User blog:Retro7/Fairy Flush Reviews: Battle On Two Fronts

And so it begins...

Chapter 303: Battle On Two Fronts

What Went Down: The rest of Fairy Tail is told of what became of Lucy and mull over what to do. In a prison in the castle, Lucy talks with Yukino and we learn of the latter's past (family killed by Zeref's followers, missing older sister, etc). The sixth day of the games commences and Team Fairy Tail is surprisingly without Natsu with Juvia talking his place. As the games start, we see that Natsu, along with Wendy, Mirajane and the Exceeds are rushing to the castle to save Lucy.

- Important Things of Note:


 * Yukino's Past and reason for wanting to activate the Eclipse plan
 * Sting still with Sabertooth after what happened.
 * Marakov has two teams working on saving Lucy. One the legitimate way, the other the breaking and enter way.

- Cheers and Jeers

Not bad, not bad at all. This chapter had a very nice pacing to it, I liked the little talk between the group on wondering on handling the situation, especially when they make note that they'll be getting on the kingdom's bad side if they go in half cocked. But also taking in the fact of not being able to trust the words of Lucy's captor either, so that indeed put them in a pretty tough position. Their solution was pretty solid though. With Natsu gone it keeps suspicion off the group since Dautog of course saw Natsu get drained of his magic. Adding Juiva was an interesting choice though. Why not Mirajane? Granted I'm glad both girls are getting back into action again but it seems pretty weird they don't put her in the game. But I suppose since they're going up against a royal army, they'll need the strongest they can get.

Yukino's backstory certainly throws things for a loop, I'm actually interested in who exactly this older sister of her is. The whole clumsiness part of her past and getting berated by her parents also sheds some light into her personality given what we've seen of her and exactly why she so easily join up with this plan. But her reasons are kinda iffy, if her sister was dead, okay that understandable. But she mentions she's missing, so she has some family left. Why not try to look for her instead of taking this complicated route? Certainly throws more speculations on who the cloaked woman is as well.

So we finally get to the main games and the big question of weather Sting would stay with Sabertooth was answered but exactly why isn't covered yet. He certainly looks more serious then before but really if he thinks Natsu being missing is lucky for them, then yeah I'd say he needs to be knocked around a bit more before he gets it that FT aren't pushovers. Still I do worry for the team, pretty much all the rival guilds have it out for them plus with Sabertooth on the field, it's not looking to be an easy battle. I'm really excited to see how this all plays out, course then again that's up to how the upcoming game will work. Though from the looks of it, it'll be a major free for all.

And lastly the raid on the castle, heh certainly keeps the tension level up especially with Arcadios still somewhere in the building. I doubt Natsu gonna stealth his way through and will cause a huge ruckus. So the matter is, how to get Lucy out before the officials watching the games catch on. Not to mention the Eclipse gate that sucking away magic or even if Natsu's up to full power now. The date also presents an interesting situation, this is the 6th day and the major portion of the tourney is playing out now. So..does that mean Natsu's group failed and will have to rely on those in the games to bail them out. Hmmm

Final Grade: A

Overall its a great setup chapter to the climax of the arc and really pops up a number of questions if FT can pull off this plan. Heck maybe those in the games aren't trying to win so much as buy time for the group, which is going to be a very tricky job. Needless to say, the stakes are high and this is a fight that won't be easily won. But its got me pumped to see where this goes. I can only hope Mashima doesn't drop the ball here. Pleeeease make this good dude. Still for the time being, good job. ^_^