Fairy Tail Chapter 496 Review - Forward!

Written by Shiggins

Oh for fuck's sake!

I mean... I was really liking this chapter up until that moment! And now I just... you just... just... you finally give me what I want but you ruin it! I am so damn entitled and wah! So unfair! On the bright side, the rest of this chapter was actually a lot of fun but that one problem has put such a sour taste in my mouth...

Man, Gildarts really loves headbutting people, huh?

Alright, so this chapter starts with Gildarts finally here to kick some ass. Everyone is happy, of course and he's still a bit dorky around Cana, but dorky is the standard right now because we have God Serena. Gildarts notices that Serena is dead, and his power is nowhere near as strong as it was when he was alive.

Is it? Because, as I've mentioned before, I've never seen an army in Fairy Tail provide trouble. Armies can't even hit you! How are they scary?!

Meanwhile, for some odd reason, the focus shifts to Romeo. Yeah... he's such a valuable character... Anyway, he's scared and Wendy is encouraging him to go on. And suddenly, the sand arrives as Ajeel is attacking! Elfman decides to take care of Ajeel, with Lisanna providing support via wings. And this is when we see Jason Statham return, and his opponent appears to be Mirajane.

Where did... How did... When did... WHAT?!

Now for the greatness of Wahl and the meh of Bradman, who are charging in together. To their surprise, and my own actually, their opponents are Minerva and Rogue! Sting was separated from Rogue during Universe One, but Cobra's girl Kinana was able to lead those two to the battlefield. Yukino is given the task of finding Neinhart, while Angel is being.. weird.

Angel, stop being adorable! That's Brandish's thing!

Natsu cheers on his comrades as he charges in, and we then skip back to Gildarts and Serena. Then Gildarts.... wins. He won. He defeated Serena. Romeo finally gains the courage to charge in, and Invel watches down from above angrily.

Opinion: Oooh I'm upset.

A quick battle is fine, and expected in this massive war. We have dozens of characters fighting for space right now, so not being able to give everyone a huge battle is a compromise we have to accept if we don't want a Naruto-sized war of 100+ chapters. That being said, God Serena was defeated in less than a chapter! This supposed badass mage is already gone, and while I do have some possible excuses and alternatives, the taste in my mouth is bitter right now.

So it's not a claw? It's a Genos hand? Shame...

Gildarts told us that Serena's dead body was far weaker than how his real form should be (which we can assume is also the case for Wahl and Bradman), hence why Serena was so much easier for Gildarts to defeat. The speed of this victory is leading me to wonder if August's "tattoo" that he called Serena is going to give us a proper Serena fight in the future, perhaps by showing his power and personality can be put into another body or something via tattoo-transference. To put it simply, this Serena is a "fake" to me and the real one is still to make an entrance.

Romeo... I really don't care about Romeo. I just don't. He makes an appearance once every two or three arcs, but for some strange reason I'm meant to act like he's a major player in the story. I don't hate him, but I am so indifferent to his existence it's incredible. Wendy on the other hand is great and I liked that she got to give someone some faith and confidence... just too bad that it was Romeo.

Seriously, I can't tell if this is out-of-character or not. That's how little I know about Romeo.

The pair-ups are fun, if a bit random. While I'm not expecting every combination to be a winner, I am hoping at least some drama, comedy or excitement comes from these groups. Hell, I almost want Minerva and Rogue to get together just so I can consider Bradman some sort of weird cupid that brings ships together, like he did with Gajeel and Levy. Someone give him Cobra and Kinana, now!

Invel is mad. And if he's not going to fight Gray, I'll be shocked.

Manga Rating: 3.5/5

Character of the Week: Wendy Marvell for being the bringer of faith, rather than the receiver.

Best Part: EVERYBODY HIT SOMEBODY!!!

Worst Part: Serena gone already?

Um.... Option 4! He stood on Lego!!

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/