Review of Fairy Tail

Oh look, it's an unpopular opinion! It seems like everyone just likes to rag on Fairy Tail because it's the cool thing to do. I'm not gonna lie, I'm guilty of talking shit about it just as much as everyone else but at the same time... there's no changing the fact that I genuinely did enjoy watching it quite a bit. Is Fairy Tail the worst battle shounen series out there? No. It really isn't. You mean to tell me that in the ENTIRE history of battle shounen anime, Fairy Tail has to be the worst one of them all? Come on... try harder, people!I'm sure some of the older otakus on this website who've watched hundreds of thousands of animes can think of several other programmes that are objectively worse than Fairy Tail.

Don't get me wrong though, I understand WHY people like to rag on Fairy Tail. It does have some major problems and for what it's worth, even people in the fandom agree with that sentiment. At the same time, I think way too many people just focus on perpetuating the circle-jerk surrounding this series by parroting basically everything negative which has already been said about this series ad nauseum. Talk about irony. Meanwhile, I love how people talk shit about Fairy Tail and yet don't apply the same criticisms they levy to the programmes that they truly enjoy. Watching a Narutard talk shit about Fairy Tail is just as entertaining is like watching a DC/Marvel fan talking shit about manga.

***THE CONCEPT AND SETTING***

Fairy Tail takes place in a farcical world dominated by magic and follows the travels of a troupe of mages as they travel the globe on various missions and whatnot. Well, that's the condensed version anyway. One of the biggest problems that Fairy Tail has is the fact its arcs are very short, which is paradoxically its biggest strength to me (more on that in the next section). You see, Fairy Tail is one of those battle shounen animes where I'd really like to see more of the universe that this story takes place in explored but sadly it doesn't because one of its calling cards doesn't allow for it.

I see people often comparing Fairy Tail to One Piece, but I feel like that's often made by people who've only taken a cursory look at both programmes and then come to the conclusion that they're virtually identical because they look similar, the leading males are both gluttonous idiots, and friendship is a shared theme. However, One Piece's claim to fame is an infinitely expanding universe which has a remarkable degree of complexity and thought put into the writing. This is obviously the case because the arcs are just as long as they need to be in order to allow each island the Straw Hats visit make their mark on the story. Fairy Tail's short arc length doesn't allow for any of that shit to happen whatsoever which is ultimately its biggest failing.

I can forgive some of the more annoying running gags and the fan service to a large degree had there been a vast universe to explore, but from Episode 1 all the way to 175, that just wasn't the case. I'm not saying that the world that Fairy Tail remains completely stagnant from beginning to end, because there were *some* things that changed along the way, but nowhere near as much world-building as I had hoped for there to be. Really now, how could Hiro Mashima drop the ball on this one? I could easily think of several places along the way where the writing could've been improved to bring in some more insight on the world that this story takes place in but alack... another story of what could've been.

***THE STORY***

Going back to that short arc length, the reason why I think that it's Fairy Tail's biggest strength in addition to being its most crippling flaw is because this makes the programme very easy to watch. Given the fact that I'm working full-time and have filial obligations, I lack the time and quite frankly the will to keep up with continuously overarching stories like I used to. Do you think that I'm up-to-date with One Piece? Oh HELL to the fucking no. I'm still like 100 chapters behind and even further behind with the anime. It's the fact that Fairy Tail's arcs are short and yet still packed with plenty of action and comedy to spare whilst also being able to take itself seriously if only for a brief moment when the time comes for it to do so which kept me around for so long.

With that said, there are several glaring problems that Fairy Tail has when it comes down to the story writing. For one thing, a large portion of the writing feels recycled from other battle shounen anime. Rave Master, Dragon Ball, D.Gray-man, Soul Eater, Hunter x Hunter, Yu Yu Hakusho, InuYasha, Naruto, Bleach, Busou Renkin, Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, etc., these are all battle shounen anime/manga which have done pretty everything that Fairy Tail does but managed to do so better whilst also bringing something new to the table or at least managed to put their own spin on it so that the story doesn't feel like the same tired-out battle shounen formula. What really irritates me is that there are individual parts of the story which genuinely did have me interested but these individual elements were discarded in favour of marketability (short arcs full of action, comedy, and fan service is what this show is all about, right?).

The second biggest problem that Fairy Tail has with its story, the comedy. Yeah... comedy on the whole is a very subjective thing and despite being 25 years old, I'm no better than an overgrown man-child. I still find Beavis and Butt-head laugh-out-loud hilarious and sexual/vulgar humour still packs the same punch for me that it did back in middle school and high school. You'd think that I'd get a LOT of mileage out of Fairy Tail given that I'm an immature person, right? Well... not exactly. Natsu's extreme motion-sickness gets on my nerves more than Luffy's stupidity. It wasn't funny the first time, and yet Hiro Mashima and A-1 Pictures by extension still chose to keep that stupid gag throughout the entirety of its run. It's really the overuse of running gags which were never funny in the first place which dampens the comedy which is quite a shame because whenever Fairy Tail manages to get a laugh out of me, I burst out into uncontrollably loud and annoying cackling.

The third biggest problem that Fairy Tail has? Fan service. I really don't know what it is about battle shounen anime and having girls with huge racks and bizarre proportioning. I just don't find that shit attractive (Book 3, Chapter 5 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is my idea of fan service done right, but I digress). Also, this is just a personal gripe I have but why does Gray always have to be shirtless at least once per episode? For the girls to fawn over? Come on... at least make them wait for that shit. It loses its impact if it happens almost every single episode. Now if you're into girls with huge racks sporting plenty of cleavage and shirtless guys that are "ripped," as the young people like to say it nowadays, I'm sure this won't be a problem for you but it is for me so too bad!

I could go on to say that the battles rely far too heavily on power-ups, but I really don't give a shit about that since they're pretty damn entertaining to watch (especially given that battles are animated rather well) Besides, if you're going to rag on Fairy Tail for using power-ups and not levy the same criticism to programmes like Gurren Lagann, you're a waste of thought. People, this is a SHOUNEN series. By the end of it all, Fairy Tail is essentially the Japanese equivalent of Xiaolin Showdown: it's nothing more than mindless entertainment for sugar-high kids on Saturday mornings. Do you really think that there would be complex and intricate battles with all kinds of strategy out of something meant to be shallow entertainment?

Speaking of which, it's time for something I like about Fairy Tail! When it comes down to its overall style, Fairy Tail knows exactly what it wants to be and it doesn't really set itself up to be anything greater than it actually is. If phrases could manifest themselves in anime form, Fairy Tail would be the embodiment of "What you see is what you get. Don't like it? Well fuck off, we don't need you here." As far as shallow entertainment goes, there's plenty of it here. If you're the kind of person who wants something along the lines of Ulysses, Paradise Lost, or In Search of Lost Time, why the fuck are you expecting it out of Fairy Tail when its claim to fame is short arcs chock full of action, comedy, and fan service? That's just like expecting a culinary masterpiece out of McDonald's.

Now, there is one thing that I have a bit of a gripe with and that's the fact that Fairy Tail basically ended on a rather nasty cliffhanger and that was basically your lot until A-1 Pictures came out with the second series which has received... let's just say "mixed reception." Now granted, the second series DID come out almost a year ago and it's still rather early in the show's run. Let's just hope that A-1 Pictures gets their shit together before more circle-jerk reviews come into the picture. I could also rag on the filler, but let's face it: filler in battle shounen anime is prone to being terrible and there's no point in bitching about shitty filler in Fairy Tail when the filler in Naruto and One Piece is just as bad if not worse (well... more like padding in One Piece's case).

***THE CHARACTERS***

I just want to get this out of the way first: I don't like Natsu, I've never liked him, and he's REALLY annoying. The only battle shonen protagonist with an insatiable appetite who's also an idiot that I have the patience for is Luffy. Everyone else can go die for all I care. Throughout 175 episodes (and ~50 more in the new series), he has not changed a bit whatsoever. He's still all talk and no walk and the only time he can actually win a battle is with a power-up. I hate battle shonen protagonists like Natsu nowadays. The English dub makes him a good deal more tolerable since Todd Haberkorn is a great voice actor, but great voice acting can't help a shit-tier character. I'm sorry, Natsu fans. Gray 5evaaaaa.

The characters of Fairy Tail barring Natsu are all likeable to me, but the biggest problem I have with them is the fact that throughout the entire run of the series, they remain static as individuals. I like to see people grow and change over time in my programmes and mangas (although that little desire of mine can be overridden if the programme I'm watching is cool enough). From episode 1 all the way to 175, there is no significant changes that occur in the entire cast we hang around. Lucy, Gray, Natsu, et al are still the same as they were when they first started out. I mean, it's not all bad because at least they HAVE a sense of characterisation about them, but at the same time... I still think it's unforgivable that despite all the time that was put into this series, NOBODY has changed for the better.

***THE ART/ANIMATION***

Art-wise, I see a lot of people saying that it resembles One Piece's art style and well... as much as I'd like to disagree on that one, it's kind of hard NOT to notice Akira Toriyama's influence over the look of both of those series. I don't really mind the art style, and hell... I actually kind of like it but again: fan service just gets under my skin. Animation-wise, Fairy Tail was done by none other than A-1 Pictures, which I was rather surprised to see attached to a long-running battle shounen series like this one. When it comes down to visual quality, A-1 Pictures is no slouch whatsoever and they have programmes under their belt which are nothing short of eye-candy galore such as Blue Exorcist, Sword Art Online, and and both seasons of Magi.

It's a common occurrence in battle shounen anime for the animation quality to fluctuate quite a bit. Anything that isn't a battle may very well be animated with the same level of complexity as a flash game you'd find in the backwaters of Newgrounds. It's for that reason alone that I was caught off-guard when I saw that A-1 Pictures did a REALLY good job of keeping the overall animation quality across 175 episodes rather consistent. Yes, there are points where the animation takes a bit of a downward turn, but the rest of the series still looks remarkable from a technical standpoint. Battles are also animated exceedingly well which makes them nothing short of entertaining to watch, and you all know how much I love a well-animated battle!

It should also be mentioned that Satelight co-produced the animation alongside Fairy Tail. These are the guys who brought us Log Horizon's first season and the first four episodes of Hellsing Ultimate among other such viewing delectations. The fact that the animation quality remained more or less consistent across 175 episodes might have to do with the fact that there was more than one studio working on it. A-1 Pictures can't shoulder ALL of the burden, now can they?

***THE SOUNDTRACK***

When it comes down to music, it's hard to find another battle shounen anime which comes anywhere close to Fairy Tail. This is something that EVERYONE can agree on. Like you can talk shit all you want about the story, the characters, and the art style but when it comes down to music... hot damn! The only other battle shounen anime I can think of that comes close to Fairy Tail would be Blue Exorcist, and even then I find myself leaning toward Fairy Tail's OST. I'm not even joking when I say that I actually had the 3rd OP saved as my phone's ringtone WAY back when I was just starting to get into Fairy Tail. Oh how I miss being a NEET living in Chandigarh. :(

***THE DUB***

When it comes down to the sub vs. dub debate, don't buy into the dub hate that you might see here on the MAL forums. Funimation did an excellent job with the Fairy Tail dub. My favourite performances definitely come from Newton Pittman as Gray and Colleen Clinkenbeard as Erza. We also get some wonderful performances from the likes of Christopher Sabat, Brina Palencia, J. Michael Tatum, and other such Funimation regulars as supporting characters as well. I understand that there are a LOT of top-tier seiyuus involved with Fairy Tail but come on! The dub itself is some pretty damn good stuff too. Seriously, why so much dub hate?

***ANIME VS. MANGA***

Oddly enough, I've never read the manga for Fairy Tail at all. I still say that if you're a manga purist, you're probably going to want to go manga rather than anime. Manga lacks filler, after all.

***FINAL THOUGHTS***

Fairy Tail is one of those anime series that receives WAY more crap than it deserves which is quite a shame. Look, I understand that it's popular and that popular series more often than not are overrated. That still doesn't give people the excuse to constantly make shitty reviews of the programme in question which basically parrot shit that's been said before ad nauseum. If you're in the mood for some shallow entertainment and nothing more that you can enjoy with your friends, Fairy Tail can definitely deliver on that front and keep you entertained for a good while. It's one of those programmes that I feel is best in small doses. If you know exactly what you're getting into, you should be fine. Hopefully, this review actually managed to sway some peoples' opinions on the programme but whatever. Chances are that it'll be downvoted into oblivion by diehard fanboys and haters alike. God, I need to pick a target audience and stick with it.

***ALTERNATE ANIME RECOMMENDATIONS***

1) InuYasha and its sequel series, InuYasha: The Final Act
- One of the most popular anime series of the early 2000s (especially here in the West), InuYasha is another anime series which consists of many small, easy-to-watch arcs. However, the biggest difference between InuYasha and Fairy Tail is the fact that InuYasha's small arcs all add up to an overarching goal whereas the arcs in Fairy Tail feel inconsequential for the most part. InuYasha is also a partially romantic story as well so there's also that. It also helps to mention that Fairy Tail is still an ongoing manga with a TV sequel which is still currently airing. InuYasha ended in 2004 and The Final Act ended in 2009. The manga also completed its run in 2008 with 553 chapters total.

2) Gurren Lagann
- The bonds shared between Team Dai-Gurren is vaguely reminsicent of the friendship between Natsu, Gray, Lucy, etc. and power-ups are a huge part of each programme's battles (can you look at me with a straight face and NOT tell me that the Spiral Power ISN'T an excuse for constant deus ex machina?). However, Gurren Lagann opts for an extremely absurdist approach where logic and reasoning get thrown to the wayside in favour of being cool (as evidenced by Kamina's infinitely extending sword and his ability to pull his signature orange glasses out of thin air) whereas Fairy Tail doesn't really go that far with its fantasy elements. Also, the fan service in both series is similar... I mean, Yoko and Lucy pretty much serve the same purpose, don't they? Dem melons...