User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 450: Alone in all the World, Review./@comment-756329-20150831195204

I must confess, after this chapter, Zeref has got to be one of the most perfectly crafted tragic-villains ever created. Mashima has done a terrific job molding him into what we see now, all the terrible things that are about to transpire, are nothing compared to what we've seen this chapter.

Zeref is a young man who despises everything solely to protect them from dying because if he cared about anything, they'd die, plant, animal, or human. This character is perfectly crafted by the author and i must tip my hat to Mashima.

The relationship between the two is beautiful, their love is so strong, it caused Mavis, a cursed immortal, to die peacefully, undoing her curse of immortality. The power of those feelings must've been intense to defeat her curse only further him down his tragic path of darkness.

Truly, one of the absolute best, if not THE BEST tragic-villain ever crafted.