Review of Fairy Tail

Do you believe in magic ?? Okay lemme stop before I get cornier, I thought that was appropriate to ask since Im reviewing Fairy Tail's 2009 series. And that's right despite its massive popularity I was mad late getting around to this series, yea I'll admit during my high school years I was living under a rock. So Fairy Tail is an adaption of the very popular manga written by Hiro Mashima, it as of March 2018 has sold over 60 million copies making it one of the most successful manga in history. Similar to the Big 3, this is a beloved series inspired byDragon Ball with a high fanbase. Being a huge Dragon Ball and Harry Potter fan, Fairy Tail is a series that going in I knew I would enjoy cuz it's an action shonen series that centers around magic. The strange thing about this series is despite it's popularity it seems their are some out there that either dislike it or think it's bad. I actually know someone who thinks it's terrible. So while as unbiased as possible here's what I think.***contains MINOR spoilers***

Story:7/10
Generic and childish but consistent. Although FT is very much your typical shonen series, it keeps things fresh with fast moving action and good pacing. This is the one thing that really impressed me about this series, cuz as long as it may be it never loses its quality. It's a series that focuses mainly on being fun and entertaining and really excels at this for most of its time, rarely was I ever bored watching this series. It also consists of mostly medium length arcs that smoothly lead into the next one. My two favorite arcs would have to be the Tenrou Island and Grand Magic Games arcs. GMG is a popular one cuz it's a tournament arc that consists of many battles, love interests, rivalries, and new characters. It's also where the series is given it's chance to build up is world and it does a solid job at that. It's also where the series actually ends btw. But the Tenrou Island Arc was FT at its best imo, it was easily the most ambitious arc to me. In this arc the guild faces EACH OTHER and they encounter strong enemies that are more powerful than them. It's heavily known for introducing a VERY important character and its where for the first time we feel our heroes are in danger of losing. Another aspect the series did well on was its world building. The way it's laid out and the tone it's given really suits the series and it's honestly a world I would like to visit due to how fun and vibrant it seems. Where the series suffers is how repetitive it can be, it gets frustrating on how predictable the plot lines will conclude. And this is where being generic comes in to play cuz we know how most plot will end from watching other shonens. Another problem is its main theme that focuses on the "power of friendship" and "teamwork." This is where it becomes childish and can't be taken seriously and it doesn't help how it's used so heavily for most of the climatic battles. Lastly the most annoying trait of the series has to be its excessive use of fan service. There are a few times where it can be funny but my gosh most of the time it gets too distracting as well as highly unnecessary. It really seemed like the creator would use it as a way to keep the viewers engaged and it really shows you how unconfident the series is towards its writing. It's easily one of the most lighthearted shonens out there but that's what it wants to be.

Art:7/10
Although good overall it really could've been better. Where the art shines is through its visuals and character designs. Like most shonens it's a colorful looking show with characters having blue, green, and even pink(Natsu)hair. What I liked about the character designs are that it gives the characters personality through unique looks. For example Juvia at first gives you this gloomy vibe and that's exactly how she was. There are some characters that look weird however like Bickslow, his tongue was alwayz sticking out plus his metal visor gave him a strange look. Like most shonen, Fairy Tail excels in action scenes. Several exciting battles that'll attract the viewers' attention, my personal fav would be Gajeel vs Natsu as it held one of the coolest beatdowns Ive seen in anime yet. The one thing that gets annoying is the cinematography, since they're A LOT of attractive characters the series has a lot of fan service. For example, the series uses a lot of boobs and ass shots several females like Lucy, Erza, Cana, and well almost all of them fell victim to this. And same goes for the males too, the camera will zoom in on their abs like Natsu's and Gray's. And yes there are several anime with fan service but at times it can get excessive here, and this is the type of series that didn't need too much of that. However my biggest issue here was the CGI animation, a lot of the backgrounds such as the buildings didn't look good to me. I also didn't like how they handled fire as it didn't look great either.

Sound:10/10
This is the one area where even the haters will admit that the series excels in. Boy the music is so damn lit and awesome it's nearly impossible to dislike it. To start off the OST has this medieval Irish tone that suits the series' setting since it takes place centuries ago. And it sounds great, my favorite track has to be the main theme. Not only is it catchy but it's iconic, so many anime fans have heard it and they all know where it's from. It was also used very well, besides the episode title scenes it was mainly used during it's action scenes and it does such an amazing job on making it memorable. Besides that there are many opening and ending songs, most of them are good. My favorite OP is the first one, Snow Fairy, it's very relaxing and can get you excited at the same time. I've watched both the sub and dub and while they're both good, I gotta say I prefer the dub. Cuz let's be honest Todd Haberkorn IS Natsu, gives him a cool voice and he nails his yelling. Colleen Clinkenbeard is perfect for Erza as well, gives her that nice mature sounding female voice that matches her appearance and makes her sound intimidating likes she's supposed too. I do however think Lucy's better in Japanese, while her English voice suits her I thought her Japanese VA's performance was better.

Character:8/10
A basic but lovable and fun cast that needs more room for development. Since this is a fun anime it's nearly impossible to dislike watching them rather if their arguing, traveling, hanging, or fighting with each other. Starting off is the pink haired reckless male lead Natsu Dragneel. Like most shonen protagonists he's quick tempered, loves to eat, and is fiercely loyal to his friends. He's a very enjoyable wild character with strong principles and can kick some serious ass. I wish however he was developed a lil better as he rarely undergoes any changes. The female lead Lucy Heartfilia is a beautiful likable character thanks and at times can be very relatable. She however also wasn't developed so great as there were times where she was thrown into becoming the fan service damsel distress. One of my favorite things about her however is that while she was never too reliable when it comes to battles when she did have fight scenes they were highly enjoyable mainly cuz they involve a lot of emotion and intellect that some of the other series' battles lacked. Next we have Gray Fullbuster who's one of the series' biggest sex symbols. I really like him due to him actually being developed quite well plus he had heart-wrenching backstory. He's very skilled in battle but not too OP to the point that we'll think he win all his battles, cuz he doesn't. Last character I'll get in depth about is the other big sex symbol Erza Scarlett. Arguably the most favorite character of the series she's the stern more mature one of the four as well as the most serious. She's has a more dramatic backstory that explains her personality quite well but then she too can be drowned in the fan service thanks to her beauty. The overall development of the cast wasn't as great as I hoped although there are some well developed side characters like Laxus, Jellal, and Ultear. Mirajane was another interesting character who if explored more could've been great but again mainly used for fan service(cuz attractive characters are only used as eye candy since we all have sick minds!!) As for the villains, overall they're decent but not great. The three best have to be Zeref, Hades, and Acnologia. Zeref has the potential to be a dominant villain due to how original and impact he has but needs to be explored more !! Acnologia really only showed for one huge event but he was too strong to defeat. Hades was good due to what we learned about his relationship with the guild and really was a compelling villain.

Final Verdict

Pros

+A surprisingly well paced and consistent series that consists of over 150 episodes
+Music is great and iconic that's very suitable for its medieval like setting
+Well balance mix of comedy and action
+A fun and lovable cast that really grows on you as the series progresses

Cons

-Can be very childish, viewers will have a hard time taking it seriously
-CGI animation looks very rough at times
-Generic writing, series lacks originality
-Fanservice gets distracting and unnecessary

Personal Favorites

Character(s): Zeref, Laxus, and Happy

Arc: Grand Magic Games

Fight: Natsu vs Gajeel

So after completing this popular shonen I can see why some don't like it at all. It can be repetitive plus it's very childish and if your looking for something original you will be disappointed with this series. However you also have to look at what a series is tryna become and does it accomplish it. Hiro wanted to make this a fun and joyful series and he succeeded at that. Fairy Tail is a lovable series that never loses its mojo which is why it has a large fanbase cuz it gives its fans exactly what they ask for. There's a reason why so many people ship the characters in this series cuz of how much we love their bonding something where the "power of friendship" comes in handy. I recommend this to people who love magic, fantasies, or Dragon Ball fans. Any Harry Potter fans out there, you should like this series. Fairy Tail is a series that I find to be very good and I'll watching more of it in the future

Sub or Dub Recommendation: Dub