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THIS AIN'T THE SAT! Natsu, Levy, Gray and the others face a fierce trial to reach the coveted S class! But with a mysterious death wizard wandering the island in search of Natsu, a mystery man manipulating the memories of the entire guild and a powerful dark force preparing to mount an invasion, one thing is clear - this test really needs a proctor!

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 17, 2011

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995 people want to read

About the author

Hiro Mashima

1,506 books1,927 followers
Hiro Mashima (Jap: 真島ヒロ) is a Japanese manga artist.

He gained success with his first serial Rave, published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 to 2005. His best-selling work, Fairy Tail, published in the same magazine from 2006 to 2017, became one of the best-selling manga series with over 72 million copies in print. Mashima began the currently ongoing Edens Zero in 2018.

Fairy Tail won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen manga in 2009, and Mashima was given the Harvey Awards International Spotlight award in 2017 and the Fauve Special Award at the 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival.

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5 stars
1,893 (57%)
4 stars
920 (27%)
3 stars
413 (12%)
2 stars
54 (1%)
1 star
21 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
Profile Image for Ricardo Medina.
Author 16 books144 followers
May 21, 2023
Better this one than the previous volumen, the change in the story of the arc is perfect
Profile Image for Beth.
1,434 reviews199 followers
July 14, 2022
So we're moving along with the S-class tests and I guess the author decided it was boring to just have an elimination challenge, so he threw a whole other "plot" on top of it. The central character on the cover apparently has been mentioned before (some of the panels where this has happened were duplicated in this volume) but it isn't like I would remember little details like that.

The dark guild Grimoire Heart is after that character, presumably to take him and his death-magic powers for their own. A guy from the council is there to see if he can disband either Grimoire Heart or Fairy Tail for causing too much disruption or something? Kind of pointless.

This volume was merely decent, suffering somewhat from a couple too many elements being thrown into it willy-nilly.
Profile Image for Emi.acg.
668 reviews224 followers
July 30, 2021
Queria avanzar más hoy pero me distraje con el volei🙈🤣 en fin, el examen se ve interrumpido esta llegando el gremio oscuro más poderoso a la isla ya que busca a zereff el personaje misterioso chan chan chan el mago más temible de todos los tiempos, pero que se puso a llorar y escapó cuando se topo con Natsu 🤔 que pasar ahí jeje
Por otro lado tenemos un infiltrado del consejo, que busca cualquier motivo para disolver el gremio pero en realidad parece un inútil jajajaj ni me acordaba de él xd
Gazelle, Gajeel, como sea 😂 tiene un mini trasfondo de antes de unirse, cuando Makarov lo invitó a unirse y ahora esa es su motivación para proteger a los demás 🥰 se viene duro otra vez, estos niños no descansan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Celeste.
430 reviews34 followers
January 2, 2021
EN RESUMEN
En medio del examen para convertirse en mago S, los miembros de Fairy Tail se enfrentan a un mago medio emo y a otro gremio oscuro.

ACLARACIÓN:
Todos estos puntos están de alguna forma influenciados por conocimientos y opiniones que ya tenía sobre la historia gracias a la adaptación del anime y al ser esta una relectura.

ASPECTOS POSITIVOS
- Lo voy a repetir hasta el cansancio: podemos quejarnos de muchas cosas de Mashima PERO su dibujo es impecable. Sacando el fanservice de lado, el hombre no sobrecarga la viñeta y los movimientos de los personajes en las escenas de acción son claras y concisas. Hay un buen balance entre los personajes y el fondo, sin dejar que uno sobrepase al otro. Y LOS MOMENTOS ÉPICOS SON REALMENTE ÉPICOS. No se trata solamente de hacer ver a un personaje de una forma badass, sino que hablo también de los ángulos, del uso de las sombras, de los movimientos, ese hype que se crea cuando la batalla está por empezar.
- La pelea de Natsu y Gildarts. Hubo mucho desarrollo ahí. Soy fan de esos momentos que le muestran al protagonista cuánto le falta por recorrer y este fue uno de esos momentos. El sistema de magia de Fairy Tail es inexistente, pero estas escenas me pueden y creo que contribuyen al crecimiento de los personajes mucho más que cualquier otra pelea con anteriores villanos. Y también está el amor que le tengo a Natsu, lo que es raro porque dado su personalidad yo tendría que mínimamente no bancarlo. Pero no puedo sino considerarlo adorablemente estúpido (más o menos lo que siento por Inosuke de Demon Slayer). Me gusta lo tonto e impulsivo que es, porque incluso si es el cliché típico que ya vimos millones de veces antes en el mundo shounen, Mashima sigue poniendo esas pequeñas escenas que demuestran que Natsu también es muy perceptivo, que no todo le pasa inadvertido.
- Tenemos ESA introducción.
- El desarrollo de Gajeel. Me emocioné, lo confieso. Este no fue sólo el comienzo para la mejor pareja de la serie sino para uno de los mejores crecimientos de personajes que Mashima ofreció. Ahora la aceptación de Makarov tiene mucho más sentido. Gajeel ya no es sólo un doble espía. Es formalmente un miembro de Fairy Tail. y como ya sabemos el poder de la amistad y la familia siempre es superior a todo en este mundo so :)
- Las peleas y la trama estuvieron a la altura en este tomo (especialmente si tenemos en cuenta que acabamos de salir del arco de Edolas). Fairy Tail brilla cuando maneja su punto más fuerte: el gremio. Tenés un arco donde están todos los personajes más importantes juntos... es una muy buena oportunidad para darle desarrollo a algunos que antes no estaban y para mostrarnos diferentes dinámicas y relaciones. Todo eso con un humor bastante decente y un buen dibujo.
- El plot twist final estuvo muy bien construido. A pesar de mi odio al personaje de Mest del que hablaremos en futuros tomos todo el misterio alrededor de él fue genial.

ASPECTOS NEGATIVOS
- El fanservice.
- Algunas conveniencias que Mashima el escritor nunca puede arreglar.
- No soy fan de Elfman y Evergreen. La mayoría del tiempo me olvidaba incluso que estaban participando en la prueba.
- Los villanos que sólo están ahí para extender la batalla final del arco me siguen molestando. Del gremio oscuro Grimoire Heart puedo asegurar que solo cuatro valen la pena.

CONCLUSIÓN
Este tomo me hizo darme cuenta por qué me divertía tanto Fairy Tail en sus inicios. Cuando Mashima vuelve a lo básico, a explotar sus puntos más fuertes y se dedica al plot principal, la historia se luce muchísimo más que cuando intenta ser algo que no es. El arco de la Isla Tenrou es eso: con sus momentos malos y buenos, el autor logra aprovechar las cosas que hacen de este manga algo entretenido de leer.
Profile Image for Bookworm Erica.
1,965 reviews30 followers
September 24, 2020
Cliffhanger!

My library doesn’t have book 26 in yet . I had to have it sent from another library 😭😭
Profile Image for Kanna Ogihara.
59 reviews1 follower
May 29, 2018
Ehhhhhhhhhh!🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀
Why ****is in the Tenrou Island??!! What relationship between Nastu and him there are? There are so many mysteries points in this volume. I enjoy reading the story with guessing.
Profile Image for Greg.
839 reviews44 followers
December 3, 2021
3.5/5 Volume 25 turned the Tenrou Island arc in a different way then I wanted it to go but still entertaining. However the first half regarding the beginning of the exams did feel a little phoned in and now that it's been turned on it's head maybe a little pointless.

The S-Rank exam is interrupted by both the appearance of a wandering black wizard who seemingly kills everything in his presence simply by being near them. Then we have the appearance of another Dark Guild Grimoire Heart. Whose member Ultear you will remember being a "partner" of Jallels earlier in the series.

Looks like we still have some fun battles in store for us at least.

Gajeel facing off against Kawazu and Yomazu on the cover with Natsu and our mysterious black mage in the background.

Read 12/3/21
Profile Image for TheBookishHobbit.
674 reviews13 followers
April 25, 2022
Welp, the exam was interrupted by a dark guild, however, before that Natsu learned a great lesson from Gildarts which you will have to read to find out what. Things are turning south as mysteries pile on for this newest arc. Like for example who really is Zeref and is he as dark as they claim? Guess like we will have to find out!
Profile Image for Victor The Reader.
1,858 reviews25 followers
January 28, 2025
Fairy Tail, Vol. 25 (My Kindle Review)

The first round of the Wizard Test sees plenty of different challenges for the teams and a handful of them manage to pass onto the second round. But in the middle of it, a dark guild known as Grimoire Heart land on the island while a 400-year-old death wizard has appeared and it’ll being more chaos. A- (81%/Excellent)
Profile Image for Burberi.
608 reviews5 followers
September 30, 2024
GAJEEL IS A FUCKING FAIRY TAIL WIZARD PPL!
He so fucking bad ass I could cry.
Also, THAT HEART IN THE IRON LEVY MADE IS EVERYTHING
1,026 reviews10 followers
May 13, 2013
Great character work in here. Especially for Natsu. He's been growing a lot throughout the series, but there's a good argument to be made that he never really did much growing *up*. He did that this issue, and I think it already showed.
Profile Image for Aalayah Lee.
75 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2024
4.5⭐️

Juvia and lissana are fighting erza - Erza is in her ‘armor of the sea king’ which completely protects her against Juvia
Elfman and Evergreen are versing Mira, in her demon soul takeover
Natsu fights guildarts quite strong and determined. Guildarts accidentally uses a spell that cuts him into much tinier Natsu’s, now there is an army of Natsu’s attacking GA
Natsu was determined to MOVE Guildarts because ‘GA never moved from the same spot when he’s attacking’ and he did make him move..
Guildarts shows his full strength, causing an earthquake. Natsu drops to his knees, upset he’s lost.
Impressed with Natsu, GA passes him
Carla and Lily are flying to the island
Mest and Wendy had fought Gray and Loke, but lost
Gajeel and Levy got the ‘peace and quiet route’ gehehehe
Elfman and Evergreen passed their test!
Mest says to Wendy the Sirius Island holds a bigger secret than just Mavis’s grave, revealing that the island is hidden by wards and no magic can make you find it. He then coaxed her into exploring to find a ‘bigger’ secret
Mest is giving bad vibes…
Everyone is given the task of finding Mavis’s grace in six hours. They thought it would be easy- they were wrong
Elfman and Evergreen told Mira they were getting married, then in her shock, they hit her with one big attack
Guildarts, Fried and Bickslow all return to Fairytail
Elf and ever run into that other wizard who killed the wolves - he is over surged by magic and sends out a blast that kills all living things, thankfully Natsu get to E+E and pushed them down
He claims he’s been looking for Natsu, but in typical Natsu fashion, he punches him
His black wave attack was absorbed by Natsu’s scarf ?
That dark wizard is revealed to be Zeref (YAYYYYYY!)
Also- Hades and his guild are on their way to Sirius island (Grimoire Hearts)
Members of Grimoire Hearts:
- Hades - master
- Ultear
- Zancrow
- Caprico
- Rusty Rose
- Kain Hikaru
- Merudy
- Azuma
((These are the Seven Kin of Purgatory))
- Yomazu
- Kawazu
AHHH GAJEEL AND LEVYYYY ( levy is upset that all Gajeel wants and talks about is fighting the others)
Levy feels bad that she is a bit weaker and smaller than the others so she runs off, then she gets attacked by two other people
GAJEEL SAVES HERRRRR - “so don’t ever run away from me again”
The two who attacked are members of GH - Yomazu and Kawazu
They get beat really badly, so Gajeel tells Levy to run to warn the others. Before she leaves she summons some iron (THE ‘O’ HAD A HEART AS ITS MIDDLE SHAPE!!!!) to help regenerate his power
She finds (or rather gets found) by Erza and Juvia
Gajeel is 1v2-ing and getting beat up badly, but refuses to lose. Flashing back to when Makarov came to find him to offer him to not fall into isolation and darkness, but to join FT instead
With this memory and pride of being in FT her gets a surge of power and unleashes his Dragon Slayer Ultimate Attack - he beats them
Erza flags read into the sky, stopping the test and warning everyone (including Makarov) of enemy attack and stopping the test
Erza interigates, revealing GH is searching for Zeref (who has been alive for 400years)
Mest is apart of GH? ((No))
Carla and Lily get to Wendy, Lily turns big and interigates Mest
Azuma reveals himself from the tree he is formed into- he is the member of GH
Mest is an agent of the Magic Council, he infiltrated FT to shut it down. When revealing he had a MC ship on the way, Azuma blows it to complete splinters…

So much character development and character relationship development! So much battle, and SO MUCH Gajeel and Levy (gehehehe, kicking my feet and giggling)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for abdulraffij.
62 reviews
August 26, 2021
This will be my full review for this entire series. I already read this comic from volume 1-30. Suppose there 50 volume more of this series but I prefer not to finish it as I don't really like the time-skip idea in this series.

To clarify, I love the idea of time-skip. But, in this series, I really hate it. It make Natsu and other main member weaker. Why make them weaker? I want to see MC progress throughout the series. Then, suddenly become weaker. Not to mention when MC want to win each battle, power of friendship keep coming back each battle.

Furthermore, there are a lot of un-explained things happened in this series. The dots are not connected rather than scattered throughout the series. It just there to fill the plot-hole. Rather than explaining, Mr Hiro keep continuing the series and keep adding new characters each volume.

So, after the time-skip, I determine to stop reading this series. I don't want to ruin my memories of this awesome series. For most part, this series actually had huge potential because of interesting and lovable character, but the plot is keep on damaging this series slowly.
Profile Image for Stephen.
1,490 reviews3 followers
July 18, 2024
The S Class tests continue as Natsu, and the rest battle it out with challenges facing them at every turn…to reach the esteemed level of S-Class Wizard. In true Fairy Tail format, the S Class test will not run smoothly but be interrupted by so many outside factors it is hard to keep them all separated. Uninvited guests are on this island in search of “something or someone”. Masterminds are manipulating memories and doubts resound in those on the island of just what is really going on!?! Just who is Zeref the Black Wizard? The Seven Kin of Purgatory? Grimoire Heart the Dark Guild is in this volume and so much more. I think this volume is a kickoff to a huge story which may indeed change the landscape of the entire title, but it is a fun adventure with lots of little revelations throughout the reading of this volume. The art is always captivating and the story fun. This volume really sets up the potential for some crazy future volumes…but we will have to wait and see what the occurrences within this volume have a greater impact on the universe. Definitely a cliffhanging ending to this volume!
Profile Image for Ashley.
173 reviews4 followers
June 26, 2021
I’ve been reading manga on my phone for years now, but never bothered to record it on my Goodreads. I don’t know, there’s something about manga that feels like cheating when it counts toward my yearly book goals. But, the thing I appreciate about Goodreads is that over the years, it becomes a great snapshot of all of the books I read at different times of my life. There’s something nice in being able to track where I was during the course of my life and what books were relevant to me through it. So I’m gonna start recording manga that I read. Probably not going to rate them as I go, although if I ever get to the end of a series maybe I’ll rate the last book.

But I read part of this series in high school and have returned to it as an adult. It’s been my favorite manga series to date, and maybe I’ll even get around to finishing it this time.
Profile Image for Gustavo.
901 reviews16 followers
August 27, 2020
En este tomo pasan un montóooon de cosas, en la segunda etapa de las pruebas para mago clase S, hay un giro y todo se convierte en algo completamente distinto cuando un nuevo enemigo y un misterioso personaje llegan a la isla de Fairy Tail.

Hay algunos momentos de desarrollo de personajes muy buenos, sobre todo de Levy y Gajeel, que continúa en su camino de ganarse su lugar como miembro del gremio.

En fin, hay mucho misterio por delante, y lamentablemente Ivrea viene bastante lento con esta serie asi que supongo que volveré a ella en un par de años cuando haya juntado algunos tomos más. O quizá cuando este arco este completo en unos meses, quien sabe.
Profile Image for Gabriella.
327 reviews12 followers
December 11, 2023
I’m a Gajeel and Levy shipper :)

In this one we have fairy tail members battling against one another to see who can make it to be irl the next S-Class wizard. Things seem to be going all according to plan… until a dark guild shows up. Gajeel sends Levy away to tell the others while he continues to fight these dark guild members.

…Something I didn’t see coming yet but am so glad it finally happened—Gajeel finally admitting and accepting that he is a fairy tail wizard.

“I can’t loose this fight!!! I am… a fairy tail… wizard!!!!”

I was so happy that he was able to admit it to himself. And not just that but loved seeing how protective he’s become of Levy.
Profile Image for Kacie.
424 reviews
Read
August 22, 2024
Thoughts on this volume:
• So much Gajevy content, I am weak.
• Gajeel using her as an arm rest. Gajeel saying she was so hard to find so she's short. GAJEEL FOLLOWING THAT UP BY SAYING SO STICK BY ME.
• Completion of the Gajeel Redemption Arc ✅️
• Zeref debut as well!! This is such a key arc in the main story. Also Zeref saying he is against war and being really in his feelings meanwhile Spriggan war-mongering there on the other side of his personality... get a grip, sir.
• Bixslow, Freed and Guildarts if you don't get your asses back on this island right fucking now istg.
• Hades so evil... Precht what happened to you old man
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lauren Schnoebelen.
791 reviews9 followers
June 17, 2019
Oh man, this is what I've been wanting. Fairy Tail lost me for a little bit with the last story arc to the point where I wasn't really excited to get back into the series but this really changed it. I loved this volume and it was a solid start to winning me back. I'm so excited to see what awaits for our heroes on this island and to see how far their magic will take them now that the trouble has found them.
Profile Image for KC.
218 reviews63 followers
February 24, 2019
3.5

For yup, Gajeel AND Levy only.

Yea its really funny, Gajeel is totally like Guts if Guts were placed in a world with cheesiness, fluff, and gooey sweet junk, powerful enough to give you cavities in your teeth.

Forgot to mention, this arc literally ends with, "The power of friendship," literally defeating the big baddie. Just, nope. Call me a cynic, but, nah dude, just nah.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Nazish Ahmed (Nazish Reads).
960 reviews38 followers
March 22, 2024
I'm finally on one of my favourite Fairy Tail arcs (I've seen the anime upto the Tartarus arc). This is when we start to see a mystery on who the dark wizard Zeref (he's been mentioned before in this series) could be and that he knows Natsu somehow but Natsu doesn't know him.


Blog: nazreads.ca
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
Instagram: nazreads01, nazcosplay, nradesigns, charmedanimegirl01
Profile Image for Genesis Garcia.
185 reviews13 followers
April 6, 2023
Creía que la gente del consejo tendría más poder, pero la verdad es que el infiltrado es equis😅😅 amo que fairy tail es una familia y es precisamente eso el combustible de cada uno, protegerse unos a los otros aun cuando ya no puedan más 💜
Profile Image for Sarah .
963 reviews16 followers
July 21, 2024
Some of the battle scenes in this one are just too chaotic to follow. The sense of motion is great, but not if I can't tell who the characters are in the lines. The stakes are too high to lose that momentum.
Profile Image for Amanda Setasha.
1,687 reviews54 followers
June 27, 2017
"We're going to do S-Class wizard tests! ... No wait. Wait. We changed out minds. Halfway through the arc. Screw your tests."

-.-
Profile Image for Lisa.
2,156 reviews24 followers
October 2, 2017
This book has some crazy tests and contests. This was fun as always and there are even a return of some people that we may remember.
Profile Image for Jeni.
1,114 reviews33 followers
January 19, 2018
I wish the S-Class trials would have gone on longer before we shifted story focus, but it still might be interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews

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