Fairy Tail Manga & Anime Discussion Thread

[Fast]

I sort of want to say "Who died and made them king of pop-culture lingo?" But that's not quite valid since it's king by popular demand and participation (being a wiki and all). Sometimes I just resent seeing unfamiliar labels being pinned on characters/events/etc in online discussions, or how trope-spotting has become a kind of pastime. IIRC TVTropes has a page on this titled "TVTropes will ruin your life", because after a while you (or people around you) can't stop mentally disassembling entertainment into its component tropes and ruining the magic.

I (and I'm sure others) have noticed patterns and tropes in works before TVtropes was around. Hell the black dude dies first in horror movies joke was around before the internet (or at least modern internet). Just because they organised that into one site and gave things everyone noticed actual names doesn't mean they invented this stuff.

[MKTerra]

When the anime fills in explanations for things that Mashima seemingly forgot to include, I just take it as canon. Sort of like how Gajeel being actually shown traveling through Edoras in secret, getting information from his Edoras self, and being shown attacking one of the Lacrima locations and freeing some people is how I canonically remember the Edoras arc. You know, instead of Erza and Gray showing up and saying "dude, a whole *shit ton* of stuff just happened off screen so we could be here to rescue you."

The thing is, I think Gerard really *was* just talked into it in the manga (everything reads that way to me), and the anime just retconned it so he'd be less of an unsympathetic tool.

Mind you, I don't even hate the guy that much. Only insofar as he's spoiling Erza and the series for others, who then reflexively complain loudly whenever he shows up (or, y'know, constantly, even when he's not around), which gets tiresome. I sometimes wonder if Gerard's character is even theoretically salvageable anymore for those fans (up to and including by death), or if he's just too far gone.

I (and I'm sure others) have noticed patterns and tropes in works before TVtropes was around. Hell the black dude dies first in horror movies joke was around before the internet (or at least modern internet). Just because they organised that into one site and gave things everyone noticed actual names doesn't mean they invented this stuff.

Oh, the best-known tropes certainly predate the site. What bugs me is the proliferation of newer ones with stupid nondescript names they make up themselves, which then spread and infect Internet lingo. (WTF, "lampshading"?)

[Sound Silence]

I'm kinda curious also as to why people (as in readers, not characters) consider Jellal a bad person.
(I can get why people consider him a bad character, but not person.)

Yeah, I don't think Jellal is bad guy, so much as I think his storyline has been handled poorly.

Oh, the best-known tropes certainly predate the site. What bugs me is the proliferation of newer ones with stupid nondescript names they make up themselves, which then spread and infect Internet lingo. (WTF, "lampshading"?)

"Hang a lampshade" (sometimes lantern or something else) actually predates tvtropes as a literary term.

The worst ones are the non-intuitive ones. Except now they're changing all those so you can't even use the non-intuitive ones that you've gotten used to. Which is why I don't use it as much any more.

[Nik Hasta]

I'm kinda curious also as to why people (as in readers, not characters) consider Jellal a bad person.
(I can get why people consider him a bad character, but not person.)

Because basically the only bad thing he did while in his right mind is blasting Natsu that one time. And even then he had amnesia.

Everything else we've seen him do while not mindscrewed has been downright heroic, if a bit suicidal.

Found Nirvana - tried to blow it up because he knew it was dangerous. Then tried to blow himself up to prevent anyone from getting him to stop Nirvana's destruction.
Learned what he'd done - Went out to help Natsu, took a direct hit from Zero while already injured in the process.
Got arrested - Didn't do anything to resist.
Got busted out of jail - Started going after dark guilds.

Basically, I don't get how you can say that he's running away from what he's done or isn't paying for it. Aside from the incredibly awkward romance with Erza, he has literally not done a single thing onscreen that wasn't an attempt to make up for the things he did while mindscrewed.

I don't think he's a bad person. I'm surprised that there are people who think he are to be honest. Guy has, as Siriel points out here, done nothing but actively seek redemption from the moment he got his mind back.

I don't like him as a character because I think he's been handled kind of poorly and I feel like Mashima has put a bit too much emphasis on him in story which has led me to have the knee-jerk reaction of "Urrr, not Jellel again, I thought we were done with him," He's in that odd quasi-tertiary character area where he's not present enough to really be qualify as a secondary character but he's meant to have the equivalent plot significance of something near to a primary character which just doesn't make sense. Because of this conflict of exposure and consequence; his goals all seem a bit... vague.

He wants to protect the world but he's a wanted criminal, that's a good angle but we're not with him enough to really explore that in any kind of fullness, he wants to get with Erza but he feels like he can't because of his past transgressions, again a fine angle but we don't see him enough to explore this. We should be sticking with him and seeing these plot strands develop but we're not so it's like everytime he shows up again I'm smacked in the face by; "HEY GUYS JELLAL IS STILL CONFLICTED! THIS WOULD BE PRETTY DEEP IF WE EXPLORED IT FOR MORE THAN FIVE PAGES!"

In short, Jellal is a protagonist. He's got the essential story arc of one, he's got the backstory of one but, for some reason, he's been relegated to tertiary character status.

Give the man his own series and I'd probably like him a lot more.

[MKTerra]

He wants to protect the world but he's a wanted criminal, that's a good angle but we're not with him enough to really explore that in any kind of fullness, he wants to get with Erza but he feels like he can't because of his past transgressions, again a fine angle but we don't see him enough to explore this. We should be sticking with him and seeing these plot strands develop but we're not so it's like everytime he shows up again I'm smacked in the face by; "HEY GUYS JELLAL IS STILL CONFLICTED! THIS WOULD BE PRETTY DEEP IF WE EXPLORED IT FOR MORE THAN FIVE PAGES!"

Funny, the more common complaint is he's a Gary Stu we see too much of:

Seriously, Gerard has everything of ultmost importance in this series at his disposal or preference.

- His Edolas version is a prince.
- He has the best girl in the series lusting for him.
- He can make entire arcs resolve around him.
- He can f***ing reserve future arcs (Rescue Arc).
- He is an used design from another mage from RAVE
- He can make Natsu stop hating on him and PROMISSE to save him just because.

Is he Fairy Tail's Sasuke or something? Mashima has to love this character.

My main problem with Gerard in Fairy Tail is how he somehow ends up at the center of almost every arc or is a crucial part of it. So there are/were like 3 clones of Gerard and every single f***ing story arc revolves around him. Who's behind it all? Gerard. Something important happened years ago? Gerard was there. Cliffhanger on the identity of a character hidden by shadows? Gerard. Badass character with mysterious past? Surprise, it's Gerard. Mysterious benefactor in the past? Gerard. Erza’s love interest? Gerard. Who reappears in the next arc with amnesia? Gerard. Who saved Wendy? Gerard. Whose help was needed so Natsu can do s***? Gerard’s. Who's a long lost prince? Gerard is. Who's gonna get a rescue arc soon so he can become a nakama? F*** you, it's Gerard m***********s.

Thank you, Gerard! Once again, you were the centerpiece to save the day! Not only that, you are the prince too! My god how can anyone be as awesome as you or any of your incarnations, Gerard! Fairy Tail? More like Gerard Tail! In my heart I know, you are the dragons!

And then there's the meme of everyone secretly being Gerard...

[Dark Soul # 7]

Funny, the more common complaint is he's a Gary Stu we see too much of:

And then there's the meme of everyone secretly being Gerard...

It's a bit negated by the fact that pretty much every time he shows up as a hero he's fairly ineffectual. The only thing he's done really right is to give the main character a power boost so that he could do all the heavy lifting.

[Fast]

And then there's the meme of everyone secretly being Gerard...

ErzaGerrard was by far the creepiest of those

[Hazard]

I don't like Natsu all that much, what with his tendency to get a last minute power up to beat the main villain by himself and all that. That and he is not that cool.

Times like this though. Yeah, you go Natsu.

[Lord Darkwolf]

"We can get out of the army at any time right ?"
"You durn't have tae worry unless war were declared"
*alarm sounds* "what was that ?!"
"war were declared"

[nervmeister]

Look up "audacity" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Natsu grinning madly.

[MKTerra]

Natsu, ya crazy S.O.B.... Good thing Happy's probably running for help as they speak.

In other news, THANK GOD Lucy turned down those keys. Also, there's a reference to the anime filler arc, so it looks like that's going to be canon.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Natsu's gonna lose his head on this one.

EDIT: Yup. He lost it. There's no way he's going to win here, but I'm guaranteeing that he wins in the games.

I mean the legitimate guild masters are guild masters for a reason.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Natsu's gonna lose his head on this one.

EDIT: Yup. He lost it. There's no way he's going to win here, but I'm guaranteeing that he wins in the games.

I mean the legitimate guild masters are guild masters for a reason.

Eh, high end Fairy Tail mages tend to stomp out entire guilds, and Natsu himself has taken out or been a key factor in taking out at least two high end Guild Master (Brain and Hades), one of the Ten Sages (Evil!Gerard), and the closest thing to a replacement Guild Leader that Fairy Tail has (Laxus). OTOH, the leader of Sabretooth is likely to be stronger than some random mook Guild's master, and he doesn't have any ally's magic to eat at the moment, though its possible that he could still eat Gemma's magic, I guess. I'm guessing that he at least lasts long enough to further impress the two Dragonslayers that were looking down on him before, and maybe make Gemma do something underhanded that lowers his guild's opinion of him.

[Robotech Master]

Pretty good chapter.

See MKTerra! Mashima reads the boards and now he laughs at you!

I'm glad that Yukino verbally acknowledged that what Sabretooth did to her was utterly demoralizing and embarassing.

As much as Natsu is probably in over his head, you've gotta love that 'your own medicine' boast of his.

Nice Lucy fanservice, and in mid-plot conversation to boot. Also, Wendy has her shirt unbuttoned down the middle: sneaky Mashima, sneaky...

Also, anyone notice the easter egg during Yukino's explanation of the stellar mages? The building in the clouds beyond the moutains, it's the same building as the one pictured in the current anime fillers.

[MKTerra]

See MKTerra! Mashima reads the boards and now he laughs at you!

Bah, I should be so talkative more often

Also, alas poor Gray, caught in a love polygon and friendzoned by his true love...