Fairy Tail Chapter 488 Review - The Two of Us Together, Forever and Always

Written by Shiggins

...................

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................I am broken inside.

Alright, so our chapter starts with aaah...

.....

I can get through this. I'll be okay... *breathes*

Oh god... I am dying here! This is so painful!

This chapter begins with Gajeel as he is about to taken away by Bradman to some sort of "underworld", that will hopefully be shown at a later point. Gajeel's body is being absorbed by the Magic Particles, so he tries to hold Levy back with iron cuffs. Surprisingly, Levy shows the most badass moment in the series to break herself out.

Levy better get quite a few votes in our current poll for these panels alone and HER SHIRT SAYS IRON!

Pantherlily then holds her back, knowing she'll only get killed if she refuses to stop. Gajeel then begins to talk his final words. How he went from a criminal to a man who fell in love and even wanted a future and a family with Levy McGarden... Scared that he is not getting to experience that, Gajeel disappears and makes Lily swear to protect her with his life...

I'll admit we're bordering on a bit of over-dramatic cliché here, but it earns a pass because it breaks my heart so much.

Acnologia senses Gajeel is gone, with only 6 dragons remaining now. Eileen appears before him and ignores Acnologia's warning to leave. So it looks like the two are going to have an epic battle! Too bad though, because we're moving to August again for one last shocking twist of the week. Surprisingly, Brandish is actually starting to get through to August!

Are you flirting with Acnologia? If so, talk about a pointless endeavour.

She tells August how this war has no reason to exist, other than murder. August is the wisest of the Spriggan 12 (although, considering Wahl, Neinhart and Brandish, that might not be saying much...), so he actually decides to properly negotiate with them, although only after looking at Natsu and possibly recognising him as Zeref's little bro.

After Brandish finally shows another cute panel, she takes out a knife, extends it and stabs August through the chest! It turns out that Mest got to her, using his magic to protect the Guild by altering her memories to make killing August her ultimate goal, despite it putting her in tears. And just to make things that touch worse, August is PISSED.

Aaah... Right in the feels.

Opinion: August being stabbed through the chest is exactly how I feel right now.

Whether you're a fan or not, the argument that Fairy Tail has no plot or development is completely gone by this point. In this chapter alone, we got shocking twists, tragic confessions and temptation to do dark things for the good of their friends. This is a series not just about fanservice or fast fighting, as some would have you believe.

I LOVE AND HATE THIS SERIES, HIRO MASHIMA, MYSELF AND... Oh hey, Lily is considered a member of the family too. Nice. He must be like the Brian Griffin of them all.

Gajeel is complete. It's amazing to see how much he has grown, and to see him show such a vulnerable side to the person he cares about most in this world. There is no stepping around it. Gajeel loves Levy. He wants a family with her. We SAW the family he dreamed of. And seeing it be taken away from him, by an admittedly anti-Deus Ex Machina portal that feels random, is tragic. He thinks he's dying, so he's confessing everything. Gajeel is never going to be that bastard from Phantom Lord ever again. And this is exactly what makes him my favourite Fairy Tail character.

Gajeel isn't dead. In fact, this is somewhat reminding me of Aquarius at this point. A character we know is out there, and the next arc will focus on the girl finding them so they can be together again. Lucy will go searching for Aquarius, while Levy will go searching for Gajeel. Two teams, searching. One for a character from the past, and one for a character for their future.

Anime Rule 1: When an angry character starts glowing, RUN.

And since we're talking about pasts and futures, let's mention Mest. When Mest first showed up, I thought he would just be the Speedwagon of this debate. He would explain things to the audience and basically be a spectator that provides exposition while the other characters actually be useful. Instead, he used Brandish horribly. August isn't angry at Brandish because he can tell it wasn't her fault, so all his anger is going towards this Guild.

As for Mest, I gave this one some thought. My first impression was that this was a move he wouldn't pull, considering his love for the Guild. However, then I remembered where he has been recently and what he has seen. He was a member of the Magic Council, which means he definitely learnt some tricky tactics. And he saw them all, including his friend Lahar, die before his eyes from the last super-threat that went to war with them. He's not risking that again, even if it might actually cause Brandish to relapse into villain again.

And all I can now say is, we've definitely reached the turning point.

Manga Rating: 5/5

Character of the Week: Gajeel. I won't even bother saying why.

Best Part: Gajeel loves you, Levy.

Worst Part: Wait... Does this mean we get no Gajeel for the rest of the war?

Your daily dose of Vitamin CB. (Cute Brandish)

Shiggins:[Admin]
  .

Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/