I have huge problems with POF.This is a simple easy trick for the protagonists to defeat stronger opponents. The most important problem is this takes away any tension in the plot simply because we already know good people are going to win anyway.
Erza is the most culprit of this,Natsu using Flames of Savage Emotions can easily be covered under the top 10 worst moments in entire manga history,Gray using POF to beat Invel in base while earlier he needed Des magic stalemate him are the few examples of it.
It is not like that other mangakas don't use POF at all.But at least in better series's there are repercussions for it.Let's take Hunter x Hunter for example. Gon used POF to amplify his power to utmost limits and reached his prime(this thing might have influenced Hiro in using Third origin) but he nearly died after this and was in coma for many days and lost his nen ability which he has not recovered. These repercussions are absent in FT.
I don't think that there is really any examples where someone wins with a oneshot when their opponent was completely outclassing them. Even when the opponent is stronger, it's never really to the point where they would be beat easily and then all of a sudden win. If the enemy is stronger then a powerup such as dragon force or the magic from the tenrou tree comes.into play. As well as nerfing of the opponent like what they did against hades and acnologia.
You're always entitled to your opinions, but personally, I thought that Erza vs. Azuma was actually a great example of a character pretty much oneshotting their opponent when they were being outclassed for most of the fight.
Azuma even spared Erza from being nerfed by the fallen Tenrou Tree since he wanted to have a fair fight with Erza at her strongest.
In3separate instances, Azuma engulfed Erza in a major pillar explosion, which even knocked Erza unconscious for a bit. Meanwhile, Erza barely got a few decent hits on Azuma throughout the entire fight.
Then, at the very end, Erza just used one unnamed slash attack and defeated Azuma in a single strike.
Well in almost every case, fits what you mean by trigger as their emotions are what drives them. And as for limits, I don’t really see feeling emotions to have limits, it’s almost asking to limit how much you breath. Also for Erza, almost every Shonen Manga needs an OP character that can do ridiculous feats. With Erza however she has been subject to defeats or outside aid around the ending of the series
I agree emotions don't necessarily have limits. But a physical fight is not just about emotions only. Otherwise, no character should ever have to struggle in a battle, which is not the case for many of FT fights. There have been times where FT characters had a tough time beating their opponents.
Basically, a fight consists of 2 elements:
Physical Fight = Power (has a limit) + Emotions (no limits)
When a character is severely injured - like Erza who had 90% of her bones broken - then there should be a limit to how much she can move and maintain consciousness.
Emotions help a character win, but how much energy they have and the amount of injuries that they sustain are also important factors in the outcome of a battle.
Emotions are important in a Magician, in almost all Fictions they play a vital role and in FT has always highlighted that importance of the Feelings and Emotions to be able to be enhanced.
It is the Moral that allows you to move forward, that gives you the strength to move forward, and even many Magics empower your user with the power of Feelings and the same characters have said it from the beginning.
Natsu uses emotional Fire, one that is powered by more powerful feelings, Natsu that must be someone emotional from the beginning or otherwise his strength would be limited.
Lucy's magic comes from love, and the spirits say it, the greater the love she has for the Spirits, the more powerful they will be.
Juvia depends a lot on emotions to enhance her power, the greater her Feelings the more powerful she will be and we have seen that in her fights.
Erza clearly is a woman whose feelings allow her to move forward, if these are low her power is limited, but when she begins to think about her family, she nourishes her motivation with her emotions and feelings so that her magic increases.
I agree that the fights are not just about emotions, and their not. Sometimes there are strategies and sometimes they have massive willpower.
I do not see just because Erza is injured that way should not take away from how incredible her durability is. Like many other characters from different mangas that survived and kept fighting from much worse than she did. But in the end, Erza did technically lose
Well Azuma definitely wasn't scratchless here but you are overlooking the magic boost that Erza got from the tenrou tree. Azuma lost control of the energy with the second terra clamare and it went back to protecting erza and making her stronger
The "magic boost" that Erza got from the Tenrou Tree was technically considered PoF in my opinion. Azuma's magic already destroyed the link between the Tenrou Tree and the FT members by tearing it down.
In theory, I don't see how he could lose control of the magic power. It was only after Erza thought about Jellal and Natsu that, all of a sudden, "the power of her friends" were protecting her.
You could say that Erza's PoF is what caused Azuma to lose control of the magic, even though that doesn't make any sense.
And that's what PoF is - it makes an enemy's magic (Azuma, in this case) useless, for no apparent reason. It is what destroys a villain's characterization and overall value.
I agree it wasn't a literal oneshot. But the fact that all of Azuma's injuries consisted of superficial cuts and minor wounds, while Erza used a single unnamed slash to defeat Azuma would somewhat classify the win as a oneshot to me.
Well the theory is just a theory. What we know to be a fact is that after the second terra clamare he lost control of the magic. He even says this himself after he is cut because he states that he overused his magic/ This is supported by the fact that he turned into a tree after the fight. There isn't any invisible pof force that nullified azuma's magic, He simply used more power than he could handle and paid the price for it.
It's still a plothole as to how the magic of Tenrou Island could be protecting Erza after the Tenrou Tree had been cut down.
Azuma losing control of Tenrou's magic only prevents his ability to use Tree Magic, but I don't see how it would restore any magic back to Erza. Azuma had to physically restore magic back to all of the FT members.
The only explanation we have is that Erza states "her friends were the ones protecting her the whole time". This is represented by all the Fairy Tail members behind Erza when she was dealing the final blow.
Azuma even comments that "he should have control", which means something is interfering with his magic. And based on the above statements, it would only make sense that the energy and spirit of Erza's friends are the ones nullifying Azuma's magic and protecting Erza.
We have to remember that magic is alive in a sense as proven when Franmalth absorbed Natsu’s magic which has a soul. Even Celestial spirits are magical beings which have souls as well with free will. Even stated in the beginning of the series that magic is formed from the union of spirit and nature. So which means that tenrou could not truly be controlled as it is fairy tail’s magic. Though that would not mean that it did not acted that way right away. He said that he purposely let Erza still have her magic, that is why Tenrou still protected her.
So which means that tenrou could not truly be controlled as it is fairy tail’s magic. Though that would not mean that it did not acted that way right away. He said that he purposely let Erza still have her magic, that is why Tenrou still protected her.
But even until the very end, Azuma still had control over everybody's magic power. He only gave it back to the guild members because he wanted to honor his part of the deal with Erza. And it's no coincidence that he was unable to attack Erza with his Tree Magic only after Erza started talking about her friends protecting her.
And from what I understand, the link between the Tenrou Tree and the FT members was already destroyed once Azuma uprooted the tree. The only reason why Azuma was able to give Erza back her power was because he still had control over the island's magic even after the tree had fallen.
A pleasure really, to read posts on this "Magic" who is the main theme of the Manga.
WoWfan, I understand all you said and, as I know people dislike Erza because they don't understand her and that Force, I think you are an exemple. Thank you.
As you said, yes, taking Erza for exemple because she is the incarnation of this Force, she is Kenpachi's Fairy Tail, for people who know Bleach.
She limits herself inconsciously her magic strength because of Trauma but when her loving people's life are in Balance, her emotions fulled into her Magic to grow far beyond her limits. Her will is so strong, that she can control it without being autodestructive.
Remember that people died to make her live when she was a child, and also, was in traumatic mood because she failed saving her friends in the Tower. This trauma, has a resilience, made her the strongest tank of the Manga. She has to live for the died people and she refused to abandon people again, even if she has to die for. This is why she can tap into the strongest emotional power of this Manga. Her emotions inscrease by far her capacities.
Natsu can do the same and also others under circonstances. Remember, the real Strength is not personal but for others. This is Mashima's way. As Magic, this is Abstract Power and can't be measurable. This is why Erza is always beyond understanding and why Happy said "Because she is Erza". Abstract force is not measurable and has only the will of the user as limit. Like the Force's Users in Star Wars.
I understand you but the "Power of Feelings" itself, is the main theme of the Manga. Bonds and Love in analogy with Hate and Fate. Thinking that it is a nonsense way is like saying Zeleph has nothing to do in the Manga. His curse is the "Power of Feelings" itself but in a paradoxal way. The most he respects life, the most he creates lethal waves... He has no control on his "connexion".
I think, the "Power of Feelings" is like the "Force" in Star Wars. The Jedi or Sith haven't got the same connexion and the same control of the Force. Some of them are limited, others are so strong in the Force that they can't control it. All remains in Balance.... the power of will. Without Balance, it can returns against you, like Kagura vs Erza when she was blinded by her rage.
I also think it is use to show that a foe is too strong for a protagonist (Natsu and Erza usually) and make him on a pedestal, like an oponent is too strong for a Jedi who is using only his Lightsaber as a way to battle. With "Power of Feelings" or the "Force", the Protagonist is aware to another connexion that make him or her on another level. When she is fighting, Erza is always fighting with her friends in her heart, people who died for her and the people she don't want to fail to save again. This connexion increase drastically her magics and habilities in global way to a level that she can't tap alone, clearly. It is the same way as "unisson raid" in process : her standart Magic Power fused with the Power of her Heart. A Jedi is far stronger using lightsaber fused with the Force than lightsaber only.
I understand you but the "Power of Feelings" itself, is the main theme of the Manga. Bonds and Love in analogy with Hate and Fate. Thinking that it is a nonsense way is like saying Zeleph has nothing to do in the Manga. His curse is the "Power of Feelings" itself but in a paradoxal way. The most he respects life, the most he creates lethal waves... He has no control on his "connexion".
I think, the "Power of Feelings" is like the "Force" in Star Wars. The Jedi or Sith haven't got the same connexion and the same control of the Force. Some of them are limited, others are so strong in the Force that they can't control it. All remains in Balance.... the power of will. Without Balance, it can returns against you, like Kagura vs Erza when she was blinded by her rage.
I also think it is use to show that a foe is too strong for a protagonist (Natsu and Erza usually) and make him on a pedestal, like an oponent is too strong for a Jedi who is using only his Lightsaber as a way to battle. With "Power of Feelings" or the "Force", the Protagonist is aware to another connexion that make him or her on another level. When she is fighting, Erza is always fighting with her friends in her heart, people who died for her and the people she don't want to fail to save again. This connexion increase drastically her magics and habilities in global way to a level that she can't tap alone, clearly. It is the same way as "unisson raid" in process : her standart Magic Power fused with the Power of her Heart. A Jedi is far stronger using lightsaber fused with the Force than lightsaber only.
That is not going to justify the fact, it's been really overused and in doing so the effectivness is basically declined to below zero. You can't simply use feelings as an excuse to win fight all of a sudden without any other alternative or developments; there have to be different options.
For example, no one can ever learn what real feellings are, till they lose someone they care.
In Fairy Tail NOBODY DIE!
Nobody even develop as a character, the only good written character development was Gajeel, the others simply repeat the same lines and the same tactics in fight all over again.
To repeat and repeat the same mistakes expecting something will change: Definition of Insanity.
Power of friendship. I like it and at the same time I hate it. There's been good times it has been used and there's been bad times it has been used. The problem with POF is that it's fucks everything up, plot, character development, power scaling.
Good examples of POF
Natsu vs jellal
Wendy vs ezel
Makarov vs Alvarez empire
Gajeel and natsu vs laxus
Natsu vs zero
Natsu vs gajeel
Bad examples of POF
Natsu vs zeref
Team natsu vs hades
Acnologia vs the world
Eileen vs Erza
Erza vs azuma
Erza vs Minerva
Erza vs kyoka.
I mean where was gildarts pof during his fight with august? POF can be good or bad depending on the circumstances.
Look at it like this gildarts who's supposed to be the strongest fairy tail member's strongest attack made august lip bleed, while Erza using POF made Eileen look like shit. It's even more crazy when you know that gildarts was trying to protect his daughter. Natsu vs zeref, natsu burnt time and infinite magic with the max of POF, where did the sudden surge of power come from to start burning concept. POF made Eileen and zeref look like bad characters entirely when they aren't. POF also gave Wendy one of the biggest moment in tartaros arc it was definitely a highlight of the arc especially with how dark it was and it also made us understand how Wendy felt frustrated she was weak and wish she was like natsu. We were able to understand this character more and it definitely didn't make the enemy look like shit. That's fairy tail for you if it's good it's really good if it's bad it's just trash. Hiro mashima wrote a manga about POF and it's definitely became one of the biggest manga in the Shounen.
