User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 499: Gray and Juvia, Review./@comment-3987368-20160829170128

Well, that chapter went exactly as expected. I'm a sucker for some death, hence why I read this chapter. Seeing Juvia stab herself (and Gray doing the same) was nice. If they were actually well-written and deep characters, I'd probably like them and this would mean something to me but alas, they're worthless as far as I'm concerned so this doesn't matter to me. It's like watching a train crash but not knowing the passengers.

Nice try by Mashima taking a certain case from Rave and using it here, and if he were competent he'd have succeeded, but all he's created is a mess of clichés and derivative writing. I should give him credit for keeping up with this embarrassment of a story though- one can't really question his dedication, only his abilities.