User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 457: Naked Battle, Review./@comment-95.51.118.58-20151019180255

It seems I had a somewhat right idea that Natsu would interfere with Erza's fight... even if it was to such a small extent ;) Erza overpowering Ajeel so easily isn't something to be thrilled about, but if that speeds up the overall war, then why not? Some people say that the fight is not over yet and they're probably right, but still... Mashima, first you draw a fountain of Ajeel's blood and then you're saying he's still going to fight? -_- Gajeel's jealous face when Natsu punched Baquel was priceless, I love that not-always-but-yet friendly rivalry between the two of them :D

Lucy seriously wanted to kill Brandish with a key? xD I must say it's the first time since forever I have enjoyed a scene that had Lucy as its main character - not only that, I enjoyed it even though it was blatant fanservice :O Unbelievable. Even if the sole idea that she would be able to kill or even defeat Brandish on her own is ridiculous, her "I'm gonna kill you" face was still great. Will she stop being the perfect crybaby Lucy Heartfilia? Will I ever like her again? Who knows, who knows... Thank Mavis it's just Brandish that knew Layla, and not Zeref, like many NaLu shippers were hoping. That would have been absolutely stupid, and when it's just Brandish, it still has a remote chance of making actual sense. Well, we'll see. :P Judging by Brandish's reaction, she's not following any order - it's more personal, since it's about her having known (and probably hated) Layla... let's hope this thing will end fast and without any unnecessary scenes (less talking, more fighting please), and that Mashima will go back to other, more important issues very soon.

And I must say I am grateful to Mashima - Lucy finally showed something beside crying, something really awesome, but at the same time he states clearly that she is no match for Brandish ("Even though there's a glaring gap in their magical ability") and that's why he brings Cana in. I hope she's going to be just as significant in this battle as Lucy (I'm not kidding myself that she would be more significant, since, sadly, there's no way she's going to be more important than the main character) and my expectations are high: unlike Lucy, Cana was an S-Class Mage Candidate; she's also Gildarts' daughter and, as Mavis once said, has potential to be an extremely powerful Mage. I fervently hope she did some training too and that this tag team will be equal in strength. Of course we all know they won't be able to defeat one of the Spriggans on their own, but maybe with some outside help...? I wouldn't mind a good 3 vs 1 battle either, one including strong women that would go out of their way to defeat Brandish.