Template:TMITM/February 2016

 



Mkay, so there unfortunately isn't very much to analyze about this chapter but lets see what we can dig up. The biggest thing about this chapter is Laxus and his new condition. He is having some after effects from absorbing all those magical barrier particles in Tartaros arc. This is Mashima's way of nerfing Laxus again. If you notice, all the heavy hitters of FT have had some plot element put in place that keeps them from being as strong as they should be. Erza has an armor for every situation so how does he make her less beastly? He stopped having her use her armors and instead just use the Clear Heart Clothing in every fight. Makarov is one of the most powerful wizards in all of Fiore so what is stopping him from fighting these battles? He has a heart condition that stops him. Gildarts is a nomad, Mystogan is in Edolas, Mira lost her magic for a time and Laxus was exiled from the guild. Now that Laxus is back full time, Mashima needed a way to stop Laxus from being the raging beast that we all know he is and thats where this comes into play. Also, if you look, he is clutching his heart in a very similar manner to his grandfather whenever his heart condition acts up. A little nod to Makarov there.

So after some comedy and a little GaLe moment, we get to the next big thing of the chapter I want to discuss, and it is not Kagura's boobs, despite the fact that they are quite big. Its Dimaria and how terrible she is. So first off, I think its pretty strongly hinted now that she likes girls. Whatever. But Sane was the first to raise this point and I 100% agree with him. Dimaria got caught off guard and was kicked in the face because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Mind you this is an elite warrior of a militarized nation who is called the Valkyrie. She is one of the strongest mages in a country jam packed with them and yet she got kicked in the fucking face by a little 12 year old child? If this was real war and not FT, Dimaria would be dead right now. If an actual soldier with the intent to kill had wanted to kill Dimaria, they could have, just then. Wendy has no way of attacking from stealth. She had to run straight at Dimaria and attack from the wide open. This means that Dimaria has shit awareness and should be dead. Dimaria is probably the most disappointing Spriggan right now.

So thats pretty much all there was to this chapter.



This chapter was very...bland. Just Laxus showing he is hurt and Wahl playing around with him. The form change was kind of cool but not that unexpected.

But there are a few things I want to analyze here. So Dimaria. Aside from the fact that she is stupid and should be dead, we now have a hint at her magic. She says that only a split second will pass from Wendy and Sherria's perspective. So she obviously has some kind of a time related magic. Knowing the way magics have shaped up in this series so far its probably just going to be stopping time but it would be cool if it messed with someone's perception. A magic that allowed her to change the way people around her perceived time. Either making no time at all pass allowing her to strike quickly, or speed up their perception of time, mentally exhausting them. Would be cool, but will never happen.

The other thing I wanted to discuss with this chapter is the Neinhart = Simon theory. So everyone is saying because Kagura and Erza are going to fight him there must be a reason why and something that connects them. The prevailing theory is that Neinhart is Simon and that either he didn't die or that he was revived somehow. The theory kind of works and its possible, but god I hope not. Dead characters need to stay dead and Mashima has a big problem with that. What good does Simon coming back do? Kagura has finally begun to accept her brother's death and forgive everyone involved. It would be absolutely terrible for her character development if her dead brother was back and is looking for revenge. Just terrible.



Well this chapter sucked. Really, it was terrible. Laxus was given that nerf for a reason. He is not supposed to be an unstoppable beast right now, he is supposed to be very injured and going up against an opponent many times stronger than him. The whole Wahl cancelling the magic barrier particles was stupid and doesn't make sense. The fact that every single translation of this chapter varies on what happened means that what actually happened was not very clear and is not well written. I also really hate the use of flashbacks to explain sudden power ups. Here we see a flashback to Laxus learning about his great grandfather which somehow explains how he developed a new technique that allows him to throw lightning at a lightning immune opponent until it works. This is why I hate Laxus fights. They are the worst written fights in the series. Its just "I am Laxus, I always win, hahahaha" and then he just stands there throwing lightning at his opponents until he wins. Its so boring.

At this point I am more disappointed in the Spriggan 12 really. They haven't lived up to the hype at all. Each one was said to be far stronger than any of the FT mages yet they have all been defeated so easily so far. God Serena was super cool and incredibly powerful but taking him out like he was is just so disappointing. Wahl is a machine that can absorb electricity yet because it was Laxus fighting him, he lost to electricity. I don't really have anything else to say about this chapter. It was just so disappointing.



First point of note. A lot of people were hating on Kagura's reaction to Jellal appearing. However, I find it completely in character. This is the man who killed her brother, whom she had hated for so many years. A year ago she finally learned the truth behind what happened and only now is she learning to forgive. The first time she saw Jellal she grabbed her sword and wanted to kill him. This time she is just shocked and slightly sickened. Her reaction has gotten less violent as she learns to cope with things. By the end of this fight, I think you will see Kagura forgiving Jellal and fighting alongside him.

So obviously the big thing of this chapter is Ultear. Like I called a few chapters ago, Dimaria can just stop time. OP and boring. Perfect for a shitty character like Dimaria. But of course because she is a time magic user, she has to fight another time user, so queue Ultear, now young again, showing up to fight and... I really don't like it. Now don't get me wrong, I love Ultear. I think she was a great character, however, note that use of past tense there. Was. She had her character arc and her sacrifice in the GMG was amazing and beautiful. I loved it then and I still love that development. But bringing her back now just kind of ruins how emotional and amazing that sacrifice was.

Now, of the theories I have seen on why she is back....they aren't very good. First off, the least likely is that Midnight and Cobra are creating an illusion of Ultear. That is just dumb and defeats the reason she is back in the first place. They can't use time magic, so they can't fight Dimaria's time magic. The theory I am hoping turns out to be true is that she can only be young while Dimaria's magic is in use. If she is permanently young again, I will have lost all faith in Mashima.

So that is all for this month. Share your thoughts in the comments.