User blog comment:Woest/Oh flame pants, why art thou so hated?/@comment-25111584-20141010084717

First of, some nice thoughts here. :D


 * 1) People are not really annoyed at the Flame Pants, but at the situations in which they are used. In the Ikaruga fight, she decided to use them just to make the point about 'no armour around the heart', nowhere is it said that she can't use those 2 swords while in her armour. In the Azuma fight, she had to use them because they seem to be the only clothes in her Storage which require no Magic Power, allowing her to summon the Benizakura. Perfectly fine so far. Here ... she doesn't lack in offensive power, so why does she use them? That's what is annoying. No to mention that the flame pants normally herald some nakama speech, which we've had enough from her. She has had only one on-screen battle till now where she actually was shown using her intellect (and I keep calling even that fight's end a logicfail, but just me >.>) . People get tired of it ... a lot.
 * 2) Her basic magic is Sword Magic, she later learned The Knight to complement it. What you're saying is she basically just forget the magic she learned? No, she already equips different swords, what makes her even more formidable is that she can also requip armour. Very nicely shown in Pandemonium. Erza already does what you suggested and more. The main focus of her fighting style is weapons, the armour complements this. The Demon Blade Crimson Sakura demonstrates this very nicely.

Nobody would really have a problem with the flame pants were it not for the fact that:
 * 1) They herald a nakama-powah victory rather than anything else.
 * 2) They should be used only in desperate situations where the Benizakura becomes necessary, not wantonly, like for this punch. Seriously, considering the 'pain on contact', she would be better of going in her birthday suit ...
 * 3) Using the Benizakura also means that, though we might see some fantastic swordsmanship, there is very little possibility of Erza using tactics to try and win the battle, she has just gone with good ol' brute force.