Fairy Tail (2009)

Fairy Tail is an anime I've known about for some time, yet it's only recently (about a week ago) that I decided to start watching it. I was positively surprised from the start and since then it's just been getting better and better, up till a point where I can easily consider it one of my favorite animes. That's something I didn't think I would be saying when I decided to watch it. Getting on my favorite anime list is no small feat. One Piece & Samurai Champloo are the only real favorites I can recall while writing.

I've watched all the way till episode 48 (that's just one season) and I've reviewed (or rather - posted summaries) on all 49 episodes as well. Took a few days. :P I'm tempted to watch another 48 episodes this week, or better yet, just run through the whole lot of em at once (the very latest is episode 111 at the time of writing), but that will have to wait until I have more time on my hands. For now, here's a review and my view on the series and maybe an explanation as to why it's so amazing.

It turned out to be a really really long review btw, so I added headers. Let's start with...

The World Of Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is the name of a guild. A guild is a gathering of mages. Mages are people who make a living off magic. In the world of Fairy Tail there's a lot of magic. The world may look like a medieval version of our own, yet much is modernized or modified through the use of magic. There are cars that run on magical power (which is basically the life force of a mage), jet-packs, roller coasters, games, all sorts of things. In a way it's like Fullmetal Alchemist, without the need of sacrifices. Magic is limited only by the individuals supply of it, which is of course replenished over time.

Magic varies by element and effect, and so far there have been countless variations. though you may learn many techniques over time, there are always new techniques being used in each episode. The magic is used through various incantations and moves, though often there is no action involved in bringing forth magic power. The more skilled the mage, the less effort needed.

Mages often makes use of so called magic circles, spinning discs with runes or similar scribbles on them, from which the shield or projectile or whatever it was that was supposed to appear appears. There's a lot of flashy effects, a lot of streaming energy, explosions, various elements (fire, water, ice, etc) along with much regular fighting involving fists and swords and other weapons. Every episode has at least one fight in it. Guaranteed. Usually many more.

One fight doesn't need to span across multiple episodes either. In fact, decisive fights can often be finished in a matter of seconds. Fights are both real and unreal in that they can be won by anyone, of course the good guys always win... for the most part, but not always in their first fight. Events twist and turn like a writhing dragon. Did I mention Natsu, the main character, is actually a dragon slayer, taught the use of dragon slaying magic through the great fire dragon Igneel? I did now.

Compared To Other Anime

In difference from other similar anime (for example Bleach, a series that also uses a lot of color in their effects of action), the colors in Fairy Tail are very mixed. You won't see the typical clash between contrasting colors so common in Bleach, but you will see a lot of colors and contrasts. Still everything flows, there are no effects that feel misplaced, by color or texture or anything else, everything has it's place.

The names of attacks are varied, and so are the actions. Ex-quip for example, is one of many creatively named forms of magic. Compared to many other series the names don't seem to be derived from a specific language like German or French, something that's common and a bit annoying. Bleach, for example, seems to fetch an array of words that sound cool from a selected language of choice occasionally, in the Las Noches arc for example (Spanish is the language), or with the Arancar (I think German was the language there, not sure anymore).

There are plenty of characters and plenty of varied background characters. The foreground characters always have focus, yet the background characters seem to be unique, in difference to the masses of blank characters or characters without facial features or characters with very simple standard clothing and facial features in other series. There are plenty of strange creatures and enemies and their costumes and colors are also more varied than any other series I've seen. They don't discriminate when it comes to hair color either. Bright blue, green, pink, whatever... anything goes! Not just for hair, but for... everything! I guess it goes with the anime name. :)

The most important feat of this series however, is the speed. It just doesn't get lazy. There's so much filler in Naruto, Bleach & One Piece lately that I've forgotten how great it tasted with fresh content all the time. I can't say for certain if this applies only to the first 48 eps or if they all actually manage to keep up the pace, but if they do, this just might be the best series I'll ever see. I'm not exaggerating. This isn't a first impression. It'll last.

As with One Piece, there's a lot of work done building up character personalities. The guild is one big family and everyone there has a story to tell. All of them are interesting. Most of them so tragic or touching (or both) that I can barely keep from bawling when the episodes near an end. Before Fairy Tail only One Piece ever took me this near tears, constantly, again and again. if you're getting the impression that this is a sad series, however... you're getting the wrong impression. For the most part it's hilarious. Some jokes start getting old after a while (like Gray undressing), but they don't seem to stop being fun. Even though the jokes aren't surprising anymore, they're humorous anyway.

A Bit About Animation Style

The animation mixes Manga-like facial expressions, Chibby-ish scenes and regular all-out actionpacked humor. Every character has a quirk or two you can laugh at. Just a quick note on the variation topic, the characters do change clothes, often. Though they have characteristical clothing, they don't always wear the same suit. It turns out Natsu's scarf is like Luffy's straw hat, something important he was given by the fire dragon Igneel, but this is revealed after at least 20 episodes.

Important elements like this get mentioned as if it's no big deal, yet all the details build up. Seigrain pops up in the story long before his arc. Natsu feeling fuzzy when he and Loki swap characters is a hint that Loki is actually a stellar spirit, something revealed much later. Characters from early in the series appear later on in carnivals or other events. When the characters return to places they've been to they point this out. To conclude, it's a living world, it packs so much more dynamics than any other series out there.

Since the characters keep on returning to the same place (the guild) between adventures, there's a lot of familiarity as well. I'd say not only the character personalities are built upon but even the location traits. Yet it feels like too much importance is never placed on anything, the plot has an easy-going story line that jumps from this to that in a way that makes other animes seem outdated. I can't explain it better than that, but watch the anime and you'll hopefully know what I'm talking about.

This review is growing so long sane individuals might be starting to look at it like it's too long to read, so I suppose it's time to end this. Overall, it's a great series. It's captivating, it's funny, it's creative and it's packed with action. It's a fairy tale for all ages.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome