User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail 522 & 523: Gray's Trump Card & Is Destiny Burning, Review/@comment-24039234-20170218111444

522: Okay, first page and I'm lost. Why does Natsu hold the key to everything? He's just a human now... does.not.compute.>_<

BTW, this double spread looks nice. We should pair Mashima up with a writer so he can concentrate only on drawing stuff.

August was awesome. I'm not happy about that grin at the end, tho. He's supposed to be this calm guy, please don't make him torture Cana or Gildarts just for the fun of seeing the other one in despair... that would so ruin his character.

Hey. Iced Shell. While a bit repetitive, that's kinda logical in this case. Let's see where this is going.

523: Well, Gray's plan is kinda flawed. Deliora was drained and killed by Iced Shell, but as he himself points out, Zeref is immortal, so he will wait however much he needs, then revive. So far, so good: can't go for the kill, then seal him for a few hundred years and give the good guys peace and time to plan for his revival, that's a genuinely good plan. However, Iced Shell was dispelled by a low level Lyon in the Galuna Arc. I know this one is a buffed up version, but I have my doubts about it lasting against the dispelling abilities of the likes of August. But oh well, at least somebody tried to do something aside from trying to blast the opponent with the biggest stuff they've got. Half thumbs up. :)

And then the situation shits on itself, as Natsu comes in and stops Gray from using Iced Shell... again. Then we have the don't die live speech again. Then Natsu proposes to burn his fate or some bullshit like that, yeah good plan, chap, solid, I'd wager my life on that, no probs, hey, but luckily Happy is there to point out that he will surely be successful because he is Erza as well and I can't believe this we almost, almost had two solid chapters in a row but then goddamit Mashima you had one job. :D

The nonchalant shot of Irene's dead body in the foreground is stone cold, tho. Thumbs up. :D

Inb4 Charloli soloes Acno.

BTW I'm kinda starting to like the design of August's angry grandpa mode. He's not a buffed of monster, but he looks like some lean indian yogi, nicely giving the effect that while his abilities look physical, the source of his strength is knowledge and wisdom. I can dig this.