Let’s see what happened in this chapter, shall we?
Gray finally seeing first hand the lengths to which Juvia would go to for his sake? Check.
Gray admitting he sees Juvia as more than a friend? Check.
Gray trying to kill himself so that Juvia may go on living? Check.
Gray despairing over Juvia? Check.
Gray furious over losing Juvia? Check.
I also loved how Gray said “he wanted to protect her no matter what the cost.” That, to me, confirmed what many of us have thought all along. Gray has always gone above and beyond to keep Juvia safe, because he was terrified of losing her. And as we see here we got the full impact of that loss for Gray. It devastated him.
He has now given his life twice to save Juvia. When people say that Gray would do the same for any other friend, Gray himself said in this very chapter “I could never hurt a comrade… NO.. I could never hurt YOU, Juvia.” He corrected himself because Juvia is not just a friend. She is so much more to him than that. She’s on a different level.
As always, it’s Juvia’s internal monologue and struggle that we are privy to, instead of Gray’s. So it’s her agonizing over what to do, and how terrible she feels about hurting Gray, and her thought process behind making the decision to sacrifice herself that we get to see and understand.
However, there’s a reason why Mashima made such a big deal showing that the two of them acted IN THE EXACT SAME WAY. Their actions matched but so did the feelings behind the actions. They both would rather kill themselves than hurt each other. That’s what Mashima was showing us. Juvia loves Gray, but Gray also loves Juvia. And that love for her drove him to make the exact same extreme sacrifice. That’s why Juvia was shocked when she saw Gray had also stabbed himself. He went to the same lengths that she did for him, to keep her safe.
So, the point of the scene was to show Gray, too, is in the same place (emotionally and mentally) as Juvia. They love each other, and would rather the other person live on. That is the ultimate sacrifice, and they made it for the person they loved the most. Even Juvia could tell that she was special to him. That’s why she said she felt joy at his words. She understood what he meant by the things he said, and by the actions he took, which were the same as her own.
The other part that got to me was when Gray regained consciousness and it dawned on him that the blood in his veins is Juvia’s. You can see he turned to look at Juvia, trembling in horror at what he was about to see. The way he holds her and begs her to wake up is so sad. He tried so hard to prevent this, and yet again, he is alive, while someone he cared deeply for, had left him behind once more.
As for the “I promise… I’ll take your feelings more seriously” debate. Here’s the thing, we already know Gray took Juvia’s feelings seriously, because that was what his promise of an answer to her in 453 was about (again, if anyone truly thinks he was making Juvia wait for a no, especially after his actions in this chapter, then I have not an ounce of care to spare for their opinion). So, in this case, his words to her as he begged her to wake up, was him referencing that answer that he still wants to give her.
I also want to touch on the Ur and Juvia parallels. sinjaria already posted the panel showing the striking similarities between Juvia’s death scene and Grays reaction to Urs death. Gray is screaming in anguish in both cases. Gray has lost people since Ur passed away (Ultear and his dad (again)). But not since Ur have we ever seen such raw emotion from Gray until now. The two women he cared about most are both gone.
So this parallel to Ur (especially Gray’s reaction to both deaths being nearly EXACTLY the same) is meant to show us how much Gray loved Juvia. Gray already admitted he loved Ur. We never learned anything about Gray’s mother Mika, so Ur was always portrayed as the most important woman in Gray’s life. She had the biggest influence, and caused him the greatest heartache. But now, his greatest loss is dominated by Juvia. Because she has currently taken the biggest spot in his heart.
And we saw Gray thinking of his moments with Juvia. I especially loved that he thought of the training together during the time skip, showing his time spent with Juvia during those 6 months was special to him, too.
And speaking of Juvia, of course she didn’t want that guilt on Grays conscious if she simply let him kill her. Even in this moment Juvia is thinking of what is best for Gray. Even the spell she used was one she developed specifically to save him if the worst should happen. She’s always putting him ahead of herself. And it wasn’t just her normal magic. She used water make, like ice make. It just was a very fitting spell for a woman as self-sacrificial and loving as Juvia. The measures she would take, and the lengths she would go to, in order to protect the person she loved, knows no bounds.
And for me personally, I’ve always wanted to see Juvia sacrificing herself for Gray, with Gray genuinely thinking she was dead. It has been on my “want” list since the GMG ended (I know, I’m a terrible person, so hush). I wanted Gray to understand why it’s not ok to wait. Which is exactly why I knew there was a major death flag over Juvia’s head when 453 came out, and he promised Juvia an answer “after the war.” Gray needed to feel the pain and regret of holding back, because there may not be a later, or a tomorrow, or an “after the war.”
Plus, I felt Juvia sacrificing herself for Gray felt like it made sense for Gray’s character arc, and for their relationship development that he suffer one more loss, and this time, it’d be Juvia. With the only difference being that this time, the person he lost, would come back to him. Because, no way does Gray deserve to continue suffering. He was finally healing from all that trauma, and that was thanks to Juvia. So, just as he’s finally moving on, to tear another person away from him - the person who’s also his support and comfort? It’s too cruel of a way to end Gray’s story.
Also, I say I wanted Juvia to die. However, what I didn’t factor into the equation, are my own feelings while having to read the actual events of my favorite characters death. I’m a MESS lmao. Even the spoilers messed me up lol. I can’t help it. It’s so beautiful, and so sad. Juvia’s words to Gray, simply being happy because her life belongs to him? The beautiful panel of her spirit? That look she gave him? Gray’s fear at seeing her body? Gray screaming and sobbing? Gray holding her and begging her to wake up?
To quote Juvia, “my heart is in pieces!!!” TRULY. I’m so down. It’s really no fun watching a beloved character die. It just shows, though, that Mashima did his job well, because this chapter was meant to hurt, and boy did it ever.
That being said, do I think this death will stick forever? Absolutely not. I already explained why in detail here. But the biggest reason is that from a narrative perspective it just doesn’t gel with what Gray or Juvia’s story arcs have been building towards.
Plus, as an aside, FT is having a Fairy Tail exhibition in Japan soon with art from the manga on display, and goods to purchase. Juvia is on the tickets, and she’s in the promotion. Using a permanently dead character to push new merch and attendance to a future event? Somehow it doesn’t seem like Fairy Tail’s or Mashima’s style to do something like that, does it?
But Juvia’s death in this chapter seemed pretty final, so how will she come back?
Three words: Dues Ex Machina (Mashima? lol).
Fairy heart, the tenrou tree, the one magic, one of the very haxxxed magics that the Spriggan have (Larcade and his soul magic, Irene and her extraction magic), Mavis does something, zeref does something, Gray himself does something….I don’t know. the point is, there are a lot of plot devices/conveniences at play in this arc, so there are several openings for mashima to explain how Juvia can come back.So I wouldn’t worry too much how it happens.
I’m personally torn between wanting an outside, general force to save Juvia, just for the surprise effect of Gray finding her alive after all, and Gray himself being the one who finds a way to bring Juvia back. I feel like Gray has always imagined himself a failure at saving people, because of how many others have died so that he may live. Which is why it would be very nice if Gray would not rest until he found a way to save Juvia somehow, because she is the one person he refuses to lose.
But, no, I don’t know exactly how, nor how long it will take to bring Juvia back. Mashima will probably want to drag this one out, because Gray has things to do, and if Juvia is alive and well chances are she’d go after him. So this is just another (extreme) case of Juvia being sidelined (just like in all the other previous arcs) to keep her out of the way long enough to create suspense, and let Gray do his thing (and boy will he, because Invel is about to wish he had never chained them together like that, because Gray is about to DESTROY him).
Speaking of Invel, I also really loved how shocked he was at Gray and Juvia’s actions throughout the majority of this chapter. He didn’t understand why either of them would do the things they did, because he didn’t understand their bond, nor their love for each other. Even his magic, no matter how strong it was, couldn’t completely overpower their mutual love and their need to protect each other. And now he’s about to pay the price of Gray’s rage.
Also, I love how Gray did not have his devil slaying dark marks on him in that final panel. I want to think that it’s because Juvia is keeping the darkness that Invel was hoping Gray to be lost in, at bay.
Going back to Juvia’s death, again, I don’t know a when and how, I just know she’ll be back. There wasn’t enough closure in this chapter to worry that she’ll stay permanently dead. Mashima left us with plenty of things to anticipate. Even though Gray’s actions make things pretty clear, he still owes Juvia an answer. There’s a reason we didn’t get it a clear one here. He can’t tell someone how he feels, if she’s incapable of hearing it. But she’ll know the truth soon enough, and so will we.
Also, Mashima said so himself on twitter. FT will NOT have a bad end. And a dead Juvia, with a miserable, and even more traumatized Gray? That would qualify as a bad end for those characters.
Instead, get excited. You know why? Because, just like Tartarus, there is an epic reunion ahead of us.
It’s DEFINITELY going canon. ^__^
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