4 Star

Battles and Something Sinister.

Once more the Fairy Tail Guild are under pressure as A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Sword Art Online II, World Conquest: Zvezda Plot, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic) continue the “Grand Magic Games” arc. We know that Fairy Tail can party but after visiting and partying with the Celestial Spirit World, they find out that one day in the Celestial Spirit World is actually three months in the ‘normal’ world and that means they have lost out on valuable training time for the Grand Magic Games, never mind the seven years they lost in the “Sirius Island Arc” arc.

Back on the beach Fairy Tail come to terms with their loss of time to train when a carrier pigeon lands on Erza’s head with a message requesting a meeting at a remote spot. Intrigued they go to the spot and see three shadowy figures.

They find Jellal, Ultear, and Merudy, who have formed their own guild, Crime Sorcière, to defeat Zeref and any dark guilds that try to use his power. The once enemies have changed since Fairy Tail have been away and now do good work to atone for their previous lives. They know that Fairy Tail are entering the Games and as they can’t get near, they want the guild to investigate the source of a magical anomaly similar to Zeref’s magic that they have detected in previous years.

Instead of payment they offer the guild the opportunity to tap into hidden magical reserves within themselves to aid their upcoming magical battles.

As usual Natsu is up for it even when told how much pain it would cost acquiring the power. Only those that were away for seven years take the plunge, even Erza and Jellal nearly have a moment now that he has all his memories back before they head off to the games.

Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Wendy are chosen to represent their guild in the Grand Magic Games when they enter Fiore’s capital Crocus and immediately they are ridiculed because while the gang were away Fairy Tail have become the lowest guild in the whole of Fiore and they have come last in every games.

With a record 113 guilds entered this year the organisers have to whittle that number down to just eight. The eliminator is a massive floating Labyrinth and those that survive the first eight will be in the games. But come the start Wendy and Carla are missing, the rest of the guild start searching for her whilst the man mountain Elfman steps into the fray.