Fairy Tail

In a land far, far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic! Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace, for most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, magic is an art, and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards. Banded together into magical guilds they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born... a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name... is Fairy Tail.

Status

Manga: incomplete. (130 chapters.)

Anime: incomplete. (11 episodes, English dub for first episode, sub thereafter.)

Thoughts

"Like Naruto with more humor", or thus it was described to me, anyways. And given my less-than-stellar opinion of Naruto, that wasn't exactly a glowing recommendation. But I never lost curiosity, perhaps partially because of the "more humor" aspect - Slayers is also shonen, but I've always been partial to it ever since I saw it, precisely because of its lighthearted nature.

So now having explored it a bit, and I'd say it's fairly enjoyable.

Some of the high points so far...

  • Although already mentioned, it's worth repeating: Fairy Tail maintains a fun, lighthearted feel throughout, never taking itself too seriously - even during climatic battles. At the meta level, the series displays a good level of self-awareness, knowing exactly what it is and isn't.
  • Characterization is varied and interesting. Team Natsu is probably the best reflection of this so far - I myself am partial to Gray out the core four, but Erza, Lucy, and Natsu are all also very interesting and fun to watch in their own right. Supporting cast is developed nicely as well, and villains, when they are complete monsters (i.e. display no redeeming qualities), are at least entertaining.
  • Romance is handled exactly as I best like it in shonen: on the side, with more ship teasing than anything and minimizing the number of "obvious" pairings.
  • Female characters are better than average (by shonen standards); although it's difficult to think of specific moments when Fairy Tail passes the Bechdel test, the reverse Bechdel test is not that much easier either - usually they occur when Team Natsu is communicating with the villains or such, who are invariably largely male. Distressed damsel moments are largely avoided, or at least played decently enough when they do occur. Having a female protagonist probably helps on this end (see Slayers for another good example).
  • Battles do not drag on for a hundred chapters, Naruto/Bleach-style. A corollary is that arcs reach their conclusions in reasonable lengths of time.

On the other hand, things I would like to see changed/improved include...

  • At least half the battles seem to be centered around Natsu, i.e. "wait for Natsu to consume fire and pull off OP shit". While Erza and Gray are plenty competent on their own, the fact that Natsu is almost invariably the group's ace in the hole kind of gets repetitive after a while. The problem is only made worse when you consider that Lucy tends to have a supporting role (at best) in the battles. She's usually not a damsel in distress (thank the gods), but a more active role would be very welcome.
  • Although it will probably never happen (due to the fundamentals of Fairy Tail itself), less emphasis on "the power of friendship" would really be appreciated. Granted, this is more of a general shonen flaw rather than a strike against Fairy Tail in particular, but stories are a lot more powerful (and less irritating) when "the power of friendship" messages are presented with a touch of subtlety, instead of being dropped like an anvil on your head.
  • The "Fairy Tail is the best guild" bias dulls the feel a bit. Granted, the story is told from Lucy's perspective, so some bias is inevitable (and maybe even welcomed), but showing more redeeming/fun features of other guilds, or at least toning down the "Fairy Tail is the best guild" message would help my enjoyment. (But, then again, the series is fairly black-and-white in its morality, and probably works best that way...)
  • Villains are far too easily forgiven. For instance, Luxus came pretty close to killing many Fairy Tail members, but the whole guild is still ok with him after everything settles down. I mean, really now?

Also, this Zeref dude - I suppose he'll be the final boss for Team Natsu to take down. While predictable, I'm sure interested to see it when it happens.