Mmm, needs more progess.
Chapter 302: Eclipse Plan
What Went Down: Arcadios introduces himself to the group and takes them to the castle to showcase the Eclipse plan. We find it is a doorway that allows one to go into the past which he hopes to do so to stop Zeref from becoming immortal. All that's needed is 12 Celestial Keys and an Eclipse to activate it (i.e. the one coming on July 7th). Durton (the head of Secretary) catches the group and has Arcadios, Yukino and for some reason, Lucy, arrested. The rest are thrown out though Durton states if they win the tournament there's a chance they can get their friend back.
- Important Things of Note
1) Finally find out the Eclipse Plan and why Lucy was needed. 2) Time travel is indeed involved 3) The games are a front for powering the device 4) Lucy is arrested, but if the group win the tourney the may be able to save her.
Cheers and Jeers:
Huh so this is the big hullabaloo we've been building up to. A magical doorway to unlock the past. Well that pretty much confirms the whole time travel thing. I had a feeling the Celestial World was going to be involved in some form or another. Guess that episode at the beach and the missing three months had meaning after all. Heh nice sneaky foreshowing Mashima. I can kinda see the concern though, after all if you're invited to go into that world, there's no problem to be had. But if you try to force your way in like they're most likely trying to do here. There's a good chance something bad gonna go down. Maybe it wasn't Acnologia but this device going haywire and causing mass devastation.
And why I'm I not surprised that there was a hidden meaning behind the tournament, there always is in cases like this. I couldn't help but be reminded of the King of Fighters games when Aracdios mentioned that all the magic used is siphoned into the door (though again Mashima IS a gamer). I swear if I see someone named "Loveable Igniz" pop up, I'm gonna punch someone. =P
All joking aside there wasn't really much to the chapter, some more exposition and Lucy getting captured just not in the way anyone expected. It does raise a question why Durton wanted her arrested. He does seem rather sincere in keeping the timeline safe and from what we've seen of Aracdios, may indeed be justified in his actions. I guess he's just keeping her locked up out of paranoia, you know "well intentioned extremist" and all. Though wouldn't the smart thing to do is let Lucy go and just tell her to forget the door? Keeping her in a place that's right next to it with a person bent on activating it just screams disaster waiting to happen. And I can understand this is to give extra incentive for the fairies to win the final battle due to his advice, but it seems like a really flimsy setup though. Meh.
Final Grade: C
We get the overall focus of the plan and learning little by little. But this chapter was just mostly talking and what little that does happen comes too late, very clumsily, and with a very awkward cliffhanger. It's not bad though just nothing spectacular. I hope that does it for all the inbetween stuff, I'm ready to move on to the final game.