フェアリーテイル Manga
Fairy Tail Volume 42 Review

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***SPOILERS***

While the Fairy Tail team celebrates with the giants, Minerva discovers her guild has been destroyed as she’s confronted by Kyouka, one of the nine demon gates of Tartaros. The Fairy Tail team return to Warrod and take a bath in an onsen he knows.

The Magic Council gets attacked and destroyed, leading Doranbalt, to seek out Cobra from Oración Seis, who’s in prison. Meanwhile, the Raijin Tribe Fairy Tail members are helping former council member Yajima at his 8 Island Restaurant when they are attacked Tempest, one of the nine gates of Tartaros. Laxus shows up to save them, defeating Tempest. Tempest self-destructs, causing anti-magic Devil Particles to spread. Laxus sucks in the toxic air and saves the team, getting them to Fairy Tail, but all are in bad condition.

Tempest is being reborn under the supervision of Kyouka, revealing that Minerva is being turned into a demon. Meanwhile, Fairy Tail dispatches members to protect former council members who are in danger. Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy are sent to protect the displeased Michello. They are attacked by Jackal, one of the nine gates of Tartaros. Natsu beats him up, but is cursed to become a bomb and is briefly taken out. Michello flees and demands people in town protect him, but Jackal soon catches him. Natsu returns, having learned how to overcome Jackal’s bomb curse.

So after an aftermath chapter and a stand-down comedy/fanservice chapter, Mashima-sensei gets right to it with this new arc.

The whole thing with Flare and the giants was a bit melodramatic for my tastes, but whatever. Her tale is now apparently over and she’s home with giants.

The onsen stuff was done purely for fanservice as well as a side of humor. Fanservice aside, I found it amusing that Erza didn’t worry about being nude in front of Gray and Natsu because (1) she’s Erza and (2) she used to bathe with them. Gray’s and Natsu’s negative reaction to Lucy being nude (after she made a big fuss over them being in the onsen) made me laugh since they’ve seen her naked so many times, it is boring to them now.

Then you have that final fanservice scene with Erza in the doggy style position in front of Natsu. Of course to justify it, she conveniently ended up in that position because a flailing Natsu accidentally punched her in the head repeatedly when he was supposed to be washing her back. The punchline (har!har!) being that an angry Erza then punished Natsu for his carelessness.

As to the new story arc, not only is Minerva not redeemed as so many Fairy Tail villains have been, but she’s converted into a demon and her hatred of Fairy Tail is such that even unconscious in a tank, she reacts negatively upon hearing the name Fairy Tail.

I guess whatever Face is, it is something that is either a threat to Tartaros or can help Tartaros. I’d bet on threat since they are killing magic council members, presumably because they’d know how to activate it (whatever Face is).

Mashima-sensei tries to keep things fresh by having Tartaros use curses rather than magic, so it will be a curse vs. magic arc. Since an anti-magic element was introduced when Tempest killed himself, I suppose that will become a factor as I imagine there could be curses that prevent one from using magic.

With Tempest regenerating at Tartaros’s HQ, Mashima-sensei gives himself a way to have enemies defeated over and over again. No wonder this arc went on as long as it apparently did (I’m told it just came to an end in Japan…correct me if I’m wrong).

On the Kodansha Comics side of things, it is the standard stuff.  The Japanese honorifics in the adaptation (save for brother/sister ones) are retained (update — well, not 100% — Seilah doesn’t address one character with an honorific that is there in the Japanese); Mashima-sensei’s “Afterward” and jacket notes are here; Mysteries of Fairy Tail Q&A is here; fan art is here, as is fake cover art; translator notes; and a preview of the next chapter.  There are ads for their other manga as well.

While this volume was OK for what it was, I’m afraid I’m going to become weary of Tartaros before all is said and done. We’ll see.