Manga/Fairy Tail

"Commit" means following through with the consequences these big arcs tease in order to build (what turns out to be false) tension and drama. Most commonly done by acting like certain characters died only for that not to be the cased

Edited by VeryMelon on Nov 17th 2020 at 12:56:42 PM

My biggest problem with late FT was Mashima's inability at actually establishing proper stakes, as well not fleshing out certain plot points as well as he could have.

You can only watch the series try desperately to say "they're in REAL danger this time" only for it to subvert itself, before it gets stale. Like You Would Really Do It was in full effect, because there was no way Mashima was going to ever kill off any of the main protagonists, yet he still pretended like he did and it got really old, really fast.

The series was shooting for things that it wasn't really equipped to handle; like not even really fleshing out the relationship between Zeref and Natsu, in spite of being brothers. Natsu didn't even really give a damn, which makes you wonder what was the point of them being brothers to begin with as there was no internal characterization struggle from said reveal; Zeref resolved to kill Natsu, and Natsu didn't really care Zeref was his brother. And then there was the whole contrived Natsu vs. Gray fight, where the only reason the characters even fought was because they were acting incredibly stupid due to their waifus being hurt, rather than any actual legitimate reason.

It was just very sloppy, so I'm glad 100 Year Quest scaled it down a bit to something far more simpler and up the series' alley.

Pretty much what ,, said.

The fights also got really lazy and anticlimatic too and it was felt like Mashima was just making stuff upas he went along.

He also forgot about Obra. Like him and Raven Tail were just dropped.

New 100YQ chap is out. Elentir looks pretty fun so far.

Elentir wouldn’t be out of place in One Piece. It’s weird in all the right ways.

So this is Alice in Wonderland now.

I'm gonna have to take your word for it. The place where I read 100 Years Quest is suspended.

Edit: Alright. Found it anyway.

Giant hands can form out of the ocean, Elentir's magic power can take actual form, Snow falls upwards, and Lucy can summon spirits without her keys. Elentir is an odd place.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Nov 19th 2020 at 3:35:54 AM

Second part of Craftdwarf's new Fairy Tail re-evaluation series, where he praises the use of power loss and weakness as character development through Lucy and several other characters.

Edited by VeryMelon on Nov 30th 2020 at 1:27:04 PM

Well said.

I often get stuck on Lucy not winning enough fights, but I have also recognized that she's accomplished so much at the same time.

Still, it'd be nice if she was just straight up allowed to win some fights.

Chapter is out. Kind of a weird way to introduce this spirior thing honestly.

Mimi is the cutest of the three.

Huh. Is Taurus gonna get a chance to shine here?

Ok the flowers bitching about being called fancy was hilarious.

What trope would Take Over magic fall under?

To be fair, I think Natsu not caring was to go with the whole "blood ties don't matter, only the family you choose does" which has been a theme in the story for a very long time. The same goes for Erza and Eileen/Iren. Still could been executed better, but the general premise is sound.

I think the issue comes from how though the characters are always saying that, what Mashima actually wrote often didn't meet it. It's very clear that several Fairy Tale members put more stock in their blood relations compared to the other guild members. And, hey, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with caring about blood ties. It's just that the story goes out of its way to say people shouldn't, but also often wanted to milk those relationships for emotional impact.

Chapter's out. The spiritual art thing still feels rather random to me. Still like Mimi the best out of these mooks. Poor Taurus. Lucy just pushed him instead of actually helping lol.

Yuki onna mook does yuki onna things. Should probably add actual charming spells to her puppets for them to work better. Also she got an awful matchup on all fronts, unless she wins just cause.

Speaking of winning just cause, I know there's a bit more to it than that, but Yokai mook totally won just cause. Wendy and Erza could do better. Which they probably will in two weeks, but it's better to not pretend like that. Kicking someone's ass only for them to get up anyway next chap is cheap.

On another note, only Lucy so far feels buffed by Elentir, and that's cause she doesn't have her keys with her so she wouldn't be able to fight otherwise. Feels kinda odd. Then again I dunno how buffing Erza's magic would affect her and her armours.

The buff only seems to help in terms of helping her summon without her keys. She's still running into one of her usual problems of her opponent just overpowering her easily.

So far, Wendy, Erza and Lucy have gotten the worst match-ups it seems.

I have been taught by experience that Erza is never defeated this easily, so she'll probably get right back up next chapter.

Heh...she's like an inverted worf, instead of expecting her to be beaten, I expect her to win.

You're not wrong. Erza may sometimes lose the opening round, but she usually bounces back stronger than before. It's pretty much a give in that she'll get her revenge.

At least usually when Erza loses is for a reason. Kyouka and Irene at the very least did feel so strong that there was no way to beat them. Then again, she beat them anyways. So I'm not sure what's worse, if that, or trying to make it look like she's struggling with random yokai lady.

That's what happens when you aren't consistent with your power levels. Erza is generally established as a powerhouse and rarely, if ever loses. She only loses when she's at a blatant disadvantage and she usually just powers through anyway. So I find it extremely difficult to believe she's down this easily to an antagonist that just showed up, the same woman who had "every bone in her body broken" and still somehow managed to power through that to win, even if she had help.

If she IS down, then LMAO. Fuck consistency I guess.

Of course, it's entirely possible that new girl used some kind of unfair power to win the fight too, and that's why Erza really lost.

Edit: Also, how about doing something different with Taurus huh Mashima? Because I don't even know why Lucy is so shocked he got overpowered since he's gets his ass handed to him 100% of the time. Hell, just recently, he got taken out by the Ash Dragon before he could so much as think of doing anything. Taurus has consistently been her absolute worst spirit. Even hair dresser Cancer is probably more useful.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Dec 16th 2020 at 9:41:30 AM

I mean, she kinda did, poisonous smoke. But it feels a bit cheap when they barely got to fight back.

Taurus tries his best, leave him alone.

Honestly, I love the big lug. He's just got the poor luck of being in a Manga period, since there's always been a the more big and powerful you look, the weaker you actually are, since the ideal is more small and wiry (but still powerful).

Taurus has the bad luck of being the token worf, who loses to show how powerful someone else is, with his size and power being an easy shorthand (if they can take out this dude who towers over everyone else, they must be strong and all that).

But like so many, Mashima forgets that it's not just appearance: it's deeds. If you only have this big and powerful guy get his ass kicked every time, then after a while, people will doubt they were ever powerful. You have to have them win on their own sometimes.

I want to see Taurus kick more ass instead of getting wtpwned in five seconds every time. That's all I want....oh, and I'd like him to stop obsessing with Lucy's boobs. That joke is played out.