Individual and separate, yet connected and defined by the crest they all share
Unified by a guild and connected with their hearts, the Fairies of Fairy Tail lose their wings in face of overwhelming and overpowering magic. Yet through their enduring, they find a light, and with each other they reach their hands out supporting one another and lift each other back into the skies, where their determination and love erupt into radiating and boundless magic which pierces through the gravitating darkness and forms the wings of their collective bonds enabling them to soar towards the endless. Fairy Tail, it definitely is an amazing guild.
Placing her hopes into one strike, Erza forgoes thoughts of defending
Erza vs Azuma was a great fight (loved the artwork a lot). Erza totally overpowered by Azuma, yet through her desperation and desire to protect everyone, she noticed the light supporting her, and realising that it was in fact her being the one protected, she unleashed her will and as if resonating with her emotions, the magic of Tenrou Island coupled with the faith of her nakama, surrounded her and empowered her. Azuma did have the Tenrou Island energy under his control, but I wonder if he really did have 100% control over it when engaged in battle and exhausted – the Tenrou Island energy could have been attracted to the will and emotions of Erza. Really did enjoy seeing the Erza and Jellal relationship highlighted again – if thoughts can cross space and time, they just did during the scenes at the start of chapter 237.
Inspired and moved by her Nakama, Erza unleashes the collective power of a Fairy Tail member (man I love this double page - it's powerful)
Now the way Erza defeated Azuma can be seen as illogical, but it fits Fairy Tail and I personally didn’t mind Erza winning and the way in which she achieved the victory (she is my favourite FT character), though I also wouldn’t have mind her losing as it would make things a hell of a lot more interesting – Fairy Tail would benefit by having a darker twist spun on it. A shame the side-effects for Azuma’s Lost Magic kicked in (did he die?), he was pretty awesome being amazed by Fairy Tail in the end…curious as to what Azuma meant when he said Jellal “dreamt of paradise” =/.
"I was the one always being protected" - Erza Scarlet
Bluenote and Rustyrose sure were defeated fast, but it’s good that Mashima Hiro is moving on with the developments to get to the more serious bits in the arc – focusing on the Erza and Gray fights and the potentially upcoming Natsu fight. Rustyrose was ganged up on though, but I do like how several members of Fairy Tail combined together to overpower him – yeah, team-work! Gildarts shattering Bluenotes black-hole spell was awesome, but I wouldn’t have minded more coverage on that fight – they are two of the strongest mages in the story at the moment, but regardless, Gildarts was badass.
Gildarts sure sent Bluenote flying...I wonder if we'll ever see him again in the manga O.o
I never bought the whole carrying out Ur’s will thing from Ultear – Ur just didn’t seem like the kind of person who would have such a will and lol that story by Ultear about Ur seeking vengeance smelt like a lie the moment Ultear said it =P. Ultear’s twisted side was pretty cool though – she made a great villain at those times. Ultear vs Gray, really like how the fight was handled, with Gray fighting to open Ultear’s eyes to Ur’s true feelings for her and to stop her from awakening Zeref (plus Gray combining his blood with his Ice-Make Magic was quite something). It’s sad when looking at the circumstances that caused Ur and Ultear to be torn apart and have a massive rift separate the two. Neither of them intended for it to happen but those circumstances caused a great misunderstanding in Ultear who misinterpreted what actually was and caused her to garner pointless anger and hatred towards her mother…
I bet Juvia wishes she were conscious right about now (she is such an amusing character) =P
Ur loved her daughter, the daughter which proved that she lived…but greed beckoned those doctors and caused them to lie to Ur telling her that her daughter had died, all so they could kidnap her and conduct research experiments on her – how sickening. Ultear on the other hand didn’t realise this and thought her mother had abandoned her. Fueled by anger and sadness, she learned the Arc of Time magic to escape her “cursed” life and obtain the happiness she desperately seeks… – no wonder she was so obsessed with Zeref, he is the key to attaining the power to complete the Arc of Time magic which she thinks will allow her to find her happiness (to return to a time before she hated her mother). Love how Ultear and Gray ended up in the sea, and how Ur through the ocean, which she exist in in some form was able to link with Ultear and reveal to her the truth about what had happened and the love she has for Ur.
The love of a mother and her precious "treasure"
It truly is sad, both mother and daughter wanted to be with each other…but such cruel circumstances tore a loving family apart. At least now, Ultear knows the truth and is able to let go of the hatred she holds towards her mother and replace it with overflowing love and hopefully change it into a source of strength which will enable her to walk forward into the future which her mother believed held infinite possibilities for her. And hopefully now, even though Ultear has suffered a lot, she can find that happiness she is desperately seeking. Curious to see what Mashima Hiro does with Ultear and whether she will play a bigger part in the story of Fairy Tail (I hope so).
A girl longing for the love of her mother was twisted by her desires and the power to attain them
Was it Hades behind this all? Him meeting Ultear and telling her about the Great World of Magic and Arc of Time is just too convenient – I guess he needed someone with her level of magic power to learn Arc of Time. Looking forward to seeing how Hades fits into all of these developments.
Guess it’s Natsu’s time to shine, but I doubt him along with an exhausted Gray and Erza will be able to match the power of Hades who defeated Makarov quite effortlessly and is even stronger than both Bluenote and Gildarts. But magic is a mysterious existence and maybe Fairy Tail can find a way to defeat Hades. Zeref still needs to make his move also (and what was this “Dark Guild” he controlled in the past?). Plus there’s also Lucy – is she the Origin of Magic which Hades is searching for (but him being unaware of this).
For Gray and Erza to stand after their fight, Fairy Tail's "heart" sure is strong
I do think that introducing some darker elements into Fairy Tail would evolve the story and character development. Things were shaping up for a Fairy Tail lose, but now that the Seven Kin of Purgatory has been defeated, I wonder if Mashima Hiro is going to continue following his formula and conclude this arc with a Fairy Tail win. I wouldn’t mind that now, because it would be quite sad to have all the efforts of Fairy Tail nullified in the end with Hades awakening Zeref, but then again, that could just be what Fairy Tail needs to blast the excitement to the next level. Fairy Tail may have defeated the Seven Kin of Purgatory through their bonds and faith in each other, but I still think they will lose the final battles – those scenes at the end of chapter 234 with Lucy narrating really does hint at the possibility that things didn’t go so smoothly for Fairy Tail…
12Dimension 