User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 377 & 378: Imperial Wrath of the Heavenly Dragon & With Friends, Always, Review./@comment-4449950-20140329045401


 * raises her hands above her keyboard*

Let's do this...

I... am not happy, and for a number or reasons. I know this is a shoddy week to not be happy with a chapter that many are happy with, adding on the fact that we have a swarm of new users and anons who will likely now see me as "that chick who just hates on FT all the time" when I usually DON'T, but I have to be honest.

And in all honesty, the first chapter was just plain predictable (to a point) and boring; the second one was downright ridiculous.

To start with, I didn't mind Wendy's fight, though ONLY because at the end she was seen falling to the ground exhausted and I count that as a draw of sorts. It wasn't a one sided thrashing as I feared it might be. To add to this, Wendy didn't pull out new spells, WHICH I LIKED. Yes, I liked it. I mean, she already had so much (way more than she should have imo) control over her Dragon Force, so the fact that she did no new spells tells me that she's not at the stage yet where she can tap completely into Dragon Force, and this is a good thing in my eyes. That being said, I still think she was too good for a girl with limited offensive capabilities and no prior experience in Dragon Force. I'll let it slide though.

Ezel on the other hand made no sense, and this dragged the fight down for me. I loved seeing him slash through Sky Drill, but then to be taken down by wind currents that weren't even named? I mean... whaaaaat? There was an EASY (in my mind) way Mashima could have played this out that would have been SO much better in giving Wendy an advantage and Ezel a disadvantage, but I'll type it out below in a second.

377 was saved by the fact that Face continued to count down. THANK HEAVENS! I thought we were going to see yet another Eclipse Gate/Nirvana Lacrima/Phantom Lord Walking Building Lacirma scene, where the final attack takes out the guarding bad guy and bad device in one. SO FREAKIN' glad this didn't occur again in the same way, so thank you Mashima...

And then... 378 ( -__-) *sighs*

This chapter was okay up until the last couple of pages, where it was ruined.

First off, I am calling ultimate BS on Carla's new-found and very convenient ability to predict multiple futures and see what actions she should take. I mean.... WHAT THE HELL? When was this EVER hinted at before? And don't give me the "she's predicted guild peeps actions before etc." excuse, because this is completely different. There she was predicting a single thing, or, previously, she's had visions of single horrible things to come. NEVER has she predicted multiple versions of a future based on her own actions.

So, that is the first BS thing, the second being how she so quickly figured out how to draw that Magic circle bomb thing. I mean, think about it... It's drawing a freakin Magic circle... HOW MANY POSSIBLE WAYS ARE THERE TO DO THAT!? This isn't "do I go left or right?" where there are only 2 possibilities and it's easy to predict the future and know... In my eyes there are limitless ways that seal needed to be done, and not only did Carla find the correct one among a bazillion possible futures, but she did it in LESS THAN 3 MINUTES!! It should take WAY longer than that to go through possible futures, and even then, she needed time to draw it. I- I just was startled by the convenience her ability presented in this chapter... I have no words to state how irked I was by the whole idea.

But okay, predictions aside, that scene that followed was THE MOST POINTLESS THING IN THE WORLD!! Why waste so many pages with cute, moving, tear-worthy character farewells if nothing is going to happen to them! It was just such a waste of space in my mind, and it all could have been squashed down into one chapter and avoided completely. Again, I'll type out my version below.

And finally... motherfucking Doranbolt. No, I don't hate this guy... I just hate the role he played here.
 * 1) How did he even know where Face was/that Wendy and Carla were there at that exact time?
 * 2) How did he know they were setting a bomb without Carla predicting he would save them? I mean, if he jumped in at the last second it would be too late for him to take in everything that was happening and react, but if he jumped in sooner Carla should have predicted him >__>
 * 3) Again, if he was there earlier, did he just stand back and watch Wendy fight and them cry and break down over the situation and grab his popcorn to watch? I - I just don't get how he could do what he did the way he did...

Okay, here's how I would have handled these two chapters. For 1, cut the double chapter and make it one slightly longer one. Two, make it so Ezel has a legit reason for falling. 3, cut Carla's BS, and 4, Make Doranbolt's save much more believable.

^That is how I would have done it. Dunno if you'll like it, but I don't care. I just hated Carla's BS, the fact that Doranbolt wasn't shown until right when the thing exploded, and the fact that Ezel fell too easily, and that's how I would have fixed all three. Think what you will~

Anyways, with Face down, I wonder where we are going to go from here. Pretty excited to see what road Mashima takes, but I hope it involves Tartarus/FT retreating and everything calming down for a while. That's just me though. I don't want to see any more of the 9DGs fall - ESPECIALLY Franmalth to Natsu... because... fuck you Natsu >__>

Welp, that's all I have to say.

Carrot out~