By Daniel Defoy - November, 30th 2016

People should know that I am usually very forgiving. In that light, let me just say that Fairy Tail was an “interesting” ride. I have tremendous respect for Mashima sensei. He can draw impeccably well, impossibly fast and extremely detailed. There was never one single week from the start of Fairy Tail when Mashima missed a chapter. In fact there were multiple weeks of double or triple chapters, or multiple colour pages in each chapter. But the one and only area where he might be a bit lacking would be the story, and the fact that he confounds his story with his personal “areas of excitements” makes reviewing this otherwise brilliant work of art very tricky, very non trivial, and it doesn’t help the anime one bit. Fairy Tail’s beauty is what you may call elusive. It is there, but you can easily miss it. Today, we’ll try to look into a few aspects of the anime, that made it really stand out; especially its brilliant action scenes and the outstanding music.

I’ll try to state how I am going to look into the matter.

My layout:

As usual, I’ll try to look into the following parameters. I am not a fan of the x/10 ratings for they don’t do justice to the editors who work very hard to produce a successful anime. I wholeheartedly commend their efforts. Still, we have to come to some conclusion about some things, and they can work to reveal how I have felt for the given topic.

• Animation: Dealing with the quality of animation and art. How I perceived it to be. Mostly depending upon the dps (drawings per second), coloring, and artwork.
• Music: I actually have a lot to say in this field. However, due to space restrictions, we’ll just try to restrict it to a few things.
• Screenplay: I’ll try to talk a bit about the directions, especially the action scenes.
• Characters: Somewhere in between, we’ll talk about a few of the numerous characters (mostly the protagonists and the antagonists; side characters are … left at the side).

Characters

Fairy Tail is unique in the sense that they have many characters in the anime, and it’s exceedingly difficult to pinpoint any particular character as the main character. One should remember that this is a comedy-cum-shonen anime, so the presence of a large number of characters is not unusual. The main protagonists of the story are surely Natsu, Grey, Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, Happy, and Charles. The first six are wizards of a mage guild named Fairy Tail, while the last ones are beings of a race named the Exceed. The Exceed are cat-like beings that can talk in human language and fly (ever heard of flying cats and dogs?) with the help of magical wings (spoiler alert: Wind magic).

Even among the above main characters, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy stand out in the sense that they can be called the heroes of the anime. The plot revolves between a narrative by Lucy (an aspiring author) and the narrator. If I had been forced to choose a main character in the anime, she’d have been the one.

Being a shonen anime (and similarly, manga) which runs for a long time (for the better part of a decade. Saying that, I’d like to remind you all that Fairy Tail won the Best Shonen Manga Award, 2009), the mangaka has given himself plenty of time to develop the main characters, with an extensive back story for each of them.

Though I’ve seen far subtle methods in its shorter siblings, this method works out especially well in the shonen manga since it is comprehensive and works to tie up all the loose ends in the storylines, and one does not have to worry about maintaining the brevity of the series.

There are other, what I can like to call “semi-main characters,” who themselves have immensely important roles in the anime, but I’ve called them semi-protagonists since the story definitely does not revolve around them. This is quite a different anime in the respect that the line between the main characters and the side characters is quite blurred, which somehow reminds me of Durarara.

Plot

The story starts in the country of Magnolia, where people who have special abilities to manipulate magic – called mages/wizards – are common. These people have come together to form various institutions called guilds, where they accumulate and take on various job requests by the common men; upon payment. One such guild is the Fairy Tail, which is also said to be the best guild in the whole of Magnolia.

Lucy Heartfilia is a young celestial mage (can summon spirit beasts, named after the constellations)-cum-aspirant author who wants to join the Fairy Tail guild and meet the salamander, a mage who is said to be capable of eating fire itself to gain his strength.

Her wish is fulfilled when she meets Natsu Dragneel, and Grey Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet, his friends from Fairy Tail, and his inseparable companion Happy, an exceed. Together they embark on many dangerous but outstanding adventures as they grow closer and closer to each other, and defeat countless enemies (some of whom later become very close comrades to them).

What I liked: The story, as in most shonen anime, is divided into huge arcs spanning multiple episodes. Each arc works to develop the bonds of friendships (which is heavily emphasized in the anime) between Lucy and her friends. Even the fillers are quite enjoyable and don’t steer the flow away from the main plot. In fact, it can be said that this is a rare case where fillers add to the story. The anime is also extremely funny, which adds to its positives.

What I disliked: I disliked the over-emphasis on friendship and the drama associated with it. There have been numerous instances in the anime where a character simply cannot win a fight against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy and is beaten up as pulp. Yet, out of nowhere – they magically (pun intended) gain energy just thinking of their nakama (the infamous nakama power aka plot shield) and win it with a single devastating blow. This part is definitely very dramatic and senseless. I have personally felt they could have manoeuvred the situation without resorting to such impossible situations. This is a singular Achilles’ Heel of an otherwise acceptable plot.

Music

I have nothing but praise for the phenomenal musical experience that Fairy Tail is. It’s a hear-it-to-believe-it situation: Yes, it’s that good. Every one of the endings is exceptionally brilliant. Notable among them are “Kimi ga Iru Kara,” “Be as One,” “Egao no Mahou,” “Snow Fairy,” and “Tsuiko-Merry-Go-Round.”

My personal favorite should definitely be “Lonely Person” (ShaNa). It is definitely one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.

Simply put, ShaNa’s voice is beautiful. I don’t have a lot of natural respect for Japanese anime songs since most of them revolve around the same old “I love you, but am separated from you” theme – but this really is something else altogether. The instrumentals are exceptional, the voice is godlike, what else do you want? Even if you don’t watch the anime, take out your time to listen to the song. I’m sure you’ll like it.

Another one is “Glitter” (remixed by Starving Trancer). Another deviation from the typical monotonic failed love theme that marred the anime songs for so long . This song is a story in itself. The music is a brilliant symphony and the lyrics are deep and stirring. The voice is exceptional. This song really stands out among many others.

I’d have continued with my ramblings if it wouldn’t increase the article’s length (seems like it does) — but I don’t want to spoil all the fun for you. Listening to the endings after each episode is an experience in itself . The video links are courtesy of YouTubers Natsusekai. I add the YouTube links of two of my favorite songs from the series.

Art and Screenplay

The screenplay is very, very good. The action scenes leave no loose ends. The OST compliments the actions nicely and definitely gives a great impact. The script is also very just and brings out a good amount of character development. The art and drawings are standard. There’s nothing quirky about them. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, though.

Definitely a standard 12 dps anime with good animation and screenplay.

There is a lot of fanservice courtesy of Hiro Mashima and his inhuman ability to churn out pages after pages of chapters after chapters every week for every week of the year. Nothing fancy here, and I like it as-it-is. A good action scene may be that of Erza vs Kagura, courtsey of Nacho Cheese

 

Conclusion

In the conclusion, I’d say that Fairy Tail will not meet everyone’s palate. I had been religiously following it when every other person I knew had been cursing it over and over for its weak plot. And I’d say that it is not as bad as your fellow anime lovers may make it to be. There is always a need for shows which does not require much thoughts to watch. Shows that can be watched as-it-is and then forgotten all about when the episode is over. There’s nothing wrong in these types of shows, they’re pure disposable entertainment. Surely, it would not touch hearts like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, but we are not looking for heart-rendering shows here. We are looking for a good light laugh, even if it is at the expense of the creators. Add to that the exceptional music and screenplay, one really wonders how one ignores Fairy Tail, even if it is in form of the anime-that-could-have-been.