Zeref is adorable.
I'm serious. Even though I know he's the big evil villain and I should be wanting to see Natsu utterly destroy him, I can't stop looking at him and wanting to pinch his adorable sociopathic cheeks until they're all red and cute. Zeref is one of the cutest villains I've ever seen, and I had to remind myself we're meant to want this guy to die, during these two chapters.
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| Consider this my apology for no review last week. |
Natsu has ran off, and Gray decides he wishes to chase after him, but Erza stops him and says they have to continue with the plan. Despite Erza mentioning Natsu's secret arm technique, Gray seems unconvinced he shouldn't go and Erza challenges his trust in Natsu, until Lucy breaks it up. Mavis of course agrees with Erza and Gray reluctantly reveals he's just worried about his flaming pal.
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| In Gray's defence, Erza has definitely been given Natsu some interesting looks recently. |
Back to Natsu, who is flying with Happy, we see Zeref's army looking like a black carpet of knights. The next few pages are exactly what you'd expect, as we see nothing but Natsu being surprisingly awesome in his carnage to take down as many as he can. Every attack is at it's most powerful, and every shot Natsu takes seems to have no effect on him. Not much else to say there really, so let's skip ahead.
Zeref appears all of a sudden, saying that Natsu took down almost 1000 soldiers right there so well done to him. Zeref couldn't resist coming out to meet Natsu, and Natsu finally begins to reveal his arm...
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| The only appearance poor Juvia makes unfortunately. |
Chapter 464:
Thankfully, the fight didn't disappear and move to somewhere else. The focus is Natsu and Zeref, and that's where it needs to be because I have to see his arm! The army are surprised to hear that "Spriggan" is called Zeref, but Invel shows no surprise. As everybody, including Happy, gives them space, Natsu and Zeref begin to battle... and we see his arm!
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| Kids these days... With their music and their tattoos... What is the world coming to? |
So it turns out that this new tattoo has nothing to do with E.N.D, but the tenacious heat and power is actually from Igneel. Natsu's power has not just gotten more badass, it's even able to burn away Zeref's death magic! Even more surprisingly, we actually see Zeref get punched in the face a few times.
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| I hereby deem this page: "Too awesome for jokes". |
Natsu tells Zeref that this power was the remainder of Igneel's power that he left inside Natsu before they parted during the Tartaros arc, and Natsu spent 10 months perfecting it. Since this was a one-time deal, Natsu waited until he met Zeref to use it. Natsu then goes Super Saiyan Fire, and proceeds to unleash a massive attack. Before he gets hit, Zeref lets out an inner thanks to his little brother Natsu, Igneel, Mavis... and Layla and Anna?
Opinion: Who the hell is Anna?!
To be honest, I could have reviewed last week's chapter, but I saw little point since it was mostly fighting. Not much to discuss, except to say it looks great. Natsu has never been so impressive, and this really is the only way you can make fighting faceless foes interesting. Carnage and destruction in huge sizes. If these had been actual Spriggan 12 members that Natsu slapped away so easily, this conversation would not be going so positively.
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| Hey, where'd he go? I've never seen a baddy go pop before... Have I? Probably. |
It is a bit of a bummer though, that we're not seeing the others right now. Honestly though, that's just me wanting to see the most likely hilarious interactions between all the characters, and I can wait for that. It does help that we saw so much of Zeref, since I find him both an intriguing mystery, and a teddy bear you want to cuddle.
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| ...Are we sure Zeref is the villain here? |
And I suppose that's everything, so I'm just going to gawk at my private photos of Haku from Naruto until I... WHO IS ANNA?! And how does Zeref know Layla?! (Let's just assume it's Layla Heartfilia). This arc has done so much with Layla, and now the mystery is deepening thanks to Zeref. I'm actually starting to wonder if Layla was more connected to the Spriggan 12, than just Brandish herself. Could Layla have been a member of the original 12, and her leaving them was a betrayal? That's just one of many possibilities right now.
As for Anna... No damn idea. Maybe she was Zeref's and Natsu's long-lost sister, or Layla's, or maybe she was his perfect demon creation. I'm not even going to pretend to have any clue, so instead I'll notice her name. It's surprisingly common, which has made me realise that this series loves to mix it up. You go from unique names like Erza and Makarov, to Lucy and Anna. Just a thought to have.
Manga Rating: 3.5/5
Character of the Week: Zeref for his mysterious thoughts, and for being so cheek-pinching adorable.
Predictions: Next week is called "400 Years", so Natsu is going to need to take a break, as we will see more about Zeref's life and how he handled himself before and after Mavis' death. If we're lucky, this Anna woman will be answered quickly too. Then Zeref will wake up in present day and... more fighting.
Best Part: Natsu's arm was revealed.
Worst Part: Most of 463 was fighting.
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| ...How random. |
Bonus Review:
It's Christmas time! So Erza is leading a parade of Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Levy, Lily, Happy, Wendy and Carla to Lucy's home, for a fun night of games and drink and whatever else the kids get up to these days. Since it's Christmas, even Lucy manages to get into the swing of things and takes a drink...
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| Me and my pals this year... Just not in the mood. |
And of course, the girls end up drunk again. (See a previous omake/OVA for the hilarious results from last time). And just like last time, the guys just happen to be sober this time, although it's never explained why that is. Lucy is affectionately purring on Natsu, Levy is laughing at Gajeel's lack of eyebrows, Juvia is sobbing at the snow, Carla is riding Happy and Lily like her pets, Wendy is passed out, and Erza is aggressive and ordering everyone about.
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| I see the face of pure unadulterated trauma. |
Speaking of which, Erza is pissed off at the possible ship-teasing going on, due to feeling left out, so decides to initiate the "Guildmaster Game", which is giving me Nisekoi flashbacks actually. Once the rules are established, the game begins and Mashima-senpai wastes no time in doing what he does best... Get a character naked! Yes, Erza becomes the first master and her first order causes the nudity of Gajeel.
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| The entire chapter summed up in one tight nutshell. |
For the next few pages, it's chaos. Lucy gets groped, Natsu spanks Gajeel, Gray has to hug Lucy and stare at Levy, Natsu dances naked, Gray howls naked, Levy loses her pants... then it gets to a point where the comedy goes uncomfortable as we go from Wendy and Carla as barking maids while Juvia shops in swimsuit to... candle wax on Lucy's back.
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| The limit has been found. |
The game finally comes to an end when Gray claims the title of Guildmaster from Erza, who had managed to be master during all the horrific, daring challenges. Wanting to sober her up and make her give in, Gray challenges Erza to walk home naked. Unfortunately, Erza is still tipsy so calls his bluff and actually goes to do as told.
As Erza walks naked, her own ship is teased as well when she just happens to run into Jellal... No, there is no reason why he is there but his lack of reaction is both eye-rollingly boring and rib-crackingly hilarious. Jellal gives Erza his jacket and offers to walk the girl home, and something tells me the gang will never mention this ever again.
Opinion: Comedy entered a dark place today.
Okay, in all fairness... That was a funny chapter. Levy laughing her ass off is a surprising treat, and when Natsu slapped Gajeel's ass, the faces on the two of them was brilliant. Most of the humour was visual-based, and that's probably for the best with this type of medium. I initially disliked that the chapter needed to rely so much on nudity, but I instantly forgave it when I remembered this was an omake. Omakes can and should get away with more, since they're not getting in the way of the actual story. If Mashima wants to have naked people, then omakes are where they should be most of the time.
And lastly, it got creepy during the middle. Lucy and Erza candle wax... That's just wrong, man.
Manga Rating: 4/5
Best Part: The first few tasks of the game.
Worst Part: The last few tasks of the game.
Bonus:
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| I was a bit mean to Jellal in my "Why It's Not Perfect" article, so here's a Mashima picture to make up for it. |
Shiggins:[Admin]
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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/
What has been seen cannot be unseen... that whole omake chapter played out like a fanfiction, but BETTER because Hiro was the artist! Hilarious stuff, favorite part was probably Gajeel's stripping scene and Gray's confession for Ur. (Though let's be honest, he probably meant it in a platonic sense.)
ReplyDeleteAs for the chapters themselves... I'm just trying to find more art of Natsu's "Fire Dragon King Slayer" mode. While it's a little suprising that Zeref's this easy to toss around,
1) He's not actually trying- he does want to die after all,
2) He's clearly not the strongest on defense, as seen by Ultear's beatdown in the Tenrou arc,
and 3) If I had to guess, Zeref's automatic magical abilities- the ones that basically kill everything in sight- kicked in at the end of this fight, against his own will. Or Acnologia may drop in, but I sincerely hope not.
Also, YES- ZEREF IS ADORABLEEEEEEEEE, and ya know what? I LOVE IT!! *blood spews from nose faster than a fire hose*
Fangafiction is always my favourite type of fanfiction. Looks good and it's almost always in character. (And yes, although I would have preferred to see him cry out Silver... Actually, it'd be pretty funny if proper canon made Gray have a crush on Ur)
DeleteI've not seen much art of that either. I think everybody is too freaked out about Anna right now. And yeah, Zeref can take more than that. This is his first actual beating, and he's got a huge reputation so we can be assured he'll be back almost right away. We're nowhere near done with this war, and he has to have a goodbye with Mavis, of course. Acnologia MIGHT appear soon to try to awaken E.N.D, but it's more likely we'll see some other battles soon.
Zeref is adorable indeed. *blood out of nose like Baka to Test*
Dear Shiggins, would it be okay if I sent you a theory that I've been working on to otakunuts@live.com to have a look at? It's about Natsu and Wendy and I hope you'll find it worth reading. (Though chances are that it'll be disproved after next week's chapter...)
ReplyDeleteOf course, Anon. Is this just to get our opinion on it?
DeleteAdmittedly, yes. Since I don't use Tumblr or Reddit, it was the best way to get it looked at. Thank you. [*Fervently hopes that next week's chapter won't disprove everything*]
ReplyDeleteWoo, doggy! That was a long one! Sorry it took so long to reply, but it's a big theory and I wasn't feeling well this week. Anyway, finally read it and here's what I think.
DeleteFirst of all, I love the idea of Doriate having an actual impact on the story again, since he was surprisingly underwhelming when we last saw him. Especially considering he's meant to have been a human before Tartaros.
I'm always hesitant to take note of theories that use scenes from arcs before Tenrou Island as a means to build-up evidence, since I know Mashima had no E.N.D plans back then, but your one does seem fairly good. The idea that Wendy and Natsu have a dark past is very intriguing, especially considering how much Wendy looks up to Natsu now and how brotherly he is to her. In many ways, I do hope your theory is correct.
There's tons of information to go through and I don't really have the time to go through all of it, but I do like it. The fact that young Wendy looks confused in chapter 465 might just be to show her innocence, as I can see it being very unlikely Natsu managed to de-age her at that point in time, but again, tons of possibilities for it to happen. I hope you're right, because Wendy and drama very rarely work together but it always is great when they do.