In any case, I really really like this movie. Like alot. I'd whole heartedly recommend this to anyone out there who's looking for something to watch, to cry about, to laugh about and etc. To Fairy Tail fans out there or to those peeps who've watched the anime or read the manga, do watch it even if you haven't finished the manga/anime. There might be spoilers depending on where you're up till in the series since this movie takes place after the time skip. Yes, i just realised that i've spoiled part of the series. (Sorry about that.)
Some scenes from the movie... (SPOILER ALERT)
"Somebody save me!"
OMG OMG OMG ERZA'S BLUSHING FACE
Trailer/PV:
My Favourite Quotes from each characters:
"We'll stop it, even if my body crumbles to bits, I'll stop it with my soul!" - Natsu to Pantherlily
"Erza was crying, her voice was shaking, and she was giving up. I don't want to see Erza like that. Erza should always be strong and courageous, that's why...I'LL FIGHT!!!" - Natsu to Jellal
"It's not a sin! Caring for your friends feelings is not a sin! If you disappear, then Aries, myself, and everyone here will be filled with sadness! You won't be repenting your sin that way!" - Lucy to Loki
"What I want isn't money, pretty dresses, or fortune forced upon me. I'm not Lucky Lucy of Heartfilia anymore! Fairy Tail recognises me as just Lucy and my other family, it's a far more loving family than this!" - Lucy to her father (Jude)
"I'll do what i want till the end. Cut me down if you want." - Gray to Erza
"Sorry, but it doesn't matter if you're a woman or even a child. I don't go easy on anybody who hurts my comrades." - Gray to Juvia
"This life was entrusted to me by Simon...by grandpa Rob...and my comrades...Relinquishing my life so easily would be a slap in the face to all of them." - Erza to Kagura
"We don't die for our friends, we live for our friends." - Erza
"There's nothing about combat that i enjoy. However, for the sake of my Guild, I must toss that ambivalent feelings aside...and fight with my might!" - Wendy to Chelia
"Juvia lives for the ones that she love! You've got to as well. If you have love in your life, then you must keep on living!" - Juvia to Meredy
"When people realise how lonely it is being on their own, they will become kind." - Mirajane to Freed
"Everyone exists for a reason, as small as it can be...i'm sure you have a meaning too." - Mirajane to Yukino
"Erza...Freedom is not a thing that exists in the world." - Jellal to Erza
"It's your words that give me courage. It became my light that would guide me towards the right path again." - Jellal
