Fairy Tail 355-356
One of these chapters was good, the other... not so much.
However, the one I liked is probably the opposite of most people posting about it here. Chapter 356 was unfortunately tragic (the whole council, almost all killed? Really?), and seems like the setup for an arc that could be unpleasant, depending on how Mashima goes about it; I'm sure it'll end well in the end, but what will happen before that point?
As for chapter 355, though, I don't care what anyone says, it was good! Mixed bathing chapter where they get used to it (even though all except for Erza and the old guy are at least somewhat embarrassed, I think)? That's great. The usual scene in anime would involve fountains of blood every time, Nagasarete Airantou-style, ignoring that they SHOULD be getting at least somewhat used to it given how often they end up naked... it's really dumb there, but here it was done much better. So yeah, that was good. If you were going to have a scene like this, Mashima alright.
And also, the chapter also progressed the plot forward a bit with some information about the Book of Zeref, and had a quite well done bit in the middle where the old guy told them Mavis's words... almost moving, really, and perfectly fitting to the series' main themes. Overall, this short "village of giants" arc was fun beginning to end; it's just too bad it ended so soon.
So yeah, that last arc (with the village of giants) was good enough, but this next one? Ugh, not off to a good start.
