[Kaijo]

Originally Posted by MechR

Sort of... There was a time when other people got to fight the end boss (e.g. Galuna Island, Phantom Lord). Now it's always Natsu landing the final blow, if not soloing. His joke fights and henchman fights end up more interesting, if less dramatic.

I really thought that happened for about a week. After the initial shock passed and I got used to the idea, I thought it was brilliant. There were already strong hints that FT would lose the arc (for once), and having Erza lose a 'fair' fight when everything was on the line (for once) would've been on par with Ace dying. FT would survive, grieve, and have a rematch arc down the line. It would've been a nice change of pace for the series.

Then she got back up and won in the most cliche manner possible. I mean, it was a cool scene, but the bait-and-switch really pissed me off after spending a week in an alternate timeline where Mashima had balls/brains. Then he followed up by removing Urtear as a villain, and I knew my dreams for the arc were dead.

You've probably realized but... Fairy Tail is shonen. That means a few things: that the main character will usually face down the big bad of each arc and win. There are exceptions, but these are exceptions to the rule. That explains Natsu. That also explains why people like Erza win when the chips are down.

Keep in mind, that if Erza had lost against Azuma, then Fairy Tail was finished. Gildartz, and all the people he was protecting, would be dead now. Many others would have died. That would have turned Fairy Tail horribly tragic, and that's not what this series is like. It's shonen.

As a side note, it's rare that you'll find a strong female fighter on the good guy side (part of the main cast). Most females, if they fight at all, are more like Lucy or Sakura (Naruto) or Rukia (Bleach). There, but kinda weak and no real focus (although Lucy does get more focus than Rukia or Sakura, one of the reasons I like FT over Bleach or Naruto). Because of that, I find it refreshing to find a tough female like Erza, who not only holds her own, but can beat the crap out of the main male protagonist when she wants to. You talk about wanting to see different things, and here you have Erza in front of you. I won't deny that some of your suggestions would have made things interesting; I just don't expect them from a shonen manga/anime.

In every series I watch, I have expectations, much like everyone else. There are always things I would have done differently, or things I would have liked, and things I didn't. But Fairy Tail, like everything else, isn't written just for me. So while I can accept someone's personal dislike of Erza, they'd have to recognize that it is just that: a personal dislike. Her character as is has no real problems, ie, she's written human enough.

But the claim of her always winning is outright false, as is the claim of her being perfect. Sure, claim you(not you specifically, but in general) don't like her, but there is no need to make things up to try and justify it. Doing so just hurts the argument. Especially when, in a shonen series, a character will win if there is something great on the line. That's just how shonen works (because the creator, artist, and company all want to make money). I myself disliked the blatant cheap tactics Madoka used, but I can recognize they did it to make money.

I liked her Midnight fight. Her eye power needs to be more consistent though. It didn't identify Sieglein or the Nirvit as illusions. Are they just different kinds of illusions? It's not explained.

Sieg wasn't an illusion, so much as a part of Jellal. He got quite a bit of power back when he merged with the double he created. And Erza's eye isn't absolute (can you imagine the fan outrage if it was? It would be another way she is OP!). It seems to take awhile to work, and she has to be paying attention. She had no reason to suspect the Nirvit or Sieg of being false. Midnight's "attack" would have forced her to really ask herself what was going on, and look more closely at it. Kinda the way Laxus was forced to really question Mystogan's illusion attack.