User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 296: Natsu vs. the Two Dragons, Review./@comment-4047931-20120827181632

Well there really isn’t much I can say about this chapter that I haven’t said in the two weeks before but I can't help but be really annoyed at this chapter, mainly for reasons previously raised in the last two weeks like I said. Either way I found this chapter was just bad. Now let’s get this over with.

Well throughout these past few chapters there have been at least a few good things to look at, like Sting and Rogue's magic, Natsu's "come on" beckoning and in this chapter I found that the start was the best part but honestly that isn’t saying anything at all as it was so short. The cloaked figure was just a nice little addition to the chapter as with the current battle, the reader’s attention has probably been diverted from the eclipse plan and Zeref's presence at the GMG. Nonetheless it was good to see Jellal, the CS girls and what appears to be the source of the presence they felt. This figure should bring up a few theories and honestly I believe the robed figure to be none other than Yukino for multiple reasons, one being the name of the next chapter and the others being stuff I can’t be bothered to dive into at the moment but feel free to ask later if you feel like. Well even with this hint to the presence and plan nothing stopped the next part from being just so disappointing.

Now I've had a lot of problems with this fight. First there was the one-sided battle for round one, secondly the seeming little effect Sting had on Natsu and Gajeel when using Dragon Force in round two but this chapter takes the cake combining the apparent uselessness of Dragon Force from 295 and the crappy one-sidedness of 294. I know it was expected from Hiro to do this with Natsu but this is the first time I was genuinely annoyed by Natsu in a fight. We had Natsu all alone with the two Dragon Slayers of Sabertooth, right after Sting single-handedly beat the crap out of Natsu and Gajeel and yet somehow did near to nothing. Natsu's cocky expression when he was talking to Rogue pissed me off so much and things just got worse. When Sting powered up I was a bit confused seeing how after that last attack you'd think he wouldn't be able to use Dragon Force again is this match but according to Natsu he wasn't using his full power, so then why THE HELL WAS NATSU ABLE TO KICK THE SH*T OUT OF BOTH OF THEM SO EASILY?!?! Oh wait I know, Hiro likes making BULLSH*T that's how. This fight had so much potential to be something great, it's a pity to see the end result turned out to be a one-sided and aggravating battle. Still even if Natsu was ridiculously overpowered seeing Rogue's roar was cool and even if it felt a bit weird seeing Sabertooth members using Unison Raid, Sting and Rogue's Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang was pretty damn cool. Sadly this match was just terrible with my biggest pet peeve being how weak Sting and Rogue were in compassion to Natsu and Gajeel. I would have been perfectly fine seeing Natsu win if the circumstances were different but seeing this crappy fight got me mad at the whole of Team Fairy Tail and if the rest of the strongest five’s fights are going to go like this, I see dark times heading for Sabertooth. Also is anyone else wondering why the whole thing about Sting’s habits wasn’t capitalized on in this chapter? It was an awful, awful battle with a cringeworthy speech and disappointing result. Cool magic though.

Well with the tag battles ruined and out of the way it had me wondering what's going to happen the following night and 5th day so I came up with a few theories. First of all is what could go do the night of the 4th day. Natsu and friends will probably find out whoever was under the cloak at the start of the next chapter so I was just thinking what will go down for Sabertooth. I see Sting getting exiled from his guild due to his second failure and even if I all ready made a joke about Sting getting stripped like Yukino I really think he'd have to go looking back at Jiemma's warnings. A scenario comes to mind even if it may be cruel and harsh to two characters, one I have liked and consider my favourite male chharter and one who I've recently taking a shine to, but knowing Jiemma punishment for Sting and Rogue loosing would be tough but probably not as bad as what he got Yukino to do seeing they were two of his top mages but I could see Rogue having to erase the guild mark off his best/second best friend which would basically kicking Sting out of Sabertooth, but that's just an idea but I say it would create a interesting setup for the 5th day seeing what Sting might do and how Rogue would react if left in Sabertooth. Now thing I was thinking about for the 5th day would be Sabertooth's team. First of all considering their power I kind of hope that Sting and Rogue are the weakest of the Five or the next battles would suck. Anyway this is just if Sting gets exiled. Sabertooth would be down one member and looking at their guild I can't really see an ace in their hand (unless Orga is as strong or stronger than Laxus and the same with Minerva and Erza which would be cool) but what I would like to see is Sabertooth having a guild ace which only specific members know of who could have the power of someone truly deserving to be in the strongest guild, someone with the power off a true guild ace like Gildarts or Jura and bears the true motives of the guild were strength is everything and the weak are just trash. Either way Sabertooth needs a strong replacement for Sting in my eyes. I still want to see Sting around so maybe he can go off training with Lector before changeling Natsu. Still these are just idea of mine.

To conclude I really disliked this chapter. Natsu was ridiculously overpowered, Mavis was cheesy and I hated how Sting and Rogue were built up to be incredibly strong just to have them trolled. Still good to see Jellal and the hooded figure was cool, also the flashback page was nice having another look into the past of Sting and Lector but nothing could save this chapter from being a complete disappointment and sadly Sting and Rogue were trolled to the max, especially Rogue having him spend most of his time yelling Gajeel's name. I hope to see a comeback from Rogue and Sting with the power they should have but it going to take a lot to forget this awful set of chapters.