NaLu analysis: “Saving the girl,” when does it matter?

 Original post: August, 2019

There’s a point that this blog had been trying to make abundantly clear for a while…

When it comes to bonds that develop organically, “saving the girl” doesn’t mean she owes her savior a relationship. True chemistry doesn’t occur because of favors done. A well-written relationship is nourished by engaging and meaningful moments that allow the characters to strengthen the bonds that unite them.

However, a “romantic rescue” is, in fact, a story-telling tool. But not every “rescue” scene has romantic undertones. And jumping from “you saved me” to “I want your babies,” results in a rushed and poorly developed premise that, unless you have a lot of visual appeal and cuteness (moe) factor, will feel forced.

This doesn’t prevent shallow shippers from using even the scenes that would barely classify as “rescue” to push other premises over NaLu. After all, who wouldn’t like to be in the arms of someone cooler and more handsome than Natsu?

So, when does a “rescue” scene matters in regards to pairings?

I mean within the context of the story and characters. Subjectively speaking, any fan or shippers may hold different views on what counts as truly “romantic.” But, if we want to be as objective as possible, we must stick to what the story and characters have to offer:

One of the earliest rescue scenes is also one of the moments that benefitted NaLu the most from the very beginning…

…Lucy’s leap of faith. At this point, Natsu already saved Lucy a couple of times, so what makes this moment more relevant than previous instances?

The fact it made a far more substantial contribution to their relationship, at least up to this point.

Hearing Natsu’s voice was enough for Lucy to jump off that building, with the confidene in the Dragon Slayer coming to save her.

As the story shows her faith got rewarded, which not only strengthened the connection between them, but also laid the foundation for consistent bonding in future arcs. That’s how a rescue scene becomes relevant to a potent relationship

As stated in another analysis, meaningful moments such as this one helped to build a strong emotional attachment between Natsu and Lucy

There’s also another relevant example, but with added irony. During the GMG arc, after Lucy got brutally beaten by Minerva, we got another rescue scene. But, this was a little different:

This time, Lucy got rescued by two guys. Does that mean she must date both of them? Would she choose the sexier guy because of such a moment? Is this how chemistry works?

A better question would be, does this moment leads to something else?

The author’s work gives us the answer: we can see Lucy in the infirmary sweetly mentioning Natsu’s name as she drifts to sleep.

Why? Because Natsu’s interactions with her are the ones that left the greater impact and built something far stronger and more substantial between them

So, we go back to the question, when does a “saving the girl” moment matters for a pairing? When the aftermath helps to create build up for that particular relationship, and leaves an impact powerful enough to affect the characters and make their feelings for each other more intense

Moments that work like pieces of a puzzle, all being part of a much larger whole, and each of them playing a role in making a potent relationship stronger