User blog:Ash9876/Fairy Tail 390 - A Young Boy's Story

'Ello everyone, Ash is reviewing again because Aha is busy. But I must say, I'm quite glad I'm reviewing this chapter, because I enjoyed it quite a lot!

"Stories have a beginning and an end. For this young boy, the beginning was...the day Deliora took everything away. His house...His friends...His mother...Even his father...Everything was taken from him. This disaster...in the heart of the flame...where no prayers can reach...The young boy's story began on that day."

- Narrator.

"I am part of a much greater existence, especially to you. We are destined to fight, you and I…"

- Silver.

"I see...Now I understand why Kyouka...wanted to play with you humans...Unable to see your own deaths in your futures...Actions purely motivated by your emotions. Not in the least bit aware of your own weaknesses...Oblivious to how totally overwhelmed you truly are. How preciously ignorant."

- Mard Geer.

"Not quite...I wasn't quite satisfied with killing all of Ur's school...After all...Ur's been out of business now for well over ten years...My name is Deliora! Surely you haven't forgotten me, have you, Gray?!"

- Deliora.

"And today that young boy's story will come to an end. I can see it...the power of that calamity once again bringing forth that despair...And so in the end, the young boy will choose the same fate as his master."

- Keith.

Welcome to the Chapter Review Corner

So let's get started, shall we? And apologies for the grandiose amount of quotes, there were just way too many to choose from, so I chose all of 'em!

We begin the chapter with a marvellous color panel(s) from Hiro, although I'm evidently going to focus on the one with Gray in his destroyed town for the sake of the review. We have to consider something quite important here: Gray's relationship with his father. Evidently, he is very attached to his father, considering that Hiro explicitly states "even his father…" an indication towards the bond they had. And besides this, I really found some connection between this and the Lion King scene with Simba and Mufasa...just me?

And then, right off the bat we have Silver's declaration of his identity: I am your father. *uses muffled Darth Vader voice*

Thanks for the immediate clarification, Hiro! So all our theories come to light in the first actual page of the chapter, which is completely against what I thought Hiro would do. Luckily, Hiro is full of surprises this chapter. And as we see Gray's strain to believe this statement, he immediately charges against Silver with his Ice-Make, the latter who retorts by effortlessly dispelling them as he tries to make Gray believe his statement. And then, Silver begins to laugh, succeeding in making Gray have absolute suffering on his face. Although, he then states that their meeting was more than a coincidence and that: We've been crossed over from another series to clash once more! (Is what he actually means)

Moving on with my lack of appropriate references, we shift the scenario to the battle between the other members of the Nine Demon Gates and the other members of Fairy Tail. The battle is clearly quite intense, with both parties being pressured equally. Natsu and Gajeel attempt to smash Torafusa and Tempesta together in order to hurt them, but Tempesta's innate combat prowess instead causes them to smashed on the ground, a good turnaround I must admit. Juvia is then, almost, swatted away, while she has another feeling that something bad is happening with Gray. Juvia, you're right on the money. And then, in a struggle, Lucy tries to help everyone else when: Don't worry, my plot armor will save you.

Kidding, of course. (Or am I?) Anyways, I'd like to appreciate that Lucy has grown a bit in the series. From relaxing and letting Natsu take care of everything to actively try and assist them in battle. While she is unable to do so, I think the confidence she places in Natsu and her friends is also something nice to see. Interrupting this shiptease, Gajeel comments that he can smell both Sting and Rogue, to which Natsu also agrees upon.

It's not the Prince Charming; it's the Prince Charmings coming to the rescue!

And we return to the well-choregraphed fight scene of Mard Geer versus Sting and Rogue, to which Mard is mostly in thought of the futility that humans possess, and how Kyouka was able to play around with them due to their ignorance. While doing this, he gets kicked in the face by Sting (aww yiss), and then Sting tells him to quit playing around (I don't know if you want that…), to which Mard simply chuckles at humans regarding: They are. Trust me, Mard, we know.

Moving along, we have a little bit of comedy and adorable reunions with Happy and Lily meeting up with Frosch, Lector, Minerva and Erza. Erza says that they'll have to save the reunion for later, while Lecter makes fun of the mushroom on top of Happy's head. Minerva, looking at him intently, goes down and rips the mushroom apart from his head brutally. She then states he is one of the Nine Demon Gates, and I'm assuming he's Franmalth from what I remember (weird Soul guy). While Lecter and Frosch praise Minerva as "sis," Lily cheers up Happy on the sidelines, before remembering that they only have one hour before all of the Faces explode.

Moving back to Gray versus Silver, Silver begins to elaborate on the truth of his identity, where he comments on his body:

Now we know where Gray got his figure from.

But seriously though, that is some good fanservice Hiro cleverly put in with that revelation. Anyways, going back to where we left off, Silver comments that the body he found is a vessel, and he found it laying around. Evidently, we're not surprised too much by this development. He continues to expand on the origins of the human bodies Tartaros members hold, and from there the idea that Kyouka (I don't know who came up with this idea) holds Layla Heartfilia's body can be reinforced somewhat. He later talks about how it was supposed to be a coincidence that he found such a great corpse, before Gray retorts that he has no reason to hate him. On the contrary, however, Silver reveals that he wasn't satisfied killing all of Ur's school, and clearly dates how long Ur has been out of business for, when he finally reveals that:

Oops, not your father. But I am...but I'm not.

This revelation, coming about with an entirely murderous aura from Deliora, leaves Gray absolutely stunned beyond belief. As he returns to remember the events that occurred in his childhood with Ur, Gray begins to say that Ur finished off Deliora, before Silver illuminates us about Hell's Core and its revival facility. Gray, shaking with anger, looks at Silver with some of the best art I have seen Hiro ever draw:



And then, Keith's commentary on his fate being decided begins to anger Juvia significantly...possibly leading to the situation that happened in the Tenrou Island Arc. However, we have Gray and Silver's scenario instantly returning, with an anger-consumed Gray charging towards Deliora, who laughs like a maniac as Keith proceeds to predict that Gray will follow the path of his master:



Scores
The art in this chapter, from the colored panels to the sheer expressions wrought by Mashima were absolutely splendid, and I have to give a 10/10 for this time around. The story itself was surprising, and clearly made me jump up when I saw that Silver is Deliora, and the lead-up to it was also executed very well, keeping me, personally, on the edge of my seat. In addition, the small fight scenes were also nicely choreographed, also adding to the tension throughout the chapter. Overall, it was a Very Good chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed this review! Gray vs Silver will occur next week, and I'm pretty sure you're all as excited as I am!