Back to Fawke's Profile Fawke's Profile

* CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS*

Okay, I'll try to be very straightforward. I went to this manga with zero expectations. And for the first ten chapters, I read a simple but likable romantic triangle. Not great in any aspect, but at least, enjoyable. But, in the last two chapters, what I read was a pathetic, and I really mean PATHETIC, try of the author to give readers a big mindfuck, by suddendly changing the thematic of the manga. And that was atrocious, ridiculous. Well, let's go to the main points:

Story: 2

As I said up there, that was a big fail of the manga. And no, I'm ... no fan of japanese romantic cuddle-duddle comedies. But there is something called SENSE. An author cannot simply turn around to readers and say "You see this romantic comedy I'm drawing right there? Well, guess what boys and girls! I'm gonna f*ck around the shit of it! Prepare for a creepy horror!". The author must at least give hints of a transformation, and must do so in order to maintain the horror aspect of the story, in a way that engages the readers.

And I won't lie, to a certain aspect, he did it well. But, when you do it in two miserable chapters, you get a story that was going average, completely turn it around, and just finish it. No more no less. Do that, and the reader ends the story with a bitter taste in the mouth (as it was in my case), not excited or joyed. AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING? It made no sense, kept you wondering, SPOILERS ON did she killed her by jealousy, or pure pleasure? Did the thing with the cellphone meant she was never in love with him? In other words, it ended my read with "DAFUQ is this crappy ending?"

Art: 7

Yeah, it was your standard semi-ecchi romantic comedy. It's nice and well-drawn, and that's all there is to it.

Character: 3

Another point ravaged by the abrupt ending. I'm saying this because mainly Kotonoha, who never developed any signs of psychopathy, suddenly feels betrayed by a boy that she was starting to love, and turns into a killer. But beware, Sekai, out of nothing, transforms her own jealousy (that at that point, never took her to the point of stabbing anyone) into psycho-mode, and goes to the real kill. In the end, it's Makoto who stays as the stupid boy who can never decide which one he wants, and ends dead (?) because of it, that is the less-worst character of everyone.

Conclusion:

A pathetic try to shift the genre of a manga costed it's story, and made it into a lame and absurd experience. And I personally don't believe that a manga that ends making you pissed, mad and angry about it's finale can possibly be good. Of course, if you enjoy this kind of bullshit (IMO, of course, I totally respect the ones that enjoyed it), with sudden shift of genre and characterization in it's last breath, you will probably like it. But I highly doubt that anyone (likers and haters) won't end this manga, at least, frustrated.

It's funny to talk about Fairy Tail, because, what in the middle of the series, became one of the most interesting and enjoyable shonens (even with the monstruous fanservices), it later became one of the most clichéd and exagerated mangas around. And I mean, today, it has embraced, if not all, most of the clichés that exist today...

I believe everyone may be aware of the plot, in general, so, I'll skip to the main points of my review:

Story:

Hiro Mashima knows very well how to estabilish a good plot, with various mysteries for you to wonder, etc. The problem is in the development of it. Most ... of them, end up as silly explanations, or things too logical, that leaves you wondering "So, that was all this was?". I won't lie, the plot still holds a lot of interesting points. But I don't know what to expect of them from now on...

Art:

Very good. At least in this, Mashima knows how to make it right, with nice and well-done drawings, reminiscent of a better quality One Piece.

Character:

OMG, this is where he is great to crap everything up. Let's start by the protagonist, Natsu.

He feels like a copy of Luffy, but, as another reviewer said, a more arrogant and cocky one. He acts imaturely through the entire series, and hasn't grown up an inch psicologically. Mashima makes him receives some good lessons from people more mature than him, but he spits on everything, and makes Natsu forget everything, acting again, as the same old cocky innocent kid, who believes he can just press on, that he will defeat the boss. And the worst: HE DOES IT! Mashima has developed escapisms to give the good guys the victory (and to him, mainly) through the use of absurd Deus Ex Machina, and THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP. Oh, come on, who does he think we are? 5 year-old childs? What makes me more impressed, is that there are people who find his explanations solid.

And that's not even the beginning. There is Lucy, the cute and dumb female protagonist, who is a contradiction herself: she is regarded as one of the most smart members of Fairy Tail guild, and has got miraculous powers every time, but acts dumb in almost every battle, always needing to be helped by the others (mainly Natsu, again).

There is also Erza, the tsundere of the main team, and Mashima's muse. Really, she is the second most-protected character of the manga, behind just Natsu, and is able to pull the most equally absurd victories, with, again, THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

There is Gray, that's the rival of Natsu. And coincidentally, uses ice magic. But he ends up almost as a random character, as Mashima usually tends to give more focus on the three right up there. And, finally, there are tons of secondary characters, who, in the most funny way, end up being more interesting than the main characters. But Mashima almost don't give a damn, as he tends to illuminate them little, always giving the bigger actions for the great ones Erza and Natsu.

People may find that I'm overreacting. I won't lie again, there are nice secondary characters moments and battles, but that is all you will get from them.

Enjoyment:

In the beginning, you will have some fun, with the dumb adventures of Natsu and company, and, when it enters a certain arc, you will feel the pain and vengeance they will look to inflict on their adversaries (in what I call the best of the manga, till now). But, after this, if you do not like this Deus Ex Machina and friendship excuses for the good guys victory, you will start to feel unfazed, angered about every next impossible victory they pull out, and will even come to a point, where you will be cheering for the bad guys, to give them a good kick in the ass.

But, as I said, if you read it without any compromise or need for anything serious or plausible, you won't get as frustrated as I got.

Overall:

What began as a promising series, had one great arc, that created great expectations for me, in relation to the series, entered in what I could call the "Shyalaman effect" (which I believe film lovers will understand better than anyone): slowly went downhill with the story, focusing more on brainless battles, and exagerated use of plot and shonen escapisms, to make it move on. And I don't really know how it will end, but I can say I feel quite displeased to imagine...