Review of Fairy Tail

Very simply put, this is a show that embraces the stereotypes it was born into, for better or worse, and your enjoyment entirely depends on whether you care little for cliches and just enjoy the ride, or you roll your eyes at them wanting something original. To be clear, this is a kids show. I mean, an ACTUAL kid's show, not just a generic shonen. You should think on that going in, because fights are very sanitized, language is typically sterile, and aside from some obligatory fan service, everything is pretty much intended for smaller children. On a more personal note, I loved this series. Ienjoyed the unbridled love for adventure, friendship, and innocent smiles because along with the boring stereotypes come a sense of nostalgia, familiarity, and belonging. It's a story of a growing family and you grow connected to these characters. You can expect the characters to not be super complex, but its still interesting to some degree to have something to latch onto as their characters develop and many of them have a good amount of screen time due to the show's long runtime. The ones that don't are typically ones that are there just to make the Guild feel more full, just to take up space - which is why you don't see much of them. The show is very conscientious in that it know that whatever or whoever, is going to take up significant screen-time, needs at some explaining and lore for.

On a more objective note, I will say that majority, if not all, of the show is incredibly predictable. It comes with the territory, but it nonetheless does nothing surprising or unique. There are a few exceptions to this, but its incredibly rare to come across these moments. If fighting or action is all you care for, just don't even bother giving this a shot because it takes forever for action to look at the very least acceptable, and even then the choreography is static and plain. Some characters, although I never really thought of them this way, I can tell can come across to others as rather obnoxious and annoying. The last character archetype you should ever use is an annoying character. Both predictable and annoying is a terrible combination.

All this being said... Fairy Tail's strength lies in its sense of adventure. I'm not sure whether the magic lies within its music, perhaps its simple, toned-down and comfortable art-style, or perhaps in the flow of the story, but anytime a new place is introduced, or the group goes to some new place, it truly gives the sense of life and wonder, a sense of immersion pulling you into the world whereas the cliches would have simply drove you back on their own. And despite its flaws, it almost seems to embrace them because its so consistent with its choices and plot structure I believe the predictability is intentional. And I feel that for some, this actually works - because I'm one of them. I don't believe carbon-copies are the way to go for anime, clearly. But I think this show is a good case-study in that, perhaps, cliches aren't always a terrible thing to have, as long as you bring a piece of yourself to the table.

And thus, I circle back to my original point - if you want something fresh, original, and tired of mundane experiences, then this is definitely not going to be a good show for you. However - if you can look past mediocrity for the sake of a sense of fun, adventure, and family, then it's definitely worth giving a shot.