User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 408: Absolute Demon, Review./@comment-4449950-20141110221407

It's a funny thing when you can tell what an author is thinking. I say this because as I was reading this chapter, I felt like I was literally reading this through Mashima's eyes. I have mixed feelings, but overall they kind of neutral out to an "ah, okay then".

I can read Mashima due to Sting and Rogue. I think it was really obvious that Mashima went into this going "Ah damn... I want Natsu and Gray to shine in this battle, but Sting and Rogue are still there. I could blast them away, but that would make their characters look stupid and I really like them, so I'm going to have to use something else. Hmmm... how can I have these two taken aside and still grant them a good fight they can win, hopefully whilst adding to their characters? Ah! I know, Jiemma can return. They have mixed feelings about this guy, I guess it suits his asshole-ish personality, it can tie in with Minerva turning back to Sabertooth as he turns away, and Sting and Rogue can win."

^That is quite literally what I believe Mashima was thinking.

And... can I fault him for this? Well, no... not really no. I think it would have been easy for him to have Mard smash the crap out of Sting and Rogue to prove his strength before Natsu and Gray take him down, and, yes, I do believe this would have further diminished Sting and Rogue's characters. So, in this sense, I do have to say that perhaps things were handled well. Do I think they could have been handled better and not so randomly? Yes. But I'd rather a character appear out of nowhere than have two others I rather like be further fodder-ised for the sake of Natsu/Gray hype.

This being said, I think something much more simple could have been done. For me, even something like this could have sufficed:

Sting and Rogue join Natsu and Gray for the start of the fight, but Sting (or Rogue) gets dealt a heavy blow and smashes his head in on something nearby. Bleeding out everywhere immensely, the other Twin Dragon rushes to his aid. Natsu and Gray then encourage Sting or Rogue (whichever one is fine) to take the other to safety as they continue.

This also isn't as ideal as it should be, but it's also something I wouldn't have minded. I think it could have shown the deeper relationship between Sting and Rogue, especially if they had to choose between staying and fighting pure evil (Mard) or taking the other for immediate first aid and thereby saving their life. Mard could have then tied that into a speech about human emotions proving that humans are weak etc etc etc.

But, we get this. Obviously Jiemma is going down soon and Sting and Rogue will promise to never let Minerva fall like that (or something - hint hint Minerva is subsequently stabbing Kyouka to death lols) and Natsu and Gray will take out Mard. Eh, not too sure how this is going to go, because we can either have Natsu and Gray beating Mard quickly before Face goes off and then END awakens in front of them, or Mard can pull some shiz and survive until after Face and then all hell breaks loose.

Either way, I am liking Mard's true Demon form... though Jiemma looks like a fucked over gnome .-. Ah well, he was never an appealing character to begin with.

Still wish we got some info on Lumen, but I can wait I guess. Hopefully next week isn't entirely left to these two battles again, but I won't be surprised if it is, considering next week's title. If we take Stream's version "a black and white lynchpin", I guess the title could be referring to Mard. A lynchpin can be described as "a person or thing vital to an enterprise or organization", and I feel Mard's Demon Form is black and white and he is the vital part of Tartarus. Or, hells, maybe I'm wrong and it's something/someone else, like the Twin DSs or Mavis as Lumen. Guess we'll just wait and see. And yes, I am still interested to see if Face will go off. After all of this waiting and backing-and-forthing, I'd hope it does, but that's just me.

Nothing else to say. I'm just kind of meh about FT right now due to the characters in the spotlight and such. Hopefully this all ends soon and we move on past Gray and Natsu >__>

Carrot out... bitches... to exams in 6 hours (__;)~