Saturday, October 10, 2015

Fairy Tail Chapter 456 Review - Order

Written by Shiggins

...Really?

Our newest chapter came out a bit early, which is perfect for me because I have a busy week ahead, so I was pleasantly surprised. The "pleasantness" of my surprise went down a few notches as I kept reading, and by the time I finished this chapter, I wasn't even sure how to respond. In some ways, I still don't. 

And it only took him 9 years.

Our chapter begins with the battle between Natsu and Bakel, where Natsu is now pushing the big general back. The general smirks and seems to like the look of Natsu's scarf, not being hurt by Natsu's efforts. Happy tells Natsu to get serious and end it quickly, but Natsu says he shouldn't since he knows there will be other threats to deal with later too and he needs to save energy. Happy is appropriately shocked at Natsu's development. 

Carla, stop it. At this rate, I might actually begin to like you.
We then see Carla, in human form, Pantherlily in big form and Wendy fighting as well, before we go to Gajeel, who gets attacked by the "black blasts" of Kareem. Next, our perspective changes to Gray and Juvia, who are fighting Wall's forces. Compared to Avatar, there are less of the fighters but more powerful than before. 

Gajeel: "Nobody asked for your name..."
Finally, the Strauss Siblings arrive to help and holy hell, it feels like it's been forever! Especially Elfman, who I don't remember getting to properly battle since the Grand Magic Games. (No, Seilah doesn't count). Speaking of which, Mirajane activates her newest "Satan Soul" and it turns out to be none other than Seilah herself!

Oh, that expression on her face makes me so uncomfortable...
It turns out that Mirajane used Take Over on Seilah before she ended up dead, which seems to have absorbed her into Mirajane... I think. Anyway, Mirajane uses Seilah's Curse ability "Macro" to order many of the enemies to go to sleep. Of course, that's not enough to stop them all, so it's just back to more fighting... in Seilah's body now. Wall then looks over and considers making become a plaything of Emperor Zeref.

Using Copy and Paste for your characters, Mashima-senpai? Just like Magi with Elder David...
After a glimpse of Erza still fighting Ajeel, unable to use Requip, (and due to Claydragon pointing out Marin Hollow was actually at the bathtub while also implying I am an... unfavourable person, I now realise the theory that he's involved with this is no longer applicable.) Back to Mavis' squad, who are still trying to figure this out, and Warren is losing morale. 

I have seen the face of God today, and it is glorious!
Surprisingly, it's time for Max to step up and OH GOD YES! Ah, someone finally hit that stupid Warren! Damn, that was good! Ah... Anyway, yes he tells Warren to get back up and keep fighting, so blah blah Warren resumes his duty. Team Osprey still need another five minutes before Jupiter charges up, and Mavis starts to try to think up a new plan.

Alright, now flush him. If anybody asks about him... Oh please, nobody is going to ask!
Finally, we end our chapter with Brandish, who is still naked in the bath because reasons. Instead of providing the answers I was longing for, Brandish just makes this situation even more weird by telling Lucy to get in the bath too. Thankfully, Marin gets locked up in a little box before he can see anything else that he is not worthy of. Also, he's too fucking annoying for me to put up with for too much longer.

So... Brandish could technically become the next Ant-Man if she wanted? 
Brandish then reminds Lucy that this war is basically lost if Brandish activates her power, and she hasn't yet because she wants to enjoy a bath first. Lucy wants Brandish to explain why she's doing this, but Brandish replies by literally shrinking the building next door. With no option than to do what she says, Lucy begins to undress too...

Opinion: Wow. Fucking wow.

You know what, I'm just going to dive in with the major problem right now. That ending... was bad. Not only bad, it was cringing fanfiction bad. I know we've had naked moments before, the most recent embarrassment being that public bath incident with Gajeel and Levy, but I didn't mind so much because it was purely comedy. We're meant to be taking this seriously! I joked last week that, in FT, there is "always time for a bath" and I think this week made that joke a reality. Next week is literally called "Battle of the Naked" (or something along those lines). My god, what the hell are we going to see next week!? This is one of those moments that make people look down on Fairy Tail, and while I'm aware fanservice is bad everywhere these days (just look at the bullshit that is Monster Musume), I was kinda hoping we'd take a WAR seriously enough to avoid such a ridiculously forced situation.

Seriously honey, you better have some damn good exposition coming up next week.
If I had to mention one good thing about this, I'd probably go for Brandish and Lucy themselves. Since I don't know Brandish very well, I can't claim that this feels out of character, as it would if someone like Zeref tried this. I also liked that Lucy tried to argue first, and she's not going overboard with funny reactions after this order was given to her. At least we seem to be somewhat approaching such a ludicrous moment with some weight. Brandish has all the power, and I suppose it's good to see her abuse that power by forcing Lucy to dance to her tune for now. Reminds me of a moment in Sherlock where a villain kept flicking Watson's face, and Watson was so defenceless he could do nothing but literally let him flick away like a bastard. So while the unnecessary nudity is here, you can at least use the argument that this is just Brandish displaying her strength like the boss she is.

Only Sherlock fans will understand how damn enraging this gif actually is.
The rest of the chapter wasn't too bad actually. Like I said earlier, seeing Max ball-smack Warren gave me immeasurable pleasure, and it's rare for such a minor character like Max to actually get a moment to shine. It wasn't anything too important either, so I liked it. And of course, we got a broom cameo. Can't hate that.

The most confusing part was easily Seilah though. We know Mirajane's Take Over doesn't work on demons, but I can forgive that this time since I remember Seilah not even having enough energy to be conscious when we last saw her, so she was probably a lot more vulnerable. Mirajane's dialogue seems to imply this was actually a method to save her life, so does this mean Seilah's personality now lives inside Mirajane? Or is this like Piccolo and Nail from Dragon Ball Z, and Seilah has faded away into Mirajane's subconsciousness? Either way, I am so confused. On the bright side though, this is making me wonder about other Tartarus demons and their fates. Jackal, Torafusa!, and even Tempesta could be out there somewhere. Maybe they've joined forces with Lamy and are going to get Franmalth out of Sabretooth prison.

"What the fuck is going on?!?"
Natsu has grown up! Awww, it's so cute! And about damn time too!

On a last note, the constant changing of perspective in these recent chapters is somewhat interesting but goddamn exhausting to write in a review! I'm actually reminded of the beginning of Bleach's war arc, where we saw various Soul Reapers fight against several Quincies. I'd say Fairy Tail handles the constant viewpoints better though, due to their being less characters and a bit more focus on actual conversations, such as what Brandish is trying to do. So for now, I like it. And I'm sure characters like Gray, Juvia, Elfman and more will get proper time in chapters soon enough.

Manga Rating: 3.5/5

Character of the Week: Max. OH GOD YES, MAX!

Predictions: A naked battle... I'm not going to say anything about the content, so instead I implore you to make sure you read it alone. And try not to show it to non-FT fans. It's... embarrassing. 

Best Part: Max brought a great kick and finally got that bitch Warren moving.

Worst Part: ...Really? We're actually going there? Okay...


Not gonna lie, I was expecting something completely different after last week's cover. Still, good to know which side is our only possible escape. And that THE CHILD AND HER PARENTS AREN'T EVEN INSIDE THE SHIELD!

Shiggins:[Admin]   .
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/

2 comments:

  1. Brandish's lazy behavior is odd, and the fact that she is interested in Lucy is even more odd.
    Why Lucy? Is it because she saw her using Celestial Magic? Could Brandish have known something about Lucy, maybe even Layla? Maybe Brandish will just tell something big about Alvarez's plan. Or maybe it's just "that time of the month" for Hiro. Regardless, I like Mirajane and Natsu's development. Let's hope Juvia got poison ability from Keith/Keyes and implement it to her water magic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandish has been odd since we first met her. Just makes her more lovable.

      And yeah, I'm still unsure about it. I'm wondering if it has something to do with Mavis or Layla Heartfilia, but I'm obviously just guessing. Mashima-senpai could just be wanting near-yuri behaviour. Juvia with Keyes' poison would be truly awesome, but unlikely since that poison nearly killed her when it got her during the arc. Still, anything is possible.

      Delete