"Save the tears for when we win." - Natsu Dragneel
Fairy Tail is an action, adventure, comedy, magic, fantasy, and shounen anime. It was originally released in October 2009 by Satelight and A-1 Picturess with 175 episodes. It is continues in Fairy Tail 2014 and Fairy Tail 2018/Final Series, as well as has movies, specials, and OVAs.
General Rating: 7.93/10
My Rating: 9.7/10
Fairy Tail is a franchise that I first began watching back in 2012, one of my earliest long series. I was fairly new to anime at the time and did not know much about this anime, except that it was about magic and had "fairy" in the title which dragged me and my 12-year-old-everything-fairy-obsessed brain into the franchise that now sits comfortably in my top tens list.
Firstly, Fairy Tail has three main seasons: Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail 2014, and Fairy Tail 2018 (Final Series). They say most stories have a strong beginning and end, with a weaker middle. The same is true about the Fairy Tail franchise. All fans know and love the original Fairy Tail, and I personally believe Fairy Tail 2018 was a downright masterpiece. Fairy Tail 2014, while still good with a solid 9/10 rating, wasn't as outstanding as the first and third counterparts to the series.
Fairy Tail is like your typical long running shounen anime. It's got badass male leads, fanservice, epic fights, rivalries, and lots of fun memories to be made. However here's something that Fairy Tail stands out for. It's ending reminds me of a well thought out shorter anime, giving me similar vibes I felt during Code Geass, FMA Brotherhood, or Tsubasa Chronicle. I did not expect this feeling from Fairy Tail, and for that, I have to say well done Hiro Mashima! This man is no Masashi Kishimoto, no clue what the heck he's doing to this series. Hiro Mashima is one of my anime Greats for what he pulled off in an anime like Fairy Tail. Without spoiling for those of you who have yet to see this anime, Mashima leaves nothing unfinished story-wise. He ties up every loose end. He leaves no disappointment. I rarely feel this from anime, especially long shounen anime. Hunter x Hunter 2011 is another example of this, but even HxH did not span over as long of a time period as Fairy Tail did, and they had a previous version of it (1999) to compare it too and fix it. This fact is what makes Fairy Tail such a remarkable shounen series. If you are into long shounens, this anime should be at the top of your list.
Fairy Tail is a story about wizards in a world of magic and their guilds, centering around Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Wendy. The anime is divided into arcs based on the current mission of the group and each arc is usually separated by a small span of filler episodes mostly centered around fanservice or the daily life at the guild. Unlike the fillers some animes see, Fairy Tail's often fit more into the canon timeline than other animes do and I can not remember a time I turned on a Fairy Tail episode and the characters were not where we left them. It provides a great flow to this anime and props to Mashima for not throwing us random fillers.
Now I have talked about all the pros of Fairy Tail, you are probably wondering if there are cons. There are; namely fanservice. This is one of my most despised parts of fairy tail. I HATE fanservice. So why do I have an anime laden with it in my top 10? Fairy Tail is just that damn good. The fanservice rarely gets in the way of an epic showdown, as might happen in an action-ecchi anime, but its still a very present part of the series. I disliked how a lot of the female vs female fights went down due to this and would have liked to see more magical powers from them versus a swimsuit competition or the like. However, even if you are a huge hater of fanservice, I still would recommend you to see Fairy Tail. Yes, it is cringeworthy and most often annoying, but it doesn't make the anime unwatchable - it just could have been better.
The second downside to Fairy Tail is that Mashima likes leaving romance to the imagination, much like seen in One Piece. Romance is most certainly present between characters, more deeply for some than others, but not in the way many fans describe as canon. Mashima leaves much to the imagination in the romance department, but that's what fanfictions are for. And I can say for certain that the canon romance shown in the Fairy Tail franchise is still better than some popular branded "romance" anime such as Your Lie in April or Nisekoi.
However, none of these things really take away from the enjoyment of the anime as a whole. Fairy Tail is like my second family and the guild members have given me a place to belong among them, wield magic, and have fun.
Story: Fairy Tail might get called repetitive, and many will agree. However, you must realize this is a shounen battle anime. You get what you get. Fairy Tail missions are all unique, however and have the gang traveling to new places, meeting new teammates, and always battling some unique villains. Not just some strong dude. Fairy Tail adventures give you all you ever hoped for.
Characters: Fairy Tail is no brown hair loser protagonist harem anime. The characters - even not just the main ones - all have unique designs, personalities, magic, and fighting styles. Basically its the guess the main character meme EXTRA HARD edition. You could play "name that wizard" shadow game (like in pokemon) and get it right every time. Fairy Tail's just that good. Especially for characters we will never see again, Mashima does an amazing job.
Soundtrack: I fell in love with almost every piece of Fairy Tail soundtrack, opening, and ending. They were each and every one, a masterpiece. AmaLee's english covers of the openings are also to die for. These compositions are what allows Fairy Tail to rise to the masterpiece level its become. It's the backbone for the anime. You know shit is getting real when you hear THAT sound - and if you've ever seen Fairy Tail, you know exactly what I am talking about.
Animation: For an anime of 2009-2019, Fairy Tail has access to some of the greatest animation seen to the modern anime community, and this franchise does not disappoint! The art to Fairy Tail is outstandingly superb with a consistent high quality that is delivered episode after episode, year after year. Mashima has a unique style of art with Fairy Tail, namely his characters' eyes that makes it easily distinguishable from other shounen art of the 2010s. This is a huge upside for the franchise and I have never heard anyone ever complaining about whack animation in the franchise.
Fans of animes like the One Piece, Naruto, Seven Deadly Sins, Hunter x Hunter, Magi, Inuyasha, Hero Academia, Dragon Ball, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or the Fate franchise will definitely love this anime and should give it a watch!
Overall, Fairy Tail is a wonderfully written shounen adventure story full of interesting, unique, and well-liked characters, crazy badass magic, a full-on fantasy world, some of my most favorite soundtracks/openings/endings anime has to offer, and even some slick strategy. Join the guild that never dies and watch Fairy Tail!
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