‘Fairy Tail’ Fans Debate Censorship Following New Episode Release

Fairy Tail’s final season is continuing the big war between the guilds of Ishgar against the Alvarez Empire, and the various battles versus the Spriggan 12 have gotten attention from fans for one reason or another.

The latest episode’s fight between Wendy, Sherria, and Carla against the Spriggan 12’s Dimaria is getting attention for the wrong reason, however, as some fans have pointed out how much has been “censored” from the manga’s version of the battle.

As pointed out by Christ4man on Imgur, there are a few edits in the anime’s version of the battle that remove certain angles of characters like Meredy. The anime’s version removes more fan service elements such as Wendy and Sherria’s panty shots when they are kicking wind around, Dimaria’s outfit being slightly changed, and a less bloody outcome when Carla is shot by Dimaria’s God of Time form.

The “censorship” debate comes over the fact whether or not this actually changes anything about the battle. Fans seem more bothered by the animation quality of the battle itself (with many still shots) rather than these changes from the manga. This is also the same episode in which Ultear’s pelvis is focused on for a long duration when she makes her grand return to the series. So the argument seems to be focused on the wrong thing.

Fairy Tail fans are fully aware of how much fan service is built into the core of the series, so that’s probably why censorship was not the first thing fans thought of when watching this particular fight unfold. Fan service is so ingrained into each episode that fans often don’t take note of when it’s not around.

This is the same series that oggles Lucy on more than one occasion, and earlier in this arc featured a “nude battle” against the Spriggan 12’s Brandish.The series has a past of not featuring Wendy in such a way, and it seems like the latest episode is no different.

Fairy Tail was originally created by Hiro Mashima for Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine, running from 2006 to 2017 and selling over 60 million copies. The series is set in a fantasy world full of magic following Natsu Dragneel, a fire breathing wizard with the powers of a dragon who is in search of his missing foster father, the dragon Igneel. As he and his wizarding guild Fairy Tail get into adventures, Natsu always tries to find a way to succeed.

The series was later adapted into an anime by A-1 Pictures, Dentsu Inc., and Satelight in 2009 and ended its first run in 2013. A second season ran from 2014 to 2016, and the third season serves as the final one. If you’re itching for more Fairy Tail right now, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is an official manga sequel to the original series featuring original storyboards provided by Hiro Mashima and illustrated by Atsuo Ueda. The series picks up right where the original manga ends as Natsu, Lucy, and the others embark on the “100 Years Quest” that no mage has ever completed before.

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