Virtual Soles: Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)

Erza Scarlet AKA Titania AKA Fairy Tail's most kick-ass wizard AND hot barefoot babe.

Recently I've been hooked onto the hilarious action anime Fairy Tail. In blunt terms, it's kinda like a cross between Dragonball Z (over-the-top action and powers), Slayers (magic use) and One Piece (wild character designs), chronicling the adventures and misadventures of a fun-loving guild of wizards in the land of Fiore. But for an anime about wizards, you won't often find a conventional-looking mage (long robes, staff, pointy hat and beard) in this series- mangaka Hiro Mashima's designs of his various magic-using characters are all over the place, with magic being treated more like superpowers than spells cast from a book or wand. One of the most unwizardly-looking wizards in the series is also one of the main protagonists and definitely the hottest heroine in the series. She's Erza Scarlet AKA Titania, S-class Mage and the most powerful female in the Fairy Tail guild.

How unwizard-like is Erza? Well, she uses swords, for one thing. A LOT of them. She can use them with her hands AND feet (more on that later). She can even use them without touching them. Erza's known as 'The Armored Wizard', and her magic specialty is 'Requip', which is basically the ability to materialize something in your hands (or in Erza's case, on her body) from out of thin air, from some other-dimensional storage place. Erza uses her magic to quick-change into various suits of armor and enchanted swords, often with powerful magical abilities. All that plus she has telekinetic abilities that let her dispatch these swords, up to two hundred at a time. In a word, freakin' awesome.

But Erza's requip isn't just used for quick-changing into armor; nicely enough, Erza can use it to switch into other, less obtrusive outfits, such as swimsuits and pajamas. Or other, even crazier things. One such ensemble is shown in one of FT's early episodes, with TItania showing off what can only be described as her 'Battle Chef' outfit. If you look closely, you'll see it's actually just a chef hat and apron worn over a Japanese-style school bathing suit. This is the first time we see Erza requip into a barefoot outfit, and it's just the first.

Erza Battle-Cook

When Erza requps, she goes through a short but flashy transition where she is actually naked; of course we never actually see anything... EXCEPT her bare feet, which suits us footfans just fine.

Erza Transforms

Erza starts off the series seemingly as a very strict, domineering and cold character. But as the series progresses, we begin to see that she does have her moments of quirkiness and even goofy comedy. But most of all, beneath the armor beats what is probably the most selfless, courageous heart in Fairy Tail. Erza's loyalty to her guild and her friends is such that she's willing to give her life in their defense at the drop of a hat. During the 'Tower of Heaven' arc in the anime, we finally learn more about her, particularly about her tragic past. This past comes to haunt her as she is finally forced to confront her greatest enemy, who is also inversely someone she used to love and care for very deeply. Oh, the drama!

During the Tower of Heaven arc we literally see Erza bare her soul ANd soles. Duriing a pivotal battle with a lethal enemy samurai girl named Ikaruga (who has nice feet herself), Erza's many suits of magical armor prove useless. She finally realizes that all this time she's been hiding behind her arsenal to make up for her weaknesses. Erza then requips into what is surely her coolest battle outfit for foot fans- a barefoot swordswoman costume complete with sexy sarashi (bandage cloth) top, red hakamas and, of course, her bare feet! She stays barefoot for the remainder of the adventure, which is awesome.

Erza takes on her nemesis, Jellal, in her sexy barefoot Japanese-style swordswoman costume.

Here's a look at an unconscious Erza showing off an awesome sole shot. Too bad Erza doesn't actually finish off Jellal in the final battle, but she does save everyone at the end with an act of supreme self-sacrifice. Don't worry- somehow it all works out happily.

Erza KO'ed

Plus here's one more awesome clip of Erza in barefoot action. During the more recent Fighting Festival arc, she finds herself battling another wizardess called Evergreen. I'll let the the clip speak for itself, but suffice to say this should solidify Erza's position as THE barefoot warrior babe of Fairy Tail!

Erza truly is an awesome anime babe, and after you watch episodes of Fairy Tail you'll surely fall in love with this awesomely kick-ass, courageous but quirky and hilarious beauty. Any foot fans will surely be like the many admirers of Erza in the show (who fall in love with her after she stomps their butts with her sexy feet), to be among the throngs wishing to give her kisses and massages on her perfect soles and toes. If you haven't watched Fairy Tail yet, try it out. If only for Erza Scarlet, it's worth checking out!