Template:TMITM/Mar2012

  I’d like to start off by saying that there won’t be any Real Tail this month. A series of commitments came up, and I didn’t have time to work on my less known article. Not to mention the amount of suggestions received on my Talk Page… Ranking to 0.

Great.

The only one who did show up with something interesting elsewhere was Guilherme Abe, so, in spite of Real Tail not being published… Congratulations, Abe! This issue of This Month in the Manga is for you!

Signature tune!



I – Chapter 273: Orga of the Black Lighning

Following Lucy’s defeat, the fights rage on: Ren Akatsuki (you know, the tanned fellow from Blue Pegasus) is pitted against Arania Web, a Mage from Mermaid Heel firing webs like Spider Man and sporting a Spider Woman-like figure and costume, plus some fashionable green dreadlocks (Say what???). Sherry finally appears among the public, being revealed as Ren’s current girlfriend (!!!) and giving no hint as why she had her younger cousin take part in the Games in her place… That said, Ren owns Arania. 10 points to Blue Pegasus. Seeing Ren’s improved power, Natsu wanders whether Ichiya has improved as well, and Erza reveals that, in spite of his weird personality, Ichiya has always been the strongest Mage in Pegasus… Seriously? Good to hear! Hope we do get to see the fellow in action soon…

Meanwhile, the second match is announced: Quatro Cerberus’ War Cry (the fellow clad in dog fur) against Sabertooth’s Orga Nanagear (the massive crazy haircut). War Cry goes on to the offensive, revealing the Magic which people seem to think so highly of… His eyes fill with tears as the wild fellow from the wildest guild around readies to use his exclusive Tear Magic…! WILD! If he’ll succeed in his attack, he’ll walk off and happily trot in green fields while picking up colourful flowers, accompanied by happy butterflies! WILD! And later on, he’ll return home and watch Beautiful while crying on a basin full of pop corns, dampening them with tears! WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILD!!!

…

Alright, let’s move on.

As War Cry readies to use this presumably strong Magic of him, Orga (who, getting more and more muscular in every panel, is obviously under steroids) fries him, defeating him in one blow with… A sphere of black lighting. Wow, who might have thought that? It was absolutely unpredictable! So weird for the guy referred to as “of Black Lighting” in the chapter’s title to use Black Lighting… As the crowd cheers for the Sabertooth Mage on duty, Orga pulls out a microphone and sings a song… Gajeel style. Hope you guys know what I mean. Eeeeeew. After this sketch, the next and last battle of the first day is declared… Fai Tail B’s Mystogan vs Lamia Scale’s Jura Neekis! Two pinnacles of the Magic world are going to collide, it’s a battle of Wizard Saints! Disguised as Mystogan, Jellal readies to fight a friendly opponent for Fairy Tail’s reputation… Who will be the winner? Keep reading and find out!

The art was good as always, and we got a fine 2-pages panel of Orga mopping the floor with Cry. Guess his tears might be helpful in cleaning… Jokes aside, though not shown Cry’s Magic was pretty interesting and unexpected, and I think the seeming pun with his name is simply great… We also got to see what might be Ooba Babasama’s (you know, the old hag leading Lamia Scale) Magic, with her spinning underlings around by spinning the small circle she’s always shown carrying with her fingers…

II – Chapter 274: Bad Omen

Excitement is sky-high as the two top-tier Mages ready for battle… Mavis doesn’t seem to trust the “newly acquired S-Class Mage” that much, since she immediately leaves for the restroom… Elsewhere, observing the matter from her glass sphere as a perfect witch, Ultear isn’t too pleased either, fearing that Jellal’s identity might be uncovered. But the battle’s starting…

The two Mages start clashing, with Jellal employing some lame, already seen moves with Mystogan’s staffs (Seriously Mashima, would have it been inventing new spells too hard?) and Jura trying to crush him with his stone pillars. The two then engage in a friendly competition using a gigantic stone hand (and that’s all I’ll be saying) before Jellal, bored of using staffs to summon forth flashy things, decides to go all fleshy himself, employing his Heavenly Body Magic… With moves we’ve already seen. The hell, was Mashima feeling nostalgic or what? Jura, having discovered Jellal’s real identity by seeing his tattoo but keeping his mouth shut as the usual good guy, shows off his earth defences, blocking all the incoming attacks. Jellal, having finally understood that lame old moves can’t best the strongest Guild Ace in the Games and his stylish beard, readies to employ a new, badass technique, tearing the sky above the arena open… However, before he has a chance to cast the so-called Star Destruction, which even Jura is worried about and which would likely reveal his true identity to everyone, a Sensory Link with Meredy allows Ultear to fill his mouth with chilli peppers and tickle him, prompting him to lose the match in a comedic way and leaving poor Meredy downed in the process. A weird end for a match which created an enormous amount of hype… Following such weird end, the last page is dedicated to the chapter’s namesake… Charle has another one of her well-known, creepy premonitions… Writing to Lucy Heartfilia about something terrible going on together with the Grand Magis Games is… Levy McGarden. What is this all about? What’s happening? Will something bad happen to either of them? Keep following us and find it out!

There were no 2-pages panels this week, and, though many people might disagree with me, I found this chapter’s art inferior to Mashima’s usual standards, it’s as if his trait felt… Lazy. Though that might be due to the re-using of many already seen spells on Jellal’s side… At least five of them, counting both Magis Staves and Heavenly Body Magic. You might agree with me or not… AND I DON’T GIVE A FUCK IF YOU DISAGREE! This is my review, so I can say anything I want! If you’re not fine with it, go and have a walk in flowery fields with War Cry!

Eheh. I’m calm now. I think the best part of the chapter was getting to see some of Jura’s moves after some time… Moves which, trust me, will remind you why Lamia Scale’s Ace is looked up to by everyone.

III - Chapter 275: The Drunk Falcon

The chapter starts off with the always welcome Cana nagging her fellow guild mates in a pub, where they've gathered to... Celebrate, following their defeat. Well they, don't lack spirit, at least... Wonder if that's wild, though. The group wonders where Gray and Lucy are, following their failures during the day, and, somewhere else, Lucy is shown declaring her love to Gray and jumping on him...

"WHAAAAAAAAT???!!!", you might be saying.

Don't worry, that "somewhere else" is Juvia's distorted imagination. The two of them casually show up, and, with most of the crew assembled, Fairy Tail parties, resolving to do better on the second day. Meanwhile, in Mercurius, the king's palace, Arcadios (remember, the crazy-nose Knight Chief seemingly in cahoots with Zeref) is in front of his majesty himself. Fiore's ruler select a certain "Bacchus" to fight someone from Fairy Tail capable of transforming whose name starts with "Er" (Or "El" since, as you guys might know, Japanese use the "r" sound fror the letter "l" as well), and Arcadios takes his leave, once again showing off his creepy side. Back at the pub, Max's gotten his ass beaten by Natsu (quite literally, since now it's exposed... Why is it Max can't keep it covered? Does he like showing it or what?) and a funny scene ensues when the Thunder God Tribe is too drunk to answer Freed's call and protect their honor, which was "stained" by Gajeel patting Laxus on the head... Moments after, a mysterious individual nears Cana and challenges her to a drinking contest: looking like an ancient Chinese warrior, the man is the one left standing following a huge amount of drinks, much to the dismay of Cana's comrades.

The stranger then proceeds to leave... Bringing Cana's top with him as a trophy, and leaving her bare-chested. Damn, we've just met and all Fairy Tail fans already like you, Mr. Stranger! Macao and Wakaba don't like the matter, and the former tries attacking the "thief", who however collapses on his own due to the intoxication... Just to raise backwards and slam both Mages in the ground. Ouch! The other arrive on the scene, and our new friend is revealed to be an old acquaintance of Erza... Quatro Cerberus' S-Class Mage, Bacchus the Drunk Falcon, a foe whom Erza could never best, will soon show up in the tournament... And juding from the king's words, he'll be pitted against someone from Fairy Tail capable of transforming... Take Over or Requip? Elfman or Erza? Only time will tell...

Meanwhile, in the infirmary where Wendy is recovered, Charle goes on to tell Porlyusica what she saw in her fragmented vision: a white knight, an enormous Magical array, and... Lucy singing something within the collapsing Mercurius.

Well, what to say, this was a good "transition chapter". Bacchus' got an interesting design, and Quatro Cerberus revealing some tough members is good... No double pages, just twenty standard, well-drawn pages.

IV - Chapter 276: Chariot

The chapter starts in medias res, with the competitors already taking part in the next event, Chariot: as the name and the title itself suggest, the goal is to run around Crocus to the Domus Flau on a series of linked, elongated chariots, trying to arrive before the others and not falling from the chariots themselves... Alright... Guess Mashima was tired for thinking out Hidden, and so he had to go for something lame.

We are rapidly introduced to the last in the row... Natsu, Gajeel and Sting, all suffering from heavy motion sickness... WHAAAAAAT??? Isn't that supposed to be just NATSU's signature trait?! What's going on?! Let's serve this for later, and let's check out the other competitors... Leading in 1st position is Kurohebi, that creepy guy with lipstick, from Raven Tail, and following are Ichiya, Yuka, Risley (the fatty from Mermaid Heel) and Bacchus, who's having a visible hangover. Kurohebi retains his position without casting a single spell, while the three behind him compete with each other using some lame Magic... Risley is revealed to possess what looks like a cheap rip-off of Bluenote's Gravity Magic, so nerdy that it only works on herself, but, much to the boys' delight, leaves her in a slim state. Bluenote approves this... And I think he'd also approve of the drunk Bacchus' move: the S-Class Mage from Quatro Cerberus raises his leg and then goes on to stomp it on the chariot...

... Reducing it to pieces and lifting all the nearby chariots in the air due to the force of the blow. SAY WHAT?! THAT WAS FRICKIN' AWESOME!!! Bacchus, you're climbing up my ranking of cool characters!

Having momentarily dispatched most of his opponents and slimmed Risley up, Bacchus proceeds to surpass Kurohebi and win the contest. It's 10 points for Quatro Cerberus, baby! Yeah! The other competitors make their way to the winning post as well, while Natsu, Gajeel and Sting are left to fight for the last two positions, as Dragon Slayers are revaled to be bad with transportation. Really? I would never have said that, I... Hey, wait a damn moment! What about Gajeel and Wendy, what about their safe boat trips, which had Natsu on the verge of throwing up? And now what, why is it Gajeel's suffering as well? Did he develop "true" powers, as Sting teasingly states? Uff, so many questions... Natsu and Gajeel struggle to reach the finishing point, Sting decides to give up a pair of "measly points" (anyone thinking that those "measly points" will grant Fairy Tail victory over Sabertooth in the end, hands up!), Natsu gives a nakama speech, which prompts his fellow guildmates to cry, the crowd to think more favorably of Fairy Tail and Sting look down on the whole Nakama-crap thing, and then gains 7th place, with Gajeel coming 8th. "The fuck, why was that so fast?", you might be saying. Well, the matter is... Everything pales before Laxus being revealed as one of those suffering from motion sickness. That's a blow, but... Don't worry, Laxus-sama, you're still the best no matter what!

Alright, what to say which hasn't been said already? The art's good, and we get a 2-pages shot of Bacchus owning the chariots... I'm starting to like that guy more and more...