Fairy Tail - 335

The Time of Life                                                                 (which is apparently one minute)

I'll go ahead and admit it, this chapter was pretty controversial. Some thought it was epic since Gray did survive (WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) and others thought it was absolute bull since, once again, a random epic power which has never been mentioned in the past suddenly gets introduced once times go bad. This has happened in every shonen anime. Final Getsuga Tensho (not so much anymore, since it's actually been explained, but at the time...) and Sage Mode were never mentioned in the past and were suddenly introduced. But this one trumps the lot of them, the power was never ever mentioned in the past and they explained it within one chapter. Anyway, let's actually get into this review.

So the chapter begins off with an absolute ton of deaths, mainly to emphasise the futility of the humans against the dragons, including Macao, Chelia, Gray, Droy and probably a lot more that weren't mentioned. We then get the ridiculously short explanation for Ultear's epic power.

Master Hades: "Ultear, what's wrong with you, that's a cookery book..."

Basically, we get a flashback of a young Ultear who is talking to Master Hades (whom I can only assume was once her teacher) about an ancient magic which can be used to turn back time. The magic is called "Last Aegis". Evidently, like all epic abilities, this magic has a downfall. And it's a big one...the user of this ability gives away their life. After we hear this, it's pretty obvious that Ultear is now going to use this ability. However, this moment gives me a large sense of deja-vu. Why? It reminds me quite a lot of when Gray Fullbuster was about to use the Iced Shell, which would also sacrifice his life. Maybe Hiro Mashima made these moments partially similar on purpose, so as to make the readers understand the strong similarities between Gray and Ultear.

In my last review for Fairy Tail, I said I couldn't imagine Gray with anyone else other than Juvia. However, after this moment in the chapter, I can now envisage Gray "getting it on" with Ultear. I really do think that Hiro Mashima made a whole chapter dedicated to this moment specifically for the purpose of comparing Gray and Ultear. I suppose they also have some bonds, seeing as Gray's ex-teacher was Ultear's mother. Also, Ultear thinks about what Gray taught her during this moment, which suggests that Juvia may not be the only one who is in love with Gray. All these factor pretty much add to the possibility of a "Graytear" rather than "Gruvia" (and Graytear sounds a lot better). As I said in the last chapter, I really like Ultear and think she's an awesome character, but if she really dies so soon, I'm going to pretty damn disappointed.

The constipation of a mage...

Anyway, once this short explanation ends, the present Ultear begins to carry out the technique...Oh yeah! There's another downfall of the technique that Ultear was not aware of! There is no guarantee for how long the mage can turn back time and, according to what Ultear said, it's generally based on "how much the mage's life is worth". I felt really cruel for laughing at this part of the chapter, but I just couldn't help myself. After Ultear sacrifices her life, she finds out that she has turned back time...by one minute. Yes, you read that correctly, one whole minute. I couldn't help but laugh, but though it may not sound like much, it was only just the correct amount of time. Coincidentally, it was within that one minute that Gray, Macao and Droy died (strangely, after the technique was carried out, Chelia was the only one who didn't come back to life...) and many others could see about one minute into the future. It may not seem like a lot, but think about it. If you can see one minute ahead of time, and know exactly what the enemy was going to do, then even an attack that would have been unavoidable could be avoidable. That one minute of time was, as the Mangastream translation described well, the "catalyst for humanity's counter-attack".

"You're telling me...I have to farm these crops...AGAIN?!?"

So I'll be moving onto the controversiality of this chapter. Basically, for those who liked Gray, Macao and Droy, the chapter must have been a huge relief. But, for the Ultear fans, and those who quite simply don't care whether Gray, Macao and Droy live or die, this chapter would have been boring and unentertaining. Unfortunately, I'm really not sure what to think about this chapter, as I like Gray and Ultear at the same time. I'm sad for Ultear's death but happy that Gray survived. Overall, I think the sudden introduction of Last Aegis was a little silly, and unnecessary so I don't think the chapter was particularly great.

That's all for Fairy Tail and, until next time, peace out.