Fairy Tail Chapter 438 & 439 Review - The Seventh Guild Master & Arbaless Kingdom

Written by Shiggins

College is over so I can devote myself, body and soul, to you!

Our first chapter begins with the most important plot point of almost any series in history. That's right, ladies and gents... IT'S SHOWER TIME! Oh yes, beloved shower time! As important as bath time or spa time, shower time is truly the beginning of a masterpiece story and the perfect way to begin our tale. Lucy in a shower might seem like pointless fanservice but it's actually a clever usage of nudity that sets a cheerful and pleasant scene of relaxation and comfort. Hooray!

If you can't see how important these scenes are, then frankly I'm just embarrassed for you.

And speaking of comfort, it's just like old times again as Lucy walks in to see Natsu and Happy broken into her flat and eaten her food, with a brand new job for them to do. Also, Lucy ends up naked. (It actually reminded me of when Natsu and Gray literally call her naked form boring in the movie because they've seen it so much by now!).

Hear that? It's the sound of Natsu claiming his prize.

The work they are doing is helping rebuild the Guild building alongside the other members, including Erza of course and yes, the amount of Deja Vu in this chapter is quite astounding actually. They mention how they hope the master, Makarov is doing okay. Juvia and Gray are working together with the construction, and it's quite cute actually to see them so casual together. It reminds me of when Gray used to run away from Juvia, while she stalked him at every corner.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I think Droy mutated or something because he's fucking terrifying now!

Lisanna is doing well too with her wee pigtails, revealing she was a waitress during the year and her brother Elfman went off to do some MANLY TRAINING. And of course, Natsu hears this and decides to challenge Elfman, who appears out of nowhere and gladly reciprocates his feelings for a fight. Meanwhile, Levy is filling out forms and documents so the Guild can officially start up again with permission from the Council. (I don't know who is in it either yet). This brings us to the main problem of the chapter; Who will the Seventh Guild Master be?

Shippers... Am I right?

As they wonder who could be strong enough to control the Guildmembers, we see Elfman and Natsu beginning their MANLY punch-off. And of course, Gray ends up involved. Then Gajeel, Cana and even a surprise appearance from Leo. Elfman has a little MANLY cry, so happy to see the Guild back together. Mirajane is grateful to see it, as she knows Elfman had been blaming himself for the destruction of the building a year ago. Just before the fight can escalate, Erza brings in the ultimate face!

"There is no Zuul. Only Erzaaaaaa!"

And that face alone is exactly why Levy writes down Erza's name for the 7th Master of the Guild. And just as Erza is stammering from that decision, a figure comes before them. It's Dora...I mean, Mest! And he wants the Guild to save Makarov!

Damn, Mest gets hotter with each visit. What the hell is he gonna look like in the final arc?

The next chapter wastes no time, thank God, and instantly goes to Erza and Mest descending down the stairs towards Lumen Histoire. Mest opens the door and reveals to Erza the secret of Fairy Tail, which is the naked frozen Mavis who is naked. Did I mention she's naked? Just as Erza reacts with shock, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla fall down and are found out spying on them.

Mest tells them he doesn't know why Mavis is frozen here, but he knows it's important. Mest then uses his magic to plant his own memories into everybody's heads to give us a flashback! It shows 9 years ago, when Makarov gave Mest a mission to go undercover at the Council and find out information about the West Continent.

I wonder if Hiro Mashima will ever get bored of drawing naked Mavis... Probably not.

We see Mest decide to erase his own memories due to Fairy Tail being such a taboo subject in the Council, which caused great annoyance to Makarov during his visits. And of course, this was when Mest was... odd and he decided to infiltrate Fairy Tail to discover their secrets. (This is surprisingly confusing...). Then of course, they were reunited during the Grand Magic Games and Mest said he had almost discovered what Makarov needed to know. And we finally go to after that, when Fairy Tail is disbanded.

Poor Lahar... At least he's in a better place now.

It turns out that the Kingdom of Arbaless, in the Western Continent, tried to invade Ishgar ten years ago but were defeated and Makarov reveals this was thanks to Lumen Histoire, which was what the kingdom's original goal was. Thanks to Etherion, the Council and the threat of Face, Arbaless were beaten and never tried again. And thanks to the Tartaros arc, there are no more defences to stop the invasion.

It's big! Have we made that clear yet? It's very VERY big!

Ishgar has around 500 Guilds, while the Western Continent has 730, which has created one massive kingdom that runs like a military! Yes, people. 730 Guilds combined together to attack Fairy Tail. To prevent such a catastrophe, Makarov tells Mest he will go to Arbaless, to attempt to stall them and let the Council reform (after what Jackal the Great did to them all), and despite Mest's pleas, Makarov must go and stop Arbaless from destroying his children.

Opinion: Duuuuude! We're going into a big arc this time! All that disappointment towards Avatar is already washing away!

438: Yay! The house we've seen like twice is still there...
439: 3! Please be 3!

Erza as the 7th Master does make a lot of sense, although I am surprised at the disappearance of Laxus. Nobody is even mentioning him, so I can't help but wonder where he is. We're not about to enter a big arc like this without him, are we? Still, Erza will be a fun master I'm sure considering we've seen her able to shift from utterly hilarious to terrifying and ruthless so it'll probably provide some good moments at the very least. Whether or not this affects her appearance in the arc, we've yet to find out obviously.

Then again, if this wasn't enough to stop her, nothing will!

Elfman crying made me so happy... because he was happy too, I mean! I love Elfman and I felt so bad he didn't get a proper climatic moment in the Tartaros arc, so it was nice to see him get at least a moment like that. I do hope we see more of him in the future too, wanting to redeem himself for his actions.

Do you know why Elfman cries? Because he's a real MAN!

Mest is Doranbolt who was Mest all along and damn, that is confusing but really, I figured it out so I'm okay with it. What does this mean for the Council? I do want to see where he and the Council stand right now before we head off to the Western Continent. New members? Old members returning? Personally, I'd love to see Ichiya as the new Grand Chairman....

With a campaign poster like this, who WOULDN'T vote for him?

A new arc! A new army! A new path of destruction and chaos and new settings and so much wonderful potential is on the horizon! The possibilities of where they can go next is endless..... but I'm nervous and I'll explain why.

1. We saw Zeref meet Acnologia. Does this mean they won't be involved in this arc or did Zeref know this was going to happen, which is the sole reason he met up with Acnologia?

2. What about Future Rogue and the death of Frosch? Depending on whether or not Sabretooth play a major role here, this could be the cause but we don't know yet.

3. A war arc... After Naruto, Magi and Bleach, I was really hoping Fairy Tail would avoid a major war arc too. The spectacle of faceless army vs faceless army wears out fast and those three series exhausted me with their wars that took far too long and were so serious. Fairy Tail shines when it's focusing on humour and close, intimate battles against wacky foes and both of those are things that war arcs primarily lose due to so many antagonists.

I'm not saying "don't be excited" or anything, because I'm getting excited for it and you should too. I'm just taking those points into account during my travels through the lands of my heart... Shut up, that totally makes sense.

Manga Rating: 

Chapter 438: 3/5

Chapter 439: 3.5/5

Predictions: We're going to get a wee glimpse of the Abraless Kingdom next week, showing us our main threats this time. This will include some sort of general and royal, perhaps a queen I'm unsure. Either way, this next main antagonist will follow the tradition of standing on thrones while being evil. Meanwhile, Erza will take action, and prevent Natsu from just running out in a rage like he always wants to do.

Best Part: Setting up a new arc with tons of potential!

Worst Part: Where the hell is Laxus?!

I've decided to start a new tradition where I post whatever Twitter pictures Mashima-senpai I can find. And why did I decide to do such a thing? BECAUSE LOOK HOW GORGEOUS!

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Shiggins enjoys many strange forms of communication, especially those including cosplayers or presents or videos. However, until that wonderful day comes when people care enough to give him things for being him, you can contact him on his Skype; shigginsishere. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/.