3 Cheers for Volume 3 of "Fairy Tail!"

I picked up right where I left off with "Fairy Tail." Lucy briefly reunited with her father, revealing her royal roots. I've said before that Happy was annoying, but Lucy's father is a complete asshole! All he could do when Lucy went to visit him was berate her...after ignoring her during her childhood. Lucy's father was the reason she ran away to join the Fairy Tail guild after her mother died! In this third set, the supernatural comedy-adventure Fairy Tail careens along like a skateboard on a steep hill. As the stalwarts of Fairy Tail battle the sinister Phantom Lord Guild, the viewer learns that Lucy belongs to the fabulously wealthy and powerful Heartfilia family. But she's rejected her cold and mercenary father for the warm loyalty of her friends. Natsu goes one-on-one with Jaleel the Iron Dragon, and the viewer gets a hint of the scale of his latent power; Gray inadvertently wins the heart of water wizard Juvia ("drip, drip, drop"). The loyalty Lucy declared in the fight with the Phantom Lord wizards is severely tested when she discovers the shady background of guild lothario Loke, and brings his sad story to a satisfactory conclusion. The series takes a darker turn when Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Juvia learn about Erza's unhappy childhood in a sinister tale that pits the Guild members against their most deadly foe to date: Jellal, the servant of Zeref, a god who is the embodiment of hatred. But even in dire situations, the filmmakers leaven the threats with a healthy dose of slapstick: Natsu fights two of Jellal's minions with his head stuck in a kawaii (ultra-cute) cat mask. In short, these adventures and misadventures deliver everything the rapidly growing cadre of fans expect from Fairy Tail. (Rated TV 14: cartoon violence, minor risqué humor, alcohol use) Yes, Happy is still annoying! However, as I stated in a previous blog post, he is also essential to the story line. Other than him, Lucy's father, and Erza's former friends, the character roster was pretty likeable, and I can't wait to check out Volume 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the meantime, I think I'll give myself an early Halloween and watch some horror movies!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, even an Anime-niac like myself has other interests!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!