Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Fairy Tail Vol. 5 (2011-2012)

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“Fairy Tail – Collection Five” is fantastic in the sense that FUNimation is now releasing these huge sets for fans to catch up with the series. And with 24-episodes on four Blu-ray and DVD’s, these collections are definitely worth buying! If you are looking for a long-running adventure/action-packed anime series on Blu-ray, definitely give “Fairy Tail” a try. Recommended!

TITLE: Fairy Tail – Collection Five

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2011-2012

DURATION: (Episodes 97-120) 600 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English DolbyTrue HD 5.1, Japanese DolbyTrue HD 2.0, English subtitles

COMPANY: FUNimation

Release Date: November 3, 2015

Originally created by Hiro Mashima

Directed by Shinji Ishihara

Script by Atsuhiro Tomikoa, Fumihiko Shimo, Masashi Sogo, Shoji Yonemura

Music by Yasuharu Takanashi

Character Design by Aoi Yamamoto

Art Director: Junko Shimizu

Chief Animation Director: Takao Sano

Anime Production: A-1 Pictures, Satelight

Featuring the following voice talent:

Aya Hirano/Cherami Leigh as Lucy Heartfilia

Tetsuya Kakihara/Todd Haberkorn as Natsu Dragneel

Rie Kugimiya/Tia Ballard as Happy

Sayaka Ohara/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Erza Scarlet

YÅ«ichi Nakamura/Newton Pittman as Gray Fullbuster

Shinichi Kotani/R. Bruce Elliot as Makarov

Akira Ishida as Zeref

Daisuke Kishio/Eric Vale as Loki/Loke

Daisuke Namikawa as Jeral/Mystogan

Eri Kitamura/Jamie Marchi as Kana Alberona

Hiroki Touchi as Pantherlily

Hiroki Yasumoto as Elfman

Kazuhiko Inoue as Gildarts Clive

Mai Nakahara as Juvia Loxar

Mariya Ise as Levi Macgarden

Miyuki Sawashiro/Lydia Mackay as Ultear Milkovich

Ryoko Ono/Monica Rial as Mirajane

Satomi Satou as Wendy

Sayaka Narita as Aries

Wataru Hatano as Gajeel Redfox

Yui Horie as Charle

The most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail travel to a remote island rich in magic – and history. There, they compete against one another to see who among them deserves to be given the title of “S-Class.” But where these wizards go, chaos is sure to follow. Their trials are interrupted when the most powerful of the dark guilds – Grimoire Heart – shows up in search of a legendary wielder of black magic. Once they find him, they’ll use his skills to bring death to every corner of the world.

If Fairy Tail has any hope of defeating their diabolical opponents, they’re going to have to combine all their powers and work together like never before. But as curses start to fly between wizards, the real danger might come from Zeref, an infamous dealer of death whose devilish plans for the future could bring an end to this golden age of magic.

The third season of “Fairy Tail” begins as Natsu and the Fairy Tail guild prepare for their S-Class examination on Sirius Island but while preparing for their test, the dark guild known as Grimoire Heart leads an assault against Fairy Tail.

Will Natsu and the others survive this latest battle?

Find out in Collection Five of “Fairy Tail” (episodes 97-120) available now on Blu-ray + DVD from FUNimation.

What is “Fairy Tail”?

For those who are not familiar with “Fairy Tail”, let’s just say that it’s one of the most exciting, long running anime magic/adventure series to be released in the U.S. on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

In Japan, “Fairy Tail” is a manga series which began in 2006 and was created by mangaka Hiro Mashima (known for his manga series “Rave Master”). Featured in Weekly Shonen Magazine, the manga series is still ongoing, meanwhile an anime adaptation of the manga series was created in 2009 produced by A-Pictures and Satelight. And similar to the manga series, is also ongoing!

The anime series is directed by Shinji Ishihara (“Aoi Kokuhaku”, “Tenbatsu Angel Rabbie”, “Tokyo Majin” and is written by Masashi Sogo (“Bleach”, “Yukikaze”, “Hunter x Hunter”). The anime series features character design by Aoi Yamamoto, art direction by Junko Shimizu (“Midori Days, “Blue Dragon”, “Trinity Blood”) and music by Yasuharu Takanashi (“Naruto Shippuden”, “Hell Girl”, “Gantz”, Ikki Tosen”).

A Quick Summary of what has taken place in “Fairy Tail” thus far:

“Fairy Tail” revolves around a 17-year-old celestial wizard named Lucy Heartfilia who dreams of joining a sorcerer guild known as Fairy Tail, a group known and feared for the destruction they cause. One day, she runs into Natsu Dragneel, a guy who is traveling to the land of Fiore along with his partner Happy (a talking blue cat with wings) who is searching for his foster parent, a dragon named Igneel who has disappeared.

While traveling to Fiore, both Lucy and Natsu encounter a sorcerer claiming to be the famous Salamander of Fairy Tail. Natsu is the first to object that the man is a phony but the fans of Salamander are dismayed by Natsu’s comments and beat him up, meanwhile Lucy finds out that this fake Salamander is using his sorcerer abilities to make young women fall for him.

As Lucy tries to show her gratitude to Natsu for breaking the spell that would have otherwise have hypnotized Lucy, the two become friends.

But when the fake Salamander tells Lucy that he would get her into Fairy Tail, she knows he is a fake but any chance of getting to join the guild would make her dream come true, so she decides to visit him.

But it’s all a ruse and the fake Salamander is just trying to find female slaves and because he is so powerful, Lucy does not have the magic necessary to beat him. But coming to Lucy’s rescue is Natsu, who is revealed to be a true member of Fairy Tail and also revealed to be the true “Salamander”. And he easily beats the fake Salamander up.

When Natsu discovers that Lucy’s dream is to become a Fairy Tail member, he asks her to join him and he can help her get into the guild and from that moment on, Lucy becomes Natsu’s partner in various Fairy Tail guild missions and for each mission they beat, the more income they make.

And more money means more keys to gain more powers, which would help Lucy become a powerful celestial wizard!

As the Fairy Tail group have bonded as guild members and friends, there is a little tension in the air once again as the S-Class Annual Exam is coming up and many want to become S-Class wizards.

Those who will be tested are Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Cana, Freed, Levy and a person named Mest. As they will need partners, Natsu partners with Happy, Gray with oke, Juvia with Lisanna, Elfman with Evergreen, Freed with Bickslow, Levy with Gajeel and Mest with Windy.

As for Cana, she tells Lucy that if she is unable to pass the S-Class Annual Exam, she will leave Fairy Tail, as it is her fifth time taking the test.

Meanwhile, as the group prepare for their challenges for their S-Class Annual Exam, taking on each other, Natsu confronts a mysterious, sad individual in black.

And the Fairy Tail Guild are attacked by a dark guild known as Grimoire Heart.

Who is Grimoire Heart and why have they led an assault on the Fairy Tail guild?

“Fairy Tail” Collection Five features the following characters:

Natsu Dragneel – Also known as “Salamander”, Natsu is a kindhearted, always hungry wizard who travels with his partner Happy in search of Igneel, a dragon who raised Natsu but is now missing. Natsu is a dragon slayer and a wizard who can perform “Lost Magic and can have physical properties of a dragon. He specializes in Fire Dragon Slayer Magic which allows him to breath fire and ingest fire as a form of nourishment. He is also gifted with other powers not yet revealed in the first volume of “Fairy Tail”.
Lucy Heartfilia – A celestial wizard who can summon contracted spirits (with special abilities) through a set of keys known as Gatekeys. She treats these spirits as friends. Her dream is to join Fairy Tail and through meeting Natsu, now her dream can come true.
Happy – A blue cat with wings and a best friend to Natsu. He can fly and can carry a person while flying. He is also known to irritate Lucy.
Gray Fullbuster – A powerful wizard of Fairy Tail and the opposite of Natsu, in that he has control of ice. Gray has the power of Ice Make which can make him create weapons or anything out of ice. He was raised by the wizard Ur. He also has a bad habit of taking of all his clothes without realizing it.
Erza Scarlet – An S-Class wizard (high-ranked) and is the most powerful member of the Fairy Tail guild. She has magic known as “The Knight” which allows her to summon and equip weapons and armor and also has the ability to resist magic attacks. She is feared by others because of her lack of compassion.
Mirajane – A 19-year-old S-Class wizard who is the cover girl of Sorcerer’s Weekly magazine and helps Lucy understand what is happening with the members of the Fairy Tail guild. She has the ability to change her appearance to something she previously encountered.
Cana Alberona – A short-tempered heaving drinking woman. She uses card magic to cast her spells.
Elfman – Mirajane’s younger brother who is known for his physical strength. He can absorb the power of any monster he defeats.
Loke – A flirtatious wizard who is often seen in the company of many women.
Makarov Dreyer – The elder master of Fairy Tail. He is constantly busy because of his guild members becoming too violent.
Juvia Lockser – Originally a member of the Phantom Lord Guild and now a member of Fairy Tail and is obsessed with Gray. She becomes great friends of Lucy but also her rival (thinking that Lucy is interested in Gray).
Gajeel Redfox – Originally a member of the Phantom Lord Guild, Gajeel is similar to Natsu in the fact that he is a Dragon Slayer raised by the dragon Metalicana. He can transform his body into metal weapons.
Jellal Fernandes – A former child slave that grew up with Erza Scarlet. Thought to be dead, he is found by Oracion Seis and revived by Wendy Marvell and is being used to find the destructive spell known as Nirvana.
Wendy Marvell – A female Dragon Slayer who is accompanied by her Exceed partner Carla. A master of Sky Dragon Slayer magic, she can heal injuries. She becomes an ally of Fairy Tail.

VIDEO:

“Fairy Tail” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1). It’s important to note that this is a anime TV series, not a film or an OVA and is a weekly anime series. What that means is A-1 Pictures and Satelight, have their hands full, especially if they have other TV series to work on that week. Typically a lot of anime series are quickly done in order to make it by their weekly deadline and sometimes, they are done the day of deadline. So, production values for TV series are typically not that high if they are working on multiple series.

Fortunately A-1 Pictures has become one of the newer studios that have been doing production for quite a number of popular hit series such as “Blue Exorcist” and “Big Windup!” and Satelight does a lot of the in-between animation. So, while they are a smaller, growing company, they are not overburdened as other studios and that means, more time dedicated to the anime series.

“Fairy Tail” features cool production value. A lot of detailed artwork, because of the many adventures, you get so many locations and not the typical regurgitated scenery.

There is a lot of detail featured in the art backgrounds, a lot of characters featured and these characters have great detail and shadowing. Colors are absolutely vibrant, black levels are deep. I found no compression artifacts or any problematic issues with this Blu-ray release. If anything, the Blu-ray really brings out the details and colors of the series and looks fantastic!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

â€œFairy Tail” is presented in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Dialogue and music is clear through the front channels for the lossless stereo soundtrack but because the English is 5.1, there is better use of the surround channels.

In fact, I found myself listening to the English dub track for “Fairy Tail” much more than the Japanese soundtrack because of the 5.1 but also, FUNimation did a magnificent job with the casting of this series. I was very pleased especially with the casting of Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Grey and Erza and for the most part, I think whichever you prefer, you will be pleased with Japanese and English audio tracks.

But for the most part, for a TV series, lossless audio is crystal clear and while not the most immersive soundtrack (which I typically don’t expect TV series to boast incredible immersive lossless soundtracks, unlike a film or OVA series), “Fairy Tail” does sound very good on Blu-ray!

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Fairy Tail – Collection Five” features the following special features:

Episode 97 Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Tyler Walker (Director/Line Producer/Adapted Script Writer) with Todd Haberkorn (voice of Natsu Dragneel) and Tia Ballard (voice of Happy).
Episode 99 Video Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Tyler Walker (Director/Line Producer/Adapted Script Writer) with Tia Ballard (voice of Happy), Monica Rial (voice of Mary Jane and Lead Writer) and Todd Haberkorn (voice of Natsu Dragneel).
Episode 107 Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Tyler Walker (Director/Line Producer/Adapted Script Writer) with Michael Johnson (voice of Caprico) and Justin Locklear (voice of Rustyrose).
Marketing a Fairy Tail – (19:13) Featuring the crew (graphic design, trailer edior and the brand manager) who work behind-the-scenes on “Fairy Tail” at FUNimation.
Episode 119 Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Tyler Walker (Director/Line Producer/Adapted Script Writer) with Tia Ballard (voice of Happy the Cat), Jade Saxton (voice of Carla) and Brett Keely (voice of Panther Lily).
Textless Opening Songs: “The Rock City Boy”, “Towa no Kizuna feat. Another Infinity” and “I wish”.
Textless Closing Songs: “Don’t think. Feel!!!”, “Kono Te Nobashite”, “Boys Be Ambitious!”
U.S. Trailer – FUNimation trailer for “Fairy Tail”
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Fairy Tail – Collection Five” Blu-ray also comes with the DVD version of the series (four DVD’s, four Blu-rays) plus a slipcover.

NOTE: It’s important to note that “Fairy Tail – Collection Five” consists of the same Blu-ray sets that were released in 2014 as “Fairy Tail vol. 9” and “Fairy Tail vol. 10”. So, this set incorporates both sets into the collection.

The tail end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth season of “Fairy Tail” is exciting and it has become one of the most thrilling and brutal battle that the Fairy Tail guild has fought in thus far!

As a few of the Fairy Tail guild members plan for their S-Class Annual Exam, they are under attack by a dark guild known as Grimoire Heart and must take on the Seven Kin of Purgatory which includes Ultear Milkovich, Zancrow, Caprico, Rustyrose, Kain Hikaru, Meredy and Azuma. A group who are in search of the infamous Dark Mage, Zeref.

Suffice to say, volume nine has turned out to be another action-packed volume as we get to see various Fairy Tail members being pushed to the limit in their battle with Grimoire Heart and did major characters survive or do they die in this latest arc? You’ll have to watch because there are some fascinating twists, from who the leader of Grimoire Heart really is and his relation to Makarov, to battles that may be battles to the death.

But who is the mysterious sad and sullen man clad in black?

As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is very good for a TV series and features a good solid lossless soundtrack. It’s important to emphasize that this is a TV series and not a film or OVA, thus the production quality of animated TV shows tend to be lower (and created in a short time) than a film/OVA, so there is a bit of softness and shadowing and detail are not utilized a lot for this series.

As for special features, you do get the English voice actors providing commentary for four episodes, an interview with three employees who work at FUNimation and their involvement behind-the-scenes of “Fairy Tail” and the opening and ending theme songs.

Overall, “Fairy Tail – Collection Five” is fantastic in the sense that FUNimation is now releasing these huge sets for fans to catch up with the series.Â And with 24-episodes on four Blu-ray and DVD’s, these collections are definitely worth buying!

If you are looking for a long-running adventure/action-packed anime series on Blu-ray, definitely give “Fairy Tail” a try.

Recommended!

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