This feels like a retcon to me.
There's no way Wendy and Garjeel haven't been on transportation in the series before now.
In fact, Wendy specifically has to use Troia on Natsu on a boat and she never seems to have to use it on herself or mentions her having motion sickness at all.
Yeah, I have no idea why everyone's starting to get it now when no other dragon slayer has had the problem before. I can overlook Wendy because she's sky magic and all (plus she's got the spell so we could argue that she's permanently buffed if we were desperate), but I'm pretty sure I've seen Gajeel on a vehicle before.
Looking forward to some Elfman x Evergreen shipping next week. The Lucy-troll was pretty awesome.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
When? I was trying to think about it, but couldn't come up with any cases. He was naturally aboard the ship to the S-class exam island, but we didn't really see him enough to know in what condition he was before the ship stopped (at least not in the manga, which I checked and which only really counts). In Edolas he was wandering on his own, so he definitely wasn't riding the car like Natsu.
That's the scene I've got in mind, but otherwise I can't actually think of other examples.
I guess the author would have thought this out before he puts in such a gag, so I'll just have to believe him.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Heh, that Juvia fantasy totally had me fooled.
At first, I thought Menoly had somehow linked Natsu to Garjeel and the other guy somehow.
Except they went out of their way to explain that that spell becomes less effective the more you use it. Natsu has ALREADY used it to the point it no longer works on him. If she'd been using it her whole life there's no way it would still work on her at this point.
Except they went so far as to have Garjeel in this episode complain that he didn't understand why this was happening to him. Which would make no sense unless he'd NEVER been on transportation before in his entire life.
Sting says something in this episode. "I've finally gotten used to it. Congratulations to the real dragon slayer, newbie." Here is the page from the manga http://www.mangapanda.com/fairy-tail/276/11. As you can see that sounds better and would explain some things. But i have no idea if it's the anime that is badly translated or MangaPanda that is off. But the whole thing in the anime just sounds fucked up so i would go with the manga being more accurate here.
Yeah, reading Mangastream's translation of the manga, it certainly gives an impression that sooner or later all dragon slayers will become bad with transportation. I'd have said maybe when their power grows, but it seems like Natsu was like that from the beginning, so it can't be that. Maybe genetics dictate when it happens...
That's what I mean by a permanent buff - she's just got this attribute on her instead of the same active spell.
But in all honesty, I don't know. Let's just chalk it up to her not being a "real" dragon slayer yet. Maybe we'll get a gag later on after she learns the advanced sky dragon magic..
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
You are saying Gajeel is only now as powerful as Natsu was as a little kid (because that inability to enjoy rides seems to have been his characteristic forever)? I don't think so. Their fight back in the early arc didn't seem that unbalanced.