User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 443: And Then, The Land Was No More, Review./@comment-4449950-20150706060747

I... wish this chapter wasn't so long and was just the second half .-.

Like, cme on... another onsen moment? I know it was bound to happen at some point but this is teetering on the most out-of-nowhere, meaningless onsen EVER in FT. I mean, at least with the others they were after-battle/quest relaxing and stuff. This... was just there because it was there >__> All of the stuff mentioned could have been done anywhere, and the onsen was just stupid. Throw in the silly Gajevy moment and I hated it tbh.

And no, before the haters appear, I like Gajevy. Quite a bit actually. I reacted the same way with the forced fanservice of Jellal and Erza in Ryuuzetsu Land. I guess I just don't like this stupid "naked people thrown onto their potential partner - crack a "joke" about their breasts" type of thing. Took me ages to even kind of like it for Jerza and I didn't like it here >__> Sorry, but that's the truth.

Plus, Raijinshuu and Laxus in Blue Pegasus? Really... that just seems so... weird. I mean, Wendy in Lamia was cute and made sense, but this just... doesn't. I don't see why they would go there - especially Laxus, who isn't like that at all. It'd make more sense for them to be at Saber fcol! I guess Mashima just ran out of guilds :/ Which is a shame. I still want to see Laxus and co, of course, but let's just say I'm not as excited as before .-.

Now, back to the island, because THAT part of the chapter was awesome :D I really wish the first half of the chapter was cut.

Anyways, Brandy is so cool and I really like her. Her cute "omg... my gelato stand!" reaction was so out of nowhere and adorbs and I really liked it. I'm glad they were approached by a more rational and calm character, and not a "beat the shit out of them cause they looked at me" bad-guy *coughJackal*. It really made more sense, and the whole "looking down on us" thing was needed and appreciated. I mean, these are people who are immensely strong and don't see Ishgar, let alone 4 FT Mages, as a threat, so the way Brandy behaved was great imo. Her whole "come on, just don't make things worse for yourself" outlook was what I wanted, and that, combined with her awesome Magic, was what made the chapter great :)

On this note though, just two nit-picks. First, the whole "you killed one of your own" thing. *sighs* I'm so sick of this in FT. I get it... they're bad guys. There are other ways to make me stand behind FT and want FT to win. Bad guys don't just have to be the "evil/destroy the world/don't care for our nakama" clichés, but I feel like this card is ALWAYS played in FT because Mashima feels the need to justify that these guys are the bad guys. Come on Mashima, bad guys don't necessarily have to be "bad" guys... they can just have plans that clash with the protags and that is fine in establishing that they need to be taken down. Magneto in X-Men, Soo-Won in AkaYona, Oikawa in Haikyuu! - all characters that are against the protagonists and "bad guys" without being mean, evil and nasty people. So please, scrap the whole "a bad guy must be mean to their followers because they're a BAD GUY!" trope and let the "bad guys" just do their thing...

On this note though, my only other nit-pick is the fact that Natsu called out to Brandy. Hell, Erza got what she was trying to achieve, Gray and Lucy got that she was strong and shut the fuck up. But Natsu? Oh my God... he was shaking just like he was with Gildarts. He knew Brandy was strong but even when she returned Erza and Lucy unharmed and Mest was there alive (albeit a little bashed) he calls out to her and "won't let it slide"??

...*massive sigh*

This is why I can't stand Natsu most of the time. I mean, it's like he's trying to get everyone hurt and make everything go to shit. Was he even trying to preserve their lives after what he just witnessed, because I don't think so. Only Brandy's dislike of conflict saved them there, so again Natsu gets away with such actions, but to be perfectly honest, he needs to be pounded in by someone other than Gildarts and just learn to shut the fuck up sometimes.

Seriously Natsu, just shut the fuck up >__>

Anyways, the start cut out (I wish I could cut it out) and this chapter would be a solid 9/10 from me. Bad start included, it's about a 7/10.

Brandish ftw though. Looking forward to the other Spriggan Knights, or w/etf they're called.