I'd like to talk about the top five moments of Juvia Lockser that I love the most. There will be some special-mention afterwards, but let's start.
Disclaimer: We edited this image but we do not own any of the images used in this cover.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
"When I haven't watched Fairy Tail yet, I saw photos of Juvia and Gray. Here I go again with expectations from what I see online so it later surprised me to see yet again (like Gajeel) she wasn't a good guy at first. Although she's not as violent as Gajeel is, she's actually the nicest among the Four Elements (in my perspective).
This character has moments that are very notable for me and probably for others. Something that I like about this character.
So we all know the basics here. Juvia has blue hair and her hairstyle changes I think three times as far as I've watched. Ah yes, I've watched until episode 152 now. Almost there! So back to business, Juvia's ability is more of the use of water and she's known as the Rain Woman.
I'll talk more about her below."
Top 5: Fight with Gray
Okay so Juvia first appeared in the Phantom Lord Arc where she sees Lucy. She usually says "drip, drip, drop" or the other way around. Whatever the order it is. Anyway, after kidnapping Lucy we can skip to the part where it matters.
Juvia is a member of the Four Elements. The Phantom Lord has five powerful members. That's Gajeel and the Four Elements. So yes Juvia is strong, eh? But why all of the sudden she lost?
It's already predictable for me to see bad guy loses especially if they're fighting against the main characters (because obviously they have no chance to win). But in this battle, between her and Gray, I laughed at how hilarious and entertaining it was! And no I didn't laugh because it was ridiculous or terrible. It's because it's funny and I love it! That's what my laugh meant.
So back to topic, in their battle we'll see a glimpse of Juvia's past about her being gloomy and nobody seems to like her. When Gray triggered her, bringing out her angry side (when he mentioned "gloomy"), she was enraged thinking that he was no different than the rest, causing her to go all out on Gray. (At first she was doing some serious Hinata moves. The whole blushing and shy thingy.)
But at the end of their battle, when Juvia lost, and she accepted her defeat, Gray saves her and she just falls in love with him some more.
The part that got me laughing some more is when there was a change of scene and when it returns to them, reinforcements have arrived. They saw Juvia unconscious and smiling. I don't remember the specific dialogue but it goes something like this. "So this is one of Four Elements. But why is she smiling?" seriously it's like she was either having a good dream or she was embalmed that way. "Beats me."
Top 4: Joining the Team at the Tower of Heaven Arc
So after the defeat of Jose Porla, everyone recovered, the guild was rebuilt and later we see them having fun and of course glimpses of 'Stalker Juvia' in some episodes. This arc is where Juvia helps the Natsu Team when Erza was taken by her childhood friends.
But I want to focus more on how she was (1) courageous, (2) willing to change her allegiance to join them, (3) prove herself to them and (4) show up like it's her debut appearance and has no villainous deeds many episodes ago. Yeah, there's a part that says 'how can she naturally and casually approach Gray like that after what she's done?'. Well, technically the only thing she's done is kidnap Lucy (without being as harsh as Gajeel was) and fought with Gray but other than that she did nothing major here, It's easy to approach them. You think?
It's easy if we look at it but on another angle, there's a tough part in joining. But in this arc, she helped Gray, protected (hid) Gray from the bad guys (in a way xD) and was of excellent use and support to them until the very end of the arc. Especially that the Tower of Heaven was made on an island and water is her specialty.
Top 3: Fight with Lucy
This is where things get interesting. When they entered the Tower of Heaven obviously, there are enemies waiting inside and one of them is the punk rock dude (I forgot his name) whom Lucy and Juvia fought together. Yes together. They were allies when they fought him but because of the punk dude with the hairdo uses his magic on them, Juvia got possessed.
He could control her like a puppet to attack Lucy (even changed her clothing and hairstyle to something similar to his).
Juvia is a powerful mage, yeah? So someone like Lucy (yes she's powerful too but at that moment let's just say that Lucy doesn't have the upperhand) doesn't stand a chance. Plus how can Lucy bring herself to hurt an ally? Even if Juvia kidnapped her in the past, we all know nice Lucy won't be able to do it.
Okay, here's the thing. In one part of their battle, Juvia communicated with Lucy that she doesn't want to do it, that she doesn't want to hurt her. I was glad that in the end, Lucy could figure things out. And later the punk dude got bald since his hair absorbs the water (in which Aquarius kinda overdid the water attack there). So for short they won.
And that win wasn't just any win for me and Juvia. It was a win wherein Juvia won Lucy's trust and and respect. Which is something not easily earned between people. But Juvia earned it.
Top 2: Fight with Meredy
Juvia's changed a lot ever since she joined Fairy Tail and she's learned a lot too.
On her battle with Meredy, when she was with Erza, we can see her losing terribly and distracting Erza as well but when Meredy mentions that her number one target to annihilate is Gray Fullbuster (ah no, the forbidden name sweetheart) we see an angry Juvia rising up and suddenly gaining so much power. Landing hits on Meredy that she couldn't do before.
I don't know she probably learned it from Erza and Natsu but the time when Meredy cast some linked spell on Juvia, Gray and herself, Meredy was ready and willing to give her life to kill both Juvia and Gray for Ultear's sake. And this is where the well-known quote comes in.
"You don't die for your friends... You live for them."
Juvia was desperate to save Gray, and she's willing to hurt herself to protect him. But in this battle, she extended her kindness and what she's learned to Meredy that instead of fighting her physically, her emotions reached Meredy that she could no longer bring herself to fight with Juvia anymore. Nor can she go on with her suicide.
The two later falls on the water. Exhausted, weakened and injured, relief perhaps. A mix of emotions stirred within them.
"Juvia's so weak! She didn't win the battle nor was it a tie!"
No, no, no please don't say that. Battles are not all about a physical one where they kill each other or beat each other up. This is a battle where both Juvia and Meredy have a conviction and resolve to protect the ones they love and that love they have turned to a weapon against each other but also became a way to touch each other's hearts. Especially that Meredy has this link where they can both feel the emotion each other is feeling and seeing memories as well.
Special-Mention
Here are some special-mentions before I talk about the top 1.
Her "Unison Raid with Gray" made smile. I believe this is one of Juvia's favorite moments to relive.
When "Gray saved Juvia" which gave me the feels really. Juvia's got strong stalker vibes, but she's earned Gray's love.
All of Juvia's stalking moments with Gray for comical relief. In real life this ain't a good thing though.
And here it is...!
Top 1 is...!
Top 1: Sacrificing Herself for Cana
Last but not the least, the ultimate sacrifice that broke my heart!
I don't know what they call this arc but this is where Laxus started this game against Fairy Tail which led to his expulsion in the guild. But anyway, the ladies are modeling and were turned to stone that time, so the boys beat each other and when the girls returned to normal, it's their turn to save the day.
Juvia and Cana were against Freed on this one but we all know about Freed's magical runes and he locked them up together and only one will escape. So the point is they beat each other and the winner will escape. It s like what he did to the boys earlier where even Macao and Wakaba, best of friends, had to fight against each other.
Freed goes on about a speech for Juvia since she was new and all and she's from the Phantom Lord attack thingy, how can they possibly trust her?
But no. Juvia proved him wrong. Juvia proved everyone wrong.
She'd never willingly hurt her friends, nor will she fight against Fairy Tail. And she'd rather sacrifice herself than bring herself to betray them.
That's Juvia.
I was surprised with what she did, the feels hit me and Juvia did not only earned Fairy Tail's trust and respect towards her. She earned mine as well. She's the kind of friend that I don't mind having.
Who'd go through great lengths to do that just so you could live/escape?
C O N C L U S I O N
Juvia started off as a gloomy person with rain always following her around but later her expression changed to something that's always happy and smiling. She's a stalker yeah, but compared to before she's improved.
There are times that she goes overboard like when she was trying to have Gray drink the potion (although it was a joke xD). Her stalking attitude and obsessive behavior towards Gray and treating Lucy as her rival is part of it (probably even just part of the joke or the humor in the series), part of Juvia already. She won't be Juvia if she's 'that' different.
Juvia Lockser, as a friend I'd be happy to have her around. I can count on her and she's someone who learns from others and extends it even to her enemies.
Juvia Lockser, as a part of the family I'd be delighted to have. If not sister material she's a good role model.
Juvia Lockser, as an enemy, she'd guide me to the right path.
Juvia Lockser, if she loves you, she won't let you down. She'll protect you, she'll keep you safe, she'll love you that she'll lay down everything for you.
But no she won't choose to die. Because that's not what she learned.
She won't die for you, she'll live for you.
Overall Juvia is a great character. A character worth mentioning and a character worthy of today's spotlight.
Thank you for reading!
Yes so many Juvia highlights