User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 457: Naked Battle, Review./@comment-7418318-20151019081930

A nice chapter.

I was originally quite annoyed by the whole nakedness, but it worked out well enough. It gave a good excuse for Brandish to turn her back on Lucy and it also serves to explain why Brandish would put Marin in a tube, which surely helped Lucy in stomping him. Sure it could probably have been done without getting naked too, but in the end it worked out well enough... certainly a whole lot better than Lucy's naked flying odyssey in the GMG arc, which really served no purpose at all.

I loved Lucy in this chapter. She patiently played Brandish's game and waited for an opening and when it came she was ready to do what it takes... until the stunning news froze her, but I can't really blame her for that. And Brandish continued to be hilarious.

Funny coincidence that Lucy would get cet-ears right about now, considering the right side of the current wikia background :P Sometimes it feels like Hiro Mashima really does visit here in secret. ^^

I also loved how Lucy, despite being in danger, naked and confronted with a shocking development regarding her mother's past, still kept her wits about her and took down Marin, so he wouldn't be able to stop her from fighting. I just love when people in the story use their heads, especially when it's the people who are said to be smart like Lucy and Levy.

In some previous chapter I was wondering if maybe Marin was responsible for blocking Erza's magic... turns out I was right with the guess, though I'm not sure that's a good thing. It makes Ajeel seem a little less capable, but I'll reserve final judgement until that battle is over, which I don't think it is. Sure Erza managed to land a blow, but that doesn't mean it's over yet.

I'll play naive here and just say that instead of a nakama power-up Erza managed to land a hit because Ajeel was looking at his subordinate flying away and Erza used the moment he took his eyes off her to slip through the opening in his guard. I know it's unlikely, but it's also far more satisfying as an explanation.

The way Natsu punched that blindfolded guy into the air and through the ship was funny and the bickering between Gajeel and Natsu was also a nice piece of nostalgia. But I am glad Hiro kept it short.

I also loved the "I think I'll play dead a little longer." :D

Regarding Layla... for a change I don't really want to speculate and rather just wait and see. But I do wonder what kind of history she and Brandish have to make even Brandish, who's so emotionless usually, would be that angry at her, even 15 years after her death.

And again I like Brandish here. Not having an antagonist launch into a lengthly explanation of their goals and objectives and just say "no" when asked is a refreshing change.