Just went to see the Dragon Cry movie with my wife. Got addicted to fairy tail together through Netflix, then bought the remaining blu rays , then read the mangas when the second anime stopped. We are very intellectual and struggled financially as a couple when we met, but are more than well off these days. We bought the movie tickets a week in advance. Would have easily booked out a theatre if it hadn't been showing. To put things in context, we probably own more rare fairy tail collectables than all the members of this forum put together, simply because we love it, have the interest and the means, and for so many years it relaxed us from our increasing responsibilities.
After all that I have to say we walked out of the movie after 45 minutes. Granted, the first movie sucked too, but I am really distressed by this.
The movie completely lacked the feeling of escape, fellowship and wellbeing tthat the the anime gave the viewer and which we loved about it. Lots of reviewers mention the feeling of wellbeing that watching the fairytail anime gives many people, so I hope everone knows what I mean. I had even booked tickets the next morning for my daughter to see it with me (My daughter normally watches fairytail with me avidly), but after this experience I told her she wouldn't like it and let the tickets go.
In the part I saw, Lucy was made an abject object of sexual attraction instead of the usual "try hard" sex goddess (I understand she is drawn very beautifully but that is different to using it effectively as a honey trap). There was none of the usual mixing of comedy, fighting, seriousness and fan service. Didn't really spoil it but we left when several sniggering overweight, bearded early twenty something fellow cinema goers (in different parts of the cinema but in front of their equally overeweight dates and unperturbed by natsu and grey's 8 packs) loudly commented on what they would have done to her if they had her in a dungeon for 2 days.
Forgive me and my own lack of an 8 pack (I'm 40 and unlike my fellow watchers, at least I boasted the more achievable 6 pack for 15 years), but regardless of her beauty, if I had Lucy Heartfilia in a dungeon for a minute, I would have arranged her immediate release and possibly asked for a kiss on the cheek. The alternative voiced so openly around us left both of us quite queasy. We left and went to a bar.
The movie had none of the usual easy fellowship or relationships, and the excellent moments of comedy, relief, fan service and violence were not mixed as usual but separated into discrete segments, making the first half of the movie we saw disjointed and not at all the usual fairy tail experience.
We are very worried now. Fairytail has become a big part of our life. We wait for each new manga each week, and unlike many comments, we invariably love it. And before you judge, we love the beautifully drawn male and female characters, including "fan service". It is just beauty, after all
But is this movie going to be the new standard for the new anime? And are we really unwittingly part of a group of "inappropriate" anime fans who generally are staring at Lucy's tits, just like the critics say? Will my daughter, who's 9, be able to watch the new series? As comparison, we saw sword art online - ordinal scale at the same theatre a months before (the first subtitled anime we had seen in a theatre) and had a great time and were amazed at the sophistication of our fellow cinema goers. Is fairy tail really just for fat, bearded no hopers obsessed with Lucy's tits? For so many years, we had found so much more meaning in it. But more importantly, is this what the new series will be like?
I don't mean to criticise anyone on here (and don't get me wrong, I also got very overweight myself at one point), and I assume all sorts of people love fairy tail. Nonetheless, the difference between our cinema experience with the SAO (which we barely watch) and the Fairytail movies were palpable. Is this what we can expect from now on with the anime? Were we living in a rarified fairytail bubble? Your (constructive and non judgmental) comments would be most appreciated.
Also, is the second half of the movie worth going back for or is it more of the same?
we got tears...
