Monday, June 6, 2016

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

Written by Shiggins


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.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................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/

5 comments:

  1. Like I've said on other forums I'm torn. On one hand, it was well written and had a character I still cared about. On the other hand, my care for Fairy Tail(the guild) has dropped because the only major character I still liked is "dead". I say "dead because on the OTHER hand, Fairy Tail is so enamored with the status quo that myself and many others can't take it that seriously, but it still made feel something other than anger, annoyance, or pleasant surprise.

    GENIUS MEST, GENIUS. YOU'RE SO SMART. Also Brandish feels a bit all over the place though that could be fixed with actually giving her a conversation or two with August before the war actually started.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, Fairy Tail is very DBZ-ish when it comes to maintaining the status quo with it's cast. I think in this case, I don't mind too much because I love Gajeel enough to make him want to come back and like you said, it was well-written enough. Obviously, our feelings are a bit different because I actually like most of the Guild so I can't really relate there but I do feel that, even though this wasn't a death, it still was important because it caused a huge confession, removed a character from the war, and is almost definitely going to provide future development.

      Mest used Brandish... So evil.

      And that would be good to see. Brandish's history with August, since she does seem to respect and adore him, despite him being a scary man. I'd be very surprised if we didn't see it in the future actually.

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  2. UNderworld....do you think Gajeel can return as a demon?

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  3. Mest, I'm gonna fucking kill you. Ya dumbass, man, YOU DUMBASS IDIOT WHO'S ABOUT TO GET EVERYONE HE LOVES KILLED BECAUSE HE COULDN'T TRUST THEM FOR A SECOND!!!
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--- *flips keyboard, tosses mouse across the room, punches a hole through the computer screen*
    ...
    .....
    *grabs a laptop from the laptop bag and continues typing*
    SO yeah, this chapter was good. A little Deus-Machina with the portal bit but nothing to really complain about. I liked it, even if it meant that Mashima stabbed my heart almost as hard as Akamatsu pumped it up with UQ Holder! 126.
    (PlugPlugPlug You should be reading Plug.)
    I... honestly have nothing bad to say about this chapter. Aside from the fact that Gajeel is a stupid fool for making me go tsundere, and Mest is a GODDAMN IDIOT for reasons that ARE HONESTLY--
    ...
    *deep breaths, and tries not to break screen again*
    .....Yeah. One of my favorite male FT characters has officially dropped down to one-shot-shitty-villain tier. WE'VE BROKEN UP, MEST! IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU!

    As for the positives: Levy has gotten good- like, really good- with those runes of hers. Was genuinely impressed.
    Scarlet Mama Edition is taking on Acnologia, and from the looks of it even Zeref is afraid of how that'll turn out. That should be fun to watch.
    Over on the Natsu-Titan Happy side we got Brandish acting adorable with her doesn't-wanna-be-a-grandpa grand pa. That was... TOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE!
    And then...
    MEEEEEEEEESSSTT!!! YOU FILTHY BASTARD!
    *DDEEEEEEEEP BREEEEAAATTHHHHH-H-H-HSSSSSSS....*

    But when all is said and done... I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT CHAPTER, BABY!

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    Replies
    1. Oh hey, it's Nasch! Long time no see. You seem uh... relaxed. Welcome back.

      Some have told me that it might be a translation issue, and Gajeel wasn't being teleported away, as much as he was "supposedly crushed by magic particles". Although yes, it's still a bit out-of-nowhere. We forgive it though.

      If it helps, I think Mest is desperate. He's scared of August and doesn't trust Brandish, and it is a war so... All's fair. Except for Brandish. It's not fair to use Cute Brandish on anyone. She is too b.e.a.utiful!

      Eileen vs Acnologia isn't my biggest attraction right now since I barely know either of them, but Zeref's fear makes me aware this could be great to see.

      And on a last note, no need to plug. I'm already a reader of UQ Holder. I've gone through the Fanservice Race, and I'm currently in shock and awe over 126 as well. Kinda wish we had a reviewer for UQ because I would be fangirling over it right now if I could. My shy girl and my giant dark-skinned man are back!

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