Manga/Fairy Tail

The Power of Love, my friend. It's a real thing in Fairy Tail.

Granted, Happy loves Natsu, too... Still, I'm a shipper so I won't complain.

Dunno how many of you watch the FT dub but I just found this

It makes me smile. We've all been on this adventure for nearly a decade and I'm glad they have enjoyed it, too.

...

I'm still not sure how I feel about the Spriggan hype. Ajeel is stronger than Hades or Mard Gear based on nothing but statements. Also people really mistake Franmalth's Hades for the real thing. LFD Natsu against him was nothing compared to the one that hit Hades with the Roar that fucked up all of Tenrou Island. Which Hades tanked while not even at full power.

Fine if August and the other best Spriggans are stronger than anyone we've seen so far but...Bloodman and Ajeel and Jacob?

Franmalth was arguably up there with with Hades in terms of raw power he just didn't have Hades magical machines and was squishier physically. If Lucy hadn't tricked him and if Natsu hadn't caught by him by surprise, Franmalth would have beaten both of them fairly easily.

Also you can blame Mashima for the Spriggan overhype.

Edited by Aquaconda on Jul 23rd 2019 at 11:12:03 AM

So does that 100 Years Quest manga sorta answer a question I had?

Gildarts got fucked up by Acnologia on a job but was his job to kill Acnologia/ Who the fuck requested that? "Please Kill Supremely Unstoppable Being few even know exist. Good luck. -Signed...I have no clue."

And if not, was he just supremely unlucky and happened to run into Acnologia while on an unrelated quest?

If there are spoilers in answering this question just say yes or no or whatever.

Edited by Nikkolas on Jul 23rd 2019 at 7:27:09 AM

He was supposed to fight five other dragons equally as powerful as Acnologia.

Including Igneels bio-son

probably should have spoilered that more.

That being said, while it is true, Acnologia wasn't even part of the quest. He just rekt Gildarts because he's an asshole, just like with everyone else he attacked.

God I hate powerscaling in shounen. This is like Dragon Ball where Goku fought and clawed and suffered to get to the top. Then Raditz shows up and it's like actually all those super badasses you fought were chumps compared to most of the universe. They weren't anything special at all. Got the same vibe with Alvarez but fuck, the Spriggan being stronger than the likes of Mard Gear and Hades isn't half as ridiculous as actually there are a handful of beings just as strong as Acnologia out there.

This is another area OP is better than most shounen I've seen. Villains tend to be more versatile, not just way stronger. Like going from Eneru to Lucci might actually be a downgrade.

Indeed for the last several thousand years or so there have been 5 ultra powerful God level dragons rummaging about the world despite the fact that Acnologia’s entire schtick is that he personally explicitly wiped out the entire dragon race through scouring the entire globe for a thousand years & has become bored with the world because there is nothing on the planet that can can provide a genuine challenge to him anymore.

What’s really bad about the escalation is that it actively fucks up the story on a massive level. It literally makes no sense at all. It is a gigantic-ass plot hole the size of Irene’s continent spell.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 23rd 2019 at 8:23:21 AM

Technically speaking nobody actually compared anyone to Hades, it was just the usual empty "Oh he's on par with the (strongest of the) Wizard Saints" hyping for the Spriggans.

If you were to ask me, the only persons to surpass Hades would be August and Irene, with Mard Geer and maybe some of the Spriggans like Serena being his equals.

Of course Mashima probably disagrees but I never really got the sense that FT was a series where powerlevels escalated extremely fast, until the Spriggans at least.

100 Year Quest Chapter 30:

Fighting Festival part 2 with everyone squaring off with different members to free them from the White Witch's control. Juvia can't use her magic because while her mind is free, said magic is still controlled by the White Witch, so Gray has to fight the Thunder Tribe on his own. Lucy ends up against the Strauss Siblings and calls on Leo and Virgo to help her (all three of them think they're utterly fucked against Mira) and Natsu takes out Wakaba, Macao and Romeo with ease, but now is up against Gajeel. Nothing for Erza and Wendy yet, but considering the former's fear about Jellal, we can make a good guess who she's be fighting at least.

Well at least in the anime I recall our heroes thinking upon meeting Brandish "I've never felt a power this great in my life." That's why I draw the comparison to Hades. They all met and experienced Hades' power level.

I guess we can always just assume they were wrong. They are fallible after all. I like your view on t he power levels and agree with it.

Edited by Nikkolas on Jul 24th 2019 at 9:40:38 AM

So Laxus is either fighting Gray or Wendy since he was with the Raijins in a panel but then again Macao and Wacaba were in different panels than Gajeel and Levy.

And Cana just seems more like a Wendy opponent. Maybe Erza will Erza both Jellal and Laxus, seems like something that'd happen.

Natsu vs. Gajeel 2: Electric Boogaloo

This is a good and accurate meme that sums up part of why I love FT.◊

So Tenrou and Tartaros are the two best arcs in the series IMO. Figuring out the ranking after that is harder. Tower of Heaven in 3rd place maybe.

The Eclipse Arc could have been maybe the best ever...if our heroes accomplished anything. How ironic is it that one of the chief complaints of the series is totally absent from the arc? Natsu and Erza can't just Nakama and it's Erza their way to victory against the Dragons. If they had, it would have been better for it. As it is the the whole arc is blue balls, giving us hope spots and hype for how awesome our Dragon Slayers are only for them to do jack and shit.

But the dystopic future and the fact there are motherfucking Dragons really made the arc feel threatening and dangerous. Few moments are more OH SHIT than the Dragon s coming through the Gate even if it was obvious that was what was going to happen. It also has two amazing O Ps. I love the imagery in OP 15 with the Fairy Tail flag continuing to wave defiantly even as the world burns or in OP 16 of the Dragon Slayers walking in a line.

Also Golden Grassland is one of the most heartwrenching moments in the series

Thinking about how beautiful and sad this is never fails to get me choked up. Heaven for Lucy is Natsu and the Fairy Tail Guild, to keep going on adventures with them forever and ever.

Anime watcher. I've give Fairy Tail a pass for a lot of ridiculous bullshit in the past, but even I gotta admit that Erza taking out a meteor with one arm after having every other bone in her body broken is an Ass Pull to end all Ass Pulls.

But it's been well established that she's Erza.

To be honest, Irene was so cool and Erza punching a meteor is so ridiculous that I'm okay with it. I'm more angry about Larcade being taken out by Sting and how his very interesting magic was used for gags and fanservice.

Also I've been comparing the anime I watch but I never thought of something until it was pointed out to me. Perhaps the reason I'm so forgiving of Endeavor and Bakugo this time around is because I'm watching MHA on the heels of Fairy Tail. I'm used to horrific acts of brutality being forgiven and moving on. Granted, it does not seem to me like most of the League will be redeemed...just my feeling. Still, FT's idealism and attitude is fresh in my mind and helps me tolerate Endeavor in a way I certainly did not first time around.

Anyway, I'm super hyped to see more from August but I guess that will have to wait for Gray to not die sealing Zeref. I gotta admit, I didn't expect Gray to be the one to confront Zeref. I do think Ice Demon Slayer was the best thing to happen to Gray in a long time. Awesome design and a much needed power up.

Edited by Nikkolas on Aug 1st 2019 at 8:22:30 AM

I've spoken several times about how miffed I am at what happened to God Serena.

But really I think the first and most obvious flaw with the Alvarez Arc is how it utterly squanders the 4 Emperors of Ishgar hype. Two of them are barely characters and Serena's defection ends up going literally nowhere. I think I've mentioned here how somebody once speculated to me that Mashima just gets impatient or bored. That's why so many subplots in GMG go nowhere and he rushes things along. Well, that problem is on full display in this arc. He built up Serena but he had all these other ideas he wanted to hurry up and get moving so he had to just have Acnologia obliterate him and "tie up" that discarded plot thread.

The 4 greatest wizards of Ishgar - the top Wizard Saints, people we've been dying to see since the series began really - are worthless fodder.

This frustrates me more than anything Erza ever did.

Edited by Nikkolas on Aug 2nd 2019 at 2:38:41 AM

Mashima just doesn't want to commit long term to a story idea

IE Wendy's out of nowhere The Little Dragon Dares arc important haircut... gone next time you see her

Post Time skip Mashima is Safe Fast Food Shonen

Zero Consequences

Questionable Ethics

and all the Shonen Cliche' and Tropes played 100% straight with sincerity

but hey if you are feeling down and want pretty characters to look at and something to make you smile It'll hopefully pick you up

Edited by FrozenWolf2 on Aug 2nd 2019 at 9:40:51 AM

People get legit mad about Fairy Tail Ethics. I know you mentioned post timeskip but this has existed for years. Also I haven't finished the series yet so can't debate that

Like, eople hate Natsu for stupid things. It's a serious criticism that he destroys towns and attacked Sabertooth. In this super light-hearted and idealistic work that is half gag series, people are mad he knocked over some buildings or attacked a bunch of smug assholes after they publicly humiliated and hurt poor Yukino. Am I supposed to believe there is some weeping mother with her child in a town after Natsu was there, telling her baby boy that they have to live on the streets now because that mean ol' Fairy Tail Wizard demolished their home? That's the dumbest hing I've ever heard. They knocked over some buildings and it's funny and nobody cares.

And they say he's trying to force his worldview on everyone by attacking Sabertooth! Yeah that's kinda how good people are, they "force their worldview on everyone" by beating the shit out of people who do evil things like torture helpless teenage girls.

You keep bringing up that example, but that's usually not what people bring up when criticizing him. In a team match Natsu attacked and kicked Gajeel so he could beat Sting and Rogue himself and the story rewards him for it. Natsu actively tried to pressure Wendy into rejoining the guild ignoring the actual crisis she was having. After the second time skip he actively caused property damage for no reason other to be a dick. He and Gajeel attacked each other while they were fighting demons while Juvia was dying on the ground. He left the guild after Tartaros without warning. The story tries to have this friendship is awesome message but then has Natsu do these incredibly selfish, hypocritical decisions.

1. Natsu beat Sting and Rogue solo for Lucy. She tells him before the match she knows he'll win and he does exactly that. She had absolute faith in him and he proved her right by doing it all on his own.

2. And Wendy wanted to go back. Even disregarding that, "Natsu acts impulsively with a single-minded determination" is supposed to be shocking news at that point? It's not like he actually abducted her and dragged her back to FT. It just didn't INITIALLY cross his mind that somebody might not want to rejoin the Guild. Which, BTW, was a safe assumption given EVERYONE was eager to rejoin, including Wendy.

3. Are you talking about the giant badass flaming Faiy Tail symbol?

4. And he tickled Erza after she was reliving childhood torture and then was exploited by Jellal. And Goku and Vegeta had rock paper scissors contests after a helpless girl was beaten near to death and while the fate of the world was on the line. And Nami had a lesbian bath fight with the murderer who had abducted her friend and tried to murder an other friend. Shounen insert gags a t dramatic and tense times.

5. Natsu left the Guild and this plainly hurt Lucy. The narrative doesn't sugarcoat it. I know some people wanted her to be more mad at him but that's just not the kind of person Lucy is. She's plainly just happy to have her family back and she could have maybe vented at Natsu later. Except a massive war broke out right after they were reformed so...priorities. But the story itself DOES chastise Natsu here, just not as acutely as some would have liked.

Like, friendship is awesome which is why Fairy Tail went to war to save Lucy or after Laxus and the Thunder Legion were hurt. It's why every Guild in the Grand Magic Games came together to fight the Dragons. There are tons of these big, important shows of companionship but a minor moment like Natsu (correctly) assuming Wendy wants to go back to Fairy Tail is supposed to override all of it?

Edited by Nikkolas on Aug 2nd 2019 at 9:22:53 AM

1.Natsu treating Gajeel like that was shitty. Him being able to just beat dragon force Sting and Rogue like that made no sense and was giant anticlimax.

2. Yes Wendy wanted to rejoin the guild, but had gotten really close to Lamia scale. Him ignoring that to drag her bacn was still shitty.

3. Natsu casually beating up the wizards in GMG and melting thr stadium and then the symbol. That didn't make him look cool. It just made him look like a douche.

4. That doesn't actually disprove my point though. The context of Erza's doesn't even match that.

5. Why are you looking at with the context with how it affects Lucy and no one else? The story does not chide Natsu for this anyway. Makarov disbanded the guild so he didn't even need to that. Hell why weren't any these people in contact with each other?

Natsu is not hindered by or called out for his shitty behavior. The series is incredibly myopic in how it portrays friendship. Especially post timeskip. The grand displays of friendship comes off as shallow when you have characters act like this.

T He fact ya'll can reach two completely different conclusions based on the same content really speaks a lot.

Both of ya'll operating from the scale of cynicism and idealism lol