nana_soto

gojou satoru ✩ episode 7

— bonus:

And THIS juvia With THIS gray

What about THIS juvia With THIS gray?

Ok now THIS juvia With THIS gray (Idky but it started to get hot here🔥)

And finally THIS juvia With THIS gray

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

THESE PICTURES MATCH

❆ Dedicated to all the Gruvia fans ♡

“—juvia’s life belongs to gray-sama.” “—you’re mine.”

Wow, it’s been so long since I wrote a chapter review. I can’t believe this is truly the final chapter. It doesn’t feel like it’s actually over, and I guess that’s because the ending doesn’t really feel like an ending? And I think that’s partly what Mashima was going for.

But, I’ll talk about the the general stuff later. First I’m going to focus on the ships, as that was such a main part of the chapter anyway. 

First of all, IMO, all the major ships are canon. Nalu is canon. Gruvia is canon. Jerza is canon. And Gajevy is (obviously lmao) canon. 

I’m going to be honest, though, I was disappointed to an extent, and that’s largely because we, the fans, didn’t get that 499 was Gray’s answer. So, I’m going to backtrack, and talk about that chapter again first.

Juvia got that Gray’s actions and words in 499 was his answer, that’s why she said his words made her happy at the time. But the fans wanted more. Gray was never a direct person. He shows his feelings with actions, not words. And there was nothing greater he could do, than kill himself, in order to prevent himself from hurting HER any further. Like he said, he wanted to protect Juvia at all costs. And we’ve seen him do just that, again and again over the years. 

But 499 was different. We saw Juvia take action first, and knew why she was doing it, and Gray likewise, took the same actions, for the same reasons, and Juvia knew it. And WE knew it. We knew why. We knew then that Gray’s feelings were mutual. But we still thought there would be more. Something more direct. But like I said, and like we knew, Gray isn’t one for words. And because Juvia understands him on a different level, she doesn’t need him to say anything. What he tried to say, and what he did, was enough for her. 

We should have got it, because lover’s double suicide is such a huge statement in Japanese fiction and culture. 

But we didn’t get it.

 And that’s ok. 

Because I can look back now, taking away my expectations, and appreciating what we got. because 499 really gave us everything we had wanted, and really did show us Gray’s mutual feelings. 453 showed his mutual feelings. 416 showed his mutual feelings. Gruvia have gone canon about four times so far lmao. But we’re huge fans, and always wanted more. Again, something direct.

And yet, in THIS chapter, Gray was TOO direct lmao. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was expecting something sweet, something romantic, I was expecting a serious talk. And they kind of had all of that, but in a way that was very in character for Gruvia. It was their classic dynamic, except flipped on it’s head lol.

So, here’s how it came off to me. 

Obviously Gray is already stripped when we see him, and Juvia, as usual, reacts to it, by blushing, and being embarrassed, and taking a good look haha. But then she starts taking off her clothes, while Wakaba and Makao perv over her. Then we get more of Juvia wanting to take everything off (and she’s had too much to drink, so she’s also emotional, drunk Juvia at this point lol), and we have Gray, for the first time EVER, reacting to Juvia removing her clothing. This is HUGE for a number of reason:

a) Gray is blushing (blushy Gray, is best Gray).

b) Gray is trying to stop her

c) Gray has turned into Juvia lol!

Because the roles are reversed, aren’t they? Juvia is usually the one blushing, and freaking out over Gray randomly stripping. And it also shows growth and change in their relationship, because Gray has seen Juvia strip before. She did so several times during the Avatar/Alvarez arcs. But Gray never even seemed to notice before, let alone blush, and get upset by it!

Juvia was being ogled by Gildarts, who at first said girls shouldn’t drink, then he wanted Juvia to drink more, because it meant she’d take off more clothes haha. But we see Gray, angry at Juvia for stripping, and dragging her away as she apologizes. Again, their roles are completely flipped lmao. But I love it, because we know that Gray is being protective of her. Something MAJOR has changed in their relationship for Gray to be reacting this way now, in comparison to his non-reactions of the past. 

But here’s the best part, the SCARS. 

First of all, Juvia’s scar really should be in the middle of her torso, not the side, but I guess Mashima wanted to mirror the placement of Gray’s. It’s not a big deal, but something I definitely noticed lol. 

Anyway, I just really love that they both kept those scars, because they are a physical representation of their feelings for each other. But here’s the thing I saw some people complaining about, and I believe it’s because they don’t really understand what Gray is saying. 

Gray is upset that Juvia still has her scar. Not because it’s some sexist thing, but because seeing the scar reminds Gray of what he failed to do, and that is, he failed to protect Juvia. That scar is, to him, a representation of his weakness, and the hurt he thinks he caused her. Remember, before the war ended, he said he wanted to apologize to Juvia and thought of 499. 

Juvia protected him, and she died for him. And he doesn’t want that scar on her, because it brings back traumatic memories and guilt. We know Gray is someone who has a hard time letting go of things like that. He carried the guilt over Ur for a decade+, and he still probably carries it. 

We saw how devastated Gray was when he thought he failed to save Juvia. He never wanted her to die for him. And it wasn’t him. It was Wendy who ultimately saved her. And that scar marred her body. If it wasn’t for his failure, she wouldn’t have it. That’s how he sees it, IMO. So, that’s why he wants her to get rid of it. 

Not to mention, when he goes on to say, that men and women’s bodies are different, he is viewing her as something sacred. She’s so special and important to him, and again, in his eyes, he let her get hurt, and even caused some of that hurt. She’s been scarred because he couldn’t prevent it. 

Also, as far as I’m concerned, the dialogue doesn’t mean this is Gray’s first time seeing the scar. He stated, “it’s still there, huh.” So, we know he’s seen it before, because he knows it exists. Not to mention, surely, this is not the first time Juvia has stripped in front of Gray since she got it. It’s been a whole year since the war ended. So, no, I’m sure he’s seen the scar plenty of times before. But he doesn’t like to see it, and perhaps he never brought it up before, and Mashima is making him bring it up now for our sakes, so they can have this conversation.

Juvia says she doesn’t mind the scar, and points out Gray’s hypocrisy, since he also kept his scar from when he also tried to kill himself in order to save her life.

I personally love that they both chose to keep their scars. Gray has said before that his scars are important to him. He has his Lyon scar, and his Ultear scar, and his Juvia scar is the biggest of all. Neither have rid their bodies of these scars, even though they could via Wendy, because it represents what they would go through for each other. It’s a mark of their love, and how deep it goes. And I think that’s beautiful. 

But Gray gets really agitated and starts arguing that men and women’s bodies are different! He starts talking specifically about Juvia’s body, and this leads Juvia to question, what about her body? 

Gray immediately gets so very blushy. His pupils are dilated. he’s looking down at her, with her breasts exposed, and you can tell he’s thinking hard during that major pause he took haha. And then Gray says the most gloriously pervy thing ever, which is that her body (or Juvia herself, depending on the translation) is his!!! 

I died hahahaha. 

I never, in a million years, would expect Gray to say something so blatantly sexual to Juvia. And that leads to my next point. In my opinion, Gray wouldn’t say something that forward suddenly, if they weren’t already together. I can’t see him starting a relationship with THAT, and certainly not after a whole year of nothing between them at all. 

As I said, 499 was the answer. A whole year has passed since the war. I find it immensely hard to believe, that they weren’t in a relationship during this chapter. The way Gray was reacting to Juvia here (the blushing, the anger at her stripping, how protective he was being, and his words) all indicate that they were already together at this time. Whether they were also sexually active, I really don’t know. But depending on the translation, I think it’s very possible they could already be so, considering he said her body is his haha. That’s something a boyfriend would say if he had already had her body, if you know what I mean. ^_~

The stuttering of “ers” and “ums” that preceded and followed the statement, as well as the “maybe” seemed to me like he was embarrassed to be saying it all aloud. I equate it to a guy saying something he realizes might have crossed a line with his girlfriend, and trying to make it ok, but adding a “if that’s ok with you, dear!” And we know for a fact he was embarrassed, because he was blushing so hard the entire time, and even had to look away from her. ^-^

But, again, Juvia knew exactly what he meant by his words, and again, Juvia reacted positively with hearts all over the place. And her classic “Juveeeen!” as a sound effect haha! 

Juvia got what he was saying, and she liked it. She was definitely very happy with his words. And like I said, I think at this point, they are already together. Otherwise, I think Juvia’s reaction would have been even more extreme than it was. It just seemed like Gray was admitting something aloud, that he had never admitted before, and she enjoyed that haha. 

Plus, it reminded me of when Juvia said in 499 that her life would forever, and always belong to Gray. There were just so many throwbacks to 499, to reemphasize that was the beginning of their relationship. That’s when everything was decided between the two of them. And this comment was just him boldly stating their relationship status haha. The only thing that would have made it better, was if Gray followed “you’re mine,” with “and I’m yours.”

Also, I loved Wendy’s reaction to what Gray said, because it gave it even more weight and context. Wendy reacted even more strongly to Gray’s very sexual words, than she did when Levy mentioned the baby to Gajeel,  by adding the gesture of covering her mouth. She knows what Gray just said was a HUGE deal, and something too scandalous for her young ears lol! And it’s great, because I am always in favor of sexy Gruvia traumatizing Wendy hahaha! ^-^

Even Lucy is narrating how she was observing all the different couples/relationships, and Gray and Juvia were ones that “got along,” as she puts it. ^_~

Basically, all signs to me, indicate that Gray and Juvia have been an item for a while, and this is us getting to see them as a couple. 

I know a lot of people wanted the timeskip, and the marriage, and the babies so badly. I understand. I wanted it, too. But it was never a priority to me. It was always going to be a bonus to their canon moment. I guess I felt that way, because I didn’t want to say goodbye to the characters I had grown to love so much. Introducing the next generation, meant putting a lot of these characters on the back-burner. Especially for my favorite character, Juvia. 

I have no doubt, if Juvia was married to Gray, and became a mom, that’s what she’d do from now on. She’d be mostly a stay-at-home mother, because that’s just the kind of character she is. She is very domestic, and not very interested in battling. She does it, because she has to, to protect the people she loves. Not that we’d go very in depth with a next gen, even if Mashima happened to introduce them. BUT, i like the idea that the story ends while they are still young, and having adventures together. And I think Mashima liked that idea, too, and that’s why he chose to do things this way. 

Also, it’s rare to see characters in shounen in actual romantic relationships, without skipping ahead into marriage and kids. Like i said, I think it’s incredibly likely Gray and Juvia are already together at the time of this chapter, and this is us getting to see their dynamic as a couple. And that’s pretty exciting to me. And as we saw, Gray and Juvia as a couple, gave us blushy, tsun, jealous, Gray declaring Juvia as his, and wanting her body. I wholly approve of this kind of dynamic ohoho! ^_~ I didn’t think we’d ever see blushy Gray again, and I’m so glad he’s back. *-* 

Plus, I love Gray being protective of Juvia, because her body isn’t just her concern, but his, too, because they are together,. That’s how I ultimately see his comment. It was a very intimate thing to say, and that’s pretty awesome. ^-^

Also, i have to talk about Gruvia on the cover of the magazine. How freaking cute were they? I now have a problem, because, first that autumn of romantic love postcard was the cutest Gruvia picture in existence. Then it was the kitty ears Gruvia picture. Then it was that recent blushy Gruvia sketch with their heads up against each other. And now this! SO MUCH CUTE!!!!

So, as far as the gruvia goes, was it what i wanted? No.Would I have liked more? Always haha. I didn’t get my gruvia kiss, that I so very badly needed. Honestly, if I could improve this at all, it would be to see some undeniably romantic physical contact between them. So, that makes me sad to know we’ll never get it now (unless mashima surprises us one day with extra content, which I’m all for lol). 

BUT, I am happy that Gruvia is finally canon. And sad, that they’ve basically been canon for a while, and I couldn’t appreciate it for what it was at the time lmao. 

Now, after that book I just wrote lmao, I’ll touch on the rest of the chapter. 

Like i said, Nalu is canon. The slight tease at the beginning, with Gajeel accusing Natsu of having a crush on Anna because she smells like Lucy, and him calmly agreeing was too funny! Gajeel was even shocked and blushy, and Lucy was certainly blushy, too, which says it all lol! 

But I really loved that whole scene with Lucy waking up back at her house, and realizing she made Natsu do all kinds of things (carry her home, change her clothes, and sleep with her). It was both cute and hilarious! “I can never be a bride!!!” ;_; LMAO

And it was sweet seeing all her memories, and realizing how far she came because of Natsu being there beside her. And that HUG!!! And Natsu being Natsu, and not doing what Lucy was clearly hoping he would do (give her a kiss!!!) was pretty in character, so i can’t fault it, even though I wish it had happened. Besides, the words Natsu spoke afterwards said it all, IMO. They will be together forever. That’s totally lovers/proposal talk if you ask me. And Lucy knew that, too. 

Jerza got screwed. I mean, there’s no other way to say it, honestly. They deserved so much more. I remember when I thought they’d be the first to go explicitly canon. i remember when I thought they be the ones to either get a wedding, or implied sex at the end of the series. Because they’ve been mutually in love the longest.

That being said, I do get what Mashima was doing with their scenes.

Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciery were pardoned and free, and that’s good. That’s what needed to happen. But to deny them scenes so often throughout the series, and for so long? And then not have them interact, and decidedly together at the end? No. That’s not cool. Yes, Mashima was basically implying/teasing that they might already be together/seeing each other (that “Erza brushing her hair every day” comment), but they should have had more than that. It wasn’t nice to their fans, or the characters IMO. 

However, that being said, I’ve thought Jerza were canon since the Oracion Seis arc, or if we’re being picky, then certainly since that (almost?) kiss. I don’t like when people say “oh, couples need to obviously be in relationships (marriage and kids!) in order to be canon. Mutual feelings =  canon to me. And always has. 

Gajevy basically got what we already knew they were supposed to get, which was those twins from the light novel being absolutely confirmed on the way, and also showing that they were definitely in a relationship. Again, like with Gruvia, Wendy’s reaction said it all lol.

I thought the bit of Elfever was cute. I don’t really care much about Kinana and Cobra, but it’s nice, I guess? 

Now, the things I didn’t like. 

I’m happy that Lucy is a successful author, BUT I felt like the party should have been at the guild, rather than an award ceremony for Lucy. I would have loved to see everyone getting drunk and rowdy in celebration in the guild one last time, just like the old days.

I also wish there hadn’t been a one year timeskip. FT never does timeskips well. I hate them all haha. If it had to be a timeskip, I wish we had a massive one with the marriage and kids thing (even if I didn’t need it), OR the timeskip was really short (like a month). 

Because Natsu taking so long to tell Lucy what he wanted to do after the war (even if he was waiting on permission), and the dynamics of some of the couples a whole year later, was questionable after so much time had already passed. 

Also, I shipped Miraxus, so while I appreciated that tease, I didn’t like that they made Laxus some kind of playboy, like Mashima couldn’t decide, and just chose to throw a bone to most of the Laxus pairings he knew about lmao.

I did not like that Makarov didn’t give Laxus the guildmaster position. I thought it should have happened. i wanted it to happen. It feels like Laxus’ story was left partly unresolved in a way. And, well, Makarov should be dead. So, it sucks that he’s still there. Die, Makarov. Die. 

The thing I’m most angry with, though, was the Zeref and Mavis scene. It was so unneeded. They had such a great ending. They got so much material in such a short amount of time in the series (more than most of the major couples in the series). Them dying together, and being together in the afterlife, after having lived so long, was fitting. So, I thought bringing them back, and devoting so many pages (FIVE!) on them with this weird reincarnation scene, was really off-putting. 

Not to mention, poor August! They never knew he was their child. Mavis didn’t even know he existed. I thought we were going to get a scene with them meeting him in the after life, and finally being a happy family together. And instead, we get this. WHY? I’m sorry to anyone who liked this, but I felt it took away from how their story ended, and took away time from characters who needed it more in this final chapter. 

As for the 100 year quest, that’s not something I dislike. As other have said, it’s just a quest that’s so difficult, it hasn’t been completed in a 100 years. That’s what Natsu wanted to do after the war. I’m sure, with the incredibly over-powered team they have, they will get the job done in no time. For example, I’m not worried about characters like Juvia, who were left behind. If anything, Juvia could always go to Gray if he needs her (or she needs him lol). They have “communication Lacryma” now, so he could always call her. And, they can always come back whenever they want. It’s not like they are going to disappear. 

And it was fitting to end the series on the original “strongest team.”

It’s not the ending I thought we’d get. I’m not 100% happy with it by any means. There are tons of things I would have done differently. BUT, it was very Fairy Tail, Everyone did get their happy endings for the most part. And, now we get to imagine what happened during that one year after the war, and how do they continue on from here? That’s a lot of room to play with in fandom content, which is great.

ALL THE CUTE.

The Fairy Tail fandom is in a sensitive place right now. Some people are happy, some are disappointed, and others are somewhere in the middle. That is the case with the Gruvia scene as well, since many of us expected something more. However, the thing that most people agree on is that Gruvia is indeed canon. Lets take a look at the breakdown.

We see a drunk Juvia attempting to take off her clothes, in a manor very reminiscent of Gray stripping. As we all know, Juvia adopted this habit while they were living together back in the Avatar arc. Gray’s reaction to her stripping now strongly contrasts his reaction back then. He used to have NO reaction. But since it was confirmed Gray does have feelings for Juvia back in chapter 499, his reaction to her showing her body off now is very profound. We first see Gray blushing while exclaiming that she needs to stop this act. Adding fuel to the fire, Gildarts visibly ogles the increasingly naked Juvia. Gray was not having that. Not. One. Bit.

Then Gray continues to physically drag Juvia somewhere else privately, criticizing her for publicly stripping.  It’s ironic because Juvia has scolded Gray for stripping in the past on numerous occasions, but now the shoe is on the other foot. Gray has taken on Juvia’s previous role, acting protective, and embarrassed, implying that Gray’s feelings are mirroring Juvia’s once again.Gray also dragged Juvia off, just as Juvia had once done to him when she wanted to be alone with him before the GMG. Back on topic, Juvia apologizes to Gray, as he inspects her body, which leads into a conversation about their respective scars. This is important because, since the beginning of Fairy Tail, Mashima-sensei has highlighted how significant scars are when it comes to Gray. Not only that, but these scars are proof of how far the two are willing to go for one another. A symbol of their love for each other. 

Gray asks if Juvia can have Wendy remove the scar, but Juvia doesn’t mind it and points out the fact that he still has his, too. Gray immediately retorts back saying it’s different because he’s a man and she’s a woman. Scrambling to justify himself, Gray mentions Juvia’s body, and is cut off by her questioning him.

Gray is now the one ogling her body with a huge blush as she sits in a seductive pose staring up at him. Unable to come up with a good response, he embarrassingly states that she is his. Still having elements of a tsundere, Gray tries to play the situation off while being heavily flustered. Despite this, Juvia understands him and becomes love struck. In the Japanese raw, Gray says “ore no mono da”, which is translated as “you belong to me” or “you are mine”. However it’s a line that only implies the subject, so when taking context into consideration, Gray could also be saying that Juvia’s body is his as well. Meaning Gray is actually asking for/suggesting sex. That’s a big deal for a character like him.

Regardless of translation, Gray is into Juvia, and they have most likely been in a relationship for quite some time considering this is a year after the war. Gray wouldn’t be saying something so blatantly sexual to her if they weren’t already together, and Gray is also so comfortable stating something this openly to her. He would not have waited a year to answer her, so either the answer we have all been waiting for was off paneled (which still makes no sense), or it was chapter 499 as a whole. 

In Mashima-sensei’s mind, 499 was an answer. Gray stated that Juvia wasn’t a friend, that he wanted to protect her no matter what, and Juvia said Gray’s words made her happy. Juvia understood at that point that their feelings were mutual. 453 was just the same. Gray was grateful to her for always being by his side, and asked her to wait until after the war for his answer. She smiled knowingly there, aware even then what Gray meant, and what his answer would be.

Smooth Gray smooth

In addition, in the Harvest Festival art book, Mashima-sensei commented under the Gruvia postcard, which was labeled autumn of romantic love, that he went on the attack with this specific drawing, and he drew it when the main story was about Gruvia. Coupled with the most recent twitter sketches, including the one which showed an intimate moment between a blushy Gray and Juvia, their foreheads touching and both smiling happily, showcases that he had already given us the answer long ago.

Also, after Wendy overheard Gray’s words to Juvia, she had the exact same, flustered reaction to what Gray said, as she did when she overheard Levy mention a “baby” to Gajeel. Thus, Mashima-sensei is implying that Gray and Juvia are also in an adult relationship. Lucy had been narrating about other couples, and what had happened in the year. She states that Gray and Juvia have also gotten close/along, which parallels Gajeel and Levy (who are explicitly canon with the same “getting along” line). In official English translations in anime and manga, the phrase “getting along well” often is used as a comment on a couples romantic relationship.Their relationship over the year timeskip has likely been slowly progressing in a private but known manner. When talking about relationships, it is clear Lucy sees Gray and Juvia as a couple.

Another common concern that has been raised, is about Gray going out on a hundred year quest. Bear in mind, the 100 year quest is not a quest that lasts for a hundred years. It is a quest that has been available for a hundred years and not been completed, which indicates the difficulty of the quest. It was something Gildarts could not do alone. However, we have five incredibly powerful mages embarking on the quest. We see Juvia in the guild interacting with her fellow guild mates without concern. This indicates a secure status in their relationship.

Not to mention, Mashima-sensei clearly wanted to end the series on Team Natsu for nostalgic reasons. A couple does not always have to go on a mission together.