Shonen Beam

[chapter link]

It’s The Disbeliever! This generic shonen character is generally a decent soul who fights for the wrong side because a hardened heart limits his/her willpower, which, in such generic shonen series, is usually the primary source of energy. S/he provides constant negative reinforcement to the protagonist (and associated group, if applicable) for continuing to fight, because defeating the major antagonist is “impossible.” Proving this character wrong is a primary function of the protagonist.

The Disbeliever

Is there anything more inspiring than a flock of crying winged cats in flight? … actually, don’t answer that.

Lily crying could have been a pivotal, touching moment if his character type wasn’t so overused, therefore making his eventual breakdown obvious. Also, he’s still a cat. Are you crying because Mufasa died, Lily?

Honestly, I’m not trying to unfairly criticize this series. The entirety of Fairy Tail is still enjoyable, but because of its solid action and good core group of characters. A little element of the unusual is acceptable, but that element must complement the series, rather than overwhelm it. A few cat characters (Happy, Charle) in the grand scheme of a series are acceptable. A parallel world full of cat civilizations, cat government, cat conflict and cat plot is not. If, before reading Fairy Tail, all you knew about it was the following picture, would you have read it?

Not what we signed up for

Mystogan saves the day. I’m a little torn on this. It’s great that Natsu isn’t the strongest character in Fairy Tail (the guild), but Mystogan is one of those characters whose amazing strength and ability is only told to us and never fully shown. Having him come and solve a major problem is okay, but it would be better to see him more involved, to demonstrate his skill for the audience.

Lily’s expression as he is shot is more comical than pained.

Bizarro Erza isn’t finished yet. Seems like a major battle will ensue between the swarms following behind her and the cats. Hopefully Erza v. Erza will be a suitable focal point.

Final Flash: Standard flashback and standard exposition for a standard character.

The Edolas arc