April 17th, 2014 
AstroNerdBoy フェアリーテイル Manga
Fairy Tail Volume 34 Review
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–> Purchase from Yes Asia! (Japanese tankoubon)
***SPOILERS***
Highlights from this volume start Natsu’s solo raid on Saber Tooth being aborted after they reveal they are holding Happy. In the Grand Magic Games, Erza takes on all 100 monsters in Pandemonium. Other competitions go on until Fairy Tail B’s Laxus faces Raven Tail’s Alexei. However, it is an illusion trap set by Raven Tail as all of their participants and master attack, looking for Fairy Tail’s Lumen Histoire. Fairy Tail A’s Wendy battles Lamia Scale’s Sherria.
Jellal gets a whiff of Zeref’s power and gets noticed by the Magic Council, who are aware that “Mystogan” should not be in this world. Former council member Yajima provides him cover, forcing the council to back down for the moment. Finally, in a group battle, Lucy ends up being one of two survivors along with Saber Tooth’s Minerva, who decides to have some fun with Lucy.
It is kind of difficult to write about these contests, mainly because you know that the Fairy Tail teams will most likely win unless there’s cheating going on.
Still, Mashima-sensei makes some interesting choices on doing things. We’ve seen Natsu go on a rampage against another guild before, so Mashima chooses a method to allow Natsu to make an attack, but be forced to back down and allow Saber Tooth to continue.
Also, having Erza pick all 100 monsters to battle in Pandemonium was not surprising, but Mashima-sensei does the right thing by just showing us a taste of her fierce battle, followed by her win. We know she’d win and how she’d win, so why waste it here rather than somewhere else where it will mean more? (And based on Mashima-sensei’s writing style, we will see Erza in a desperate battle again somewhere down the road.)
Having Laxus so easily beat Raven Tail made me laugh. Yes, I know he’s supposed to be one of the top S-class mages in the guild, and I know that he was supposedly holding back when he attempted to take over Fairy Tail, but it is just funny how easily Mashima-sensei had Laxus punk Raven Tail.
Wendy’s and Sherria’s fight is just Mashima-sensei indulging in a moe fetish. OK, I admit, I smiled at it just the same. Darn you, Mashima!
Maybe it is just me, but I’m kinda tired of the joke about Aquarius being summoned, but not feeling like doing much, so she leaves for a date. Whatever. *_*
And I really wanted Juvia to kick arse in the water battle. I really like Juvia after her battle against Gray back in the day, followed by her joining Fairy Tail.
I still like Master Mavis and her tactics. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her fun nature to get a win.
I would speak of the romance angle between Evergreen and Elfman, but why? We know that their romance, much like Gray’s and Juvia’s, won’t go anywhere unless there’s another time skip.
Beyond that, I really don’t have any thoughts about the tournament.
On the Kodansha Comics side of things, we still have the hybrid adaptation. However, I think this volume only allowed for small incursions of dropping honorifics or changing them. There are a few translator notes and the other usual stuff from Mashima-sensei.
I have two more Fairy Tail volumes on the deck and one more on the way. I’ll be trying to get more out next week.
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I lied about not getting this up until next week. ^_~
The latest volume (Can’t remember if it was 36 or 37-37 just came out a couple of days ago) seems to have went back to completely using Japanese honorifics. So it seems Kodansha has realized their mistakes.
37 is the one I have coming in. I hope you are right. It really is jarring to go hybrid, and it is difficult to try to say, “OK, we will use honorifics here but won’t there.”
Remember to be careful when reading Vol 35, as one of the 2-page spreads can burn your eyes and may possibly even give you nightmares if you are not careful. ^_~
*lol* Yes, I just ran into that “one” image.
Please remember to post your view on that particular image (regarding what was your first reaction when you saw it).
On other note, though Erza’s Pandemonium Challenge result was quite obvious, it still was nicely done. That one image of her standing tall spoke a thousand words to me.
Also i wanted to ask, did you really not like Kana’s MPF challenge because you didn’t mention anything regarding it.
And are you interested in knowing how Sherria learned her “God Slayer” magic. I am not sure if the character bio pages (presented in the first page of some chapters) are included in the English volumes as well like they are included in the Japanese volumes. If you are interested then, It was given in the first page of Ch 353 (or if you want i could post it here).
I’m about to start writing that, so I’ll have to remember for sure.
It wasn’t that I disliked it. I had no opinion. I was amused that Mavis gave Cana (Kana) the power to win like that.
Ultimately, for me, Mashima-sensei’s whimsical writing style is the reason things like Cana’s using Fairy Glitter doesn’t have great impact on me. Mashima-sensei writes what he wants without much thought of a bigger picture. As such, when I read the scene, I saw that he want to give Cana a moment in the sun rather than just be a character who’s drunk all the time. I can understand and respect that and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, believing that as I do, the scene doesn’t have the weight that it would have had if Mashima-sensei had plotted out things well in advance rather than on an arc by arc basis (if that makes sense).
Go ahead and post it here. ^_^
Well here is a run-down regarding Sherria (copied this part from the wikia page, because didn’t feel like typing the whole thing). ^_^;
Sherria surpassed her cousin Sherry’s power at a very young age and excelled in her Magic Schooling, so much so that she even skipped a grade. As a commemoration of her academic excellence, the Chairman of the Magic Council, Gran Doma, gifted Chelia a book containing information on Lost Magic (i.e., “Sky God Slayer Magic”), which the latter self-taught and mastered quickly (a feat that no one expected of her to achieve).
Thanks for the info. ^_^
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What are your thoughts on the series as it is so far in the 30+ volume range? Was it worth it to stick around this far?
On the whole, I’d say “yes.” The tournament stuff hasn’t been terribly interesting, but it is OK for what it is. With volume 36, things are getting interesting again. I have the feeling that things are going to get more interesting.