Fairy Tail doesn't pretend the guild is a team, it convinces you they're actually family, and the show means it enough that watching them suffer hits different than watching a squad suffer. The Tartaros Arc burns hot enough to justify everything leading up to it, turning a stretch of inconsistent pacing into setup that lands. Some arcs will lose you. The ones that stick are about what these people would burn the world down for, and that's enough to keep you coming back.

Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox have just beaten Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney of the Sabertooth guild, and the Grand Magic Games are heading into their final stretch. That win brings Fairy Tail closer to the overall title, but questions remain about a hooded stranger and the ominous Eclipse Gate. Beyond the tournament, Natsu, Lucy and the other mages of the guild go on to defend humanity from dangerous foes, among them Dark Guilds, dragons and Zeref, the mightiest of dark mages. Their rowdy, destructive energy stays as loud as ever in this action fantasy adventure, and the guild faces its toughest trial yet as a family standing together.