Cheesy to the max, it's another volume with callbacks to the original. The fights aren't anything that will stand out in the long run, however, they're entertaining enough in the moment. Only the last few panels manage to cement themselves as memorable. But, hey, at the end of the day, who can resist a good dragon?
Selene decides to get serious with the upstart dragon slayer from Diabolos after the two of them have already started their opening volleys. The conclusion of their battle will be concluded good or bad in this volume so feel free to enjoy the wild action. In the mean time Erza and Natsu have been seriously hurt and Wendy needs time to help them but the the unmovable Mimi and her cold ally Hakune have tracked them down before she could heal them enough. Now Gray and Lucy are on their own against the powerful spirit art users in a life and death struggle for their friends. If that is not enough of a challenge hands suddenly started emerging from all over the world as the surge of magic in the world threatens to destroy everything. It is time to put an end to this wild magic surge at the source as the guild follows the magical flow of the hands to the reason why this and is so abundant in magic.
Just a few personal notes about this volume. First I like that Gray has eventually figured out Ice Make magic that allows it to be moved like I Lyon (or so I think so) was able to do in the past. The second is I really like Mimi as a character and although we may never see her again I kind of hope she somehow returns in the future as an ally. Third Natsu is a dork but a good hearted one as he unleashes punishment on Faris for her past actions. and last the fate of Selene was great poetic justice which I hope you all enjoy when you see it for yourself. )
The fights were all pretty cool, and varied, which I really appreciated. Lucy's fight was drastically different than Gray's which was different than Suzakus and and and. It was nice to have every fight feel very different and not just "we are beating the bad guys now". I love the variety. Not to mention theres a lot of character showing through each fight. Lucy showing how strong she is by herself, Gray showing how he's just gotten more and more on touch with his feelings and values, Wendy growing (literally lol) more and more into an irreplaceable support for the team. The fights were all great and it felt epic and really cool.
The ending though is what really got me. Because 1. The book got us. It got us good with Selene. Like by the time we got there, I knew she was faking, but I wasn't super sure she was the entire time, I genuinely thought Suzaku did it. Especially after Natsu missing out on the fight entirely, I just assumed maybe Fairy Tail doesn't get to beat all of them. I was fooled. Good job. But while that segment at the dragon slayer guild brings the manga into the next arch, there was also a definitive end to this one. We got the Fairy Tail group fight, the celebration, the moving forward, and it felt complete. I think it's impressive when authors can make something feel complete and also leading into the next thing.
I wasn't a huge fan of this arch, but the ending was fantastic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The end of this arc was absolutely perfectly executed. The action is at its peak, with incredible fights (that don't take frustratingly long to resolve, like we could have had in the past), a satisfying ending and a last chapter that always makes you crave for more.
But where this volume truly shines, it's how well the characters are developed in it. I teared up so many times reading it just because of how far we’ve come. Lucy is one of my favorite characters, and the main criticism she got in the original Fairy Tail was how useless her magic was. And now to see completely own it and make it her own, and defeat fearsome enemies without it ever being just “plot armor”, I love it. She’s become such a badass character.
Gray stole my heart in this volume as well. I absolutely love to see him more in touch with his emotions and what he wants. The illusion with all his favorite people was absolutely heartbreaking, and yet him choosing Juvia’s happiness over and over again truly proves he’s head over heel for her. I never expected their relationship to progress that well but now they’re everything to me.
And of course, I can't talk about character development without that last scene with Jellal. It's everything I wanted from his character and I’m so impossibly happy.
Fairy Tail is one of the few, if not only, shonen manga series I’ve particularly enjoyed, likely due to the variety of entertaining characters. Like most shonen manga, there’s a lot of fighting and action, but there’s humor as well, along with some interpersonal drama. It’s possible there are other shonen series with these elements, I just haven’t read them yet.
This is the tenth volume in the series that picks up wherebthe main series left of at volume 100+. It’s coauthored, and while the characters are well established and it’s fun to see their continuing adventures, in this volume in particular, the plot seems recycled and derivative of the original series as they face an enemy who is basically the same as one they’ve faced before. It was also a lot of just fighting scenes, which I don’t find all that engaging. (Same thing with movies, I genreally find fight scenes and car chases tedious.)
I LOVE SO MUCH THIS VOLUME i love Natsu. i love Lucy. i love Gray and Juvia. I love Jellal and Erza. AND I LOVE THE FINAL. SELENE IS SUCH A BADASS, OK YEAH, SHES THE VILLAIN HERE, BUT COMPARED TO THOSE ASSHOLES OF DIABOLOS, TAHT FINAL WAS E PIC.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Listes des chapitres : 82 : Match retour 83 : Mimi l'inébranlable 84 : Illusion de glace 85 : Le géant de glace 86 : Le gouffre 87 : Un monde hideux 88 : Alta Face 89 : Quand la nuit tombe sur Elenthia 90 : De retour
Lucy is my favorite character since her struggles are more realistic and closer to mine, so it really made me happy she got a good fight in this volume.