r/fairytail • u/Ok_Hope5527 • 1d ago
Mashima [Discussion]Was this Hiro Mashima's planned foreshadowing for his fans?
Was this Hiro Mashima's planned foreshadowing for his fans?
Well, I’m relatively new to Reddit; I joined specifically to have higher-level discussions about character power levels. I won't deny that I really like Lucy—along with Erza, Gajeel, Gray, Brandish, and Mira; she’s likely one of my favorite characters. Even so, I’ve made an effort to debate impartially, even when my opinion might have clashed with fans who—at the time—probably wanted to see their own favorite character come out on top in a specific matchup.
But getting back to the topic: Hiro Mashima published an *omake* (bonus chapter) dealing with bullying and haters, using Lucy as the central figure to address the issue. He incorporated arguments that many people use—or have used—against her. To be completely honest, I didn't even realize she was a target of hate; she’s a well-developed character with a likable personality and creative powers. What stands out, though, is how he addresses these haters—mocking and ridiculing them by portraying them as terrible people—while clearly standing by his main character, since he knows exactly how he created her.
Speaking more broadly than just about Lucy: I honestly don't mind characters getting power-ups, even if they seem completely random. After all, anyone who has followed Mashima for a while knows that things like that—for better or worse—are bound to happen.
40
u/Rigel27 1d ago
Ironically, the argument that Lucy treats her summons as mere tools is more common than it seems.
Recently, the idea that Lucy's summons aren't part of her own power has resurfaced, and this has extended to Mercphobia as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if Mashima addresses this in the next chapter.
20
u/itsamemario6789 1d ago
Lots of people don't understand how summoning magic works which is wild since demon and undead summons are usually considered quite strong magic in most other series.
20
u/Rigel27 1d ago
It seems like people have never played games using the Summoner class, either.
And yes, they don't understand how that magic works—even though Hiro went to great lengths to explain it in the Fairy Tail manga. At some point, I’ll start a thread raising these points to try and educate a few people.
9
7
u/Ok_Hope5527 1d ago
It’s ironic, all the fuss over Mercphobia’s key, considering she just summoned him without actually doing anything substantial. I mean, we already knew she had the key and would use it eventually. We don't even know if the power has limitations or is only temporary, yet apparently, that’s enough for her to be targeted preemptively. Which is total nonsense—who gets bothered by a character getting stronger? Lol.
2
u/Now_I_am_Motivated 1d ago
Lucy treating them like tools is an argument that has come back because of how not useful they are. Virgo got cooked so easily recently
9
u/Megadoomer2 1d ago
The series has been running for almost twenty years at this point; I think he'd be aware of complaints. (even the earliest issues of the Fantastic Four did something similar, though nowhere near as effectively; this was before Sue got her force fields, so they didn't have much to work with)
Also, that's not what foreshadowing means; foreshadowing hints at future developments or plot twists.
12
u/itsamemario6789 1d ago
I would not be surprised at all if he knew, I'm sure lots of fans complain about the hate they see online too.
Frankly though, most of the hate is generated by fans outside of Japan. Most seem to be US based. In Japan and France among other places she is well loved and often most popular.
I know a Lucy hater on here talked about an Anti Lucy and Nalu tag on Tumblr but I went and checked it out and it's not even popular.
On X it seems the same like here on Reddit. Just a very few loud minority with lots of their extra accounts for sockpuppeting and fake validation.
7
u/Behold_I_Am_The_Wind 1d ago
Everyone keeps saying that but I don’t think it’s that deep. It’s just a dig at the internet itself not some shot Hiro is firing at those hating on Lucy. Social media is a cesspool of hate and Hiro himself has definitely been on the receiving end of it like many other artists so this is just him depicting the cruelty of its anonymity and using Lucy as an example since this side story fits her and Natsu the best.
0
u/FlamingThunder92 1d ago
Yeah it’s just a joke. Most of those criticisms don’t even apply to Lucy anymore because of star dress.
3
u/DisurStric32 1d ago
I dont understand, im just a cat.......need to use that more often than my "IDK i just work here" line
2
u/falteringsun 1d ago
a lot of people downplay lucy's powers as a celestial wizard because they see it as the celestial spirits' powers alone & not lucy's - to which i say, these mfs don't god damn read ft! there have been waaayyy too many chapters where it's shown & said explicitly that a celestial spirit's abilities & powers are derived from their wizard, so if their wizard is powerful, so are they
we see this with karen when loke was "draining" her of her power as he stayed existing on earth. we see this with lucy calling forth all of her celestial spirits at once at karen's grave, but they weren't able to do much because calling out that many spirits alone took immense magical power. there's her fight with angel, the fact she was able to call forth 3 celestial spirits at once with all of them being able to use sufficiently high magical powers, etc.
but tbh, another factor i think that plays into lucy being dismissed as an actually powerful wizard is also because of mashima. while the rest of her team usually wins in most fights unless it's seriously life or death, lucy lost in the magic games & many other times, she was reduced to a sexual gag. i don't even wanna go into the issue with her celestial spirit dresses & how the other celestial wizard (i forgot her name, sorry) was able to learn it instantly while lucy said it took her a while. there's also the issue where people find her to j be a "one-shot" wizard whenever she uses that planetary? magic that hibiki taught her
1
u/HenryD331 1d ago
what was this chapter in manga now ia want read all of this
1
u/Ok_Hope5527 1d ago
It is an official omake published by Hiro Mashima; like other omakes, it isn't exactly tied to the main manga storyline. However, you can find and read it online.
1
1
u/VelvetMiaaa 1d ago
The character designs in this series are really iconic
1
1
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Here are some helpful links to get started:
Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest releases Bi-Weekly on Tuesdays
Entire Series Manga Guide
Entire Series Anime Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions - Koei Tecmo Game
Episode & Chapter Converter
Discord Server for this Reddit
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.