“Fairy Tail: Priestess of the Phoenix” is only the first Fairy Tail movie; and while it is comparably entertaining for the fact that it is only a movie/side story/filler to the anime, it also isn’t exactly groundbreaking.
The thing about side stories is that if you’ve seen one, you’ve practically seen them all. There’s little plot diversity among them, and since they eventually can’t affect the canon setting in any way, character development and plot impact are gloriously absent. That’s logical; and there's few exceptions. “Priestess of the Phoenix” is no such exception. For that fact, it doesn’t fare badly. Neither, however, does it fare particularly well.
Plot--which plot? A lot of it can be read from the summary. What can’t be read from it offers few surprises. There may not be any too-large plot holes in the end, yet neither are there any larger twists or grand reveals during the entire one and half an hour. Simply said, it’s a mediocre kind of plot.
The characters are the same old-and-known in grand. Our core of main characters is still going strong, and character screentime is halfway balanced as well. The few new characters however aren’t all that memorable to me, especially the villains--as generic as in that recent Searching for the Clock filler arc from the anime--but oh well… it’s Fairy Tail, and it’s just a filler.
... I must say though that Eclair’s bird really got on my nerves. Not so very sure why (Happy & Crew are funny enough if I don't watch too many episodes in one go), but the bird just crossed the annoyance line somewhere.
The dialogue is infinitely similar to the series. As humourous as the original, too; but after after 170+ episodes of the original anime, I personally find each character’s reactions, as well as the jokes, to be rather predictable. The voice acting is still going strong, but that's that. Those that don’t feel the same in this regard may still enjoy it very much--I admit I’m just not as hyped anymore.
The animation’s quite okay. Not what I expected from a 2012/13 anime, and chance is I may have gotten a bad copy (choosing a torrent at random probably wasn’t the best idea ^^"), but I found it still had ways to improve. The (at times rather lacking) detail, the animation shortcuts… don’t get me started. The battles are still as fast-paced as in the original anime, however, and probably still the main attraction.
Overall, for a filler, “Priestess of the Phoenix” isn’t bad. There’s the old-and-known action, there’s the same humour as in the series, there’s our lovely core of main characters once more breaking through walls and solving (or creating) problems... in short, a small one-and-half-an-hour arc to lay back and enjoy. Adamant Fairy Tail fans will probably love it, especially considering that the anime now lapsed into rerun mode.
However, the problem lies in that same aspect. “Priestess of the Phoenix” is, after all, only a side run, and infinitely similar to the series. And even knowing that movies can’t differ too much from the main storyline, I did hope for a small change from the series’ usual tone. Be it an unusual mission, be it one with an unusual result, be it an underhanded plot Fairy Tail is confronted with; whatever. (One or two of the Fairy Tail OVAs, funnily enough, managed that 'unusual mission' thing quite well.)
Talk about setting one’s hopes too high. I for myself am rather disappointed. I might have enjoyed this movie more had I come across it with less Fairy Tail or general anime-viewing experience; but as it is, I’m not that hyped about the anime anymore, and neither am I about this movie.
Yet, “Priestess of the Phoenix” isn’t bad. As I said before; Fairy Tail fans merely looking for a one- or two-hour no-thinking distraction from the daily worries will probably love this. It’s similar to the series itself; it has the same humour, the same action, of course the same main characters… it’s not bad, overall. Those like me however, with hopes for a change from the series’ overall tone, or even for a good plot, may be better off skipping this one. I personally seem to have set my expectations too high.
Thanks for the read. :) (
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