User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 315: Rosemary, Review./@comment-4047931-20130119213925

My God how can you screw up a fight so badly? A prefect chance to bring so tragedy into the plot and it was just tossed away and what made it worse was that unbelievable beginning to the chapter. Too be honest over the week I was thinking my bringing in a death in this arc would be a bit early but just too see this fight ruined within what was roughly 6 pages. It’s basically the Sting and Rogue vs. Natsu and Gajeel battle all over again but at least this fight had the decency to have a great start and middle and a lot of emotions behind it. I was just in disbelief how it ended the fight like that but it did pick up with that bit of back-story and ending but they were still flawed. I'm just feeling really let down after what's happened so far in this last event. Anyway let’s just get on with it.

So with another unrelated cover, having me think Mashima is just going to put a main character alone with a saying related to their magic or personality for the next few chapters past, we continue off with the shocking conclusion to the last chapter to finally see what Archenemy is capable of. Now at least the at the very start we got to see something amazing. Now this was a blade intended to kill one on the level of a Wizard Saint so I wasn't too surprising that it would be powerful but seeing it so powerful that it ripped apart the city like that?! That was cool. Anyway things took a turn for the worst as somehow, after the unsheathed blade cut through Erza's strongest defense and left her basically unable to stand; Erza blocked that destructive blow with a plain old blade with what looked to be with some effort and blood. Yeah anticlimactic and it basically destroyed those feelings I had of the chapter before. 314 had so much emotions behind it with all that rage and guilt and seeing the struggle to try overcome Kagura was brilliant but it was all thrown away just to see Erza knock her down with little effort whatsoever. What's worse is that she used that boring old trousers and sword. It was cool the first two times but now it's just dull. Now I said I didn't really want to see a new set of armor in this chapter because I wanted some drama but a new re-quip would have been ten times better than this. In retrospect seeing Erza use armor called Rosemary that was too powerful for her to use before would have be nice touch as it would have been so cool to see an epic clash of blades and it would had some depth to it as how we later learned it would have been named after her home town. Anyway it was cool to see Erza’s will to live as you would expect it from her after seeing how all through her life people have been willing to give their lives or her sake but if she was to fall it was more the idea that what if she couldn't do anything after that beating she took. So basically the only good thing to come out of the ending to this fight was Erza but it was still a terrible ending to the fight for me.

Now after being tripped up by Erza, yeah another flaw of the chapter after seeing Kagura make Erza bleed, Kagura gets back up after just being tripped up. So there was some hope for this continuing and returning back to its previous standards but it wasn't likely with all the crap beforehand however what happened next wasn't all that bad as we saw Erza save Kagura from the falling ceiling. Respect gained after that appalling first section for Erza as only a true saint could save the life of someone with the intent to kill her only a few moments ago and seeing Kagura’s reaction was kind of sweet. Anyway things did pick up now with the reveal of Erza and Kagura meeting in the past. Overall it was an enjoyable moment of the chapter seeing what you would expect from Dark Mages as they pillaged Rosemary and then appeared lost little Kagura. It was upsetting to see the child alone midst all the chaos but luckily Erza was there to help out bringing a nuplifting feeling to the chapter. I really did enjoy the flashback as it was sweet, it showed us a darker side to Fairy Tail, it showed us how Erza ended up in the Tower of Heaven and it actually kept this chapter from being an utter disappointment. I do feel that the fact that Simon had a sister and that he lived in the same town as Erza could have been revealed earlier and it did feel a bit crammed into the chapter and also what led up to it with Erza not recognizing Kagura when she said the she was Simon's sister as a little unbelievable because you thought she could have added all the information together and figure it out even if it was hard to recognize her appearance seeing how young they both were but I can see why Kagura wouldn't be able to identify her saviour having it be years since she last saw her. Still those problems aside it was the best part of this chapter and it was surprisingly good with a nice little reveal, Kagura actually looking cute after seeing her badassery and seeing such a heart-warming moment between Erza and Kagura was awesome. So Erza was a true hero taking the hit for her opponent with the cost of her leg, a touching look into the past and a beautiful moment of acceptance between Kagura and Erza knowing that she couldn't battle with one who saved her from all those years of enslavement and holy sh*t she lifted that massive lump of rock with one hand!? Damn. Anyway it was nice but it did feel like Kagura was a little bit out of character and to see some actual emotions from her was once again cool with all that hate she showed in the last few chapters but I still hope she wants to kill Jellal as it would be a nice point in the plot to have Kagura as that consequence of his past that will be hunting him until his life was taken.

Pity things turned out this way in the end with Minerva stabbing Kagura in the back. It is a shame to see things turn out this way but it did give me some tragedy that I wanted however I feel it would have meant more if Erza or Kagura were the ones to be doing the stabbing. Nevertheless it was cool to see this go done as it really made you hate Minerva but anyone saying she is the best villain in Fairy Tail has got to be kidding themselves. Now there's being tactical and then being a coward like this because if she was a true fighter she would have gone for the face. This really pissed be off though as just seeing Kagura taking out of the games after seeing the extent of her power. Leaving it off like this was cool though as hopefully the fight won't have an ending like this one and seeing Erza like that is usually always a good sign. Seeing the condition of our Lady in Steel leaves much to think upon as what could actually help Erza cease victory it battle. I wouldn't surprised to see Gray help Erza out as it would give Erza her leg back if Gray was to make a cast of ice over it. Still that's a wide speculation but I just hope for a tough battle. Minerva’s last few words were pretty cool though.

To conclude this was a pretty mediocre chapter with a disappointing start to what could have been a brilliant battle if things were different. The flashback was a good addition but it couldn't save the chapter and it did have a number of problems for me. The ending was a little bit thrilling but Minerva just pissed me off with that action which I feel would have been better if see went for the front and honestly it would have been more suited to her character and it was a disappointment from what we've just saw of Kagura. She’s just been awesome lately. Anyway I can't say I like it as too me this has been the weakest out of all the Grand Magic War Games chapters.