Fairy Tail Discussion III

[Cyclone_Baroness]

Spoiler:

I like that I can read the spoilers and still be surprised when the chapter releases cause I don't remember any of the people that get mentioned.

[AtomicFruit]

It's out, wow that part with the stellar mage was kinda seinen no?

[BarrelCrate]

Wow, things are heating up. Everyone knew that Miliana was that girl in Mermaid Heel, I'm just glad it's finally confirmed.
So Kagura will be fighting Erza at some point, huh? It's gonna be good. And that Sabertooth shiz is serious business. Their master is whack. I'm looking forward to seeing the female replacement for Yukino.
Seems like Mashima is doing a good job of making each guild stand out in their own way; I seriously thought MH and QC would be complete fodder from the start of the tourney, but they've had moments of recognition too.

[GJardim]

Hah, Gerard going to be the center of something once again. Didn't expect it to be this soon.

[Chinascare]

So Kagura and Milleanna want to kill Jellal
Gemma runs his guild like a mob boss
Erza still getting kicked in the gut over her feelings for Jellal

Next chapter is most definitely about Lucy getting Yukino's keys.

[Silence]

Hah, Gerard going to be the center of something once again. Didn't expect it to be this soon.

Always expect Gerard.

Spoiler:

Always.

[Crossword]

Rogue is apparently less of a dick than Sting. Go figure.

Some suffering of Suzuhito Yasuda-syndrome, I see.

[onemoment]

So, in this chapter, Erza meets a catgirl. While it's probably the most interesting Gerald development in a long time, however, I can't get over how useless that flashback panel is for someone who doesn't remember Millenia. A panel where she says a random line doesn't cut it.

Yukino removes the rock of shame only to put on the stone of triumph. Otherwise, I'm liking this insight into Sabertooth. The other dragonslayer is leading this plot line into a more interesting direction.

[Hiroy]

Something felt really wrong about this chapter.
Offensive almost.

[KzTxL7]

Gemma is a piece of shit. Get 5 mages who actually get your guild on the map and then act like big shit and treat your guild like shit. Wow.

[G.A.G]

Normal chapter, except Gerard's gonna have attention for the next chapters.

[Davy Jones]

What's wrong with Gerard anyways?

[Shuhan]

Gerard is the emo Sasuke wishes he could be...

Anyway, it is nice to see Millie again, but I would have liked to see the square gangster guy again...

Sabretooth further cementing their doucheness...no surprise there. I wa a little put off by the Stellar Mage being made to strip, but ehh...

[GEPPETTOSMONSTER]

Gemma told that bitch to get the fuck out of his guild LIKE A BOSS












but joking aside, the dudes a dick.

[Unrequited]

What's wrong with Gerard anyways?

This was posted here a long time ago by somebody.

Spoiler:

It begins all the way from his point of origin in Rave, where he held essentially the same role as he does in Fairy Tail. Despite Mashima's love of him, it never felt like he put any too much thought into him, other than deciding to give him a nice hair cut. Even the names were very similar (Sieg Hart / Siegrain).

When it was finally Gerard's time to shine, he hadn't done anything to reverse my negative first impressions of him , and we were now dealing with two different versions of him. I wasn't a big fan of the Seigrain half, but we also got the variation of Gerard who was sitting at the top of the Tower of Paradise acting like a fairly commonplace antagonist. At this point we've got two Gerards; One I did not like, and one that was ok. I also liked his relationship with Erza at first. And had he died like we thought he had, he would've been a way cooler character to me, 'cuz frankly he would've went out in an awesome way.

But anyway... Surprise, surprise, the very next arc following Tower of Paradise climaxes with the big reveal of Mystogan, a really cool character up until this point, taking off his mask and revealing himself to be some sort of clone of a character I now double dislike. Of course, I'm not excited, but if Mystogan had actually done anything cool after revealing his face, I might have not cared and accepted him as "The Cool Gerard." He just ran off tailoring to Mashima's penchant for off screen nonsence.

Again, the very next arc, a huge plot point ends up being... Gerard! This time it's much, much worse. He comes back with one of the most lame cliches in writing - amnesia. Now I don't mind if something is cliche as long it entertains, but it didn't really. This essentially means he's got a new personality - and a terrible one at that. While I thought Gerard did do a couple of mildly cool things, his presence only further deteriorated Erza's character and he stepped in at the final moments to provide the essential deus ex machina Natsu needed to win. The Flame of Rebuke, something so integral to the final fight, literally come out of nowhere.

And to no one's surprise, the succeeding arc revolves around his clone again, who seems to have removed his mask for the final time. Seeing as how Mystgun is a different person, I've still got a little hope for his character. But no, even Mystgun's involvement becomes convoluted.

Would it have killed Mashima if he had at least hinted at the existence of that "prince" beforehand? Like Panther Lily or some other unhappy bloke in the king's army saying "if only the prince were still alive", or something like that. Unsurprisingly Mystgun still manages to combo break the ending of the arc by having his suicide be their saving grace. He opts for the Watchmen/Dark Knight/Lelouch-esque ending and fails to follow it through successfully anyway. Gazille, Wendy, and Natsu manage to bring it back through comedy thankfully.

In short, the hatred for Gerard is summed up as: Gerard is annoying. He shows up constantly, and never makes the story any better for it. Mashima tries to sell him as a martyr unsuccessfully. He's a recycled character design to begin with, and then he's constantly recycled within the story itself. He never does anything that anyone likes, cares about, or wants to see.

Basically most everything concerning Gerard becomes contrived and convoluted. He also turns Erza into mush, undermining one of the more salvageable characters of the series. C-c-c-combo breaker~ courtesy of Gerard!

[Hiroy]

I want you guys to do a project. You know that smug smile Gerard usually shows?
I dare you to crop every panel Gerad shows that face from the begining to the end of the series.
Then place it on a single compliation image.
And finally tell me the differences.

If you do the last part successfully, I would drop my bad rap with the character forever.

[tatermoog]

Really? We complain about the fanservice every week, but the week where Mashima makes a character strip and then uses a speech bubble to cover her asscrack we go back to Jellal-bashing?

I get so confused.

[Shuhan]

Really? We complain about the fanservice every week, but the week where Mashima makes a character strip and then uses a speech bubble to cover her asscrack we go back to Jellal-bashing?

I get so confused.

Welcome to the thread, have a cookie...

[Crossword]

Clearly the thread knows where its priorities lie.

[Hiroy]

Let's talk about how great Gerard is instead. I like that smug smile he recycles every time he appears.

I am confused.