WSR 8-26-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

Magi 194

Gyokuen starts this chapter by reiterating her plans, also stating that she and Aladdin are apparently beings of pure thought from the other world, not like other entities in the present world, like Alibaba and the others. I’m wondering if this is a translation issue, but regardless, the author is probably trying to emphasize the difference between those from Alma Toran and those not from Alma Toran. Gyokuen says that she wants to crush Solomon’s will with Aladdin’s help, though in that case, it means Aladdin isn’t Solomon reincarnated, unless Gyokuen misunderstood the idea of a proxy and thought Aladdin was made by Solomon. We really don’t know any details about Aladdin, but the possibility of him being Solomon’s creation alongside being his son are both compelling in their own ways.

The medium appears to still be growing in power and getting closer to “Father” as well. Aladdin is stunned and worried that everyone will die if things continue this way. Everything seems hopeless as the medium is nearly finished. But then lightning strikes it out of nowhere and Gyokuen comments that he’s finally here: Sinbad, using the Baal Djinn Equip I think. He’s referred to as the person they hate the most besides Solomon and the first class singularity. This is most likely because of his immense amount of magoi, comparable to many magicians.

And Sinbad isn’t alone, having brought the heads of his Seven Seas alliance, 4 new metal vessel users. The 8 Generals are there, though we only see Yamraiha and Drakon. Even Yunan, the mysterious 3rd Magi of this world has made his appearance now.

Alibaba wonders if they’ve won, but then his Djinn Equip wears out and he falls. But he’s caught by Morgiana, who is using her Metal Vessel to literally hover now. Though on second glance, it seems like Yunan is just making the Rukh hover around her to keep her aloft.

This fight just got 10 times more interesting, though many were predicting they’d appear, since the amount of firepower they’ll need to take this thing down was a bit small, cut down even more by last chapter, Kouha and Kougyoku pretty much incapacitated unless they’re healed.

Gyokuen being somewhere entirely different; Kou Empire, I believe; makes me wonder if she’s really going to contribute or just fight from a distance somehow. Being a Magi, I’m thinking she has to get over there and she fights with Aladdin while the others stop the medium. Either way, this fight is still just a skirmish in the grand scheme of this war, I imagine

World Trigger 27

Tachikawa’s group is still fighting against Jin, but he manages to dodge their attacks very well. One of the snipers complains, but the other reminds him that Jin’s Side Effect is precognition/foresight, so the idea is to bombard him with an overwhelming amount of attacks to defeat him.

Jin pulls back, Kazama noting that it’s probably to avoid getting surrounded more than actual retreat. Kazama also says they shouldn’t charge in directly, as in shougi, since a pawn alone would be defeated too easily. One of the fighters says eventually they’d get outside of the forbidden zone and expose civilians to danger, but Tachikawa responds that Jin wouldn’t allow that. But he also thinks to himself Jin’s being too passive, which makes him wonder what he’s thinking.

We also get a map pointing out the locations of each battle and who’s involved in each conflict, which is very helpful. Not all manga do this, or if they do, it’s rare, like in Naruto or even One Piece

Yuma’s trying to decide between Scorpion and Kogetsu, but he remembers there’s a third Attacker Trigger that Osamu used at one point. Shiori further explains it, the Raygust. It has a shield that increases defense in exchange for a loss of attack power it originally had. But it’s also much heavier, so only people especially skilled in it utilize its power, like Reiji. This is a bit odd, since Reiji’s a Sniper specialist.

Yuma then asks about the popularity of the Kogetsu and we get further explanation about the rivalry between Jin and Tachikawa, both of them being especially good with Kogetsu. But Tachikawa was supposedly better than Jin at Kogetsu. Jin engineered the Scorpion and he got better, relatively even with Tachikawa, though he supposedly still had less victories.

Tachikawa then taunts Jin, who asks what he’s plotting. Jin still isn’t using Fuujin, which is his “super attack” of sorts, which is part of what’s confusing Tachikawa

Shiori then explains that the rivalry between Jin and Tachikawa started partly because Jin acquired the Black Trigger. Of course, his particular Trigger wasn’t picky, so there was a competition between all the compatibles and Jin won flawlessly. But Tachikawa wasn’t compatible, so the rivalry remained

The fight continues and some of the fighters speculate Jin is trying to buy time so Yuma can escape, but Kazama responds that he’s trying to run them out of Trion so they have to retreat. This would make HQ less perturbed. One of the other attackers (it’s hard to keep up with all these new characters, which is a con of the series at this point) comments that Jin never seemed that strong in training battles. He insists they go to Tamakoma, but then Jin unleashes his Fujin attack, defeating one of the members as the chapter ends

Jin’s super technique was interesting, though I wonder how many times he can use it. It seems like he stabs the blade into the wall or any surface and the blade pops out somewhere else. Kind of doesn’t fit the Fujin label

Naruto 644

Naruto and Minato’s fist bump allows the two Kyuubi’s chakra to start to meld and a greater power starts to awaken.

Back at the ninja alliance side, Shikamaru is analyzing the barrier, concluding it must be on par with the one the Hokage made that stopped the imperfect Juubi’s Tailed Beast bomb before. But he can’t seem to find any solution to negate the barrier

Naruto then starts to explain his plan to Minato through their chakra connection, while Minato internally continues to punish himself for what he did years ago. But Naruto, having heard it, since they’re connected, says he’s only concerned about the battle coming up, not any of the hardships he suffered in his past.

Suddenly, Naruto’s chakra increases in power, charging everyone up again like it was before he had to take a break. Sakura even notes that it never disappeared, it just dissipated in strength from before. Killerbee and Gyuuki even note that it’s not just Kurama, suggesting that the other Bijuu are involved in some way

Sasuke is told by Juugo that they have to get away and he plans to use his summoning jutsu to move himself, Juugo and Naruto. Naruto then calls them over to give them some of his chakra.

Hashirama notes Naruto’s sharing of his chakra, but then observes that something different is going on with this chakra dispersal than before.

Obito then fires off the Tailed Beast bombs and the barrier disperses the attack into the air, suggesting that everyone inside the barrier besides Obito was destroyed

But it’s revealed that Naruto used his chakra in tandem with Minato to simultaneously teleport everyone outside the barrier, since they were technically all in contact with Minato and that’s how his Hiraishin works. An ingenious plan, something I actually didn’t consider, since it’s been a while since we’ve seen Naruto share his chakra with everyone, not to mention the physical contact aspect of Hiraishin was a bit unclear on this particular execution of chakra dispersal.

It’s explained that because Naruto and Minato’s chakra was mixed in the fist bump they did, this enabled Naruto’s chakra to function the same as Minato’s, enabling him to use the Hiraishin, since it was technically his chakra in contact with everyone instead of Naruto’s.  It’s compared to the Shadow Clone in that even if you leave only a trace of your chakra, if you try to use chakra again, all the other clones are connected as well. This applied to Naruto sharing chakra with Minato and thus Minato was connected with everyone as well, so the simultaneous Hiraishin teleporting of everyone worked out.

Minato and Naruto talk about how Minato wanted to talk to his son some more, but Naruto insists that men don’t need to talk so much; a simple glance communicates it just as well. And he reminds Minato that he talked with Kushina as well. The chapter ends as Naruto says he understands their feelings, Minato tearing up a bit at how much his son has grown up.

One Piece 719

It looked like Luffy had beaten Chinjao, but he literally smashes the ground with his head and knocks himself back up to stand and fight again. Everyone is amazed at the progress of this fight

Chinjao then continues to insult Luffy, saying just because they were labeled the Worst Generation, pirates like him have gotten a big head, but that they can’t match what his generation did back in their day. He admits he’s out of touch with most of them, but he’s the most familiar with Blackbeard and says Luffy’s still too weak to fight Chinjao at his full strength (at least that’s what I think he’s implying, or that Luffy’s still not strong enough to fight Blackbeard). He continues to push Luffy’s buttons by insulting Rayleigh, Roger and Ace, saying Rayleigh was foolish to think Luffy could be the next Pirate King and that Roger’s bloodline dying was a good thing, implying Ace’s death as well two years ago.

Luffy, enraged, throws himself up in the air with Gum Gum Rocket and Chinjao says that he’ll fight Luffy with a single blow that carries all his rage from the last 30 years.

We then flashback to Chinjao and the navy of Flower Country trying to get treasure under seemingly unbreakable ice. Chinjao, with a head that resembles a drill much more than his present form, smashes it with a single blow. He then reveals that this treasure is all from his clansmen from many centuries, connecting back to what he said about Garp stealing the treasure away from him.

Garp then challenges him and they clash, Garp crushing Chinjao’s head from its original form and the navy retreats from Garp’s forces. Chinjao awakens and finds that he can’t use his techniques from before to break open the ice. After that, he decided to quit being a pirate and held the grudge against even Garp’s grandchildren.

Luffy and Chinjao then clash with their strongest techniques: Thor Elephant Gun and Drill-less Nail. Luffy manages to revert Chinjao’s head back to its original form from 30 years ago. He knocks him out as well, his head splitting the arena in two and falling out of bounds, meaning Luffy wins.

The chapter ends with Cavendish, Bartolomeo, Bellamy and Jesus Burgess all aiming for Luffy. Next block will finish the preliminaries of the tournament, but Bellamy’s turn will probably have to wait.

Toriko 247

Ichiryuu and Midora were prepared to fight before and this time Midora reveals he has some more beasts he’s captured. Atashino and Melk the First go to fight them while Ichiryuu jumps up to get to Midora’s level, leaving behind his knife that Melk made for preparing AIR. The two then both go into the sky to start their battle, Ichiryuu literally seeming to fly, Midora jumping up with his tiger-octopus beast

They end up on what are called the Stray Islands, continent sized masses of land that drift from place to place in Gourmet World. Native beasts of the Stray Islands appear, Capture Levels well over 300 or 400 each and Midora’s beast is over 600 in Capture Level. To test Ichiryuu’s power, he has the old man fight these beasts

Ichiryuu then uses the power we’ve seen once before. Midora explains it as gravity, though it isn’t just something that he has through Food Immersion, gaining a huge amount of mass without losing his speed and strength he had, merely possessing more calories, but also a sort of power to draw people in by his mere presence of will. It’s what he used before when he first challenged the Bishokukai, albeit it wasn’t to fight so much as to issue a challenge

Ichiryuu then takes a stance, his hands posed as if he’s using chopsticks, which further scares the ocelpus away. He literally uses the power of his gravity and like chopsticks, picks them up. He started using this particular power the day he failed to kill Midora. He says he should finish he thing he left on his plate that day, Midora himself. But Midora responds that the one to become food today will be Ichiryuu

The explanation of Ichiryuu’s power, likely from one of the few Gourmet Cells he activated, is a nice one. The fact that Midora probably has far more to reveal with a great deal of his cells activated and awakened will make this fight interesting, especially if Ichiryuu manages to survive all these unexpected twists for a fair amount of time. I’m thinking the fact that he left behind that knife might be his undoing, especially if he carries it around so effortlessly. Did he think he’d be okay with just his gravity power?

Fairy tail 349

The beast man responds to Gray’s confidence at the end of last chapter by reiterating that his retrogression magic doesn’t make you younger, but decreases your overall physical and magical abilities.

Turns out, though, that Gray’s ice make skills are still fairly good, making a foothold under the beast man, as he had taken a few steps back already. The ice shatters, beast guy falling. He’s astonished at how he can still use magic so skillfully and Gray explains that his mind hasn’t been reverted, so he’s still able to plan out strategies to fight. The molding type magic he uses was meant to make people use their imagination, so Gray’s creativity is being pushed to the limits now that he has less magic power to use.

The beast man climbs up and wonders how Gray can fight so well at his current magic level, but it turns out Gray made an artificial floor, this time more seamless, Gray literally standing under him.

He drops the subhuman into spiky ice flowers, which he manages to avoid. Gray then uses Ice Hammer, but it’s predictably small. He then turns it into shaved ice. Gray then concludes that the beast mage can’t be the one who used the freezing magic on the village, since he is too sensitive to cold. He even compares the beast man to a grunt and says he has to beat him to get to the boss

Meanwhile, Minerva is ready to finish off Erza, asking her to beg her for forgiveness, Erza refusing. As Minerva starts to deliver the finishing blow, the retrogression magic on Erza starts to wear off and she counterattacks. Doriarte, the beast man from before, has apparently been defeated by Gray, so now the real fight starts. Minerva also says she has a counter against Erza’s Nakagami armor she used in the tournament. The two taunt each other, selectively unclothed: Erza obviously having less clothes because of the magic, Erza pulling off Minerva’s skirt revealing oddly immature striped panties.

Natsu reverts to normal as well as Gray. Doriarte hasn’t been defeated, but he did rescind the magic, it seems. He’s furious now and Gray thinks he’s just lost his cool, but he grows in size and Gray thinks he might be using a take over magic like Mirajane or Elfman, but when his form changes drastically, he thinks it must be magic from the book of Zeref. This battle isn’t over yet.

WSR 8-12 + 19-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

  

Magi 193

Last time, things seemed hopeless, when after all the effort put into this fight with Extreme Magic and Djinn Equip, the medium is drawing rukh from the sea itself. Kouha even notes that their Djinn Equips are running out of magoi.

But Aladdin is still confident they can win and speaks about Alma Toran. He explains that King Solomon’s 72 Household members became Djinn (presumably actual Djinn, since it corresponds to the actual number of Djinn total) and attacked one after the other. He also notes that the shape of the medium is different from the previous time, which confuses him slightly.

The medium attacks Hakuei, who is saved by Aladdin’s Borg. Kougyoku tries another attack, but it’s ineffective, even when she’s not attacking the wall. The sheer amount of power it has is making it seemingly untouchable. Kougyoku is then grabbed by the medium, but Kouha saves her, getting attacked himself. Kouen then saves him. We see Kouha and Kougyoku badly damaged, similar to what happened to Alibaba and Kouen, their Djinn Equip literally ripped off, leaving their muscles exposed.

Koumei pulls out an awesome attack, teleporting a whole mountain on top of the medium, but even that does nothing. The medium then releases a mass of black tentacles to start drawing rukh from everything

Gyokuen asks about Aladdin and she reveals she knows much more than we thought. She explains what we’ve heard before: Aladdin is Solomon’s proxy, made a Magi on purpose. She says she knows Aladdin well, revealing that she was one of Solomon’s three Magi. She betrayed the others, causing the black spot to come and Alma Toran’s tragedy to occur. The chapter ends as she holds her staff and challenges Aladdin to fight her as a Magi of Alma Toran.

This revelation is huge. It explains why Aladdin is disrupting the balance, since he and Gyokuen would be 

Magi from Alma Toran, not the present world, which has 3. Though someone pointed out to me that when Scheherazade dies, that would mean another Magi will be born, though whether there will be a timeskip or whether we’ll just have Aladdin fill in her place figuratively is unknown.

How they’re going to stop this thing is still a bit uncertain to me. Aladdin’s plan might work if he can supply them with enough magoi, being a Magi and all. But Kouha and Kougyoku aren’t really ready to fight until Kouen heals them with Phenex, which expends that much more magoi anyway.

This tension is great and next week will be well worth it to wait for.

World Trigger 26

This chapter starts with Shiori explaining about Triggers. There’s apparently a lot of stuff we didn’t know. You can use up to 8 different Triggers in a single Trigger Holder, not to mention combos between your dominant and recessive hands. She then gives details about the different kinds of Attacker Triggers, varying from a small and quick blade that’s weaker called Scorpion, to a longer and more difficult to wield blade that’s also tougher called Kogetsu (Fox Moon).

As she’s explaining this, we see the Triggers in action and Jin easily breaks the weaker Scorpion trigger, while the Fox Moon (Kogetsu) Trigger has a secondary ability when you put Trion into it, extending the range, demonstrated by Tachikawa

The sniper Isami can’t seem to hit any of Jin’s group, since the area has buildings and there’s no accurate line of sight.

Kazama comments that Jin hasn’t used his secret technique, conserving his Trion. One of his squad members asks whether they can just go to get the Black Trigger from Yuma, but Kazama says it’d be too risky to spread out their forces, especially with Reiji’s team back at Tamakoma branch that could fend off attacks on Yuma.

I was wrong about the squads being one man only, since it appears each squad, Tachikawa, Isami and Kazama, all have at least 2 other members, making this battle much more tricky than I thought initially. Kei says he and Kazama’s squad, along with the 3 snipers will focus on Jin, while presumably one of his members, along with Miwa and one of the two remaining members of his group coming to support them, will distract Arashiyama’s squad. The sheer amount of power that the alliance between Tamakoma and Shinoda branch has made Kido’s branch that much more desperate to get Yuma’s Black Trigger

Jin and Arashiyama’s unit discuss strategy, Jin saying that they should split up slightly, though Kitora says they could just fake splitting up to lure them into a formation and cut them off, Arashiyama agreeing

Miwa asks why his squad is cooperating with Jin and he replies that he doesn’t know, telling Miwa to ask Jin. He trusts his judgment, though, saying he doesn’t do things without a reason. Miwa is furious, saying that Neighbors are the enemy of Border. Arashiyama says he can understand why they don’t like Neighbors, but that not all Neighbors are the same.

Meanwhile, Izumi, presumably a member of Tachikawa’s squad, moves forward, seemingly attacking and Kitora hints for Ken, their second sniper, to fire, but instead of being in Full Attack, his Trigger was in Full Guard and he now knows his position. Yosuke is sent after him, but Kitora manages to keep him occupied. 

The chapter ends as they start to fight inside a building they crashed into.

The fight starts fast and it’s a bit hard to keep up with everything, but I think this is shaping up to be pretty good with all the strategy involved. No extra WT, since WSJ is officially on break this week.

Naruto 643

Minato is taunted by the other half of Kurama, who says that it wasn’t his fault Kushina died. And he says that doing what he did to Naruto, making him a Jinchuuriki, made things better, since, as he says, Naruto, in spite of how terrible the world is now, is trying to change things for the better. He compliments Naruto on having grown up from his self before the timeskip.

Naruto’s half of Kurama starts to talk to him as we go back to the outside world. Obito is healing from the damage, but Naruto explains to Sasuke that when he first saw the Juubi, it was made of natural energy, so it made sense to him to eventually connect the dots and conclude that senjutsu would be able to damage him, since he’s basically a sage as it is. Even Obito’s annoyed at this, thinking he was invincible, which was only half right.

Tobirama thinks to himself that Naruto understood his intentions so quickly, feeling like he’s fighting alongside Hashirama. But he also observes that Obito is now covering his blind spot, so they can’t be reckless.

Obito then moves to clear the battlefield for the Tsukuyomi plan, summoning something resembling a tree with flowers opening as cannons, charging up Tailed Beast Bomb attacks,

Everyone else is shocked, Hashirama saying he can divert them, but Madara is still fighting him, so that won’t work so well. Tobirama and Minato can only teleport one flower at a time with Hiraishin, so they’re screwed that way as well. Hashirama still moves to redirect the attacks with the help of the earth wall summoning from the earth ninjas. But Obito then summons a 6 point barrier around them to block it. Tobirama then asks whether both he and Minato can manage 2 flowers, but Minato has another plan, Obito thinking it has to do with teleporting the whole tree.

Naruto then asks Minato to bump fists with him, both sides of Kurama interacting, Naruto’s side asking Minato’s for chakra.

Obito brings up that tomorrow is the day when Kushina and Minato died, but Naruto retorts that it also means it’s his birthday and that as long as he’s around, he won’t let Obito win. The two then power up with more chakra as the chapter ends, father and son fighting together in what I assume would be a strategy to stop Obito’s present attack.

The coincidence of the potentially final battle in this series (beyond Naruto and Sasuke, of course) being an anniversary of both life and death was a nice touch on Kishimoto’s part. Obito seems to have a lot of countermeasures, but Naruto’s unpredictability, along with Madara potentially defecting and fighting to defeat Obito along with Hashirama are going to make even this pseudo sage Jinchuuriki a bit uncertain as to his victory. But Madara’s focus is on Hashirama, so somehow, he has to either be convinced to change sides or be sealed/defeated.

One Piece 718

We start this chapter back at Green Bit with Usopp and Robin. The gnomes are preparing to set out for Dressrosa through a secret tunnel that leads under the sea back to the city. We also meet two other Devil Fruit users besides Leo, who ate Zoan Devil Fruits based on a bee and a beetle, Bian and Kabu respectively. Leo, if you forgot, has the Sew Sew fruit, which is actually fairly novel. We see the pink bee and the yellow kabu, part of the transportation, along with Linear Foxes, which are meant as transports for 20 gnomes.

The group heads out, and the elder of the village starts to explain that the conflict between them and Doflamingo’s family goes back 900 years, which makes me think this has to do with the Void Century in some way or at least the advancement of the World Government afterwards.

Meanwhile, back at Dressrosa, Franky and the soldier meet up with the support team at the Flower Fields and Franky is given a rundown about the gnomes, especially their strength being equal to even strong humans.  Franky meets up with Zoro, who was taken to the group waiting at the Flower Fields by Wicca, whom he met a few chapters ago.

The recon squad appears and explains about Usopp and Robin helping the gnomes on their fated day of battle against the Donquixote family, Zoro and the others lumped together in Usopp’s lie about him being a descendant of Noland. Zoro remembers about Nami and the others, probably heading there to help.

We return to the Sunny where Nami’s group is still fighting the Art Art Fruit user, who confirms that there is a user that can turn people into toys, but she’s interrupted by Law calling Nami’s Den Den Mushi and saying that he’s bringing Caesar back to them, but they have to meet him at Green Bit. Of course, this is going to be rather difficult, but he doesn’t know all that’s happened.

Law is taunted by Doflamingo, who notes that if Luffy loses in the tournament, he’s in for a living hell.

Back at the tournament, the chapter ends on Luffy using a Gum Gum ability to deal immense damage and presumably defeat Chinjao.

The groups all coming together is a testament to Oda’s writing skills, keeping all this clear in his head.

Gnomes fighting other gnomes would be cool, but gnomes fighting other humans and such would be even nicer, since, as we’ve seen, they’re plenty capable of fighting against people even if they’re 5x their size or more.  The devil fruit abilities will also have some relevance and the introduction of bug type Zoans is cool as well.

Toriko 246

The Meteor Spice rained down before and we’re reminded of how dangerous it is, supposedly annihilating anything in its wake.

We flash back to a while before the battle, where Ichiryuu, Melk the First and Atashino the Gourmet Surgeon (surprised I remember her name) are looking to get Acacia’s salad from his full course, “AIR”

Meanwhile, Guemon and Malee are capturing the soup, “PAIR,” fighting against the Executive Chef Dores and his group

Love, Tack and Rala are going after the Fish, “ANOTHER”, where Head Chef Kuromado ambushes them. The fact that a group of three is involved here, along with Ichiryuu’s group, suggests that the enemies are stronger by comparison.

Megarodras and Goblin Ramon are seeking after the meat, “NEWS”, going up against Alfaro, the waiter

Yosaku and Manan are tasked with getting the Dessert, “EARTH”, fighting the Bishokukai’s Gourmet Revivalist, Kaitora, whom Yosaku has a question for

And Melisman and Sakura are acquiring the drink, “ATOM”, their opponents two new Head Chefs, Boneless and Kairu

Ryuu and Rapp are waiting for everyone’s return, simply assigned the task of surviving and waiting for the others, whether they survive or not. Niceny, the aide to Dores, is fighting them, so this arc is far from over in terms of execution, most likely. We’ll hopefully see these fights to some extent, assuming Mitsutoshi won’t screw us over

The chapter ends as Ichiryuu and Midora taunt each other, Midora riding on a tiger/octopus hybrid beast. Midora has a beard that I don’t think we saw before. Looks very scary regardless with a set of scars across his face

The only two ingredients not covered are GOD and CENTER, the latter being especially mysterious, since it can supposedly revive the dead. Chiyo was searching for it, since her son is dead. I think it was said it was particularly well hidden, though we also don’t know the location of GOD

It’s expected that all of these are in the Gourmet World and thus the danger exists, along with the fighting against people of the highest rankings in the Bishokukai.

Starjun and his fight with “Frohze” will be delayed, I imagine, or it might just be done off panel, indicating the power that “Frohze” has at this point, even with Starjun unlocking so much power

Fairy Tail 347-348

Last time, Flare came in to help Lucy and Wendy. She jokes around about stalking Lucy and reveals that she was raised by the giants in this village, which is what the signet on her chest means. She then attacks, Hiroshi slashing the hair with his sword. Lucy then summons Cancer to help her hair heal itself.  Wendy fights back against Lala with a kick to his giant glove enhanced by Dragon Slayer magic. Lucy tries to send Virgo to attack Drake, but the frozen ground makes her unable to dig through it. Sagittarius is shot and Flare attacks, Hiroshi cutting the attack apart. But she reveals she can still make her hair attack, similar to Sani in Toriko, making her hair explode.

But the tables turn as Lala grabs Wendy in his gauntlet hammer, Flare’s hair is tied to a tree and Lucy is still dodging Drake’s shots. They taunt the women, saying they’re too weak to fight against them as a treasure hunter guild. Hiroshi even says they’re only good for “shaking their asses,” Virgo doing it out of her habitual obedience.

But then Lucy, Wendy and Flare respond that they’re too early to fight mages of their caliber. Wendy bursts out of Lala’s hammer gauntlet with Arms magic, Flare just grows her hair more and Lucy had summoned Loke, who attacks Drake from behind.  Wendy attacks with a Sky Dragon Wing, Flare with another hair storm attack and Lucy and Virgo do a team kick attack on Drake.

The chapter ends as Flare smiles with Lucy and Wendy, their female bonding having started, no doubt.

In 348, Flare gives some more background on being raised by the giants and leaving, eventually joining Raven Tail. She’s apologetic and Lucy and Wendy accept it. Flare is sad at the state of the village and she decides to take them to the Eternal Flame so it can theoretically melt the ice

Charle and Happy are scared stiff by a weird thing flying around and patrolling the area and Natsu is still looking for the voice he heard

The scene returns to Erza and Minerva’s fight, Erza not in the best situation and Minerva enjoying all of this, wanting revenge for her loss in the tournament. Erza speculates whether defeating the one who initiated the magic is the only way to end the spell, which is probably the case.

The beast man from before is walking around and runs into Gray, who is confused at his mouth and appearance, the beast man responding that he’ll eat him. He then uses the retrogression magic on Gray and we see another side-effect of the magic. In Gray’s case, the beast man reminds him of Deliora from his childhood and he starts to freak out.

The beast man seems to enjoy the suffering as some recall memories from childhood and relive whatever trauma happened. He then says that he’s ready to kill Gray and that he should be afraid, since he’s so close to the Underworld, which might be referencing the literal magic Underworld Minerva was talking about before

Gray is inspired by his memories of Ur and he counterattacks, the chapter ending as he starts to fight seriously.

It’ll be unusual if he manages to fight well with his new body, but Gray hasn’t had much fighting in this arc yet, so it’d be deserved.

WSR 8-5-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

  

Magi 192

Kougyoku managed to land hits on the black spot monster, while Koumei and Alibaba had seemingly failed.  Aladdin observes that it’s the hands. They’re the ones that use the defensive wall and can steal rukh. Attacks that target anything other than at the hands do damage, because only the hands are able to do anything in response, it seems.

Aladdin summons the sand golems and they use the super powered fire attack, which I won’t even try to spell correctly. The golems are taken down, Kouen commanding Koumei to coordinate things. He uses his teleportation magic to enable Hakuei, Kouha and Kougyoku to use their extreme magics, each getting their own page to show the damage they deal.

Kouen, meanwhile, heals his and Alibaba’s injuries with Phenex. I wonder if that Djinn is used for anything other than healing. It would be good to see a combat utilization, sort of like Koumei using the teleportation magic to separate things in half.

Alibaba wonders if the Kou Empire’s present Metal Vessel users could rival Sinbad’s group, which is not unlikely if they teamed together. And Kouen has three Household members to boot. Kougyoku and Hakuei each have one and Kouha has some as well, though they don’t seem to have much combat capability.

Alibaba then asks about Hakuryuu, but Kouen says he doesn’t know where he is or even whether he’s obeying his orders.

Everyone uses their strongest attacks, the Extreme Magics already expended and Koumei uses his transfer circles to focus all the attacks into one, doing huge damage to the doll and pushing it into the sea.

But the chapter ends with Aladdin noticing that the doll has now started sucking the rukh from the sea itself and has gotten almost bigger than it was before. 

Just when we thought there was a chance, Ohtaka turns things around and makes us that much more tense about the future.  Aladdin may have to use Solomon’s wisdom or Scheherazade may sacrifice herself in a last ditch effort, who knows.

World Trigger 25

We start this chapter back with Osamu’s group training. Osamu is the main focus, Yuma noted to be getting a bit better at fighting with Border Triggers.  Osamu and Chika are getting some physical training. The bodies they use with Triggers are Trion based, but the idea is that the Trion body will respond better if your body is in better shape. The better the real body moves, the better the Trion body moves.

Back where Jin is confronted by at least 2 A rank squads (both Miwa and Kei’s groups are going after Yuma’s Black Trigger) he and Kei talk about what they’re doing and Jin notes he’s not going to let them mess with his subordinates.

Kazama notes that inter conflict between Border agents is against the rules, but Jin retorts that since Yuma is a Border Agent, they’re technically breaking the rules too. But Tachikawa responds that Yuma isn’t official until the enlistment day, so until then he’s a stray Neighbor to them. Miwa observes that Kei and Jin are remarkably similar in how they go about things.

Kazama tries to convince Jin that he has to surrender and let them capture Yuma and his Trigger. He also questions whether Jin intends to declare war on Border with his Black Trigger, but Jin simply says that to Yuma, the Black Trigger is more important than his own life. He says he won’t declare war, but he won’t let them take the Trigger.

Kazama notes that even if he intends to fight, Tachikawa’s team is specifically trained for fighting Black Trigger users. Jin agrees, saying he’d probably be on even footing with them. But he notes that that would only be the case if he was alone. Arashiyama’s squad, another A rank team in Border, specifically under Kinoda’s branch (which is the third of the major branches in Border) appears to assist Jin under orders from their commander

Jin says that with Arashiyama’s unit supporting him, he thinks he’ll win now and hopes that Tachikawa will retreat. Tachikawa responds that he’s interested in Jin’s resolve and wants to see if he can disprove Jin’s prediction. The two finally draw their Triggers and the battle begins

I shouldn’t have expected the battle to start in this chapter; it’s like a shounen to draw things out a bit and create tension as well as interactions between the characters and factions.

Obviously Jin is going to fight Kei, but the other fighters are a bit uncertain about the conflicts. Jin may take on both Kazama and Kei, leaving the other 4 fighters, which means Jin may even fight 3, leaving 3 to fight against Arashiyama’s group

The specialization of Kei’s group does make me a bit concerned, but Jin’s skill is probably good enough, even if he hasn’t been in Border as long as Konami and that A rank group has.

A look at the wikia suggests that Kei, Kazama and Isami are single person units themselves and Miwa’s unit is 4 people, so Jin, even with Arashiyama’s unit, is still 3 people short. But Jin counts as 3 people himself practically.

Naruto 642

Last time, it seemed like the group had landed a successful attack on Obito, Tobirama noting that the black balls surrounding him weren’t a factor in this case. But we see them gravitate back to Obito and clear away the Amaterasu flames.

Tobirama and Minato comment that he’s especially tough and even when they try to plan around the black balls, they’re too fast.

Tobirama also observes that something’s wrong with Minato’s Edo Tensei body. Enough time has passed that it should’ve started regenerating the arm he lost. Obito responds that any of their common sense can’t apply to him, since he’s on the level of the shinobi ancestors.

The Second then concludes that Obito’s using an Onmyouten (Yin Yang) jutsu that nullifies all other jutsu, supposedly how the original Sage of the Six Paths could. This means that even Edo Tensei aren’t immortal. In fact, they’re quite vulnerable and mortal.

Naruto prepares to go full Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, but Kurama tells him he has to wait a bit longer. He reverts to normal as Kurama prepares.

Gamakichi launches an attack, Obito trying to block it, but seemingly ineffective. Naruto wonders why he rushed and Gamakichi responds that the summoning time is running out. He then disappears. Everyone notices Obito can’t nullify the attack Gamakichi just launched.

Minato then asks why Obito is like this, remembering his dream to become Hokage. Obito responds that Minato’s always been late for life changing events, referring back to the times Minato wasn’t there and Obito was slowly growing insane and evil. Therefore, according to Obito’s logic, Minato can’t really lecture Obito on accomplishing his dreams. He even says that he’s glad his sensei was Hokage, so it was easier to abandon his dreams, probably referring to the fact that since Minato didn’t help him, he saw the futility of the present system and became the person he is now. Minato thinks back to when he fought Obito as Tobi. He considers that if he had known Tobi was Obito back then, he might’ve stopped him, and things wouldn’t have become how they are now.

Obito then mocks Minato, noting how he has fallen and how he is being embarrassed in front on Naruto. But Naruto says someone who hasn’t become Hokage can’t insult someone who has. Tobirama then teleports him behind Obito and he lands an attack. Everyone else is shocked and Tobirama notes what he and Naruto observed.  Gamakichi’s attack was a sage attack, so anything done in Sage Mode is considered a senjutsu attack. This is the new turning point for this battle. Since Obito is a sage, only sage powers will affect him, not normal ninjutsu or the like.

Minato even notes that Naruto’s learned Jiraiya’s senjutsu, showing how much Naruto has surpassed him. The chapter ends with the other half of Kurama talking to Minato, which I hope becomes relevant soon.

Naruto being the center of the fight makes sense and the sage mode is not completely phased out

One Piece 717

Last time, Luffy and Chinjao (Don seems to be a title, not his first name) clashed and afterwards, realizing Luffy can use Emperor’s Haki, asks what kind of king Luffy aspires to be, Luffy responding, obviously, the Pirate King. Chinjao responds that in the New World, there are countless people with the same will and Haki, and things will play out there, whoever is at the top in the end being the winner. He then asks who taught him to unleash his Haki, Luffy responding Rayleigh, a person Chinjao probably remembers, since he’s in the generation of Gol D. Roger, Garp and such.

Chinjao then starts to both scream in rage and simultaneously cry as he rants at Luffy, referring most likely to his past where Garp and the like took away his potential to be a great pirate.

Boo and Sai comment that Sai was supposed to be the major fighter, but they note that when Chinjao gets angry, there’s no stopping him. Chinjao speaks about his moniker, Chinjao the Drill (odd, since he is better known for his head that’s tough as iron) and asks Luffy what Garp did to him. Luffy, of course, doesn’t know and tells him to choose whether to be angry or cry, not do both.

Meanwhile, Sanji and Kinemon are outside the arena, Sanji noting that there are Marines situated outside, waiting for the pirates to come out. We see one of the vice admirals note that they had a spy in the colosseum and he hasn’t come back.

The toy soldier, whose name I don’t believe we know yet, explains to Franky that Doflamingo, since he’s been the king of Dressrosa, enforced two major laws: a midnight curfew and that toys and humans cannot be in each other’s houses. Franky asks why, since they seem to be so jovial otherwise. Franky then asks the question everyone’s been pondering since we first saw them: how can such advanced toys exist if not for Vegapunk?

He starts to explain, noting a toy that’s engaging with a human and is talking to her, insisting he’s her boyfriend, but she doesn’t recognize him. People say it has the “human” disease and it’s taken away, thrown into a pile of scrap, presumably, as he screams that he’s human.

He calls over another toy, who explains that he has a son and wife, but they don’t remember him as Franky and the toy soldier inquire to the two. 

The toy soldier then explains that the toys were previously human and the people forget them once they are turned into humans. This is the result of a Devil Fruit user Doflamingo employs. They head to Flower Fields, where he’ll explain it more fully

We see the fight between Doflamingo, Law and Isshou continue, Law trying to contact Nami.

We then go to Tontatta kingdom, where Usopp inquires about why they’re attacking Doflamingo, one of the gnomes explaining that he has 500 kidnapped members of their tribe, including their princess. The chapter ends revealing that they are hidden under Corrida Colosseum, which is also where the factory is. 

Everything’s starting to come together now.

Toriko 245

We start with a reiteration of Frohze’s request for Komatsu and Starjun rejecting it.

Elsewhere, we see Terrycloth and we find out where she’s rushed off to: Toriko, unconscious and bloodied from the fight with Starjun. She howls into the sky, people likely miles away able to hear it clearly, even knocking off one of Jirou’s buttons on his jacket

Suddenly Starjun pulls a Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho and a third eye sprouts in the middle of his forehead, mimicking the form of his intimidation, as shown later.

Frohze comments that this development means Starjun has “bloomed” and also notes that he was born with Gourmet Cell genetics. This means, I presume, that he naturally has Gourmet Cells, not like Toriko, who I believe was said to have been genetically engineered. Starjun’s becoming one of the most interesting characters in this series as of lately. He talks down to Frohze, saying he’s become much stronger after fighting with Toriko

Frohze responds that if it was one on one, maybe she could defeat him, but with Jirou and Setsuno there, she has to retreat. She also observes that the other major fight has concluded, hinted to be Midora versus Ichiryuu as Midora’s voice booms down.

Starjun then tells Jirou to release his knocking as a spice will fall and kill everyone if he doesn’t. He does so as the Bishokukai evacuates. Frohze does the same, using Tokage as a shadow teleporter to move all the other members of Neo away.

As Shigematsu is teleported away, we see Mansam remembering that Ichiryuu told him that if he dies, then Human World is in danger and he’ll leave it to Mansam and the like.

We see a few pages showing the potential destruction to come, meteors raining down and Setsuno and Jirou note that Ichiryuu lost to Midora as the chapter ends with the Meteor Spice crashing and explosions erupting everywhere.

I’m not entirely shocked that Ichiryuu lost, when you consider that most of his Gourmet Cells weren’t activated. Midora, on the other hand, kept activating his, so Ichiryuu was just asking to get his butt handed to him.

Not sure how this will play out. Toriko has to be healed from losing an arm and a leg, then they have to either train and fight off Neo to get stronger or go right to Bishokukai.

Ichiryuu’s death would be the first major death in this series and it would affect the power balance significantly, not unlike Whitebeard’s death in One Piece. Not sure how Toriko will be healed. Maybe Mohyan Shaishai, the super ancient Gourmet Revivalist, will have something to do with it. Or Yosaku could do something.

WSR 7-30-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

Magi 191

Last time we thought Alibaba and Kouen’s combination might have destroyed the medium, but that’s not the case. It at least severed the connection between the medium and “Father”, however

Aladdin wonders why Kouen’s flames are still going even though the Extreme Magic is over and Kouen replies that his flames can stay for all eternity until he dissipates them. He’s using them to destroy any Black Djinn that come out of the medium, eventually hoping to expend all its magoi that way.

As Kouen and Alibaba go to the lava flow to restore their magoi, tendrils come from the black spot and suck all the magoi and rukh from the lava flow, rendering it inert and black as if it’s dead. The Medium also sucks in all the black djinn as well. It then reconstitutes itself into a slender and tall humanoid entity. It’s somewhat skeletal in appearance and the skin it has resembles Mogamett’s, which is interesting, since he did contribute a lot of his black rukh and magoi in it as well.

Kouen is astounded at the new form and even notices Astaroth’s flames are disappearing. The giant doll form sucks out the rukh from the flames, turning it black as well. It then touches the ground and we see everything in the area around its hand lose its rukh and turn black, dead and lifeless. Aladdin realizes this and says it cannot get to Magnostadt. Kougyoku asks if it’s possible that it could do that, since supposedly only Il Irah could do such a thing. Gyokuen explains that the medium is already adjusting to Father’s power and is now starting to develop power. But like the Juubi in Naruto, it’s still in an infant stage

The giant slender doll thing then sprouts countless tentacle hands, looking like an eldritch horror. Alibaba attacks it as it tries to pull Il Irah down from the clouds. It counterattacks, blocking Alibaba’s attacks and then sending the tendrils after him, eventually grabbing him and throwing him down. Kouen takes his place, seeming to do more damage, but the monster quickly grabs him, sucking away his power. Kouen uses one of Astaroth’s flame dragons to cut the arm off, but even as he stands up, it’s revealed that the entity pulled off his Djinn equip, ripping skin off of his human body to expose muscles. The same happened to Alibaba’s arm that was struck.

Kougyoku is furious that Alibaba and Kouen have been attacked (she had developed a friendship with 

Alibaba and Kouen is her flesh and blood), using her own Djinn Equip and a powerful magic that creates spears from water. Gyokuen and the others in Al Sarmen say it won’t work, but the chapter ends with some of the spears piercing into the body. And this isn’t even her Extreme Magic she used against Sinbad. The chapter ends as a good deal of the water spears stab the body, pushing it back

I’m thinking it’s the element or the nature of the attacks that manages to effect the monster, but we’ll see next time. Maybe Hakuei and Kouha can contribute as well?

World Trigger 24

Main Border headquarters had a ship come in last time and we find out who’s in it this week. It’s the top A Rank group, with the #1 Sniper and #1 and #2 Attackers in Border. They’ve brought more Triggers from the Neighbor world, which Border plans to use to advance their technology further. The Sniper, Isami, complains that the ship is too small, but the tech expert of the admins explains that it’d use too much Trion if it was any bigger.

Boss Kido then gives them a new mission: to take out the Black Trigger that joined Tachikoma: Yuma. Miwa explains the situation, recapping their fight and the abilities of Yuma’s Trigger: to replicate other Trigger abilities. The group is surprised to hear that a Neighbor joined (though one of them observes that Tachikoma is the most sympathetic to Neighbors, their engineer being a Neighbor) but also that the balance of Border is threatened by Tachikoma, one of three factions in Border, having 2 Black Triggers.

They inquire about Yuma’s activity pattern, figuring out there’s a point every day that they can attack, since they want him to be alone, not wanting to take on all of Tachikoma.

One of the admins suggests making a plan, but Kei, the leader of the “Super” A Rank group, says they have to attack tonight. He explains that Yuma could be figuring out their powers as they speak, so they have to move as quickly as possible to secure his Black Trigger.

Back at Tachikoma, the others are impressed at Chika’s level of Trion, said to be Super A Rank, comparable with the Border members we just met at the beginning of the chapter. Konami says Yuma has great potential too, at least B rank already, A Rank once he gets used to Border Triggers.

Kyousuke suggests Osamu has some work to do, making a joke to lighten things up that Osamu said Konami was cute, which takes advantage of her gullibility. The group then starts training again, Osamu motivated to work harder to get to his comrades’ levels of skill and power, even if he has less Trion and less battle experience by comparison to Chika and Yuma respectively

The chapter ends as the Super A Rank trio goes to take down Yuma, but are intercepted on the way by Jin who moves to challenge all three.

This battle is hopefully not going to disappoint, since we’re talking about the only S rank Border member known in the series and one of only 2 people known to have a Black Trigger. He may have some problems, but the sheer level of Trion and the potential powers of his Black Trigger will make this battle something we’ll enjoy.

This series definitely has potential and it’s lasted longer than 2 other series I’ve read that were cancelled before they got to 20 chapters, but it would have to go past Cross Manage’s 42 chapters to warrant more confidence in its survival.

Naruto 641

Minato, Sasuke and Naruto were in danger from true Jinchuuriki Obito’s new powers, attaching one of his Tailed Beast bombs to Minato’s arm.

Tobirama comes in, however, and saves things, using his version of the Flying Thunder God technique, which Minato technically stole in a sense from Tobirama, the originator of the jutsu. He teleports himself and Obito away, the bomb exploding from a distance, everyone but Tobirama unscathed. Tobirama had managed to attach his seal when he made contact with Obito the last time in utilizing the Converging Explosion Seal

Meanwhile, Hashirama and Madara continue to fight, Madara talking as if he’s purposely fighting Hashirama to distract him from helping with the fight against Obito, though with Obito as he is, I’m not sure Madara realizes how large the gap is becoming between them.

Other ninja marvel at the sheer power of these two legends of the ninja world. They feel insignificant by comparison, but Shikamaru encourages everyone, still connected to the army as a whole with Ino’s jutsu. He says that they can still contribute, even if it’s small compared to others. Ino thinks to herself that Shikamaru has some potential to be Hokage, at least in bringing people together. He did succeed in keeping everyone from panicking and plunging into despair at the devastating power before their eyes.

It's revealed that Obito managed to defend himself from the blow at the last second, so this will be more difficult than previously thought.

Minato says he’ll create an opening with the technique we may never see, Tobirama agreeing. But before they even try to start, Sasuke uses Amaterasu, which Obito easily blocks. Sasuke and Naruto then start to move as a team to distract Obito while Minato and Tobirama reveal they have to use the Simultaneous Switching Flying Thunder God, a simple use of the technique with clones apparently not able to cut it for some reason I’m not quite sure of.

Sasuke reveals how he can sync his chakra so well with Naruto’s, through the use of his Sharingan. The two 

combine their major attacks into a much stronger one with both fire and wind elements

Tobirama appears behind Obito and as Sasuke and Naruto move closer to attack, Minato takes the attack, surprising everyone. This was intentional, catching Obito off guard from what he thought their strategy might be. He and Tobirama use their new technique, teleporting Obito in place of Minato, taking the attack of Sasuke and Naruto, while Minato and Tobirama get off scot free as well. The chapter ends as Hinata observes Sasuke and Naruto smiling, telling Sakura this.

I doubt this is the end of Obito, but the new techniques appearing one after another is a refreshing thing, since we haven’t had that for a bit.

I hope the Third Hokage comes back, and we still have to see what Hashirama and Madara will contribute to the battle overall.

One Piece 716

Last time we were introduced to more of the major fighters in C Block, especially the Funk Brothers. It’s revealed this time that Kerry Funk ate the Jake Jake no Mi and became a Jacket Man. When anyone wears him, he controls their thoughts and actions. He uses his brother’s huge and body that’s tough enough to withstand Haki enhanced blows to fight at full power. The chapter still doesn’t explain how he was able to block the blow, sadly

It’s interesting how it works. Kerry literally becomes flatter, turning into a jacket and then Bobby puts him on like clothes. One of the most unique Devil Fruits I’ve seen in this series.

Now that Boo’s out, his brother and grandfather are going after the Funk brothers duo. Kerry taunts Sai that Boo was defeated, Sai unable to help him. Sai responds that Boo slacked off on training, but emphasizes that because he is more dedicated, he won’t mourn his brother’s loss. Kerry throws a flurry of punches, but Sai manages to literally walk on the punches, seemingly moving in slow motion and taking out Kerry and Bobby with one blow, emphasizing that he will always support his men. He’s succeeded his grandfather as the head of the Flower Country’s navy, so he’s definitely stronger than his brother.

Don Chin Jao explains briefly to Luffy why he seeks revenge on Garp. Luffy’s grandfather stole Don’s fortune and took him down from his great position of power in the past. Luffy still insists he should take it up with Garp, but Don responds that Luffy should suffer so Garp can know what it’s like to lose something precious.

Jean Ango responds to Luffy as he tries to take back his hat that he’s been getting lots of money since Luffy did the prison break at Impel Down. His major targets now are the highest ranking prisoners, like Shiryu and Ivankov, among others. Apparently the Jail Break Team, as they’re called, wasn’t officially disclosed, since Buggy, one of the members, is now a Shichibukai. But Jean managed to find out. He’s frustrated that he can’t hit Luffy. But he managed to hit Don Chin Jao, who takes Jean out with one blow, slamming him into the wall near the arena.

On the other side of the arena, Sai and Ideo are fighting and are fairly evenly matched, which is surprising, since Ideo doesn’t necessarily appear to have Haki, though someone speculated he uses Haki to enhance his shoulders so he can punch harder.

Don Chin Jao and Luffy yell at each other across the arena, running to collide and in the heat of battle, they knock out Ideo and Sai, clashing in the middle with Haki enhanced punches, which sends a huge shockwave through the arena. This is only made more impressive as there’s seemingly electricity crackling between them, their Conqueror’s Haki colliding.

This battle certainly has potential, though I don't know how long it will last. The bigger fights will be in the finals or semifinals. But Don Chin Jao is fairly impressive as a fighter, so Luffy may have some difficulty at first.

Toriko 244

We were stunned to see Frohze’s face after Jirou cut away Joa’s cloak. Meanwhile the tsunami is still bearing down on the island.

Joa/Frohze seems to shed the cloak and jumps up, using her knife to literally cut through the tidal wave at the center, dissipating it. This, of course, astonishes everyone.

Setsuno recognizes the technique as Frohze’s, so she and Jirou tag team, Setsuno’s Waterfall Spit (Takitsuba, not Takitsubo like I said last time) changes form and Jirou puts on a clawed gauntlet. Their attacks blend together in a spiraling attack that comes up at Frohze in the form of a glowing canine face.

Frohze then activates her Gourmet Cells and gives a glare and then uses another skillful technique, blowing away the attacks.

Jirou and Setsuno discuss this briefly, Jirou saying her Goumet Cells showed themselves, meaning she’s fully tapped into their power. This suggests that she’s really Frohze, since only she and Acacia ate his full course. Jirou insists it must be Frohze, but Setsuno says otherwise, noting that the attack and the cells are the same, but the face when using God Cooking was different, not to mention Setsuno apparently has confirmation that Frohze is truly dead. My first theory is that this is an advanced clone using Frohze’s Gourmet Cells.

Frohze then notices the dragon thing that Starjun called a few chapters ago and we see Starjun carrying Komatsu. Frohze notes this and reveals Komatsu was the chef she was looking for and asks Starjun to hand him over. She refers to Starjun as the second strongest in Bishokukai, which means the only person stronger than him is Midora.

He responds, saying he realized that there were spies from Neo in the Bishokukai back in the Regal Mammoth arc.

Frohze repeats her request, but Starjun denies her, the chapter ending with their conflict on the horizon.

Somehow I don’t see Starjun winning, especially after taking such a beating from Toriko. Komatsu’s going to be captured either way, it’s more a matter of who. Neo being the new enemy would be a nice change, since the Bishokukai would be better as the final villains, especially with Midora. This Frohze clone (that’s my base theory) is definitely a step up.

This is feeling a bit like Bleach, though this is the first time they’ve had a rescue arc. We don’t know where Neo’s headquarters is, but I’d imagine it’s in the Gourmet World. Buranchi may join the group to save Komatsu, especially since he’s gained a new respect for Komatsu in this.

And everyone is going to wonder if anyone’s going to technically win the Cooking Fest, which is the last thing on most people’s minds now.

Fairy Tail 346

Natsu had suffered the same fate as Erza last time and now we go back to Erza, who finds out that she can still use her magic, but it expends more magic and the exquip takes longer.

Suddenly, Minerva appears and Erza recognizes the seal. It turns out Minerva didn’t make a new guild, she just changed from Sabertooth to Succubus Eye, which is a dark guild, doing illegal underworld activities. Minerva challenges Erza, knowing that she doesn’t stand much of a chance in her present state. Erza thinks Minerva caused the time regression, but Minerva says it was another member of the guild, noting all the amazing magics you can find in the underworld of guilds

Meanwhile, Natsu is still confused, thinking the guy in question is a thief, but he responds that he’s a mage. Natsu tries to fight, having similar difficulties adjusting like Erza did. Even his magic is weaker, which he says is weird, since he used fairly powerful Dragon slayer magic as a kid. The user, still unnamed, explains that the magic’s primary purpose is to weaken the target’s abilities. Turning into a kid is a secondary effect and doesn’t actually effect time itself. So this is technically a debilitating magic. Even Natsu’s defenses are weakened, a single punch sending him flying 20 feet away

Natsu changes tactics, acting like there’s something amazing behind his opponent and then running away in the confusion.

Pulling down his bandana across his face, the Succubus Eye member reveals that he’s not a human, referring to himself as a non human. So there are demi humans/beast people in this world, it seems.

Wendy and Lucy are still looking for Gray and are being followed by Sylph Labyrinth, unsuccessfully hiding themselves as cats. After realizing they’re not fooling Wendy and Lucy, they decide to go on the offensive. 

After Wendy explains that they’re trying to help the giants, the treasure hunters respond that they don’t care, attacking the stone giant, cracking it a bit. Wendy attacks in frustration. She and Lucy resolve to fight, but the sniper’s causing them issues. But out of nowhere, Flare from Raven Tail appears to support them, making this a fair fight, 3 on 3.

The chapter ends with an observation that Flare’s guild crest has changed, but it isn’t Fairy Tail or Raven Tail. That question will hopefully be answered next time.

A fight of purely men vs. women would be interesting, especially with Flare’s sex appeal factoring in.

The fact that there are more than 2 races in the Fairy Tail world, 4 if you count the giants, is a nice development, since we’ve basically been stuck with a world with humans and anthropomorphic talking cats. Now we have demi humans and giants to consider as well. I would hope the lore gets explained more.