ANIME MONDAY: Fairy Tail – “Natsu & The Dragon Egg” Review


Previously on Fairy Tail:

Natsu & the gang were the unlikely victims of the “Changeling” spell, a a spell that causes people to switch bodies. Thanks to the help of Team Shadow Gear (or Levy depending on who tells it) they returned to their normal selves. Spoilers Ahead.

Deciding to take a much needed break from working, Natsu (Todd Haberkorn), Lucy (Cherami Leigh), & Happy (Tia Ballard) go to the lake to catch fish (well Natsu & Happy do as Lucy just follows along). Natsu cooks and eats a fish whole causing Happy to run away in anger when he doesn’t share. When Lucy teases him about it, Natsu tells her to shut up and storms off. Crestfallen, Lucy returns to the Guild hall to speak to Mirajane (Monica Rial), who tells Lucy the tale of Happy’s birth and the young girl who colored the young Dragon Slayer’s world.

While this episode is based off an Omake chapter from the manga, it is still an excellent piece in character development. We get to see the birth of Happy, how the various members of Fairy Tail acted when they were younger (with the exception of Makarov) and most importantly we are introduced to Mirajane & Elfman’s (Christopher R. Sabat) younger sister, Lisanna (Carrie Savage).

Lisanna

While Mirajane was wildly aggressive & Elfman sort of a wimp (stark contrast I know), Lisanna occupied that middle ground that would usually be reserved for the middle child of the family. Even though she was the youngest, she was the most mature out of the three and usually had to stop her sister from engaging in brawls with Erza (Colleen Clinkenbeard) (Yes Erza & Mira used to fight, just like Natsu & Gray).

Erza Vs. Mirajane

Besides an introduction to Lisanna we get a look at the younger selves of several guild members, some stay the same (Gray, Erza, & Natsu) & some are radically different (Mira, Elfman, & Cana). Cana (Jamie Marchi) is portrayed as a kind and gentle girl who has yet to start her love affair with booze, although she still tells Gray (Ryan Reynolds) to put some clothes on. Young Elfman (Mary Morgan) is portrayed as sort of a wimp and has not yet gotten to his “manly” persona. Mirajane is a hot blooded young woman, which is a very stark contrast to her more gentle personality in the present. We also see a teenage Laxus (Patrick Seitz) but he’s pretty much the same.

However the one with the most development this episode is Natsu (Luci Christian). He is fairly new to the Guild at this point so he is still acclimating to life there. He gets in fights with Gray almost everyday (even though they are mostly broken up by Erza) as a way to hide the loneliness he still feels from being abandoned by his “father” Igneel. This is why his & Lisanna’s raising of the egg is so important to him (seriously what Cat comes from an egg?). It fills the loneliness and the addition of Lisanna gives him something he never had…a first love and a family (awww don’t that just make you throw up rainbows?).

Even when the episode fast forwards a few years, we still see the bond between the three is still strong as Lisanna is usually the one making Natsu & Happy make up when they fight. Even with all this back story the prevailing question is…where is Lisanna now?

“Natsu & The Dragon Egg” is a pretty good episode and one of my favorites from the first season. There are pretty good moments of character development, some heart warming as well as heart wrenching moments and it was nice to see the guild members as kids. The magic continues next week on Fairy Tail.

4.5/5