I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out the rationale behind Flare’s sudden reemergence and to my great surprise, the answer appears to be rather candid, certainly more straightforward than I thought! Flare’s role is front and center in the mysteries that surround Sun Village – the very location is her neck of the woods and she was raised by the same giants that Erza & Co. are trying to extricate! As it turns out, the red-haired mage is still in the running as a possible new recruit – Flare might not have joined a new guild just yet and her new insignia merely represents her connection to Sun Village! Even with the latest bombshells, Flare is still a thoroughgoing enigma and her true intention is pretty much an unknown at this stage. Indeed, she is proving to be a tough nut to crack and such perplexity is compounded by her seeming absence of mind – creepy, splenetic and a bit of a loose screw, Flare’s existence embodies a textbook case of a yandere! I sure as hell wouldn’t want to date someone like her – or any yandere, for that matter – but that doesn’t mean I can’t get a kick out of Flare’s seeming bizarreness. A big-time wingding that is such a blast to watch – her yandere charm fits into quite a unique niche, and should Flare become new addition to Fairy Tail, I’m certain she will have no problem holding her own against the rest!

Clearly, Flare wasn’t the only who one made her mark in this chapter – everyone received a fair share of the spotlight and Lucy, in particular, pulled off a moment of badass in this three-on-three showdown! Lucy’s eminent status as a sex symbol is utterly beyond doubt – but it is also somewhat unfortunate that her track record in the front line is not nearly as illustrious! For one reason or another, Lucy seems to be slipping into a damsel-in-distress role and the Grand Magic Games Arc has, no question, accentuated such a characterization! Lucy’s daredevil effort is certainly a long time coming – as we saw in this chapter, the Celestial Spirit Mage is not just a pretty face and she is proving to be every bit as capable of a fighter as the rest of her team! Those pesky Treasure Hunters are bound to make a return sooner or later – but now that this scuffle is done and over with, the center of attention should shift back to the more crucial matters at hand. The confrontations with Succubus Eyes – especially the face-off between Erza and Minerva – are obviously the ones that I’m watching most closely, but the reappearance of Flare has also introduced a whole new level of mystery to the current premise. Flare evidently knows more than she’s letting on and her backstory has marked a sudden lurch forward for the big-picture narratives – the secrets that beset Sun Village is slowly but surely falling into place, and what will be interesting is to see where things settle from here on out!

Random tidbits:

  • “I was stalking Blondie all day and night!” – Kidding? I think not! A beautiful yuri tale is surely in the making over here.
  • The gentle eyes that melt our hearts – I gotta admit, Flare can be pretty cute when she’s not being all-yandere!
  • “Wobble! Wobble! Shake those asses” – Virgo’s back! You can always count on her to bring us the big laughs.
  • “Ouch, that has gotta hurt!” – That derp face is just priceless! Hands down, Virgo’s my favorite Celestial Spirit.
  • “It’s a hundred years too early for you to pick a fight with us” – Lucy got to be a badass this week! A long time coming, if I may say so.
  • Lucy Kick and Virgo Kick” – That said, the fanservice is definitely alive and well, even when Lucy’s being a badass!
  • Kyaa… A loli has been caught! ” – Someone ought to teach that naughty girl a lesson.
  • Check out Stereoman’s new site and no, it’s not an anime blog! She’s truly a very gifted photographer – the kind of talent that plebeians like me can never hope to become!

tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #FairyTail 347: Stalker Alert! You don’t mess with a yandere. A Yuri Tale in the Making… #Manga
 


33 Comments

  1. This chapter’s Flare was completely different than the one we know…makes me wonder, if she was raised by giants and has enough attachment to return and defend them indicating that she has a sense of morality how did she end up in Raven Tail and with yandere tendencies? Me confused, Mashima’s surprise character changes are sometime too sudden.

    gawrshness
      1. I don’t know if the author was trolling us or not, but she said she won’t join Fairy Tail. I REALLY would like her to, but it apparently won’t work. Though, not to sound perverted, but Flare can go with Lucy on a yuri route while Natsu would go with Lissana in the childhood freind I will marry route.

        L002
  2. I was hoping Flare would join a new guild, but Lucy finally getting her moment to shine more than makes up for it. I swear, I had goosebumps when she said it was a hundred years early for the treasure hunters to pick a fight with them. And she’s still her, without any overpowered abilities like you see in Fairy Tail fanfictions. Here’s hoping we see more of this in future chapters.

    Jackpot2121
    1. Lucy has always been a weak link (or 5th wheel) in battles. I would not mind seeing her get at least some powerups so she is more useful to the guild and not the damsel in distress we see most of the time.

      Karmafan
      1. I wouldn’t call Lucy a weak link, more like she’s outclassed amongst her nakama. She’s strong in her own right by just being her, and that is what makes Lucy Lucy. So she doesn’t need some insane power up. I’m sure a lot of “reasonable” fans would agree with me on that.

        Jackpot2121
  3. Looks like an unexpected mage might join Fairy Tail! Everyone though the twin dragons would be the ones during the tournament arc, but we have a surprisingly strong candidate here who is getting cuter, loved the last shot on her face!

    sherry
  4. It has been a while since we saw some awesome girl power, especially from Lucy. I’ve really missed that so I loved this chapter! I also wonder why Flare is randomly changing so much. Her rise in popularity is a mystery to me, considering how much people hated her for what she did to Lucy during the GMG. Perhaps it was because of the anime? I admit I started loving her after hearing her being voiced by Shizuka Itou, and I know many others did. So maybe that is what made Mashima change his mind? I don’t know, that’s just an assumption. I just find it slightly strange that she changed that easily. I hope we get to see her past so we can learn how she ended up in Raven Tail. How a beautiful and sweet person could become so horrifying and then turn back. I’d like to see that. And I also want to know why there is a village crest. I thought only guilds had them?

    Anyway, great post as always. Keep up the good work! You’re much too kind to me, thank you so much for the kind words but I think you exaggerate. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. But thank you so much, it means a lot to me!
    Moete kitazou!

    1. I don’t think Flare was changing that much. She just somehow ended up being scouted to Raven Tail, probably not even knowing what’s in store there for her. And after she joined, she was always afraid of master Ivan. Even at the Grand Magic Games, where everyone was fighting for their honor, she probably was literally fighting for her life. Because if she lost, there was no telling what Ivan would have done to her. She herself was desperate and terrified, she had to win whatever it took. And because she was involved with those kind of guys, she resorted to unfair tactics and humiliating her opponent. Besides, Ivan had said, that Raven Tail was an Anti-Fairy Tail guild, so probably crushing her opponent mentally was what he ordered to do, too.
      All in all, I think Flare becoming a good girl is entirely believable. It’s not hard to imagine.
      I mean, Gajeel becoming a good guy was 10 times weirder, I still have problems accepting his attitude change from “I don’t give a sh*t about my comrades” to “I secretly want to be friends with you, but there’s no way I’m sayin’ it”.

      shemi
      1. This is pretty much why I can swallow her change in alignment. Also, “flare” and “corona” are both words related to the sun. Don’t know if Hiro intended her ties to the Sun Village or not, but if he did, props to him, I guess.

        Ian

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