Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 9

The Story
In the aftermath of the war against Phantom Lord, Fairy Tail is investigated by the government. They are found innocent, but remain under heavy scrutiny by the magic council. While the guild is being rebuilt, Lucy slips away to confront her father about his actions against her guild.

With everything wrapped up the team is able to start going on jobs again, in a one off chapter they put on a play for a failing theater house, and in another Lucy finds herself embroiled in the mystery of Loke's past.

The Review
While volume eight was all about action with a little bit of comedy, volume nine has little action, and rather focuses on the aftermath of the previous arc and comedy. It's important because it gives readers a chance to breath in between the larger arcs. I was a bit surprised, however, that we only really get one single chapter story before moving on to another multi-chapter story. Granted there's no big bad to defeat in Loke's story, but it's still an important character moment for him, much like how the last two arcs had been important character moments for Lucy and Gray.

The followup to any action packed story is the most crucial part of any manga. Most readers will stick around if the action is really good, but the chances of keeping readers is increased when the non-action chapters are well done. And in this case we not only get to see the beginning of Juvia stalking Gray, we also get what I consider the funniest bit of comedy in the entire series.

In regards to Juvia, while stalkers are a serious matter, and I could see why some would use her behavior this volume against her, I can't help but just be entertained. It's cute and funny, and I really can't ask for more out of a breather chapter.

The Frederick and Yanderica story is by far the funniest thing to come out of Fairy Tail. Even after multiple rereads I find myself chuckling and even laughing out loud.

Loke's story, which takes up exactly half the volume, wasn't my favorite story the first time I read it. I confess that at the time I was a bit of a shipper, and seeing Lucy spending so much time with a character that wasn't who I shipped her with annoyed me. But, that would be a silly way to judge a story, so instead I'm glad that I have since locked my inner shipper deep away and can approach this from a rational standpoint.

After this reread I must say that I enjoyed Loke's story a lot more than I did initially. What strikes me most is how it gives Loke his own little arc, without there being some kind of demon from his past to defeat, something that Mashima has done quite literally in previous arcs. In Loke's case his big bad is his own sense of guilt, and rather than defeating this demon through brute force that acts as a metaphor for friendship, in this case Loke is literally saved by the power of friendship.

Though, I will always be wondering what exactly Karen had Aries do for those men. I most definitely know what I thought back when I first read this story-I was reading a lot more of the pulpy seinen variety of manga back then and my mind kept jumping to the worst assumptions-and it certainly contributed to why I didn't like this story at first. Since then I've actually gotten a bead on what Mashima's writing style is, and I think I can definitely say that he didn't intend for us to assume the worst. Or at least I hope he didn't. Otherwise I might start hating this story again.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this volume not only as a followup to the last volume, but for the comedy and a rather well written bit of back story for a character that had until this point been mostly incidental.

The Grade

4/5

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 8

The Story
Fairy Tail is in dire straits as their guild is destroyed by Phantom Lord. Even though they've managed to defeat all the Element Four, Natsu and his friends are still faced by Gajeel and the master of Phantom Lord, Jose.

With all enemies, even the formidable Gajeel, taken out, Erza is the only one standing before Jose. That is, until Makarov's miraculous recovery.

The Review
The nice thing about this volume is that not only is it more or less the end of an arc so I can discuss the storyline as a whole, but it's also clearly divided into several different fights, which allows me to separate my review into digestible pieces. Say what you will about shonen action series, they can make for some pretty easy reviews. Unless of course one wants to actually sound intelligent during the discussion of said manga. Which is what I hope to do, so please, let me know in the comments how well I succeed in that aspect.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 7

The Story

After the attack on Phantom Lord ends in disaster, Makarov is left near death, his magic power drained. Natsu discovers that Lucy has been kidnapped, and rushes off to save her. He arrives just in time to save her from her own escape attempt. After the insult Lucy serves Master Jose, Phantom Lord's guild building attacks, turning into a giant transformer capable of using a powerful magical cannon and the Abyss Break spell.

Natsu, Elfman, and Gray infiltrate the guild to take it down from the inside. There they confront and take down two of the Element Four, while Gray's battle against Juvia begins.

The Review
This arc marks a high point in this series for me. It was the first really big arc that had consequences that stretched beyond any individual job. Up to this point the aftermath of any given arc was contained to that arc alone. But in this case, with the near complete destruction of the guild the fallout cannot be contained to this arc alone. For many long running shonen action and adventure series that focus on an arc by arc structure the tendency to keep elements of each arc contained to said arc is fairly common. I'd say this is the moment where Fairy Tail's willingness to work outside the initial constraints work to make it one of the more worth while long running series.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 6

The Story

While Gray fights Lyon, Natsu fights the masked Zalty. Both Fairy Tail members beat their respective opponents just in time for Deliora to finish being revived. Gray prepares to encase it in Iced Shell again, but before he can do this Deliora starts to fall to pieces.

Back in the village they find that the villagers are still demons. Erza uses Natsu's help to destroy the moon, but what they destroy instead is a lens of crystalized moon drip that had been affecting the villagers's memories, revealing that they were originally demons, but they thought they were humans.

Back in Magnolia they find their guild destroyed by a rival guild, known as Phantom Lord. At first Makarov refuses to retaliate, but the attack on three of their members by the Iron Dragonslayer Gajeel forces their hand. While Fairy Tail is attacking Phantom Lord, two of Phantom Lord's S class wizards kidnap Lucy.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 5

The Story

When Lyon's wizards try to destroy the village, Natsu manages to blast the acidic jelly away from at least the center of the village. Natsu fights and beats Yuka and Toby, while Lucy fights and defeats Sherry. Erza catches up to Lucy, Gray, and Happy, with the intention of bringing them all back to the village. Gray's determination convinces her to stick around to help.

Gray tells Lucy and Erza about when he and Lyon were students under the wizard Ur, and how she sacrificed herself to save both of them. Lyon plans to thaw Deliora, the one foe Ur couldn't defeat, in order to prove that he is stronger than his old master.

When Gray confronts Lyon, he goes in with the intention of sacrificing his life, but Natsu convinces him not to do so. The volume ends with Lyon stabbing Gray with an ice sword.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 4

The Story

Erza's trial turns out to be just a front, to make it look like the magic council has the situation under control. Despite Natsu's interference she is let off. In the meanwhile, Natsu and Happy rope Lucy into going on an S-Class mission, something that could get them kicked out of the guild.

They travel to the cursed island of Galuna, where they find a demon frozen in eternal ice, and a cult trying to free him, led by a familiar face from Gray's past. All the while Erza is traveling to the island to bring the truants back home.

The Review
It's been a while since I've read the begining of Fairy Tail, and rereading it for these reviews has reminded me why I love it so much. There comes a point where a series becomes stagnant, or the story slows down when read on a weekly basis. Coming back to the begining has helped me put into perspective why I consider Fairy Tail to be one of my favorite shonen series of all time.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 3

The Story
Natsu and team clash with the Eisenwald guild, making short work of the dark guild's members. They learn the true target isn't the citizens, but the guild masters' meeting further down the line. They are trapped inside the trainstation by Erigor's wind barrier. It isn't until Happy reveals he has Virgo's key that they are able to escape. Natsu and Happy go after Erigor and Natsu fights him.

After a tough fight, Natsu is able to defeat Erigor, but Kage escapes with the Lullab flute. He tries to play it, but is mentally defeated by Makarov, who convinces him not to go through with the plan. With Eisenwald stopped, the magic in the flute activates and reveals the true demon inside. Natsu, Erza, and Gray defeat it, crushing the meeting hall in the process.

During the match between Natsu and Erza, a messenger from the council arrives to arrest Erza.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 2

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy infiltrate the mansion of the Duke of Everlue. While there they face off against two mercenaries, and the Duke himself. They are able to complete their mission and retrieve the book Daybreak. Once back at the guild Natsu and Gray, an ice mage and Natsu's polar opposite, are recruited by Erza, the guild's strongest woman, to accompany her on a mission. Lucy is asked by Mirajane to tag along. They discover that a dark guild, Eisenwald, have gotten their hands on a magic flute, Lullaby, that will cause any that hear its music to die. Erza and the rest chase Eisenwald down to a train station, where they believe the guild's leader, Erigor, plans to use the station's PA system to broadcast Lullaby's song. But Erigor seems to have a different endgame.

Now we're in the phase of the manga where we start to get slightly longer stories. Generally shonen manga starts off with a few shorter arcs, and then moves on to the longer stories. While the Daybreak and Lullaby arcs are longer than the rescue mission in the first volume, they're still very much the short, self contained arcs. This is an important phase because it helps the manga find its feet, and gives the reader a few short examples of what the rest of the manga will be like, before adopting a similar formula, but stretching it out over several volumes.

Manga Reviews: Fairy Tail Volume 1

Since I want to be as much, if not more, of a manga reviewer as an anime reviewer, I've had to decide to actually start reviewing manga. So, taking a leaf out of a friend's book, I'm going to start my manga reviewing career off by reviewing at least one volume a day. I swore to myself that I would not buy any new manga in the series I collect, until I've reviewed every single volume in the series I own. At first the idea was to not buy any new manga until I'd reviewed ALL the manga I own, but some of the issues I own are out of order, so I will need to buy the first few volumes to get around to reviewing them.

Since I'm a few volumes behind on Fairy Tail I decided to start it off with this series. After all, a while back the anime was my flagship review series, and it will be again once I get off my lazy butt. But for now it's time to go back to where it all start, the manga.

Volume one starts with Lucy, a young mage, who wants to join the mage guild, Fairy Tail, meeting Natsu, and his cat Happy. Lucy explains how the mage world works to Natsu, who tells her that he's looking for a dragon. Lucy later runs into the mage Salamander, a member of Fairy Tail, who tells her he can help her into the guild. Later on his ship, Salamander reveals that he has been using magic to seduce women onto his ship, with the intent of selling them into slavery. Before Lucy can be taken, Natsu bursts through the ship ceiling, having heard that Salamander of Fairy Tail was there.

Manga Reviews: Monster Hunter Orage Volume 1

If there is one thing I can't stand, it's manga or graphic novels adapted from another source. My general experience with them has been that they either lack substance, or just copy and paste text from the original source over some pictures.

Because Monster Hunter Orage is an adaptation of a video game, rather than an existing story, the danger it ran was lacking substance, rather than a lazy story adaptation. Instead of retelling an existing story, Hiro Mashima had the creative freedom to do whatever he wanted with the story and characters. And unlike many other adaptive storytellers, Mashima knows how to make a story fun.

On the surface Monster Hunter Orage is a basic shonen story. Shiki is the typical shonen hero, with the weirdness ramped up to twenty, on a quest to defeat the strongest legendary monster, that most don't believe exist. The story isn't delving into deep new territories, but considering this is a video game adaptation, I think a simple, serviceable story works to the manga's advantage.

Manga Reviews: Love Hina Omnibus 1

Love Hina is the story of Keitaro Urashima, a two times Ronin with aspirations for Todai. When he finds himself without a place to stay, he turns to his Grandmother's traditional Japanese style inn. However, as he soon discovers, the inn has been converted to an all-female dormitory. After a failed attempt at cohabiting with the eccentric residents of the Hinata Inn, Keitaro tries to leave. Only to receive a letter from his Grandmother, naming him the new manager of the Hinata Inn.

Love Hina is part an examination of the stress the importance of making it into a good university places on modern Japanese youth. But mostly it's complete and utter chaos.

There are two things I like in manga, comedy and a straightforward romance. Love Hina provides a mixture that is just about right. While the comedy can be forced at times, and the same old joke gets recycled far too often, the romance makes it a series worth considering for fans of the genre. There is no doubt as to who the romantic couple is, and while that may not be for some, for others it provides a love story that doesn't ask the reader to suspend their disbelief that the two could ever not be together.