フェアリーテイル

Fairy Tail Volume 23 Review

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Highlights from this volume have the Queen of the Exceed reveal her secret to her people and the fact that they are not the powerful beings they claimed. Mystogan sends the Earth-land Fairy Tail members encased in crystal back to their home, properly restored. The King of Edolas arrives in the power suit Doroma Anim (Dragon Knight) and his forces proceed to try to wipe out the Exceed. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel battle this mecha dragon while Edolas Fairy Tail helps Lucy and Gray battle the king’s forces, allowing Erza to battle Edo-Erza, which ultimately ends in a draw. Mystogan is revealed to be Prince Jellal of Edolas, who’d come to Earth-land to thwart his father. After a fierce battle, Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel defeat the king while Prince Jellal sends all of Edolas’s magic to Earth-land. Prince Jellal wants to play the fall guy, allowing Panther-Lilly to rule, which Panther-Lilly objects to. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel roll into town, allowing Natsu to play the fall guy “Demon God Dragneel,” so that Prince Jellal can “defeat” him and win the support of the people of Edolas as a hero.

REVIEW

Although the fight was rather drawn out in typical shounen style, I did like seeing Wendy, Natsu, and Gajeel go full tilt. It may have only been a mechanical dragon, but at least they got to be dragon slayers for once…after a fashion, that is.

Erza and Erza battling again made my eyes roll, mainly because of the cliched preaching coming from Erza’s mouth to her Edolas counterpart. Naturally, Mashima-sensei wasn’t going to allow either Erza to actually triumph, and naturally, Edo-Erza is won over by the preaching.

Revealing that Mystogan is a prince and that the Exceed weren’t anything special were somewhat interesting twists.  As Prince Jellal, I can see where his faked fight with Natsu will go (partially based on the preview for the next volume). It will allow him to become the next king of Edolas (or whatever is left of it).  Now that there’s no magic, I don’t know if that will be reversed, or if Mashima-sensei will have Edolas go forward being a normal planet.

Beyond that, I’m not finding a lot to comment on regarding the story. There’s tons of action with a generous side of shounen cliche stuff, which doesn’t lend itself to a whole lot of thought. Its more like just going with the flow and enjoying the ride.

On the Kodansha side of things, the standard Japanese honorifics are here. The standard extras of fan art, Mysteries of Fairy Tail, and a note from Mashima-sensei are included. There’s also a character sheet for the various Exceed we’ve seen.

So while this volume provided nothing thought provoking or even anything in the way of character development, it was still a fun, action-filled ride despite the cliche spoutings and such. I’m looking forward to the next volume.