Review of Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail was one of the first anime I truly delved into, and it introduced me to a ton of great shows. Of course, I enjoyed it immensely while watching it, but looking back now, there were definitely a ton of flaws. As a TL;DR: It's great fun to just enjoy and not take too seriously. However, when critiquing its story and characters, Fairy Tail definitely is not up there in originality. It's main flaw would simply be its generic story beats, and the good ol' "Power of Friendship" trope. Story: 4/10 For the first half (so the original series+ maybe 1/3 of 2014 series), the plot wasnot too major of an issue. Fairy tail was good, comedic fun with plenty of action and epic moments. Natsu's search for his dragon was a good goal that didn't interfere with too much at all. However, as the plot progressed and became more complex, things definitely broke down, both in creativity and execution. If anything, the execution really killed the last half. Overall, not the best.

Art: 7/10

For the time, it was pretty great. And the animation was pretty decent too. It has aged pretty well I think, and the original art style is really nostalgia-inducing. It gets better and better as the series progresses, but for just this series, it's a solid 7.

Sound: 9/10

My goodness, the openings, the soundtrack, everything was great in terms of music. Fairy Tail is probably one of the only long-running shounen with such consistently catchy and great music. I have to give credit to this series and its producers. It improves throughout the 2014 series as well, which is amazing. The dub is actually phenomenal as well. It's one of the few where I would actually recommend the dub, as Funimation did wonderful. Sound is nearly perfect

Character: 6/10

I love the characters. But they kind of suck narratively. There's really not much else to be said. The main cast are diverse and endearing. The biggest positives are probably their interactions and how they foil each other to drive the story. Negatives are, again, mostly narrative issues. There's also a bunch of characters. Maybe the immense cast makes it hard to follow, but the core of the story - Team Natsu are consistently a very wholesome and enjoyable group to watch.

Enjoyment: 8/10

If you come for a groundbreaking story and characters, you're going to leave disappointed. This is no One Piece or Naruto. It's not as funny as Konosuba, nor is it as deep as FMAB. Its magic system as not as sound as Hunter x Hunter. But if you can get past that and simply watch to have fun, Fairy Tail is great. The only other drawbacks I can see is just its length as a series, and the pacing that drags on. As you get farther in, more and more recycled tropes pop up, but for the first half at least, it's a ton of fun.

Overall: 7/10

I would recommend this to newer anime fans, more casual watchers, or maybe those who simply need a filler anime to pass the time. Despite the controversy surrounding it, it's not terrible. It's simply a fun series. I wouldn't put this in my top 10 anytime soon, but it's definitely an endearing and heartwarming show.