Super Official Anime Discussion Thread

[Super_Boom]

pokoko said:

I've quit and gone back twice but I think I'm really done this time unless something kills Natsu and someone else takes over as the main character.  That's my hope, anyway.  Even incredibly-weak-but-always-wins-via-banana-peel Lucy would be better.

I don't think there's any defending the asspulls or short fights, I've kinda come to terms with that. For me, the characters are what stand out the most, and the absurd reactions and goofy comedy remain strong even in the recent chapters. When it comes to fights, certain ones do a great job of winning me over (in recent memory, Laxus had a poignant fight that really made my throat tight, and Wendy's recent fights have been really well done), but whenever Gray, Natsu, and Erza get solo fights, I find myself zooming through chapters. Especially the latter...I really liked Erza in the beginning, but her fights have grown so boring lately. Literally winning fights "Because she's Erza".

Lucy can be off an on, but since she's the "real girl", her fights are more unique, at least. Still, I love it when she and Natsu team up. Without spoiling too much (not sure if you care), they had a fight an arc back where Lucy came up with a genius strategy to beat one of the villains, and Natsu was able to execute it without even speaking to her, they were so in sync. I love that kinda thing, it's the kind of chapter I like to go back and read again later.

The big problem I think, is that Hiro, the mangaka, has stated that he hates both training arcs and long extended fights (a la DBZ)...though he really goes in the opposite direction with constant mid-fight powerups and 2-3 chapter long fights. Though it's a completely different author obviously, after reading Yamada-kun and seeing similarities in the art and comedy style, I'd love to see Hiro try his hand a SoL or a rom-com. He's a great artist in my opinion, has a really clean style with well drawn characters, and is constantly throwing in easter eggs for fans in odd scenes. 

This is probably one of the most bipolar FT reviews you've seen...but I largely blame that on the manga itself switching in between One Piece levels of awesome and DBZ levels of boring. Though people that like both of those probably wouldn't find as much fault with FT I imagine.