Review of Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail seems to be a controversial topic throughout the likes of many anime fans. Fairy Tail (2009-2013) takes on an unique perspective of Shonen, by it's lack of consistency to an overarching plot, while having arcs connect to each other in some ways. This sometimes works to Fairy Tail's favor, but also leads to the detriment of Fairy Tail as well. Needless to say, Fairy Tail is not an ingenious anime by any means, but is very much "turn your brain off action." Spoilers ahead.. Story: 4/10 There is no underlying plot of Fairy Tail that goes into the story, but there are frequent arcs that intertwineinto other arcs from the previous episodes. Sometimes this becomes useful to develop an arc, but sometimes it goes to the detriment of the series itself.

Fairy Tail suffers the plague of inconsistency, where we see either good to great arcs or we see absolute pitiful and useless arcs that do nothing more but to confuse the watcher. Arcs in Fairy Tail are like flipping a coin, it is fairly random on what type of arcs you are getting. Arcs such as Guild Games, Tower of God, and Oracion Seis, are all arcs that are well done in what they do and draw hype. There also some pitiful arcs that do nothing to enhance the story and worsen the quality of the show, such as Eldias (where they justify bringing back a dead character), Key of the Starry Sky, and X791, where Fairy Tail fails to properly do a timeskip that feels forced. However, Fairy Tail has adequate pacing most of the time throughout the series and usually has quick fights that are a quick rush. Bigger arcs take more time to finish, but that goes for the better. Unlike other shonen, Fairy Tail's pacing is not bad by any means

Fairy Tail's unwillingness to kill off characters makes it's hard for any plot to develop in an organic way throughout the series, thus making artificial development that starts to fall flat for every time they avoid death as a way for development. Ultimately, that's how the show fails in transition it's arcs.

The inconsistency in arcs combined with the lack of plot development due to the refusal to kill characters make some of the plots dry, but not necessarily poor.

Art: 6/10
The art in Fairy Tail is good. The character designs are nice and the animation looks nice. The issue is that is looks extremely repetitive and same-ish. There isn't a lot of variety to the art in general that makes Fairy Tail unique. The hair style, the body types, the powers, the magic circles, they don't feel unique and feel more copy and paste. Don't get me wrong, the art looks good, but it isn't revolutionary or beautiful like other shows who have terrible plot, but great animation. The scenery isn't special at all and doesn't do anything unique.

Sound: 9/10
Fairy Tail's sound is extremely unique. Combing fruity melodies and hardcore boss fights with an inch of English/Irish instrumentals make Fairy Tail's OST is unique, hype, and builds up lots of emotions. It's sound makes the fights much more hype and special than they are.

Characters: 7/10
Fairy Tail takes an unique perspective on characters and focuses more on the relationships between characters versus the characters themselves. This perspective is very interesting and works into building a characters true development and sets up the main reason people like Fairy Tail. Characters

Characters in this series are extremely likeable that even if they are not a properly developed character, there quirks, personalities, and relationships with others make characters extremely likeable even when they don't properly develop or even lack development. Fairy Tail also provides an unique band of side characters that make the show enjoyable, with characters such as Lev, Gajeel, and Lyon. These side characters help Fairy Tail a lot.

The characters in Fairy Tail make you feel as if you are in Fairy Tail itself and going on adventures with these characters. You become invested into the adventures of each character and wish you were apart of this family they create due the likeability of each character. Are these characters complex? No, but that's the point. It's their personalities that are not overbearing yet expressive enough to make you feel as if you are at home. That's what the point of writing these characters are and Fairy Tail does it's job in that regard.

The main characters in this series drive the plot forward. The blend of every personality into this group makes them much more likeable. The drive each character has and their own motivations make a lot of the characters interactions with each other are interesting.

So no, Fairy Tail does not have deep characters, Juvia being a shy girl, Natsu being a yelling and compassionate ball of energy, Grey being a little emo, Lucy being a big dreamer, is not unique, but the connections they have built are interesting to see and are not bad by any means.

The best character in the series is Erza. Her character is the best written character in the series in combining likeability with actual characteristics intertwining with develop. Her coming to terms with the past while still reflecting on others. Her soft personalities combined with her brute toughness are so interesting to watch. Her care for others and want for justice contrast perfectly when it comes to her relationship with Jellal. Her interactions with every character are meaningful and interesting. She is the creme of the crop when it comes to writing strong characters as well as likeable characters. She easily boosts the score of characters category.

Enjoyment: 9/10
If you go into this show expecting big brain moments with deep lore, you're wrong. This is "turn off your brain" and watch action. This show's likeable character with sometimes good arcs and good sounds make this show enjoyable without a doubt

Overall: 6/10
This show has flaws without a doubt that hinder the show, but it's likeable and enjoyable character combined with good pacing makes this show bearable to watch. This show is not a top tier show, but is not as bad as made out to be