User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail Episode 265: Tartaros arc: That Is the Power of Life, Review/@comment-7418318-20151226103132/@comment-7418318-20151226174159

Though the sacrifice doesn't have to be the end, as we've seen with Yukine. ;)

Just imagine how much Yato would brag if not just one, but two Shinki of his became Hafuri for him. ^^

I don't mind the Ayakashi being so colourful. That they are like that adds a certain air of un-reality (so to say) to them. Together with the way their voices were done - the constant switch between high-pitched and deep - makes them scary in ther "otherness" so to speak. You immediately see, hear and feel that they are very different and that puts people (or at least me) on edge, which is a good thing for "monsters".

But I guess that's a matter of taste, just like some people say that making the Titans goofy in SnK is making them less threatening, while others think that seeing beings with non-threatening looks tear people to pieces (literally in some cases) only adds to the shock and scare factors.

Or what they did in Evangelion 2.0, when the possessed EVA is ripped apart by the dummy-system. The children's song that plays during the scene makes it not less, but even more disturbing, due to being so out of place. I think a dramatic piece of music would have lessened the impact of the scene compared to how it was done.

I know that Nora is just broken inside, but who can really blame her. After being made a Shinki she forgot her life and during her un-death (or whatever you want to call it), she's been with "Father" the entire time, who's a real psycho. That Yato didn't end up just as bad as her is only due him creating and making friends with that other Shinki of his (forgot her name) and his subsequent falling out with Father and Nora when they revealed "A God's Greatest Secret" to her.

But that's why I'm so torn about her. On one side it feels that she deserves punishment, but at the same time she's as much a victim - if not more so - than a perpetrator. Which is why I hope that she'll get disenchanted about Father so her minds open to pick up some good traits which may one day lead to her redemption.

In a way she's not actually evil. With her I always got the feeling that the enjoyment she draws from her actions doesn't come from enjoying the suffering of the victims due to sadism, but that she enjoys being a good girl and is anticipating father praising her for what she did.

Sure she is desensitivized against the suffering she causes due to growing up with it and living with it for centuries, but I never had the feeling that she draws direct pleasure from causing suffering. She seems to be completely ambivalent to the victims. Free of empathy and free of sadism. The mind-games she does play are all done for a purpose, not for their own sake.

And that's why I like her. She's both a villain and yet also sympathetic and likeable at times. A very complex and well crafted character.

While I call father a total psycho (and he certainly is), he's not without a certain kind of twistes logic either. While his actions are deplorable, his reasons for "culling the herd" aren't entirely wrong either. Though he certainly goes overkill on potential threats and completely lacks any and all moral qualms or remorse about dragging innocents into his ploys and even his petty revenge/preemptive strikes. I'm sure you know which (so far manga-only) incident I mean.

Hiyori is indeed quite mature now, but that's most likely due to what she had to go through and her being Human and thus more prone to change than the immortals. She did start out as childish. Her introduction had her swooning over that martial artist, when her soul slipped out, she jumped and skipped on the electric cables and stuff... but then she had to grow up due to circumstance. Even in the story covered by the anime so far she already came extremely close to dying (the start and when she was locked up with Kazuma) twice and relatively close a few more times. Something like that doesn't leave a person unchanged.

And the hospital incident... but let's not talk about that here and now due to the danger of spoilers for potential anime-only viewers. ^^

Wow... that turned out to be quite a lot. I guess I better stop myself now, before it get's even longer. ^^