Saturday, July 22, 2017

Fairy Tail Chapter 545 Final Review - Irreplaceable Friends

Written by Shiggins

Well, here we are.

Out of curiosity, I did some maths. Beginning at Chapter 320, which was also my first article with this website, I have now reviewed a total of 251 chapters of Fairy Tail, thanks to Fairy Tail Zero, the Special Side Stories, the random Spin-offs by other artists, and of course the main series which ends today with this final extended chapter. And how was it? Well, let's find out together, shall we?

After this chapter, I truly do believe that the doors are always open as well.
This extra-long final chapter begins in the year X793, a year after the war started, with Lucy being given an award for her book "The Adventure of Iris". The pretentious folk of the event are all surprised to see Lucy so young, and they are quite horrified to see how the mages of Fairy Tail celebrate at this prestigious party... with noise! Gasp!

Having fun? At a celebration?! Oh the audacity! (monocle pops out from the indignation)
We get a lot of the classic interactions, almost like a highlight reel of the past 544 chapters. Gray strips and glares with Natsu until Erza smacks them. Gajeel eats something he shouldn't. Juvia gets weepy-drunk and starts to strip too because she picked up Gray's habit. and Lucy is majorly embarrassed.

.......I think I just realised which character I am in this series.
Lucy then gives us a quick summary, about how she actually finished the book she's been working on piece-by-piece and how she was given the award for it. Her book hasn't made her rich but the sales are steady and she's achieved her dream of actually being published. I'm not going to get too into my personal life since you aren't interested, but as a budding writer myself, I can say that this scene really struck a chord with me.

#relatable
Oh and Anna is still here! In her only appearance alongside her descendant, we learn Anna has become a teacher in a small village and we move on as quickly as we learn that. Gajeel makes a remark about how Anna and Lucy have the same smell, which is why Natsu likes Anna. Natsu just shrugs and agrees, causing more blushing.

I love how fanfiction writes Natsu as this smooth talking son of a bitch who confesses his love dramatically, but then the canon version...
Levy then whispers something in Gajeel's ear, and the blushing reaches a new level as Lucy is sure she heard "baby" in there. And if you think Lucy misheard, Wendy's red face proves her right. And now we get a few more panels showing what other supporting characters have been up to. Wendy is doing more performances with Sherria, who is also starting to get her magic back. Sabretooth had another eating contest with Minerva winning, Ichiya became the leader of Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel became the exclusive models of "Sorcerer Weekly".

From now on, I will refer to her as "Thirsty Levy". I don't know why.
We get a touch of more humour with Cana and Gildarts, before Gray drags a drunk Juvia out of the party because she's had too much. Gray notices Juvia still has the scar from when she stabbed herself to save Gray, and he has the same one too. Gray tries to tell her about getting it healed and this somehow results in a sort-of confession.

When these characters first appeared in the Grand Magic Games arc, did you picture this being their end? I don't think you did.
Elfman and Evergreen are... together? Or have they been together for years? Nobody knows. Then comes the best gag of the chapter, where we see Lucy pondering who Laxus will end up with and giving out the same theories as fans do. (Although I'm a little disappointed she didn't mention Freed). As Erza congratulates Lucy, Lucy then turns her thoughts to Erza x Jellal.

We learn that the Pumpking has abdicated and Princess Hisui has now taken the throne. For their actions in the war, Hisui rewarded Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciere by pardoning them for their past actions and allowing them to go free to live their lives. Ever since the news of pardoning, Erza has been brushing her hair every day. Even she has a feminine side.

Oh Cana. Always trying to stick something in Lucy's mouth. (Bow chika bow wow).
Makarov is still alive, and I'm full of shock that they don't make a joke about how he's still not allowed to retire yet. Interestingly, his legs are weaker now so he's stuck to a wheelchair with Mest as his carer. However, let's talk about the sweetest moment in the chapter... Mavis is at the party! And not only that, she meets Zeref!

Show me a more perfect page in the 545 chapters of Fairy Tail than this one.
Mavis reveals she is a publisher and Zeref himself is a writer, both of which were wanting to meet Lucy because of how impressed they were by her book. Zeref then tells Mavis that she forgot her shoes, causing a bit of a laugh. They then introduce themselves, but they're called Arius and Mio now. The two then walk off to chat, while the characters just smile and stay out of the way.

So long as you don't write another Franmalth book, I'm fine with you being an author again.
More and more celebrating takes place at the party, and finally the night ends. Lucy wakes up in bed, almost thinking it was a dream. And we get, once again, Natsu and Happy in Lucy's room making a mess. Apparently, Lucy was so drunk (because she's a lightweight) that Natsu needed to bring her home. And now he has a new job for he and Lucy, which triggers an emotional flashback for Lucy. She hugs Natsu and Happy gratefully, thanking them for all they've done for her.

What a little fucker! If a cat does that to my future writing award, I'm punting it out the window!
Natsu then holds onto Lucy, about to say something as she tenses up. He then drags her out excitedly because they need to get moving, and Lucy is about to be annoyed but Natsu stops her wrath by saying that they're staying together forever. Natsu, Happy and Lucy meet the rest of the team, consisting of Erza, Gray, Wendy and Carla as they are now about to finally do their 100 Year Quest.

Wow, Lucy. That's so mean. Natsu didn't mean to get you kidnapped or attacked or watch your future self die or... oh wait, you were thanking him? Okay, continue.
The narration asks the unanswerable question of whether fairies have tails or not, and how that is the origin of the Guild's name. The team walk off into the distance while we get a very Tinkerbell-esque goodbye from... Zera as a fairy. What an odd final image to leave us on.

Opinion: Well, that wasn't what I expected.

As I mentioned last week, I went into this chapter expecting a ten-year timeskip where everyone is married, all confessions have been skipped and the couples have had clones that they claim are their babies. We'd be left with dozens of questions, wondering what happened to Jellal and Kagura and others over the years but we'd never know because the final chapter focused on the "next generation" instead. As you can imagine, I am relieved.

So... the answer is no then. Zera doesn't have any sort of tail. So no. No tails.
If I had to guess, and that's pretty much all I do in these unpaid reviews for you ungrateful bastards, I would say Mashima-senpai went for such a short timeskip to leave the door open if he ever wanted to return to Fairy Tail. Unlike several other manga that I've read the ending of, this one was open enough to continue a new path if the writer ever wanted to return to it, but it still managed to be satisfying enough to be considered as the final end-all of Fairy Tail if Mashima does never return to this... tail! (Insert your laughter here).

Anyway, let's talk about the actual chapter right now, and I'm starting with what was easily my favourite scene; A reincarnated Mavis meeting a reincarnated Zeref. A perfect happy ending to an immortal couple that have always wanted to be together, finally getting a fresh start with their sins erased from their minds and allowed to just be a normal duo of lovers together. None of the drama or madness or guilt of the past. They can finally be together.

BFL - Bachelor For Life.
To my shock, this chapter wasn't filled with goodbyes either. Instead, we got a nice bunch of laughs and jokes. This is what Fairy Tail does best, much better than the action. Whenever I think about my favourite moments of the series, my mind instantly goes to the comedy scenes and the sweet scenes. Most of the jokes are ones we have seen before and were used here to give us a feel of nostalgia rather than laughter, but the meta humour involving Laxus had me fucking howling. I adored it.

And yes, I giggled like a fangirl on a sugar high when Levy whispered to Gajeel. GAJEEL GOT LAID! Or is going to get laid. I'm not sure if Levy is pregnant or if she wants to get pregnant, but Levy had a tear in her eye so I'm betting she's already been going at it with Gajeel over this year. In fact, those two must have been having tons of fun. Oh the images... the images involving Gajeel's piercings...

This might be one of my personal favourite confessions ever.
Natsu and Lucy's scene is worth talking about, of course. Due to Natsu's silly nature, it can be debated whether or not this was a confession of love or friendship but it does feel like this is a conclusion that will make everyone at least somewhat happy. Unless you hated Natsu and Lucy being friends, in which case I have to ask why you read the series at all... Anyway, their scene was basically lovely. Nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, but an emotional hug and goofy behaviour before they head off to meet the others.

If I had to give the finale one big flaw, it would be the ambiguous nature behind a few decisions. Now, one could argue that this is actually favourable since it leaves us room to speculate until the series comes back, and if it doesn't come back then we've got plenty to play with and work on ourselves. Would I have loved to see Gray kiss Juvia? Of course. Would I have liked to know what the 100 Year Quest was? You're damn right I would. But a finale can only give me so much, and I just have to hope that we can explore this series again in some shape or form. Film, anime, manga... Whatever it is.

I like to think that they're going to get Aquarius' key back with this quest. That answers my biggest question.
I'm really curious about Jellal actually. Once more, he's not with Erza but he has room to do so now. He knows he should live, celebrate life and he has the power to be as free as he wants. We finally got canon confirmation that Kinana is dating Cobra/Erik, so it's not like Jellal doesn't have the option. Again, another ambiguous conclusion that we can only speculate with. I like to think Erza got her happiness in the end though.

...THE FLOWERS ARE FROM JELLAL!
Is this the best ending I have ever seen in a manga? No, probably not but it is nowhere near the worst. I have read the worst endings, and this is not that. This one was fun, cheerful and most important of all, satisfying. I didn't walk away screaming a thousand questions. I didn't miss the confessions of love, which is something I am absolutely sick of missing in manga. Everyone is where they belong, with their friends and family. There is nothing wrong with that.

Manga Rating: 4/5

Character of the Finale: "Zeref" and "Mavis" for their meet-cute.

Best Part: A happy ending for an immortal couple.

Worst Part: Unanswered questions. We all have a few.

P.S 

The Fairy Tail anime will return in 2018, as confirmed by Hiro Mashima himself!



To the Readers

On a last note, I personally just want to say my thanks to everyone who has read these reviews and articles over the days, weeks, months or even years since I began writing on this blog. Coming to the end of Fairy Tail has really made me appreciate how many people actually came to read my words, and it is almost staggering as I see the thousands of views my chapters have gotten.

Honestly, I can't thank you all enough. I truly can't. Every view, every person, has made doing this worth it. And while Fairy Tail might be finished, I am not. I hope you all stick around as I begin my next batch of weekly reviews, and if this is the end of our time together, then I just want you to know I can never express my gratitude enough for you all making me feel heard.

One last time, because I can write whatever I want and you all deserve it; Thank you.

Ah... Somewhat creepy beginnings.
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/

17 comments:

  1. I liked the chapter but when I first read it I was absolutely enraged however now I feel more accepting. All of the relationships between characters if you don't count the non Fairy Tail members were satisfying. They felt natural and completely in character. Mashima was certainly having a ball acknowledging all of the relationships people love to talk about and messing around with their hopes and telling them "I write this so I get to decide who Laxus will partner with".
    I liked the return to a more carefree chapter which we have not seen in what feels like an eternity. The jokes were relatively similar but that's what we expect from Fairy Tail and we love it anyway.
    The ending was also good I agree that seeing them all as older couples with a bunch of children would not have felt satisfying at all and the fact that the old gang all heads off for another job feels very satisfying and the best way to end the series.

    However there are two major gripes for me that I cannot ignore, the first is that all the side characters aside from the great Ichiya received endings that felt rather shallow. Mermaid Heel going from a competent guild straight to modelling feels rather out of character. Sabertooth the runner up to Fairy Tail gets one small slide. I won't complain much more about this because at least they have a scene that shows what happened to them unlike other manga's which leave characters fates up in the air.

    But my biggest gripe was the return of Zeref and Mavis, these two characters have been my biggest annoyance for much of this manga. I never liked their personalities much except when they were affected by their curse and I am shocked that Zeref somehow managed to persuade a bunch of powerful people to build and empire with him at its head. But I thought their deaths in this arc were acceptable as it was not to cringe worthy and it was still adult about handling their deaths. I find their return to be worse than Makarov's revival in this arc at least he tried to stay dead in this series and was only brought back because of these two. However these two whose sole goal was to die and who should have stayed dead would not.I found August to be much more enjoyable as he had never known their love and was more engaging and also had a much more interesting form of magic. But their scene together was cute.
    With that little tirade out of the way (I am highly unlikely to get another chance to do this which is why it's so darn long). I did enjoy this chapter a lot and I do feel that if wrapped up a lot of loose ends in a satisfying manner.
    I will now be binge reading the series from start to finish until the anime returns or until I get bored and read another manga. I will certainly remember this series fondly as it got me into anime and other manga, so farewell Fairy Tail until 2018 when the anime starts again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can see why rage would be the initial reaction. A lot of people, myself included, have reacted to many endings with anger because we have such high expectations. This is a lot smaller and more casual than some would have liked, no doubt.

      As for your first gripe, I agree with Mermaid Heel. It feels a bit out of character for them to suddenly get into modelling, although I personally disagree with your Sabretooth one. We've seen that this event is how they've bonded in the past, and the series has never really been about them. If the chapter was bigger, maybe we'd have gotten more time for them but the focus had to stay with the Fairy Tail Guild. So it was nice to see where they belong.

      And your second gripe... well, obviously it's a bit different for me since I actually enjoy the two characters personally haha. Although I can say that I see why you're upset at their reincarnation, since they did end on quite a high and bittersweet note. If I had to guess, I'd say Mashima's history with bittersweet-ness (like August and Rave Master) made him want to give them a happy ending. They don't have their old memories or the guild however, so you could argue there is somewhat a tragic angle to their ending. It's a stretch, I know. I'm just trying to provide an extra point of view.

      Both are good ideas! I have an article coming up soon that I think you will be interested in, so check back! Fairy Tail had a lot of flaws, but it was still a fun package. I gladly walk away satisfied too.


      Delete
    2. Fair enough Sabertooth was a secondary guild so I can see your logic there.But he never showed Brandish and Dimira again and I find it quite funny that Alvarez finds out their emperor and half their elite force is dead and they are now in cahoots with the country that murdered their supposedly beloved emperor. There is also one confirmed couple though which I missed at first and that is Max and his broom both getting at least two shots holding his beloved broom clearly he will go on to have a wooden and rather painful relationship:)
      But much obliged for giving us these reviews they have been funny and enjoyable to read and I will be sad to see the weekly Fairy Tail reviews go but I eagerly await the next post.

      Delete
    3. Oh I married Brandish. So... that's her ending haha... but yeah, that's problematic mostly because of the limitations of a manga. Maybe the anime will extend that part, since they definitely love to do so. They even add extra GaLe scenes for fun.

      And thank you! I'll do well!

      Delete
  2. ..............
    So Fairy Tail is over, huh?
    ...........
    ............
    I won't even write anything. I have a lot to say about how much I enjoyed this chapter, how much I enjoyed the resolution of "ships" and the story itself, how much I enjoyed the nostalgia of this chapter, hw much I enjoyed your Franmalth joke(IDK it was just super funny), how much I enjoyed practically everything. But I won't say anything.
    I'll still be a loyal fan of your reviews since I heavily enjoy them. The recent hate really was depressing, and this chapter was a good breather after the dissapointment of the endings of Zeref and Acno.
    The only thing I can say about this chapter.. Is that it felt like FT again. Like these old times that we all love.
    _________________________________________________________
    Also, I have to do this:
    Rule 1: You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live.
    Rule 2: You must never use former contacts met through your being in the guild for personal gain.
    Rule 3: Though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live.
    Goodbye Fairy Tail....
    I'll miss you.

    P.S I hope you'll review the new series that Mashima is going to do, whenever it happens. Because I for sure am going to read it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *says nothing as well, except showing his gratitude by holding the index finger to the air in the salute of the Guild!*


      P.S I will definitely review at least the first chapter. Nothing is set in stone, but I promise my initial reaction at the very least.

      Delete
    2. Alright! Btw, can't wait for your Alvarez arc review. It was certainly a mixed bag, and I'm really interested in how you find it. Because most people hate it. As for me... it's complicated. I both hate and love it at the same time. Your review might clear things up for me though :)

      Delete
  3. I had the same initial reactions as to how this was handled but overall I guess we can say it ended the way started cause like you said it's not the best ending but it's far from the worst ending so at least it's basic theme wasn't lost but at the same time I still feel like this was Hiro pulling off one final trolling maneuver on everyone since with all the interviews he's done and in a few he's said how things in the concept of a 10 year time skip would go kind of giving the fanbase a reason to stick it out till the finale where we get this chapter and basically says "I was just kidding you guys."

    so not a bad ending but still something of a troll maneuver on Hiro's part since that's something he seems to enjoy doing to the fairy tail fan base. assuming A-1 pictures is still doing the Fairy Tail anime along with other spin offs and one shot chapters I think we'll end up with something slightly different but still the same overall end since A-1 Pictures has a reputation of making big and minor changes to an anime's source material.

    what surprises me is that Fairy Tail managed to retain the T rating as it went on. albeit older Teen but still T rating overall instead of ending up with an M rating which may give a hint as to what Hiro likely plans to try as a next series if he does do another project for another decade.

    while I am glad the Fairy Tail anime returns in 2018 I would like it if Hiro would allow A-1 Pictures to reboot Rave Master since that's a series that never let it's anime counter part finish the story unless you want to stick to the manga with manga elitist logic.

    with Fairy Tail over one can only guess what Hiro will tackle next and if that new series will have a one shot cross over with Fairy Tail and Rave Master. but still who knows later down the line since for all we know A-1 pictures may end up asking Hiro if they can do one more Fairy Tail movie to calm the fans down and give a more direct epilogue based after this chapter and given that Levy and Gajeel's twins are confirmed in this pretty much tying in the light novel and manga together I think it's a safe bet to assume A-1 Pictures will animate the light novel based either before or after the final arc of Fairy Tail.

    how would you rate the overall series of Fairy Tail in it's entirety?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All we know is Mashima is working on a brand new series now. So hopefully that one will be just as fun.

      Fairy Tail overall - 8/10. Flawed but fun.

      Delete
  4. i dont really get y the mavis and zeref thing was needed, didnt we already get them together in the end

    ReplyDelete
  5. Zeref still couldn't die this curse is too powerful.This was a great ending chapter ,for me at least, one fun adventure to the next with friends and that's all it needed to be.
    Thanks for the reviews it's been fun reading. Now all the anime has to do is either have the greatest openings/ending songs perfect animation and show us all what we really wanted to see from this series........ perfect fanservice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm really glad it wasn't a big super-dramatic or tragic goodbye with tons of babies. Nice, fun chapter.

      And it's been fun writing! Hope you stick around for more chapters!

      Ah yes, of course. What we truly need is the fanservice... Those OVAs really showed how much potential FT has for those.

      Delete
  6. AHHHHHHHHHH WHAT ABOUT NALU!!!!! MY HEART BROKE WHEN THE THING NATSU WANTED TO TELL LUCY WAS NOT THAT HE LOVED HERRRR!!!!! I NEED CLOSURE!!!! I CRIED SO HARD 😭😭😭😭😭😭

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am pleased that it seems a little more implied that Frey and Juvia and Natsu and Lucy remained friends, they can go that way but I like to think that G&J will, after a few more years of her growing up a little more and stop acting like an obsessed fangirl but N&L? I think I like them as close friends more than anything more, one day Natsu may grow up and want kids etc kids etc but I like to think that will be with another woman, as much as it was implied that Natsu and Lucy will get together it is nice to leave the two main characters as friends it just feels better this way then letting romance ruin the dynamic these two have between each other.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the joy of this chapter. No concrete answer with NaLu, meaning both you and others get what they want. With NaLu, both answers are possible.

      On the other hand, I see the Gruvia scene a confession but that might just be me. Both of them are in dire need of a bit of maturity (in very different ways), but they're both a lot of fun together that I like to think they have now ended up together.

      Delete