#I didn’t like Juvia until I did a rewatch | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alexistitania · 7 years

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Good day, I really enjoyed the end of Fairy Tail!

I didn’t want to post anything before a decent translation was out, and I believe I was right in doing so. There’s only so much a panel can convey with no text to accompany it. By reading the translated version I got a better insight into what was happening, though I pretty much already got the gist from the spoilers.

Do keep in mind that the official release is next week, so my opinion is based on a fan translation. But no matter, I don’t think much will change when I read the official translation. Just some minor details, but it won’t change my mind drastically in any way.

Anyway, like a lot of fans, I’ve been emotional all day, listening to the Fairy Tail OST, rewatching the OPs and EDs and recalling some of my favorite scenes. And now I’ve calmed down a bit (but just a bit, I’m pretty much yelling everything I’m typing right now but I want to keep this post clean so I’m not using caps), and am finally able to properly talk about the final chapter, and my final thoughts.

I don’t normally do reviews or anything, but I felt like I should make an exception this one time, since Fairy Tail has been a big part of my life since 2012, if I remember correctly. This post will be me trying to sort out my thoughts and let out all my feels, so it will be pretty personal, but I’ll try to look at things from different angles. Still, this is just my opinion, so I might get a bit biased talking about a few things, but of course, you are free to agree or disagree. So I’ll just be letting out all my thoughts on the conclusion of a series that has been dear to me for years.

Keep in mind though, if you’re willing to read this trough to the end: it is LONG AF! So just that down.

More babbling under the cut.

THAT CANONIZATION STUFF

This is a hot topic right now, so I’ll start with a few words about the whole shipping situation. A lot of people stuck with the series until the end for the ships, so I know they were disappointed because there was no timeskip or next gen or kisses or weddings. I can understand that. All shippers want that, and it’s what shippers got with Naruto and Bleach, so it’s pretty much what we were given to expect from the final chapter of Fairy Tail as well.

But reading the chapter, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied with the way it turned out. Mostly.

See, the good thing about this ending is that NO SHIPS WERE SUNK. Literally, not a single one. (Ok so maybe Miraxus was kinda sunk, based on Yonkou’s translation, but that’s only Lucy’s impression ;) it’s all cool guys.) If anything, most have been canonized or heavily implied, even without kisses or actual confessions. As a shipper, you may be disappointed about your ship “not sailing” but, really, it all depends on your interpretation. Shipping is not about proving to your fandom that you were “right”, it’s about that nice feeling your ship gives you, regardless of how canon it is.

Sure, canon is freaking great. I get absolutely ecstatic when my ship becomes canon. But I don’t need canonization to believe in my ship in my heart. I’ve been on both the losing and the winning side of shipping, so I’d say this type of ending is a good compromise. Because you know, people will get stressed over ships one way or another, and there are also a lot of people who do not actually care about the ships.

This way, it wasn’t all In Your Face, but it was heavily implied. Heavily implied means that you can choose to interpret it in another way. A casual reader will see the “surface”, the obvious, but as a shipper, you can have your own, different interpretation. Mashima gave us that freedom. That’s great in my book. It feels refreshing after Naruto and Bleach.

Personally, I wouldn’t have minded a next gen type of chapter, because it would actually fit the theme of Fairy Tail. In my opinion, it would have done Fairy Tail more good than it did Naruto (I’m not anti-Naruto ending, I’m just saying I would have appreciated that scenario even more in Fairy Tail).

But, that kind of ending wasn’t necessary for me. And I found myself actually not wanting it, after Naruto and Bleach. I wanted something different, not a copy-paste ending of those two. Again, I wouldn’t have complained either way, but I still prefer it the way Mashima did it.

Now, I’m one of the people who ship the main four: Nalu, Gruvia, Jerza and Gajevy. And guess what? I’m satisfied with how they were treated in the final chapter.

Let’s see what we got.

GAJEVY: Ok so, just stating the obvious here. Gajevy has been canon since Gajeel’s confession in the Alvarez arc. Among other things, there was even a panel of them with their children, the twins. I’m pretty sure there was even a light novel about the twins. Mashima considered it canon even back then. So yeah, this ship has been canon for a while actually. Hell, we even got that one panel of them kissing in Juvia’s fantasy. That was no coincidence. A real kiss or a confession in the final chapter would’ve been welcome, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary to cement their romantic relationship. I’d even say Mashima’s way of developing them in the final chapter was better than a kiss. Levy whispered something in Gajeel’s ear, and we can 100% trust Wendy’s hearing, the girl definitely heard something juicy. But from Lucy, we only know there was the word “baby”. So Levy probably said something about them having a baby/babies soon. I see this as Mashima’s subtle way of reminding us, not even confirming, reminding us of Gajevy’s relationship, a relationship that has gotten physical during the one year timeskip. Now Levy is supposedly pregnant, with the twins. I couldn’t believe it when they just casually disappeared after that and Lily wondered where they were. My guy, you know where they are and exactly what they’re doing lol. In any case, I can understand the disappointment about them not kissing onscreen, but like I said, to me, this was even better. And we have no right to complain about there being no confession; we already got one from Gajeel, and Levy has had an obvious crush on him since pretty early on in the series. This ship is good. Let’s not be greedy.

JERZA: Now, with Jerza I can totally understand the disappointment. The disappointing part was not the lack of canonization, but the lack of any interactions at all. I agree that Jerza deserved an actual interaction, not even necessarily outright canonization. In that respect, Jerza got the short end of the stick. I honestly expected Mashima to make an entirely indulgent chapter with actual Jerza moments with just the two of them. But, thinking about it, I think I understand where he’s coming from. Looking back, I even feel like there’s a kind of poetry to it. You’re laughing now, but hear me out. As far as I’m concerned, Jerza has been canon since their Almost Kiss and the famous “I have a fiancée” fiasco. That was years ago. It’s canon in terms of mutual affection, not an official relationship, but hey, they’re getting there, it’s the feeling that matters. Sometimes life is complicated and you can’t just be with the person you love just like that, especially if said person is a criminal. Jellal and Erza’s relationship has been complicated from the beginning, but I think we can all agree they deserve to be happy after everything. Now, with Jellal being absolved of all his crimes, there’s finally hope for them. The way Jellal says “Live” with that pensive expression, you can tell he’s thinking about Erza, a life with Erza, it’s all over his face. And the scene cuts to Erza. Fitting. I interpreted the part where Lucy talks about Erza brushing her hair every day as Erza finally being able to meet with Jellal regularly, so that’s why she’s trying to look her best for him. I find that somewhat bittersweet, like their entire relationship. And while I am a bit let down we didn’t get actual interactions, after not getting much focus in the second half of the series, the romantic in me sees a sort of poetry in this. In Jerza always being driven apart, right till the very end. (Yeah, I’m bullshitting this, but honest to God, this really is how I feel about it.) Just a side note, because I don’t want to make this about other ships from other fandoms, but, without naming anyone, I’ll just say I ship that one ship in Naruto that is always driven apart by the hands of destiny. I’m a sucker for that. So, while I craved Jerza interactions, I can’t deny that my masochistic side was giddy with this outcome. I feel kinda bad for feeling this way though. Again, that’s just me. But I totally understand all the fuss about it. There was the whole buildup for a wedding with Erza’s wedding dress too...

GRUVIA: This chapter actually turned out really cute for Gruvia and only further cemented their relationship. Ok, so we didn’t get a kiss or a sweet Gray, but we got a jealous Gray? Also the Gray who smiles lovingly when Juvia puts her arms around him in that cover (yay). In my heart, Gruvia has been canon since their double suicide in the Alvarez arc, mostly because of what Gray said about wanting to protect Juvia, and because of all the implications that lovers’ suicide puts around their characters. Many fans thought Gray’s behavior would somehow change drastically after that. I never thought it would, but I knew they’d eventually be together, and Gray would still be tsundere about it. And I’m fine with that. That’s IC in my book. But there is a crucial difference this time. This time, Gray isn’t pushing Juvia away, or running away from her, or getting embarrassed by her advances. This Gray drags Juvia away from the party when she gets too drunk and attracts Gildart’s attention with the stripping habit she picked up from Gray himself (oh, the irony). The entire conversation that follows is really heartwarming, and it shows us that there really has been a shift in their relationship. What with Gray saying that about her body being his (as a lover, nothing possessive). It just conveys genuine care for Juvia and her well-being, I am thankful for that. So, all in all, the Gruvia interactions in the chapter were still pretty much in the typical Gruvia fashion, but there were some important changes on Gray’s part. You could clearly see he was more comfortable around her now, and more open about her “belonging” to him (for the lack of a better term). And honestly, that was only natural. After all, it has been a year since the Alvarez war, and Gray promised Juvia an answer right after the war. This chapter heavily implies that Juvia eventually got a positive answer from Gray. Whether they have actually been in a relationship all this time is somewhat unclear, but if they haven’t, they sure are about to be after what Gray said. And this may be just me, but honestly, from the way he talks about it so openly and gets all flustered about her body being “his” too, my bets are on the already existing relationship. I pretty much see this as a post-Gray’s-answer situation. Of course, a flash forward to ten years later could have given Mashima an opportunity to slightly change Gray’s character towards Juvia, make him more affectionate and less tsundere, but just a year wasn’t enough, in my opinion. Since he decided to stick with the one year timeskip, I truly believe this was the way to go. Their interactions truly warmed my heart. All I ever wanted was a jealous Gray (and slightly possessive in a healthy way). And I got it. I’m happy. This ship is good too, as far as I’m concerned.

NALU: Now, I just want to say Nalu is my favorite OTP in the series. Having said that, I absolutely loved their moments in this chapter. I wasn’t disappointed in the least, and didn’t see their final interaction as a friendzoning thing, not at all. Now, I never expected a kiss. I wouldn’t have complained if I had gotten one, but it would have been a bonus. To be honest, I do feel like a kiss or straight-up canonization in the form of a traditional confession would not only feel OOC, but would also be somewhat awkwardly placed at this point in time. Ten years into the future, sure, something’s bound to come out of it, but right now, Natsu and Lucy don’t need to put labels on their relationship. With all the other ships, I feel like that final romantic touch was necessary (and the final romantic touches we got indeed, if only indirectly in some cases!), because they were strictly romantic from the start, but Nalu is different. What I always loved about them was first and foremost their deep friendship, their deep connection that goes beyond any type of relationship that can be defined with words. That’s why I believe it’s fine if you don’t want to see it as romantic. Maybe you believe it would only ruin them. I personally don’t think so, but I understand why some people would. More than anything, they are the best of friends, dare I say, soulmates, as cheesy as it may sound, and only after that can they be a couple. And even as a couple, they wouldn’t be an ordinary one. In my opinion, Lucy and Natsu are so close that, honestly, they already give off that vibe of an old married couple. They have been giving off that vibe for a while, at least to me. Maybe it started sometime during the Tenrou island arc. But what cemented their bond, for me, was the GMG arc, the second half of it. So I didn’t feel like I needed an outright confirmation of a romance to wholeheartedly believe in this ship. What happened was pretty much how I had hoped things would go down between them in their final scenes together. I’m very pleased with how Mashima handled their moments in the chapter. Not only did Gajeel tease Natsu about liking Anna-sensei because she smells like Lucy (meaning he does see something there), but there was also the beautiful, heartwarming embrace. Natsu’s reaction to Lucy thanking him for being there is to completely disregard it, because he doesn’t want or need her to thank him, he just wants her to be with him, that’s all the “thanks” he wants from her. And he reassures her that from now on, they will be together forever. Now, I might be jumping to conclusions here, but in my book, the promise of forever spoken in this manner isn’t viewed as something very platonic in the Japanese culture, is it? (Reminds me of another ship from another shounen manga where the guy said something similar, you know the one.) Either way, yeah, it is kind of an open ending for them in terms of an actual relationship, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. In my heart, I know that somewhere down the road, it will lead to something even more beautiful. I got Natsu and Lucy going on an adventure again. I got all I wanted.

Having said that, I’m pretty sure Mashima will be writing some extra chapters in the upcoming months. Not necessarily next gen stuff, but just something to keep us hyped until the anime comes back. So we might still see some more shippy scenes, but those are just my own speculations.

Anyhow. Some minor ships here and there too. My heart is full of joy knowing that Erik and Kinana are actually lovers now. I never thought it would happen, but here we are. Elfever is freaking canon too, my boys. Also, Laxus got his own harem, the man scored! He can have ‘em all. Probably missing some ships here, but Max x Broom is still canon af!

Now...

ZERVIS: Or... is it? Technically, yeah. I know this is sort of a Trigger ship for the fandom, you either love it with all your being or you hate it and want to burn your memories of it, there’s no in between. You all know I love Zervis, but I’ll try to be as objective as I can on this one. So they seem to be reincarnated. They now call themselves Arius and Mio respectively. Also, Zeref/Arius mentions how “it’s really hot this August” I see what you did there Mashima. But they will never know. Now, I’ll be frank. While I do love Zervis, their scene wasn’t necessary. You can really see how Mashima favors this ship, the way he favored Jerza in the first half of the story. I loved the closure Zervis got during the war, finally ending their lonely existences, together. And their life force made it possible for Makarov to come back. Thinking back on it, it might have been The One True Magic (read: love) between Zeref and Mavis that brought Makarov back. That was probably the deal with that. Makarov is still traumatized. But anyway. Now, it seems like Zeref and Mavis have been reincarnated. I have no idea how though, or why they are already in their teens when they’re supposed to be babies if it’s only been a year since their death (that’s how reincarnation works, right?). But, I figured it isn’t supposed to make much sense. It’s just there to warm our hearts and give us a 100% happy ending, even though it would have already been 100% happy even without it. It might have even ruined the chapter for some. Not for me though... But yeah, this is just Mashima drawing some self-indulgent panels, can’t say I blame him though. About the reincarnation, in a way, it adds an ironic twist to the curse of Ankhseram. After breaking it the first time, maybe their fate is to get reincarnated over and over again, for all eternity, each time forgetting their past lives, each time falling in love with each other. All that instead of being immortals. It’s kind of poetic, in a way. I would have been fine with them finding eternal peace together though. With the reincarnation, it feels less... epic? But the shipping whore in me is still glad I got to see them happy and carefree for once, as a publisher and an aspiring author, who are sure to both have connections to Lucy in the future due to their careers. It’s like an “In another life” fic. It wasn’t necessary, but I won’t complain.

SO, that’s pretty much how I feel about the ships. Man, that was long. But wait, I’m still not done! I want to talk about a few more things before I go back to crying alone.

LUCY

Lucy deserves a whole paragraph, because she’s my favorite character and I’m just so proud of what she has accomplished over the course of this series. There are few things I would change about her development. I would give her more spotlight at times, but other than that, I absolutely love everything about her and her character development. Even though Natsu is technically the main character, it really did feel at times like it was actually Lucy. She is the narrator. We see the whole story and the characters from her perspective. And she has gone through the most character development in Team Natsu. Feel free to disagree on that one, it’s just my opinion. In my eyes, Lucy is the best character (as much as I love a few of my other babies) and I am so glad to see where she has gotten in this chapter. Props to Lucy for managing to finish that novel with such loud friends around her and Natsu and Happy constantly barging in. That girl, always doing the impossible. Gotta love her. In the first page, we see that her novel is called “The adventure of Iris”. So, in Greek mythology, Iris is supposed to be a messenger of the gods and the personification of the rainbow, linking heaven and earth. Sound familiar? Lucy is a Celestial Spirit Mage who basically acts as a portal between the heavens and earthland. And it is also confirmed by a nameless guest that the heroine, Iris, is indeed based on Lucy and her own adventures. So it’s basically saying that she wrote a story inspired by Fairy Tail and her adventures with them. Just like I always hoped she would! Plus, she got an award for it and the guests are calling her Lucy-sensei. That right there is so important to me like! They will keep calling her Lucy-sensei from now on, because she is now a recognized author. Damn proud. As expected of the Celestial Princess. Absolutely proud of everything she has done throughout the series. And she will keep growing, as a mage, as a writer, and as a person.

Also, I loved how the entire chapter was yet again narrated by Lucy herself. A lot of it focused on romance too. I didn’t mention this in the Nalu section, but I believe all the focus on romance was leading toward the final Nalu moment, with the purpose of setting up that “romantic” mood, so that we’d get the hint even though it wasn’t explicit in the end. Lucy is always getting flustered around couples and is sometimes even jealous of their relationships, but she doesn’t realize that she and Natsu have that too, and more, just without the whole making out thing. And by the end of the chapter, I believe Natsu actually makes her realize that! Just my interpretation though.

THE COVERS

I just got really emotional about the covers too. First, the Jump cover with all the major characters being all #squad goals. The Gruvia bit makes me especially happy, and also Nalu and Wendy being the adorable little family they are. I just wish Levy would get more space lol, poor girl, she smol, Gajeel lift her up, won’t you?

And then the color spread with all the guild members together. I always love those, and there is something particularly nostalgic about this one. The style somehow reminded me of Mashima’s style at the beginning of the series. The coloring style too. I don’t know if that’s what he was going for, but I just had that feeling. Everyone looks so BOMB! But again, why the letters over Levy’s face? The final artbook better fix that.

OTHER THINGS I GUESS

Team Natsu dynamics. Just like old times! Natsu and Gray squabbling and Erza freaking obliterating them. Lucy being embarrassed because her friends have no sense of shame or restraint. Gray stripping, but now Juvia strips too. Romeo understanding nothing about adulthood. So many nostalgic moments, there are so many characters featured in this chapter, I can’t even remember them all.

More importantly, I’m glad Anna stayed in their timeline (not sure if there was even a way for her to get back to hers), and love how she’s a teacher, it’s only fitting. Wish we could have seen more of her interactions with Lucy or her time with Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers. Now, there’s an idea for a short spin-off series! Just sayin’.

Also, Chelia is slowly starting to use magic again! Very happy about that. You can come at me with all your “but it’s unrealistic” flame, I still love that cheese. Absolutely love how Wendy and Chelia are still performing for Lamia Scale! Also, some Chendy for my soul.

Minerva freaking obliterated the rest of her guildmates. Lesson number one about women, never underestimate our voraciousness, especially if we’re used to being on ridiculous diets.

I don’t really understand what happened with Ichiya, but he's exclaiming “MEN” and is apparently the boss of something now so that’s good. It’s the least he deserves after sacrificing his life along with Anna so that Jellal didn’t have to sacrifice his. Even though he would have been brought back as well lol.

And the Mermaid Heel girls are Weekly Sorcerer’s models, somehow I always knew.

Drunk Cana and her sweet, protective dad for my soul.

Makarov is still the guild master, I presume? It’s either him or Laxus now. Even though he can’t move around much nowadays, I kinda feel like the members of the guild would still want him as their master, until the last of his days, or until he passes the baton. That realization is somehow really heartwarming.

Princess Hisui is now Queen Hisui, I love it! She is a good queen, a gentle soul, and she pardoned Jellal and the Oracion Seis. They are finally free to do as they please, after so much suffering, some of them losing their way and finding it again. Thank you Hisui!

Also, just wanna say I appreciate that bit where Hisui pardons Jellal and there’s the transition from his sort-of-smiling face to a sort-of-smiling Erza with her bangs covering her eyes. Right then, Erza whispers “It’s complicated”. And since we, the audience, did not only just see a character whom Erza has a kind of a “complicated” relationship with, but we’re also seeing the whole situation through Lucy’s eyes (with Lucy being concerned about Erza and Jellal’s progress lol), we are bound to connect this to Erza’s relationship with Jellal at first, before she explains she’s actually talking about the book. Mashima being subtle lol.

The timeskip. There was indeed a timeskip, but only like a year. I actually liked that. Long timeskips aren’t necessary for the main story, and would only disrupt its flow at this point. The only major timeskip we ever had was the seven year timeskip after the Tenrou island arc, but our characters didn’t really feel the timeskip on their skins. They just found themselves in a new world. So it pretty much felt like there was no timeskip at all. Maybe a longer timeskip could work for a spin-off series or a special next gen chapter, if we ever get one.

Speaking of, I know a lot of fans wanted a fast-forward to ten years into the future with next gen, but I’m just here, sitting with the 5% of us who didn’t actually want that lol.

I actually used to be one of those fans who wanted to see all my ships married with children ten years into the future, but the closer we got to the final chapter, the more I realized that what I really wanted was for the familiar and loved characters to get some kind of closure. I started wishing for a chapter that would feel like old times. I wanted things to be simple and silly like they used to be at the beginning. I didn’t really want to see all the characters as adults with families and stable lives.

For me, Fairy Tail is an endless adventure. A longer timeskip with everyone going their separate ways to build their own families, even if they’re still part of the guild, would feel like the adventure was interrupted. Like it was over. I still feel like there’s so much more they can do. So many more adventures they could go on, together.

Which brings me to Natsu’s “Grand announcement”.

So I know most of us jumped to the conclusion that it would be something about Lucy, whether as a confession, or a request to go on an adventure together, with romance implied. That mostly came from that one dialogueless chapter featuring Natsu and Gildarts, where Natsu blushed talking about something. To me, the whole “big announcement is a confession” thing was a possibility, but I wasn’t counting on it. Glad about that one. Because it turned out to be something better and so much more symbolic.

They’re going on a 100 Year Quest together! It just holds so much meaning for the end of the story, and for Natsu as a character. Because Gildarts, the man who is the closest thing to a father figure in Natsu’s life after Igneel, once went on a 100 Year Quest. And only top tier mages are allowed to go on such missions. Which speaks volumes, if you consider how the whole Team Natsu was allowed to go, proving, yet again, that they are all hella strong. (My heart is happy for Lucy.) Also worth noting, the 100 Year Quest is a sort of symbol. 100 years is a damn long time, sounds like an eternity. Just like this adventure! Never-ending!

(Also, while they’re at it, might as well search for that Aquarius key, eh eh? It was promised, and so it shall be!)

What I loved about the ending was that it didn’t really feel like much of an ending, somehow? It felt like... the middle. It was definitely a closure, but not the end of their story. It’s still somewhere in the middle, somewhere between the adventures of their lives. It’s great, because if Mashima wishes to ever make a spin-off series or special chapters or any additional material, he has so much to work with, so much to expand on, so much space for work.

In my opinion, this was overall a great ending. Typical Fairy Tail Spirit.

LOVE LETTER TO FAIRY TAIL!

The conclusion wasn’t entirely perfect, for me, but it made me feel all sorts of emotions and I just can’t believe the main story is finally over!

Fairy Tail has been a big part of my life since 2012. I fell in love with the premise of the story and its early arcs, then I fell in love with the characters, and even while this final arc wasn’t much, I stayed for the characters! And I am happy with where they have gotten along the way.

I am so thankful for the memories and everything that this story has made me feel throughout these years! It wasn’t the best story out there, but it meant something to me, it means something to me! And I will forever treasure it!

Whatever new material gets thrown at us, I will never forget the original journey. I will stay here for the anime too, and everything that might follow.

I’m here forever, my dudes.

So that’s all I have to say, for now, I think. I am still so full of feels, but this is what I could put together in my current emotional state.

THANK YOU MASHIMA HIRO-SENSEI! THANK YOU FAIRY TAIL! I WILL NEVER FORGET THE JOURNEY!!!

P.S. Fairies do exist. It’s just.... they don’t have tails. Dangit.

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