User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 302: The Eclipse Plan, Review and Commentary/@comment-4047931-20121008205600

Well I enjoyed this chapter. It had a good bit of information, what occurred at the end was rather smart and I liked to see a chapter mostly based around Arcadios. Even though this chapter could be seen as little bit dull compared to the last two chapters and what happened near the end may have annoyed a few people (not me though) it was decent enough to be classed as one of the better chapters of this arc in my eyes. Now moving to the chapter, even though there may not be that much to talk about.

Now obviously this chapter started us off where we were last week with Arcadios and Yukino arriving in the Dragon's Graveyard, then we go through some quick introductions and get told what Arcadios wanted yet again, that being the Celestial Spirit Mages, so it was a pretty slow start but I did enjoy the little piece of conflict between Natsu and Arcadios as it once again showed Natsu's usual angry attitude towards things he doesn't understand and concern for his friends it also showed us a little about Arcadios keeping cool under a threat. Anyway they begin to head out of the Graveyard, but before that Yukino tells Lucy that they will be able to beat the two big evils of the series if they go through with the eclipse plan. Looking at Mercurius was a treat as again it looked awesome as I love the detail put into its appearance. Now here's one problem I had with the chapter, why was the group still following this guy when they entered the castle? Come on, he just told you that he tried kidnapping your friend and has been exploiting the majority of the strongest Mages from all around the country for years. If that sounds like trustworthy guy you'd follow to a big castle then you need to get a brain check. I guess curiosity had its part to play in this chapter but curiosity did kill the cat. Well it is only a minor problem because how else would they learn? So moving on we got our second treat for our eyes with the Eclipse. That one fancy gate if I ever saw one. Now the big reveal here was the supposed power of this gateway being that is was capable of time-travel. I’m fine with the idea of using time-travel but if Hiro makes it too similar to Rave, I'm going to be pissed off. It's nice to pay homage to your previous work but don't recycle the plot. Of course this event had to be linked to the 7th of July so main way of function this project would occur on that day. At least it sets it up for something cool but even with that explanation of Eclipse, my most enjoyable moment was the climax. The army and Datong enters the hall surrounding our heroes and Arcadios. This was a brilliant. I loved the argument these to "friends" had over the Eclipse bringing out conflict between them both and it really covered how they both feel about the plan, Datong opposing it and actually pointing out the main danger of that process and Arcadios just wanting to go through with it. Now when he had Arcadios, Lucy and Yukino arrested it was rather surprising but perfect as it is the smartest way to stop the chances of history being rewritten without bloodshed and set up for something tension in the future. Another point that made this chapter great is how Natsu had his Magic drained and I really hope to see that in play during the final day. Anyway with this, Lucy is taken away and Natsu and the others are left with the only chance to free her is by winning the GMG. SH*T JUST GOT REAL!

Any this chapter brings a few ideas to mind about what my happen. First, Lucy using the Eclipse to go back in time to stop the destruction on the 7th. That's kind of self explanatory. By the way look at her sandals and compare them with the hooded girl. Secondly, Natsu losing his magic. Now I hope it takes him a while for him to recover from this as I can see him not having fully recovered his magic by the final day yet he would head out to fight anyway, not telling anybody that he is weakened because of his pride and how he was unable to stop Lucy's arrest. I say it would play in nicely and the battles would be more interesting. Finally, the King. Now looking at the circumstances Fairy Tail will probably claim victory in the end of the GMG but I can see some comedy coming for the meeting between Fairy Tail and the King with each member trying to gain his favor so Lucy would be freed which keeps getting crazier and more out of hand until the meeting is ruined but thing is that the King loved all this chaos because of his usual life as a king was boring for him and finds himself indebted to Fairy Tail for the evening of excitement given to him but that's just me but I do think these three ideas would work nicely.

Overall a fairly decent chapter which had a rather dull start with little bad about it but with only slightly more enjoyable moments but was good for the dive into the mystery of the Eclipse and the climax at the end leaving Fairy Tail in a troubling situation. Can’t wait to see how things play out but I hope to take a look back to Sabertooth to know what happened to Jiemma.