Template:TMITM/Feb2012

  We might as well start off! But first… Yeah, guys, there’s no escaping it…



I - Chapter 269: Vanish into the Stillness
And here we go with a 27-pages chapter sporting three awesome coloured pages… Which we’ll describe later!

Starting this long chapter, after a brief appearance of Ultear and Meredy… Is a 2-pages long summary of the Games’ rules at Mavis’ hands… Completely useless for anyone who’s read the previous chapter… Seriously, you winged-headed brat, can’t you just f…ry some chips for us watching the tournament?

Uff… Close shave… Insults to children (or children-looking undeads, that is) might be terrible for an editors’ career.

Following such disappointing beginning, the chosen participants gather around Jack Skellington, still stranded there… YOU HAVE OUR UTMOST SUPPORT, YOUR MAJESTY!!! the pumpkin announcer, and, after some chitchat, are readied for the awaited Hidden event… A Magical city is created in the arena before their eyes, and they are split from one another inside it… Their goal? To play a hide and seek game, trying to strike their foes, avoiding being struck and being careful not to attack the myriads of their clones which are now casually walking around the newly-created built-up area… The first action will grant the participant one point, while the latter two will both take a point away from them. I admit that, Mashima, nice going! That hooded man in white over there is clapping his hands too…

Most of the competitors walk around aimlessly as the public enjoys their suffering on gigantic screens… Much like in a reality show, that is. Juvia is fast to lose a point by hugging a Gray clone, much to the dismay and anger of her teammates. Seriously, girl, can’t you just go for a sex doll of him? With all the fangirls he has, finding one shouldn’t be a problem. Meanwhile, someone confronts Gray… Or rather Gray’s crotch, since Nulpting of Raven Tail hardly reaches up to the Ice-Make Mage’s hips in height. As Gray, thinking he’s found an easy prey, attacks him with a gigantic, cold flail, he loses a point… The cunning opponent, manoeuvring behind a copy of himself, prompted Gray to strike it. Clever. As Gray, having eluded the foe, tries merging in the crowd to go unnoticed, Nulpting goes for him again, sneak-attacking him from behind after enlarging his arm and covering himself in spikes like an angry, purple-colored hedgehog. Wonder wheter he made his way into our beloved famous series through recommendations…

The chapter ends with a result of – 1 for Juvia, - 2 for Gray, and + 1 for Nulpting. Still many minutes left before the end… Who will emerge victorious?

The chapter comes with a 2-pages shot of the magically-created town, and, most importantly, with three coloured pages, one portraying Ultear and Meredy showing off their new outfits, and the other two… A series of awesome panels with all of the Games’ participants! Those are priceless for our Appearance sections! Yay! =D

II – Chapter 270: A Night of Falling Stars
The chapter starts with Nulpting having the edge over his adversaries due to the point gained at Gray’s expenses. The spectators discuss on the various ways which could allow competitors to discover one another’s position, and Lucy takes a second to glance at Raven Tail… Just to be spotted by its female member, a psycho busty (!!!) woman who stares back in a creepy way. Whatever. Meanwhile, in the magically-generated town, a… Confrontation… Starts between Gray’s eyes. Why am I hesitating? Simple… Calling confrontation a clash between carrots, flytraps, ice and panties is quite e feat, I think. But, that’s how things are, and those are the abilities displayed by, in order, Beth, Yaeger, Lyon and Juvia… The results? All of the “fighters” are reduced to exactly 0 points, due to striking and subsequently being struck. Juvia goes on to say that she’ll defeat Gray. What’s the deal with this weird declaration? Again, simple… Makarov promised that the winning Fairy Tail team will have complete control over the losing one for a day, something which prompted Laxus and Mira to imagine themselves ordering their supposed “rivals” around, and Juvia and Gajeel to fantasize about being kissed by Gray and having a bunny suit-clad Lucy dance at his guitar’s sound, respectively. No, yaoi fangirls, you can’t switch the order. As everyone’s lost in the deranged twists and turns of their mind, Nulpting, now more reminiscent of a pufferfish than of a hedgehog (is he going to lose Sonic’s support?) strikes again, hitting Gray and Juvia. Seconds later, snow starts falling from the sky over the town… What’s up? Easy, that’s the doing of Eve, that useless guy from Blue Pegasus, who this time goes on the offense, revealing his foes through their shivers and breath and then striking several of them with blizzards. Nice going, Eve! Can’t believe you were an useless character in the past! No, wait, you still are… An useless character gifted with an awesome Magic. Just as the battle continues, we realize a certain someone hasn’t done anything yet… ‘Till now. Standing on top of a tower is Rustyrose Rufus, who, after some melodramatic speech, goes on to reveal ANOTHER awesome set of abilities… Molding Magic, Memory-Make! What?! He creates memories? Not that sure about that, but in some seconds most of the other participants are struck down by large beams, darting into the town which now is clad in darkness, as if it was night… Say, what does that have to do with memory? Is that supposed to be the memory of some cliché? No idea. Nulpting, having seemingly been the only one who avoided the... Thing… Goes on to the offensive, jumping from the ground to the top of the tower (???!!! So freakin’ cool!!!) and attacking Rufus physically… Only to discover that what’s left of him there is a memory, and to be struck. Mhm. Guess this is more appropriate for something called “Memory-Make”. As everyone looks on in surprise, avoiding to go “Oooooooooow” only because it would be another cliché, Nulpting appears behind Gray again to sodomize him… Gyah you fell for that! perform a flying spinning kick on him. Man, I think I’m starting to love that violet-colored pufferfish!

Still... There’s a saying in my country, derived from a song written by a famous musician (R.I.P.) which goes: “Dwarfs are always bastards, because their heart’s too near to their asshole”. Think it’s an appropriate saying for such case.

As Gray’s fans mourn and tear their hair off and the few guys capable of appreciating hand-to-hand combat cheer, the Hidden event ends… Ranking on top is Sabertooth, followed by Raven Tail, and the last places, seventh and eight, go to, respectively, Fairy Tail’s Teams B and A… Poor fellows. The public grabs the chance to make fun of their guild, much to Natus’s anger, and Gray, having left the field, swears revenge against Nulpting and Rufus… Kind of strange for him, but still…

So, here we are at the end of the chapter! Hereby is announced the first battle of the Grand Magic Games… Fairy Tail’s Lucy Heartfilia vs Raven Tail’s Flare Corona, the psycho busty (!!!!!! Is it me or they just got bigger?) girl from before… Confrontation awaits, keep following us!

What to say which could make a difference? The art’s good, and we get a 2-pages shot of Rufus sending beams all over the place, employing the Spell which is the chapter’s namesake. On the Cover we have the fattened-up Nab’s Guild Card. Mmmm, fat.

III – Chapter 271: Lucy vs Flare
So, here we go with the Battle of the Babes you boys have been waiting for! After Mavis goes on to again sum up the previous event’s results in the Cover (seriously, is that the only thing you can do? Ah, no, wait… How could I forget… Poor Plot Armor as well!), the final picture from last chapter is reused (is Mashima short on pencils and inks or just lazy???) and Fairy Tail chitchats a bit, the awaited confrontation starts… Lucy goes on to the offensive and summons Taurus, who assaults the teasing Flare with his axe. Flare dodges by jumping (how are you supposed to jump with high heels? And, most importantly, where do those heels come from? They were nowhere to be seen before…) and, as Scorpio uses his signature Sand Buster against her, she releases her hair from her braids and shields herself from the attack! Looks like the second member of Raven Tail uses Hair Magic, uh. She’s not given enough time to play the peacock, as Taurus and Scorpio combine their assault to generate an awesome combo, which ends with Taurus’ axe and Scorpio’s sandstorms raining down on Flare. What to say… THAT WAS FRICKIN’ AWESOME! Nice going, Lucy! Flare feels the blow but doesn’t waver, instead shaping her hair into a large wolf which goes on to assault Lucy! This mighty attack is stopped by Cancer’s scissors, with the furry beast being turned into small tufts of hair. Flare doesn’t like the matter. She sends her hair underground and then uses it to grab Lucy’s ankles from below, subsequently smashing her around. Lucy, for her part, pulls out her Fleuve d’étoiles whip (how long has it been since she’s last used it? The Edolas arc?) and grabs one of Flare’s wrist, pulling her in midair as well. The two end up crashing on the sandy ground. The crowd cheers up the two female fighters due to the becoming less and less clothed as Lucy removes her boots, which have been badly damaged… Was it a result of Flare’s hair grasp? Does she uses some kind of corrosive shampoo? We don’t know, but the redhead’s surely upset for the “damage” her hair underwent: with bloodshot eyes, she goes on to send her hair underground again… Without sprouting it anywhere on the battlefield. Where did it go, wonders Lucy? Flare point at the stands… Where a small wisp of red hair is crawling unnoticed near to Asuka, Alzack and Bisca’s daughter. Lucy tries to give the alarm, but Flare shuts her up with her intrusive hair and knocks her on the ground. Spitting red hair like a shower pipe Lucy listens as Flare orders her not to say anything, if she wants Asuka to live. Mhm. Talk about foul-play. In comparison, maybe Nullpuding was being honest. Maybe even psychotic, big-boobed and leggy redheads can be bastards… However, I guess most of you would rather be cheated by them than by violet pufferfishes reaching up to your crotch who could headbutt your jewels, so PAY ATTENTION! .

As Lucy’s left to fight a losing battle, someone is shown staring at the scene from the shadowy stands… As the chapter ends, we’re introduced to the Chief of the Cherry Blossom Holy Night Squadron, Arcadias, the illegitimate son of Azuma and One Piece’s Kaku (I’m not adding a link because it might be a nice spoiler for those of you who don’t follow the series or haven’t read enough of it… If you wish, search at your own risk!), who talks to himself, asking “Lord” Zeref to sit back and wait.

Alright, my two-men hybrid knight… Feel free to call forth every legendary Dark Mage you feel like, but only ONCE the Games are over! Don’t you try to spoil such tournament to us, or we’ll kick your ass so hard your nose will become rounded!

…

Is that supposed to work? No idea.

No 2-pages panels this chapter, guys. The art’s good as always, and both Taurus and Scorpio are given new, fashionable outfits, fitting Lucy’s new level of power, while Cancer only goes on to change his shirt. It’s worth mentioning Arcadias’ gear, with his armor and sword being particularly elaborated, even bearing the emblem of Fiore’s supposed non-Magical armed forces, from the very first chapter of the series. After Quatro Cerberus, Mashima remembered about that too… Nice going sensei!

IV – Chapter 272:The Noble Loser
Alright, here we go with the last chapter in our monthly review! Spare the tears for later, as the fight rages on! Lucy is ordered not to react by Flare, who then starts beating the girl up with her hair, much to the crowd’s dismay. Thinking of all the hopes that she had built on the Games, Lucy readies to surrender… Only to be gagged and restrained by Flare, who, apparently, has no intention of letting her new toy get away unharmed. The whacky woman ponders some ways to make her captive suffer, initially thinking about stripping Lucy naked in front of the huge audience occupying the stands, but then instead resolving to brand her with a burning Raven Tail mark, much to Lucy and our horror (ours is due to her retaining her clothes, obviously!). Flare must really use some weird shampoo to generate burning brands out of her hair… You know, the Italian way of saying “to be like a bear with a sore head” would fit such situation nicely… Whatever.

As Flare readies to cover a terrified Lucy’s Fairy Tail mark with the copied silhouette from her guild, Lucy's nakama… Stand still, noting that she is behaving strangely. HELLO??? Anybody there??? Your partner’s going to be horribly burnt, her honor as a Fairy Tail Mage obscured by a mark! None feels like, don’t know… Intervening? Someone does, as Natsu rushes to the stands, tearing the strand of hair which was threatening Asuka. As he states that he could hear “Asuka-chan” being pronounced in the two girls’ conversation, he goes on to comment that he’s got good hearing… What? An after effect of his fight with Cobra? No way to tell for sure, but pink hair’s intervention allows Lucy to summon forth Gemini to attack her opponent, freeing herself of Flare’s grip! The Celestial Spirit Mage then orders the twins to turn into herself… A towel-clad version of herself… And the “two” of them join hands, in order to enhance their Magic Power for the casting of… Yes, that’s what you were waiting for… As Rauleli comes and faints at the same time, Lucy uses it…

URANO METRIA!!!

The shining light of the stars invades the arena and nears the trembling, cowering Flare… Just to disappear into nothingness. Lucy shakes in surprise as her opponent looks up to the stands… Spotting her teammate Obra (the long-nosed fellow with the top hat), who nullified Lucy’s spell through unknown means. Lucy collapses to the ground, exhausted, as Flare is declared the winner. The crowd cheers for the redhead and some people wonder what happened, while others, namely Yajima, Makarov and Mavis, seem to have realized Raven Tail’s intervention… The still shocked Flare goes on to mock Lucy (you know, the one who caused her to shake and cower in fear just seconds before) and the crowd makes fun of Fairy Tail (damn turncoats). Natsu enters the arena, calmly encouraging the desperate Lucy and helping her on her feet as the chapter ends… And so does our review!

Well, what to say… Mashima’s good art likely went “overboard” with fanservice (after all, why choosing a girl-on-girl battle right at the beginning otherwise?), but I think almost everyone was at least slightly touched by Lucy’s Urano Metria, which received a 2-pages panel… Well, “slightly” for anyone who didn’t collapse, that is. All in all, a great chapter to end our review! See you in the next review, keep following the Sorcerer Magazine, bad boys!