Fairy Tail, Volume 8 by Hiro Mashima

The members of the Fairy Tail Guild continue to fight the members of the Shadow Guild while their guildmaster recovers in the hut of the healing woman.

Juvia, the rain mage, squares off against Gray. She's fallen in love with Gray because he is so strong against her magic. But when she realizes that he feels something (even if only friendship) for Lucy, her rage is incited at Lucy's "stealing" her man and ignites her fiery rage. But can Gray win her over anyway?

Natsu, meanwhile, is struggling in his fight against the Kikui air magician. But when Ezra shows up, she blows him away. Outside, meanwhile, there are only a few minutes left until the Abyss Break is complete. But with each of the Elemental Magicians that they defeat, the guildhouse robot moves slower. But can they defeat all the elemental magicians to stop it completely?

Despite the fact that the Fairy Tail stopped the Element Four, the Shadow Guild has kidnapped Lucy once again, and thus, the first of their goals have been reached. But the guildmaster's smirking announcement wakes the Fsiry Tail Guildmaster- and he's angry.

But as Natsu fights a Shadow Guild mage with power over metal, and who was also raised by a Dragon, Jose, the Guildmaster, destroys the Fairy Tail Guildhouse, inciting the wrath and ire of Fairy Tail's Guildmaster. But what will happen, when Fairy Law is invoked?

Another interesting episode in the saga of Fairy Tail. In a way, I often have to wonder why the guild is so feared. Okay, they do have a few strong magicians, and Natsue wins by literally never lying down to say goodbye. But it's almost always the same characters who step up to the plate, step in and save the day. The rest of the guild only seems to exist to be there for the crowd reaction shots.

It's like maybe five or six characters in the guild do the load of work carrying the rest of them. I understand that not all characters can be equally badass- but then why is the guild as a whole so feared? Is it all the master and the big six protecting all the others? That doesn't seem right.

Anyway, this volume brought up a lot of questions for me, again. These questions make me wonder deeply about the guilds and the guild Structure and how much everyone contributes to the guild. The story is entertaining, but the questions it brings up in me are rather deeper ones about structure that are unlikely to get answered, because the story is basically a comedy. But nonetheless, the questions remain. Recommended for a good story, but you might be asking those questions yourself.