Fairy Tail S2 - 04

Episode four continued the plan of the two teams in the rescue Lucy mission. Switching between the two teams progression throughout the episode. Gray faced his opponent Rufus from the Sabertooth in a very interesting match and Lucy and Mira pilled on the fan service in the sprit of Fairy Tail.

 

After getting his ass handed to him in the first fight. Gray makes the brave decision of face off against Rufus again in order to redeem his pride as a wizard and himself. Rufus posses a very unique type of magic called Memory Magic. This allows the user to memorise magic and then use it either exactly the way it was memorised, or with a different ‘interpretation’. Meaning that it can mix different magic powers together. Another feature of this magic is the power to make the user ‘forget’ magic that they are using. Keep in mind this only temporarily makes the user forget their magic so that they cannot use that move or magic style for a while.

Gray initially has a hard time against this very strong magic that renders most of him attacks useless. As he uses a moulding magic the speed of memorisation of Memory Magic is increased due to its simplistic nature. After taking quite a lot of damage Gray realises the flaw in Memory Magic is the time it takes to memorise attacks individually. Gray uses his experience at crafting to bombard Rufus with so many attacks that he becomes overwhelmed with it. Rufus uses fire magic to quickly fend off Gray and allow him to rethink the situation. Unfortunately Gray has obviously become very resistant to training with Natsu’s flames and it subsequently has little effect on him. At that moment he uses his finishing attack Ice Bringer to quickly end the battle. This is one of my personal favourite battles as it shows the intelligent side of Gray’s fighting style as well as his perseverance. I personally would have liked to have seen some narrative on Gray’s behalf. Having Gray brake down and trying to understand the strengths of weakness of his attacks in his head would have made for a much more interesting fight, instead of the simplistic commentary that comes from the Fairy Tail team.

 

I noticed some significant character development from Juvia of all people. Even after seeing Gray seemly injured and on the losing end of the battle she resists the temptation to assist him. Powers on with her mission and believes that he will turn things around on his own. This may not sound all that big on first glace but once you break it down it becomes much more significant. Juvia and Gray are immensely powerful when fighting together and would have made quick work of Rufus due to the overwhelming power. She was also close enough to Gray to not interrupt her mission to heavily if she chose to assist him. One of the negatives of Juvia’s character was the constant GRAY-SAMA!!! that seemed to be the only thing she spoke and really dominated her character to much. This development showed both her genuine belief in Gray and her ability to prioritize. Despite appearances Juvia is actually a very intelligent person. Even when under threat, she is one of the best strategists in Fairy Tail considering all the factors of her situation in her actions. I really hope we see more of this side of Juvia in future episodes as she is a character with great potential.

 

The second half of this episode was far less progressive. It was more about fanservice than any real progression, which is most likely why it only took up 5 minutes of the episode. Happy and Natsu suggest that both the girls should pose in their swimwear in an effort to lure out the guards which untimely fails. I expected this pervyness from Happy but not Natsu, the guy normally has about as much sex drive as a limbless panda but it still made for some good laughs. Although rather pointless, the fanservice did a good job of breaking up the Gray vs Rufus fight with some laughs making it a well rounded episode.

At the end of the episode we see something that resembles a surveillance plant, suggesting something or someone is down there with them. Considering the previews, I think it will be likely the Team Natsu will fight a group in the dungeons next episode.

I give this episode an 8 out of 10 thanks to its casual enjoyably with a little bit of everything.

- PandaSlayer