Fairy Tail

[Sacred Knight]

It was rushed. I don't know if he ended it of his own accord or if it was canceled, but its been extremely rushed ever since August invaded Magnolia. Maybe the third anime series can improve upon that and flesh it out a bit more.

I did like though the callback to Igneel's death and finding out that him managing to take Acnologia's arm ends up contributing to his eventual defeat.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Is the concluding fight rushed? Yes, yes it is and I hope that the anime will fill in some of the blank spots from it all.

But with Mashima's preference for nakama power ups in mind, I think that this is a perfectly serviceable way to wrap up the battle. For once, it's the lead up to it that I find lacking rather than the final push.

Natsu forming a giant dragon claw of fire to echo back to the Igneel/Acnologia brawl is a nice touch and Meredy working overtime to connect everybody for Fary Sphere is a nice way to encapsulate the general themes of the series in a practical fashion.

Now there's just one chapter left. ...come on platonic Natsu/Lucy friendship! I believe in you!

[Dark Soul # 7]

Oh, and the anime will be back with its final season in 2018.

[Robotech Master]

Is the concluding fight rushed? Yes, yes it is and I hope that the anime will fill in some of the blank spots from it all.

But with Mashima's preference for nakama power ups in mind, I think that this is a perfectly serviceable way to wrap up the battle. For once, it's the lead up to it that I find lacking rather than the final push.

Natsu forming a giant dragon claw of fire to echo back to the Igneel/Acnologia brawl is a nice touch and Meredy working overtime to connect everybody for Fary Sphere is a nice way to encapsulate the general themes of the series in a practical fashion.

Now there's just one chapter left. ...come on platonic Natsu/Lucy friendship! I believe in you!

Not just an echo to the Igneel fight, but implying that Igneel taking Acnologia's arm played a direct role in that being able to defeat him.

I agree with you, the actual method, along with Meredy having to buff Fairy Sphere just to be able to incapacitate Acnologia and give Natsu a shot at actually landing the hit, was perfectly fine, but like the Zeref finale it was lacking in any real back and forth, trading of blows, dynamic movement, etc. He basically just curbstomped their efforts for a while until the combined strike.

Well, 45 page chapter for the finale. 45 pages should certainly be enough time to check in on everyone. Anyone else expecting a few years time skip, showing Lucy finishing her book and/or finding Aquarius' reborn key.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm definitely counting on a time skip after shoring up the immediate aftermath of the Alverez War. After that I'm counting on is stuff like young Fairy Tail initiates in the children of Natsu and Lucy , Gajeel and Levy, Gray and Juvia, and Erza and Jellal, at least. Teenage Asuka and adult Romeo likely to be seen as well. What I'll be curious to see is who is the Guild Master in this time. They could continue with the joke that its STILL Makarov and he just can't give away the job, or barring that I would hope its Laxus. Maybe he's married to Mirajane. For no other reason than coupling for the sake of coupling I'll admit. Cana I could see as a lot like her father, is an S-Class mage and takes the multi-year quests.

[Robotech Master]

Hmmm, I'm hearing no on the Timeskip idea from what has been glimpsed so far.

[Sacred Knight]

Wow, that would be a surprise. Not necessarily disappointing, I don't NEED it, I'm just used to such a device.

Its a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, though. You do time skips and 'ships and people just end up complaining because they don't like the pairings or whatever. You don't do it though, you get crap for leaving it all up in the air.

[Robotech Master]

Wow, that would be a surprise. Not necessarily disappointing, I don't NEED it, I'm just used to such a device.

Its a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, though. You do time skips and 'ships and people just end up complaining because they don't like the pairings or whatever. You don't do it though, you get crap for leaving it all up in the air.

Now I'm hearing one year skip, so technically one but not the kind that yields sudden relationship upgrades and new generations and all that.

The most canon ship of all appears to be Levy x Gajeel.

[Dark Soul # 7]

And that's a wrap. A pretty typical "all's well that ends well and the adventure continues" kinda ending.

It is just one year into the future with Lucy remeniscing about her adventures and summing up the current status quo after her book won an award. We get a number of fun scenes (my favourite being Wendy's troubles with super hearing and Erza having trouble with Lucy's book).

Particulars:
spoilers:

- Levy and Gajeel are totally a couple and she's totally pregnant. - Laxus has a lot of shipping rumors flying around. Mirajane was kinda hinted here and there, but I'm suprised that Mashima would throw in some for Cana and Lisanna as well this late. - Elfman and Evergreen are totally a couple too. No surprise there. - Crime Sorciere are all pardoned by Hisui, who has become the new queen after her dad retired. Erza and Jellal aren't official quite yet, but she fixes up her hair every day. - Gray and Juvia aren't entirely a couple, but he seems a bit more protective of her now. - Makarov is in a wheel chair, so that's something as far as consequences go. - Most surprising is that Mavis and Zeref have been reborn as Mio and Arleos, and they find each other at the award ceremony. I'm surprised how happy this makes me. - The series ends with Natsu and Happy dragging Lucy along for the 100 year quest along with the rest of team Natsu.

end of spoilers

Fairy Tail is not the deepest or most intellectual of series. The structure for each arc is largely the same and Mashima's had a problem of sticking the landing with a several arcs, the final few fights of this last arc have been notably rushed. With a few exceptions there aren't really that many lasting consequences for the main cast from arc to arc. And it is the most egregious example of the power of friendship I've seen in quite some time.

But gosh darnit, it's fun series with enjoyable and engaging characters. I've had a blast reading it for years now and even the frustrations became part of the fun in their own way. There are moments in the series that are genuinely heartwarming, pulse pounding and tearjerking, and I am going to miss the entire cast as they go on their next grand adventure without us.

[Reverse Happy]

Man, it's really over. (Except the anime resumes in 2018! Woohoo!) Among the long-running shounen series, FT was my favorite for a good number of years.

I think once Zeref went down, and the remaining possibilities (and chapters) narrowed down, my hype train lost steam fast. Not really the audience mood you want for the big finish, but at least the final chapter tied everything up neatly.

Reincarnation works in strange ways.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

I was always more of a fan of Erza and Natsu but knew that it probably wouldn't end that way, ah well...

[Sacred Knight]

I'll miss it but am looking forward to the rest of the anime being produced. All in all, the final arc wasn't without its big disappointments, but I'm glad things got tied up, at least.

Gotta say though I'm not wrapping my brain around how in one year Mavis and Zeref were reincarnated as adults, lol. Shouldn't they just be one year old infants?

You guys got any recommendations for other stuff to follow? Only other thing I'm into right now is The Seven Deadly Sins.

[Ceebiro]

I'll miss it but am looking forward to the rest of the anime being produced. All in all, the final arc wasn't without its big disappointments, but I'm glad things got tied up, at least.

Gotta say though I'm not wrapping my brain around how in one year Mavis and Zeref were reincarnated as adults, lol. Shouldn't they just be one year old infants?

You guys got any recommendations for other stuff to follow? Only other thing I'm into right now is The Seven Deadly Sins.

Considering that the power of Zeref and Mavis combined was enough to allow him to remake reality, I think anything is possible from that.

[Dark Soul # 7]

You guys got any recommendations for other stuff to follow? Only other thing I'm into right now is The Seven Deadly Sins.

My Hero Academia is a clever, optimistic and overall great take on the super hero genre.

Black Clover is a pretty generic but very entertaining battle series.

If you're not deterred by the sheer volume of chapters, I will always recommend One Piece.

Nejimaki Kagyuu is fun series with very off beat art and intense action scenes.

[Robotech Master]

Considering that the power of Zeref and Mavis combined was enough to allow him to remake reality, I think anything is possible from that.

In my head canon I like to think that the circumstances of their reincarnation into adults is Ankhseram going "Yeah...**** it, you suffered long enough I guess."