User blog comment:Wrath022/Chapter 524: Black Future, Review/@comment-2214433-20170225111656/@comment-2214433-20170225144215

@Nick: He knows. Zeref told them at the start of the arc and August was like, so we're just pawns, huh?

@Anon: I mean, it's been clear for a good amount of time that Mashima has stopped coming up with flashy magic moves, regardless of the character. August is just a prime example of that treatment. The best stuff we get these days are explosions in the shape of a pillar or a sphere. Yay. While Mashima's art is undoubtedly superb, it kind of loses its effect when virtually all double spreads are characters punching other characters into oblivion. Dragon Force Gajeel? Ended his match with a punch. Natsu vs. Enhanced Neinhart? A punch. Gray vs. Invel? A series of frozen punches defeated Invel. I could go on.