I’m currently in a process of rewatching Fairy Tail and, as you can guess from the title, I just went through Nirvana Ark. Awesome thing about watching same titles again that you start to notice things that you missed before. And boy, did it hit me right in the feelings. I got the whole new look at the guild, and once again realized that this evil guild is nothing more than a bunch of kids, who faced bunch of nasty stuff during their slavery in Tower of Heaven and had no one to protect and hug them (except for Brain/Zero but I have conflicted feelings about him). Even the name of the guild translates into “Six Prayers” and each of them had their own little wish to this cruel world.
- Midnight (Macbeth) - little terrified kid, who simply wished to sleep through whatever that was happening in Tower of Heaven. It’s type of stuff you expect to see in nightmares, not real life. Not surprised that he can create really scary illusions, he doesn’t even need to imagine them, he had seen it all. I even doubt he can sleep okay after that stuff, probably still staying on guard for every suspicious noise. Which explains all the napping in the battlefield, which is catching up on the lost hours of sleep and being able to wake up as soon as danger is near.
“My prayer... To find a quite place to fall into a peaceful slumber.”
- Racer (Sawyer) - he just wanted to get away. I would too, if stuck in this terror-inducing place. He even tried to do so, even if unsuccessfully, he never stopped wishing to do so again and again. Be fastest of them all and finally be free. Sad thing is that he cannot stop running anymore as he turns it into metaphorical escape from himself, his past and all the uncomfortable things. However, that gets him into bad places as he runs everywhere but forward (avoidance of problem do not equal to its solution)
“My prayer... To be...faster than anyone.”
- Cobra (Erik) - when you see humans do such horrible things as child slavery (or any slavery) and think it’s okay, it is kind of hard to understand how people suppose to work. On the other hand, animals treat you the way you treat them. No surprise that boy latched into little snake as his only friend, who wouldn’t be mean to him and who seems to care about him the as much as Eric cared about her. It simple and make sense. He wanted to understand and talk to his friend, so he wouldn't feel lonely anymore and could have someone in his life. Because even when he tries to trust someone, he gets betrayed and hurt again, which we can see when Brain attacks him from the back and thinks/says all the nasty stuff about being weak and useless (I was as pissed as Natsu at this moment). Erik is horrible about understanding people which gets him into position when he gets used by them.
“My prayer... I ... just wanted to hear the voice of my one friend.”
- Angel (Sorano) - this ark doesn’t fully opened her characters (as Yukino comes in picture much later) but combining all info helps to understand it more. She hided her sister from Slave traders, which got her kidnapped instead, and isn’t it a beautiful act of selflessness, love, and care for her sister. The tower is scary and dark, and it gets her drenched in the atmosphere, bit by bit corrupting her from this “angelic” part of herself. When we meet her, she is far as she can be from how she was in the beginning - sadistic, selfish and evil . All she wants is to be clean again, purified by sky from this darkness and its influence. So, when she meets her sister again she can be that beautiful and kind person her sister remembered all those years.
“My prayer... To fade into the sky... Like an angel.”
- Hoteye (Richard) - compare to Angel, his sibling got kidnapped too for the work in the Tower, but i guess he didn’t really knew what happened to him (we weren’t shown the flashbacks of his time in Tower and he escaped it later without Wally, so I assume they were separated). The boy just wished to see his brother again, alive and well, as they only had each other, and because of that he got obsessed with money as nothing comes free in this world. It is so sad that he had to go to such extreme as joining dark guild to complete his wish. I was happily crying when we found out that his brother is Erza’s friend and he is doing well (was hoping to see their reunion, maybe I missed it in manga, should read again). Interestingly, he is one of the most mentally stable characters among Oración Seis.
“My prayer... my brother... I wanted to see your face... once more”
- Brain/Zero - I’m soooo conflicted about him. From one side, he is an selfish asshole, who did bunch of horrible stuff through his life. On another, he’s obsession with having a powerful team/guild comes to a seal that contains his other self from manifesting. His wish is for his guild to avoid defeat as it is only things that let him stay Brain instead his other identity - Zero. Who is outright horrible and dangerous as he wants to destroy everything and everyone without hesitation. He is someone to hold under control, but there are nicer ways about it than what Brain did, and there are still bunch of horrible stuff he is guilty of that has nothing to do with his double-personality dilemma.
“Midnight... do not vanish... no matter what... that is my prayer.”
I just can’t help but feel sad for those kids as they got from bad to worse, and while they got stronger and seemed to be able to stand for themselves, they still face their demons everyday and have to fight them. When they lost you can see from their flashbacks that in their mind they still in the Tower, they still caged by their fears and losses, hoping that one day their prayers can be heard and fulfilled. I cannot hate them, even if they are villains and committed many crimes, they are simply victims of circumstances and other’s cruelty. Therefore, I am supper excited for their redemption opportunity later, because they have chance to move forward and get their prayers to come true!
I’ve seen many posts and articles on why people enjoy watching/reading Fairy Tail. Since I started rewatching the anime, I fell in love again and wanted to write my reasoning on why I enjoy it so much ^_^
1) Breaking gender stereotypes - this show is full of wonderful characters that are so likable and so different from each other! One thing in common - they’re all badasses in their own way despite their sex or looks! Girls can be feminine and sexy and cute but stand their own ground and can reap you a new one if you piss them off. Some of them are emasculated, some are more feminine, however they all are respected and treated right. They are not treated special in fights as they seen equal. Similar, with male characters - while they are strong they are not shamed for showing emotions such as crying or caring, it doesn’t make them any weaker. They deal with household chores and actually enjoy it, they dance and wear whatever clothes they want. They show doesn’t belittle its character for those treats (except for pure comedic moments or fan service, but those are easy to distinct) and it’s so empowering when gender is not shoved upon you. Because fuck gender and sex stereotypes, we are so much more than what between our legs!
2) Almost nobody dies - I’ve seen a lot of people complain about how everybody miraculously come back from brink of death. While there are certain deaths that happen (and boy, do they break my heart again and again), I actually love this. Reality is full of death itself, and miracles are not very often here, I love that characters stay alive. Almost every ark has a moment when I was bawling my eyes out, thinking “This is it, somebody is dying now”, and couple episodes/chapters late see that they are actually alive. That was pure relieve and happiness, because I do love characters and hate to see them die. When the Alvarez ark was still on-going and Gajeel seemed to die, I swear I cried like for 20 minutes,and until chapter with Zera came out, I was devastated. Gajeel is one of my favorite with whole redemption path from Phantom Lord until the happy ever after with Levy (Yay!), and he was dead. I was really worried that he stayed dead and it broke my heart. So, thank you for not killing him, and many others, because I really enjoy everybody staying alive (if I wanna see death, I open news channels). Therefore, for me, such “unrealistic rate of survival” is a bliss. Despite it, there are many dramatic and tear jerking moments in anime that are strong by themselves without need for character sacrifice!
3) Music - I spend many hours trying to find translations for openings and endings, learning lyrics and singing it. Even when rewatching, every couple episodes I watch full opening and ending because I love it so much. Soundtracks through episodes are beautiful and fitting as well, but openings are forever in my heart. I have english covers by AmaLee (LeeandLie) on my phone, and when some of them still give me goosebumps. I still rewatch from time to time the opening and ending sequences on youtube and smile and cry like an idiot when reminded of moments in anime.
4) The message - it’s an anime about wonderful friendship and support. It is about finding yourself despite the circumstances. About being true to yourself and defining your life how you want to shape it. About finding right people in your life that will be with you through happiness and sadness, despite your past and mistakes. It’s about facing your fears and demons and fighting them. How it’s okay to be scared or lost. How to face losses and accept responsibilities. How to live after hitting the bottom. The fate is not written in the stone - if you have enough courage to go forward and stay human while walking this path, then there is nothing that can stop you from being your better self. But is also about how misinformation, losses and tragedies bring people down. How they change them, and behind the evil masks there is sadness, pain and loneliness. Often evil comes from people who couldn’t stand after fall, who was broken, pushed aside and not protected by those around them. And also, how even a little kindness shown on time can save those from doing first step on the wrong path.
In the conclusion - we all need a little bit of Fairy Tail craziness and warmth in our life :)
I’ve been busy all last month and totally forgot about this until I was sorting out the studio yesterday.
Rules are same as before:
Anyone can enter - simply reblog and it’ll count as 1 entry!
There will be 3 winners - you must be able to provide a shipping address. Last time someone asked why he/she never got the stickers even though he/she won, it’s because no address was provided, and I cannot send mail with the envelope left entirely blank. That’s not how post office works ;)
I am shipping worldwide from Taiwan (feel free to google if you don’t know where it is), so delivery can take up to 4-6 weeks.
Choose between: Gajeel&Levy, Laxus&Freed, or set of 4!
End date: 5/17/16
** FYI: these glossy stickers are non-waterproof, thus for indoor use only :)
Mai is thoughtful and considerate of everyone’s beverage tastes:
• Bou-san prefers coffee, hot or cold depending on the weather. He has a huge sweet tooth, so his coffee is always extra milky and sugary, and he is also a fan of some sweet snacks with a drink.
• Yasuhara likes coffee too, but prefers it unsweetened with little amount of milk. Oppose to Takigawa, Yasu doesn’t have an appetite for desserts, but besides coffee he likes Mai’s tea experiments with different spices and additives.
• Lin usually drinks coffee with some sugar and no milk but he appreciates when Mai makes traditional Chinese black tea for him. She actually went across the town for several times on her days-off to learn about good brands of tea and a correct way to brew it.
• Masako and Ayako are more into traditional green tea, especially Matcha and Sencha. They also like western type tea with milk and sugar, but as they care about their appearance, they stick to either no-fat or soy milk and sugar substitutes.
• John like strong black tea with good amount of milk and sugar. He told Mai about the way he used to drink tea back in Australia, so when she has time she actually “cook” tea in the pot for him. It usually ends up extra bitter and strong, just the way the priest remembers it.
• Madoka on her rare visits drinks only traditional Japanese tea, as she cannot find a good substitute back in Britain and she misses it a lot.
• For Naru Mai ended up doing different variations of a regular black tea, depending on the time of the day or his mood. For the morning, she usually prepares strong plain one to wake him up. In the afternoon, it is milder one with cinnamon sticks and mint leaves. When clients come, she adds lemon and honey, so he is in a more patient mode. In the evening, she adds milk and little bit of sugar to take the stress off and make him feel a little less tired.
• On occasion, she experiments with star anise, ginger, other spices, fruits/berries and flower petals. Due to her care for everyone, she became a good expert in tea/coffee area. However, herself she likes hot cocoa the most but she doesn’t have a chance to drink it a lot at work, so she usually just picks from whatever beverage she is making for others.
• Each member of SPR went to the kitchen at least once in order to make drinks for others and got utterly terrified: counters filled with different tea brands or coffee bags, there are several teapots and brewers. The space around kitchen is covered in sticky notes with different temperatures, timing and little tricks. Additional ingredients and tea snacks are all around the place including fridge among the various types of milk, or in counters sorted within different containers. The only thing that makes sense is a little coffee machine that stands next to the fridge and waits to serve a cup of hot beverage. At one point, the team actually demanded to show, how she orient so quickly through so many options. It was an amazing show, seeing Mai move quickly around the kitchen, setting up several teapots and brewers, heating water, preparing tea and coffee – almost simultaneously. It takes her about 10 minutes to finish everything and put cups to the tray. Since then she has been an unofficial owner of the kitchen, and nobody tried to go there for no reason.
So, imagine: Levy as child brought by Makarov to the guild for the first time when she is about 5 years old. Little kid who looks very sad (because something must happened to her family if she ended up living in Fairy Tail), and who is clutching tattered book to her chest. She is very shy and timid, so it is hard for her to adapt quickly to Fairy Tail, which seemed to be very outgoing. All kids are nice to her but most of them get engaged in fights between each other and forget about everything. So, a lot of times they just don’t notice that she sits alone in the corner next to the window, scanning through the book.
Except for Laxus. We didn’t see him being engage in fights as Erza and Mirajane do. I can totally imagine him sitting there, listening to the music and silently observing. Then, he notices the new girl who is quietly hiding in a corner with a book. In the beginning, he doesn’t give a thought to that. However, he keeps seeing her like that again and again. After a week or so, he finally approaches her (Even if he looks rough and tough, he does care a lot about his guild mates). It’s kinda awkward because he doesn’t know what to talk about and just randomly asks questions. At some point, he asks if she loves reading because she sits a lot with the book. Levy is getting sad, and tells him that she can’t read at all. Her parents used to read to her this particular book, and it’s the only thing she has from them. At the end, she starts crying ‘cause she misses her parents and feels lonely. Laxus panics, and blurted out that he can read for her. She is surprised but happily agrees, and he would read to her.
It becomes an everyday routine when he isn’t busy with missions or other stuff. He would take books from library or sometimes buy them for her. After few weeks he decided to teach her how to read, and then she would proudly show her progress to him. It also helped her to overcome her loss, and it became easier for her to talk to others. She formed team with Jet and Droy, got along with others, especially Fairy Hill’s girls. However, she and Laxus would sit together occasionally, while Levy would read out loud and he would just listen. Then, after some years Laxus became an rebellious teen, argued a lot with Makarov, and then he would rarely show up at the guild. It was sad to her as she treasures him and those meeting a lot.
After the Fighting Festival he felt extremely bad for almost hurting her (and grateful that Gajeel was there to protect her from his lightning bolt). He didn’t have a chance to apologize as he was kicked out from the guild (not that he’d known what to say). After Tenrou island when Gildarts took him back to the guild he almost forgot about it. One day, he saw her sitting at the same corner she used to as a child, staring absently in the window. Seven missed years were difficult to accept, and she was burdened by that. So, Laxus went to the library to pick up Levy’s most treasured book which she left there with words “that Fairy Tail is her home and family now”. Then, he comes near her, sits against the wall, and starts reading. The girl looks surprised but without a word she sits next him with a happy smile on her face.
Sunrise. The nature's getting back to life - Wake up! It's cold, the warmth is yet to come To us. I'll wait for you in night as much as needed. Forever, If that the price I have to pay for you.
If angels would exist, they would never be as we imagined them. I do not think that they would have white wings and cloths, or live in Heaven. They would live among us, with their hands covered in blood. Their role is to fight evil, and there is no way of doing it without killing sources of it. What would separate them from evil then? The answer is simple – their wings. They would be broken, burned by the hell of battles that they would come through. The last feathers would be red or black from blood and smoke. Because this would be their sacrifice for committing sin. They would lose their status and respect, lose the ability to go back home. That is why they are angels. They are giving their lives and freedom, their beautiful strong wings without receiving anything back. Would they still be angels for the peoples when the last would see them like that? Or would they give them no trust and no love, and claim them to be twisted and dark creatures?
