User blog:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 416: Tartarus Arc: Final Part, Review and Commentary

So the chapter begins with Lucy reminiscing the events of the Tartarus arc. There is a very nice and beautiful winter colored cover, so me likey!

Let me just say beforehand that I heard something big is happening in this chapter but I didn't want to know what it actually is. So this chapter should be twice as enjoyable (or at least impactful :P )

After all those events, I almost forgot that the guild(and the town, to an extent) was actually destroyed in this battle. If the translation is to be trusted, the guild won't be rebuilt again, and this actually makes me sad D: we also see Elfman feeling guilt over what he did, as he should tbh.

Meanwhile, Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe are back to full health, which is awesome, but, staying true to his character, Laxus is brooding over his weakness, as most of the characters are. I think it's nice to see such a big event finally catch up to all those characters and have an impact on them.

WTF on Wendy though. Why is her hair back to normal? >___> With Cancer holding his scissors, no less! I guess Mashima prefers her with longer hair, but short hair was supposed to represent her oath to get stronger, so I was hoping it would stay like that... Still, I like to see that Wendy is the only one without a trauma, and Lucy's right, long hair does suit her better.

It appears she's been putting on a tough face, though, and she, like the other Dragon Slayers, are coping with loss in their own unique way. Gajeel, for example, spends his time sleeping next to Levy :P

Apparently, Natsu and Happpy have saved up a huge amount of money and are willing to spend it on something...? This should be interesting! Meanwhile, Gray also spends time near his mom and dad's grave, and Juvia approaches him and confesses that she's the one that took Keith down and "killed" Silver. It's a really emotional scene, as Gray approaches her and cries as he thanks her for setting his father feee.

Oh man, I do love the next part, character-wise and plot-wise. I thought Erza would be the only one without trauma, but apparently all this torture she got at the hands of Kyouka and her tentacle monster indeed did traumatise her, and I love the fact that Mashima addresses this issue instead of using the torture as plain fanservice. She remembers her abuse as a child and as she thinks that, A WILD FRIGGIN' JELLAL APPEARS, calm as fuck, to casually tell her that she'll walk the path of light, while he and the rest of his gang will walk the path of darkness to kill Zeref. I love Angel's comment on the ridiculous dark robes though, it's such a cliche :P

Also, Midnight looks like lil red riding hood.

Meanwhile, Sting, Rogue, Exceeds & Minerva returned to Sabertooth, and Yukino was the first to bring her back! Those two had never interacted before so it was something nice to see! Also, I guess that Minerva was automatically reverted back to a human once Tartarus was defeated...? Not sure how that worked ( ._.) I wish we got an explanation though.

...Now the next is what I like to call the mindfuck part, or THE AIZEN PART. Apparently, Doranbolt is actually MEST, and Makarov had him sneak to the council, after erasing his own memories. Now he got his memories back and he's Mest. Makarov is beginning to get very shady, and I must admit that I like the direction his character is going!

As he announces the guild disbanding, we see a weird fairy-like monument in the guild's ruins. Is it supposed to be Mavis? Leila? A fairy? I have no fucking clue, but this mere image sent chills down my spine for some reason, along with the announcement that Fairy Tail will be no more.

Meanwhile, Lucy finds a letter with Natsu saying that he'll go away for a year to get stronger. This was just so sad, because we also see Aquarius' broken key and we realize that Lucy will more or less be all by herself for some time now, and I can't help but feel sorry for her...

Oh, we also have confirmation that NATSU = E.N.D. = Etherious Natsu Dragneel. Not that anyone had any doubts :P but whatever

...So, this was a great chapter, and my favorite in a while. My thoughts are all over the place, and I can't really say what I liked or not, because I still try to process all that.

I think the manga will probably go on a 1-year-timeskip now. We'll probably see some moments of the various FT members training, but that's my best guess on where the story is going to go. And, 1 year in the future, all hell breaks loose, with Fro dying, Jellal taking action, Zeref vs. Natsu etc. etc.

The Good

 * Minerva back to Sabertooth!
 * Makarov being shady!
 * Character development-trauma-loss, something Fairy Tail was lacking.
 * Emotional moments coming from all the characters
 * The mystery of Lumen Histoire and the mysterious figure dragging. Now it got even more complicated!
 * Mest being a member of FT all along. I didn't see that coming.
 * We actually saw Jellal!
 * Basically the whole chapter.
 * Natsu = END. Just because we guessed it doesn't mean it was bad. It was the logical thing to do. Having plot twist just for the sake of it isn't always good.

The Bad

 * Minerva a human once again without a proper explanation, I guess.

Final Verdict
I LOVED this chapter, and it might easily be one of my favorites!

Will we have a timeskip? Yes No Not sure

What are you looking forward to the most? Natsu vs. Zeref! Makarov/LH/The fairy figure Lucy/Gray/Erza/Gajeel e.t.c. getting stronger and character development! Other characters

''Wow, that chapter was awesome! Speaking of awesomeness, I friggin' LOVED One Piece, because I've always been a Nico Robin fan, and lately she's been in action more than not. Bleach was on a break this week. Sukedachi 09, FT0 e.t.c. are not out yet, so that's it from me! What did you think of this week's manga? Let me know in the comments!''