Guys, it's confession time.
My name is... Hiro Mashima!
And I'm sure there was a part in that conversation when I pointed out August dodging Cana's cards. Yep, in truth, I read y'all comments every week and dedicate a chapter here and there to troll everyone. And this chapter is one of them.
All jokes aside (or are they?), as far as I'm concerned, this chapter is a new low for me. Like... I'm not even sure where to begin. Holy shit, when I saw the early spoilers, I thought, what a fucking disaster. To the point that even this parody is actually better than the actual chapter. Those who've read at least a few of my blogs or chapter comments in the recent few weeks, months, whatever, probably realize that I'm one of the few people left here who decided to ignore the glaring flaws of the story - especially in this arc - and just focus on the enjoyable parts, if there are still any left.
I just can't anymore. I'm sorry, but this is at the level of the final moments of Naruto or Bleach, if not beyond. A complete disaster. There is one thing that can actually make this slightly better, and that is August doing -something- in the upcoming chapter, but I don't have any hope left. Look, I immensely enjoy the interactions between the characters in this series. I very much like the world that Mashima has built, the main mysteries that he has established. The art is still as superb as ever. And I thought I could just focus my attention on those. I could get over the terrible fights, terrible arc conclusions, bland villains, whatever. That is exactly why I welcomed Irene - her backstory was a breath of fresh air. She had reasons. She had a purpose. Her actions made sense, well, somewhat. I do realize I might have said this several times, but I feel it's quite relevant to the point that I'm trying to make.
August is a complete and utter disappointment.
That is the fact.
I won't let any FT fanboy tell me otherwise. Anyone with IQ over 50 and a bit of storytelling sense should have the same opinion as I do. He. Is. A. Disaster. He is the ultimate example of everything that's wrong with Mashima's writing. An ultimate "tell, not show" hyping of a character that ends up doing literally nothing. A friggin' August Kakashi Dragneel.
Oh joy, what's even happening. This arc... I can't. Everyone is everyone's relative. I just... can't. Just... shoot me now, please.
A fucked up Dragneel family aside... August is vulnerable to Cana's cards.
The ultimate King of Magic has been retconned to be a weak sauce of Kakashi. The Wizard said to be on a higher level than Zeref, as far as the knowledge of Magic goes, does nothing but copy whatever is thrown at him. The master of all Magic charges at Cana... to poke her with his stick. ( ._.)
You see, this would actually would be an okay twist. In fact, it reminds me of the time when Erza actually used brain in her battles and figured out how Midnight's magic worked. I still come back to that battle to remind myself of why Erza was one of my favorite characters. But this... is nothing short of a retcon. What's even worse, given the explanation, it makes zero sense for Gildarts' arm to work in the same way as Holder Magic. Ah, whatever.
In a way, me being this disappointed is my own fault - I had hopes. After Irene's showing, I had hopes that August would also do cool stuff. Truly foolish of me. ( ._.)
So... anything good about this chapter...? The.. art? Precht's flashback, maybe? You know, I'm actually starting to hope that this really is the final arc. Please end this already.