Fairy Tail Chapter 520: Dragon or Demon
I don’t do reviews because I have a really busy schedule, but this particular chapter just really caught my attention. This is my first one, so bare with me if it’s bad.
•First off, I really like the cover. I’m a sucker for ship moments and the cover was lovely. This is mainly because Lucy is wearing Natsu’s scarf. Mashima is usually good with covers so I don’t really have a problem here.
•We start off back with Irene, Erza, and Wendy. I think Erza calling Irene “mother” here wasn’t too bad. Yes, Irene’s suicide scene pissed me off, but it’s a new chapter and that’s over and done with. Erza didn’t call her “mother” because of any emotional or biological ties, but rather out of respect, at least that’s how I see it.
•Now time for some negatives. Last chapter and in the one before, Erza wasn’t able to move because all her bones were broken. Even after that, she destroyed an entire meteor with just her right arm and gave serious damage to a dragon. Continuing, she then had her sword pierce her shoulder. With all that in mind, she should be dead. But of course she won’t die, so she should at least be in extreme pain and not be able to move at all. Yet she appears to be in no pain and is able to move just fine. I don’t care how powerful she is, she should be immobile for a long time.
•Then of course, she talks about having Makrov as her only parent. Even though she literally just called Irene “mother.” Not a huge deal, but it’s extremely inconsistent.
•On a happier note, the moment when Wendy realized that Makrov was dead was very touching. Erza is like a big sister to her and it was a beautiful frame when she hugged her. These two have been very close ever since the Oracion Seis arc. This is the second time that she has lost a master and Erza was there to comfort her both times. This is one of the few good pieces in this chapter.
•We’re switched to Natsu’s heart where we waste a page recapping what we literally just heard a few chapters ago. Natsu complains a bit and Igneel hits him on the head, even though we were told that there are no physical forms in this place because they aren’t actually there in person.
•Igneel explains to Natsu that there is another option: he can pick a seed. This is actually what I predicted so I was happy when I read that part. Then things only go downhill from here.
•Being the stubborn character that he is, Natsu says that he won’t choose because he’s human. To which I say bullshit. True, he was human at one point, but then he died. When he was brought back, he was brought back as a demon from the book of Zeref. That right there should have taken away being human. Or at least he should have been something like how Minerva turned out. But she was alive, and Natsu was turned into a demon because that’s the only way he could be alive. So to me, that means that he is more demon than human. But of course, this works and the seeds are broken by pure will. Wow, thanks Mashima! You just got rid of an actually interesting subplot! Congratulations!
•Igneel then sends Natsu off and he wakes up, brining both Lucy and Happy to tears. Other than Lucy fan service, I don’t really have much of a problem with this part.
•Lucy tells Natsu that she knows that he will die if Zeref dies. But that brings the question: how much does she know? Is it just the death part or the END thing too?
1. If it’s just the death part, then Lucg is a dumb blonde. She should be questioning him about why he would die. She should also be freaking out a lot more. The lack of questions in this arc makes me feel like all of the character are idiots who don’t care about what’s going on around them. Example: neither Lucy nor Gray asked Natsu about his fight with Zeref, despite them being so worried. He even got this huge scar on his face and they’re not even curious about it! Gray most of all because he’s interested in END, so he should have lots of questions about Zeref or if Natsu found out anything about END. Mashima isn’t even making realistic characters at this point.
2. If she knows all of it: death and END, then she’s an even bigger moron. Finding out that her best friend isn’t human should terrify her. Finding out that her best friend is a demon, the same kind of demon that attacked them a year ago, should terrify her. They all know that END is Zeref’s strongest demon. Finding this information out is not just something you should brush off; it’s a huge fricking deal. The fact that she’s blowing this off goes to show how little effort Mashima is putting into his script. He wrote himself into a corner and wrote a horrible plot rope to pull himself out.
Moving on.
•Natsu tries to calm her down by explaining that “he’s human so he can’t die.” Once again, I say bullshit. What exactly makes him think that destroying the demon seed he lost his life and death connection to Zeref? This doesn’t change the fact that he was brought back to life with Zeref’s power. If Zeref dies, that power keeping him alive would vanish. There’s no way that destroying the seed got rid of that connection.
•"By the way, where are Gray and Erza? I don’t really remember much, but I feel like I’ve done something bad to them.“ Wow, so convenient that Natsu has memory loss! Now won’t that be fun having Gray tell him that they tried to kill each other? Too much of this story line is written simply for convenience rather than for a good plot.
•Universe One is now dispelled with Irene going down. No problem here.
•Fiore is returned to normal with everyone in different places. Natsu and the gang are brought (conveniently) back to Lucy’s room. With a big smile from Natsu, they’re going to head back to Fairy Tail.
•Great. So Natsu is fine and the land is back to normal. In other words, WE ARE RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED. Minus a few Spriggans and the smaller troops, it’s as it nothing had happened. Even the ending scene is way too familiar. If you remember, Natsu and Happy were playing strip poker before the first attack. Great, so they’re naked again in Lucy’s room. Everyone in Fairy Tail is fine and they still need to make sure that Mavis is safe. Even some of the Spriggans who were defeated earlier came back and are currently fighting (or were before UO dispelled). Acnologia is going to come back and once again be a huge threat to the ds. Zeref is fine and still at full power. Most of the Spriggans are still a threat. Even DiMaria is back in cuffs! We have made so much movement from the beginning that we made a huge circle back to the start.
•And if that wasn’t enough, even they know that they’re starting over. "Starting from the beginning, we’ll take the same path…” -Natsu. Mashima, go ahead and ruin your plot by going in circles; but for the love of everything good in this world, DO NOT have your character say that! You might as well be taking down the fourth wall entirely!
*SIGH*
•The next chapter is called “The Strongest Wizard.” This obviously means August. I really hope that August lives up to his name and what we’ve been hearing about him. We’ve all been waiting to see a good fight and August might be able to provide. But considering these last few chapters, I’ve lost all my faith in Mashima.
I was really disappointed in this chapter despite its few good moments. I was excited for this arc in the beginning, but now I feel like Mashima through his writing skills out the window.