Previously on Fairy Tail:

Team Natsu & Master Makarov solved the mystery of an abandoned town in Clover Canyon, and succeed in making it back to Magnolia. Spoilers Ahead.

Natsu (Todd Haberkorn) & his friends have successfully returned to Fairy Tail in one piece. After resting for a bit, the long promised day has come…Natsu gets his long awaited rematch against Erza (Colleen Clinkenbeard). The two engage in a fierce battle with everyon ein the guild watching, including a frightened Lucy (Cherami Leigh), until they are interrupted by a frog woman who declares Erza under arrest for the destruction caused during her teams battle with Eisenwald.

Laxus

This episode brings us back to the plot as it sets up what the next arc is going to be, as well as plant a seed for an arc about 20 episodes down the line (talk about planning ahead). The fight between Natsu & Erza, while painfully short, is a good on with plenty of fire and swordplay going around, Erza even debuts another new armor (her Flame Empress Armor) to take on the fired up Dragon Slayer (sorry couldn’t resist). We get a bit of a better introduction to the Magic Council and how they handle business within Fiore, even it is a bit sloppy. The most prominent of the council however is Siegrain (Robert McCollum) who has an encounter with Erza before she stands trial. He has some kind of secret that Erza knows as well, but tells her to keep quiet about it “for both their sakes”, so the payoff for that will be interesting.

Mystogan

Natsu & Erza have a few moments this episode *cough* OTP *cough* when Natsu sneaks off from the others to rescue Erza. As usual he makes the situation worse and the two end up in a jail cell for a few hours. This scene is pretty funny as Erza gets mad at Natsu, but we see a small glimpse of her inner self when she comments that it was nice he came for her. Also it is seen that Siegrain has an interest in the young Dragon Slayer. We also get more info on the Fairy Tail guild as we learn of the guild upper floor, which houses the guilds S Class missions, and we meet two of Fairy Tail’s strongest wizards: the enigmatic Mystogan (also voiced by Robert McCollum) & Makarov’s grandson Laxus (Patrick Seitz). Mystogan has a nasty habit of putting the guild members to sleep when he comes to take a job so no one can see his face (which is odd since he wears a mask anyway) and Laxus is a loud mouthed bully but is also absurdly powerful.

Erza in her Flame Empress Armor

“Natsu Vs. Erza” is a nice little lead in to the next arc of the anime. We get a better understanding of Fiore, character interactions,  government, the guild, and we also meet a few new couple characters in the process. Good action, some humor, and some nice foreshadowing. The adventure continues next week when Lucy & Natsu go on their 1st S Class quest.

3.5/5