Fairy Tail Part 13 (UK Rating: 12)
After the big reveal of the reborn Oracion Seis in the previous volume, the truth of the power of the Infinity Clock has been revealed. Oracion Seis has taken Lucy and is using her body to release the Clock’s dark magic, a spell called Real Nightmare, a spell that controls the perception of time of anyone affected and can leave them permanently stuck in a living nightmare. This latest collection, Fairy Tail Part 13, contains episodes 143 to 153 and comes courtesy of Funimation via Anime Limited and is out now.
The Infinity Clock / Key to the Starry Skies has taken a long path from its beginning where Lucy was left a memento from her father from a long lost relative to this battle that could result in the end of the world. The conclusion to the story here has plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting right up until the finale, including the truth behind Michelle. It’s ironic that the, frankly, stupid actions of the Fairy Tail guild all contributed to the plan of Oracion Seis – they practically delivered the clock to them. As a result of this, the Legion Platoon was placed in an antagonistic role against Fairy Tail, despite being hardly evil itself. Both guilds had now united in their battle to stop Oracion Seis; however, now as the hands of the clock begin to move, that uneasy alliance is on shaky ground as the Legion Platoon wants to destroy the clock with Lucy in it.
This finale to the story may be filler but has all of the elements that make Fairy Tail so loved. There are tons of magical battles between tons of mages, each with their own unique magic abilities and spells, and there are some particularly fantastic fights in this collection. There is plenty of the series’ signature humour that falls somewhere between Naruto and Pokmon, with slightly too many childish gags and some horribly unfunny gags that just won’t stop The butt jiggle gang are still here for goodness’ sake There are also some very surprising emotional punches at the close of the arc.
After the finale of The Infinity Clock arc, a brand new arc begins in this collection, consisting of the final three episodes. This is a massive and fantastic arc that will easily take up at least the next five volumes! Harking back to the classic Shonen series, martial arts/combat tournaments have long been a cornerstone part of a series like this. Fairy Tail does it right; this is by far one of the best arcs in the whole story and something to be very excited about. This initial glimpse into that arc just sets the groundwork and sees the characters getting ready and beginning training. They have been gone seven years after all and now have fallen behind the other wizards of the world. With the guild going from the strongest to the weakest, they have some big challengers waiting, including both new characters and returning faces from their history.
This release comes with both Japanese and English dub choices. The English dub has always been hit and miss; there are some great VAs here but there’s often deliveries that end up feeling flat or lacking in emotion – the Japanese is superior. There are also the usual extras that will be familiar to anyone who has seen any of the previous collections; there are episode commentaries with various members of the cast and also a video dedicated to some silly skits between the actors, along with clean openings/closings and trailers for various other series.
