Monday, September 26, 2016

Fairy Tail Chapter 503 Review - The Last Sight I Beheld

Written by Shiggins

I better get a flashback!

Shit has gone down and it looks like it was crazy, but I have to say "looks like" because it's only implied to have been a major destructive event that scared my Dimaria so much she was in tears, and manga has ironically forgotten the age-old rule: Show, don't tell.

Show, don't tell! .......I am very sorry, I couldn't resist that joke.
This chapter begins with Lucy waking up and realising she's tied to a chair while Natsu is out cold and tied to a chair as well. Dimaria of course is mirroring what they did to her earlier (she was strapped to a chair with magic-sealing handcuffs too because that's what good guys do) and blames Lucy for what happened to Brandish. She then shows off her magic by appearing from behind Lucy to behind Natsu... with Lucy's bra for fun.

She's either really hurt, or is this one fucked-up way to present one's self.
While wondering if Natsu is already dead, Dimaria warps again in front of Lucy and says she's going to cut out Lucy's big eyes but Lucy isn't scared. She speaks in defiance, showing she has no fear of Dimaria. To put it simply, Lucy's got balls. Dimaria laughs and raises her blade, Lucy cries out for Natsu...

Then the topless Lucy wakes up on the floor. Her cuffs have been broken, her face has blood splattered on it, and the chair she sat on was smashed apart. What's even more interesting however is that Dimaria is absolutely defeated, gasping in horror and battle-damaged by what she claims to be some sort of inhuman being.

Gasp! E.N.D is so powerful that it can break time! But can it defeat... Nakama power?!
Dimaria weakly says that Natsu became a monster whose power was so extreme, it was able to break the barriers of Dimaria's Za Warudo. and she has now realised that Natsu is E.N.D. Happy, Polly (yeah, I hate that name so she's Polly now), Evergreen and Brandish appear suddenly to restrain Dimaria and explain what's happened.

After hearing what transpired here, Polly tells Lucy that she mis-diagnosed the tumour inside Natsu and Brandish turning it back to it's original size has awoken what it truly was, which seems to be the power of a demon. Finally, we skip over to see Natsu covered in dark flames as he's searching for Zeref in a calm rage, and he's confronted by Gray.

Holy shit, you are WAY too calm when seeing your best friend going super Black-Rage!
Opinion: Why does every waifu I fall for get hurt?!

I'd like to show my gratitude right now actually, for Dimaria not being another death fake-out. I've been stomaching that bullshit quite a lot recently and the last thing I need is another bunch of fans complaining about an admittedly complain-worthy trope that this arc has been too dependent on. Dimaria isn't dead, we're not supposed to think she is dead, and I'm happy about that. Moving on.

Dimaria's torture itself wasn't half-bad actually, and I'm trying to not sound like a pervert when I say that. It's dark but slightly comical, and you never get the feeling that Dimaria is in control of her own emotions. She's snapped and just doing whatever comes to mind now without thinking. I still feel like a flashback involving her relationship with Brandish is needed though, so that these scenes can be a lot stronger. As it is now, it's not bad. I just want it to be better, and a flashback would settle that.

And thus, one of the best female duos of Fairy Tail was born.
The negative side of this chapter is obvious; Natsu has transformed and we didn't see it. Considering that this is the first true sighting of E.N.D's power, it feels a bit crappy that we didn't actually witness it ourselves. That'd be like Goku turning Super Saiyan for the first time, but the only reason we know that is because Yamcha told us while he was drunk two weeks later. When you've built up something as epic as the protagonist being consumed with evil energy and turning into a Heartless, you make us want to see it!

So yeah, I fully expect a flashback to show Natsu snapping so he saves Lucy. I predict the flashback will be good, and well-needed, but I'm burning with annoyance until then.

As for the E.N.D form itself, I'm hesitant to say this is the end result. Natsu's still conscious of who he is by the look of things and he's just covered in dark flames. I suspect that this is more the pre-E.N.D stage and he's going to have an epic transformation soon. Maybe. If not, I still stand by my claim that this isn't how E.N.D's final form will look.

Next week looks to have Natsu/E.N.D vs Gray, who still thinks Juvia is dead, so next week could be really interesting or really disappointing. Fairy Tail rarely takes shocking risks, as shown by the amount of fakeouts we've had recently, but when it does do something unexpected, it's worth applauding. I'm scared Fairy Tail is going to fuck this up, and I really don't want it to. I'm hoping for someone to get hurt, and I mean properly hurt. I want this to feel like a damn divorce, not a spat.

Manga Rating: 3.5/5

Character of the Week: Dimaria for her torture and unhinged attitude.

Best Part: Dimaria and Lucy.

Worst Part: Natsu's off-screen victory.

The other translation of this... Swear to god, it made it sound like they were saying she's ready to get sex'd.

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/

3 comments:

  1. good review as usual and a lot of points I can agree on.

    you know what's sad. the recent Naruto episode of Naruto and sasukes fight and even though a majority should've read the manga by now they talk as if Naruto had the greatest run and plot in anime history and I can't really seem to make them stop and look a lot of the inconsistencies and plot holes the series has had over the years that prevented from being that.

    they won't even admit to the fact Naruto would lose out to luffy.

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    1. Naruto is an amazing series. Absolutely perfect and flawless? Not at all. There's a lot of problems, just like with every other series. The good stuff in Naruto though is so good that I don't necessarily mind the bad. (Although I did a Why It's Not Perfect article, so you know I'm not blind to it's flaws at all). Despite of it's flaws, I still put it in my personal Top 10.

      As for Naruto vs Luffy, don't come to me for that. I like some of OP's arcs (the CP9 Saga is fucking amazing) but I'm not exactly a fan. I've seen Naruto turn into a giant fox made of Chakra and I've seen Luffy turn into that weird 4th Gear thing so I know both are strong. So when it comes to strength, I have no idea and I don't really want to get into that.

      I will say that Naruto is a better character than Luffy though, but I kinda hate Luffy as a character so...

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    2. yeah I got ya though it's one thing to consider that Luffy has taken on Goku and even blocked a super saiyan Kamehameha.

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