ookami: Anime Movies - Fairy Tail: Priestess of the Phoenix

So we finally got the first Fairy Tail movie. It took me a while to watch it, but I managed to find some time. The opening of the movie was not very typical for Fairy Tail, but what followed soon after were the actions of our favorite characters which are always so unique LOL. Somehow this movie brought out the best of Fairy Tail and their amazing teamwork. It has certainly been a while since I've seen the old Fairy Tail from the beginnings of the series. Lately, the series kinda lost the old charm. The movie definitely brought back everything that we love to see about Fairy Tail. The saving-the-world story was pretty much expected from this kind of anime.

The characters were so full of life, cheerfulness and new energy that I was caught off guard by it. It also thrilled me to see that despite 170+ episodes and many more manga chapters, Fairy Tail can still pleasantly surprise. At one point it actually felt like a crossover between Magi and Fairy Tail, probably because of the setting. I also like the bold new improvements to the characters and how the story affected them directly.

Now I actually feel sorry that I didn't watch it sooner. It's an amazing movie with lots of actions and unexpected twists that will keep you glued to the screen. Don't miss this one!

Plot:

The film opens with a village called Fire Village being razed by an army of soldiers. Eclair, a priestess from the village, escapes with the aid of an elderly priest, who is mortally wounded and gives her one of the village's two ceremonial Phoenix Stones as the army obtains the other stone.

The film shifts focus to Fairy Tail wizard guildmates Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Happy, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Wendy Marvell, and Carla as they fail a mission to catch a bandit gang leader. On her way home, Lucy encounters Eclair and her birdlike companion Momon. Eclair collapses and Lucy brings her to the Fairy Tail guildhall to recover. Carla has a premonition of Eclair entering the monster-filled Boundary Forest. Lucy and her friends offer to accompany Eclair to protect her, to which Eclair reluctantly agrees. They are attacked en route by Chase, a member of the Carbuncle guild hired by the neighboring Veronica Principality's ruler Kriem, who owns one of the Phoenix Stones, to obtain Eclair's stone.

Eclair tells Lucy and her friends that she has amnesia, and remembers she must bring her stone to a wizard named Kalard living in the Boundary Forest. There they find the remains of Kalard's house to learn he has long since died. Through a holographic message, Kalard reveals himself to be Eclair's father and tells her of a spell he had created to dispel the stone's cursed magic. Eclair asks the Fairy Tail guild to fulfill her father's last wish. Shortly after they return to the guildhall, they are ambushed by Carbuncle's leader Dist and his subordinates Chase, Cannon, and Coordinator, who destroy the guildhall and kidnap Eclair, taking her stone with them.

Fairy Tail's master Makarov Dreyar arrives at the destroyed guildhall with fellow guildmates Gajeel Redfox and Panther Lily, who have been investigating Carbuncle's activity. Gajeel and Lily tell their guildmates that Kriem plans to combine the Phoenix Stones to summon a phoenix that will grant him immortality so he may invade other countries without fear of death. Lucy and her friends form a team with Gajeel, Lily, and Juvia Lockser to go to Veronica and rescue Eclair. There they are opposed by and defeat Dist's subordinates. Meanwhile, Kriem combines the two Phoenix Stones and tries to burn Eclair at the stake as a sacrifice. Momon frees Eclair, and burns to death. As Kriem summons the phoenix, Dist throws him aside to attain immortality for himself. Upon being summoned, the "phoenix" turns out to be a giant, non-avian monster and begins destroying everything around it. Dist climbs on its back to obtain its immortality-granting blood. Natsu follows after Dist and defeats him, but it does nothing to stop the phoenix.

Makarov arrives at Veronica with the rest of Fairy Tail, bringing with him the Arrow of Haja, a magic arrow created by Kalard to destroy the Phoenix Stone, and given to the council for safekeeping. Makarov gives the arrow to Erza to fire at the phoenix's eye where the stone is contained. Meanwhile, Eclair tells Lucy she has regained her memories and remembers she is immortal, having lived for 400 years after drinking the phoenix's blood to survive the raid on Fire Village, which is now Veronica. Makarov explains, however, that destroying the Phoenix Stone will kill Eclair along with the phoenix. Despite Lucy's protests, Eclair accepts her fate. Erza fires the arrow into the phoenix's eye, with Natsu jamming the arrow further through to pierce the stone. Eclair's body fades away with the phoenix, her spirit reuniting with Momon's as they ascend to the sky.

The film ends as Natsu reunites with the grief-stricken Lucy and consoles her over Eclair's death. A montage that plays during the closing credits shows the people of Veronica rebuilding their home, the Fairy Tail members rebuilding their guildhall, and Lucy spotting a young Eclair's spirit among the townsfolk.