Fairy Tail Season 1 Review

I'll be honest: my first impression of Fairy Tail was: not impressed. Since I prefer to watch things in the English Dub, I did not enjoy the voicework (particularly on the side of Natsu, Happy, and even Erza), and I thought some of the premises were silly, the character designs were strange, and it didn't seem to have that grand feeling of adventure.

But, I decided to press on. All of season 1 was (and is, by the way) available on Netflix so I decided I would go ahead and keep watching.

Just so you're aware, I believe it was Episode 15 that had me hooked to the show. It was part of the Moondrip Arc where Natsu and Lucy take on an S-Class mission and Gray's battle with Lyon steals the show. 

After that, I feel that everything is uphill from there. The show fell into its grove of multiple arcs per season (something that pretty much ends by Season 4 but is fun while it lasts) and each arc brings something new to the table before it gets a little repetitive, something I'll get into with Season 3 in a couple of weeks. 

The main characters are established very quickly as Fairy Tail's strongest team, as we follow the Celestial wizard Lucy Heartfelia, the Fire Dragon-Slayer Natsu Dragneel, his cat with wings (whose species I will not reveal because it's something of a spoiler) Happy, the Ice-Make wizard Gray Fullbuster, and Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard, oft called "Titania," Erza Scarlet. 

The brunt of the season focuses on establishing what each character is like and what their ultimate role in the show is going to be, and for that I appreciate it. You really do get a sense of every character and by the third arc, the Tower of Heaven arc, you understand the motivations of all the characters. But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other great side-characters. Master Makarov, Elfman, Mirajane, Cana, and Macao are all very fun characters to see every now and then. The long-term inclusion of Juvia and Gajeel, as well, was a wonderful move. 

The season is a total of 48 episodes and covers four arcs in its entirety, and not one arc feels wasted or like filler. By the end of the season you will want more, as the final episode opens up big doors for the remainder of the show. Like any good TV show, all of the things that happen have an effect on how things end up. Even the littlest things, with some of the most minute and unexplained characters, eventually turn up and reveal there is a much larger plan at work. 

That's something that I really like about the show. Despite the arcs taking up a majority of the story, something like Black Lagoon, there is indeed an underlying story and you feel that there is major growth with every character after every fight. 

This season in particular seems to have one character in the spotlight for every arc. For the first one it's about Gray, the second is about Lucy, the third is about Erza, and the fourth is about Laxus. Each arc also has a wonderful villain in it to be a perfect foil to the character in charge, and each one gives great backstory to the character. It's often dispersed over a period of episodes so that we may learn more but not at the cost of other characters or on the action. In the Moondrip story we do get to know a lot about Gray but we see tons on Natsu and Happy as they fight for the village. 

The animation of the show is pretty good, there isn't one type of magic that looks the same--unless of course, it is the same. The places they go to are very colorful and virbrant, as well as detailed. Even if its something as mundane as a cave, it's very detailed to the point where in the background the icicles are shining or there is water dripping in the background. Every Lacrima (sort of like a magic crystal) looks different and hardly any designs are overused, if any. Each character also looks drastically different from the next, making it impossible to confuse one or the other. 

Although I was dissing the voicework at first, if you stick with the show it does get to grow on you. A major part of that is the voice acting. Erza has a deep commanding voice because the actress portraying her brings to the table a powerful voice. Natsu's voice is sort of shrill but his personality reflects and Happy is supposed to be something of a baby. When you realize how the characters are motivated and how they act, the voice acting becomes more than just exceptional, it becomes part of the show. I tried watching it in sub but I just couldn't, I missed the English Dub voices too much. It's just too good, the actors put a lot into it. Not only that but a lot of great voice actors are part of the show so hearing them outside of it is kind of awesome. 

To speak on the overall feel of the first season, I would say that, for the most part, it's rather light-hearted. It's an adventure story between a bunch of older-teenage wizards who want nothing more than to pay the rent and do good. But man, when this show wants to hit home with emotion it does. Like I said, I was sold on episode 15 because there was a big emotional moment that happened. When the gang finally arrives at the Tower of Heaven and we learn about the backstory there it's pretty deep, even heavy, stuff. Just everything about Jellal, you know? 

Looking back, though, I found the first season to be more colorful, almost like they had more fun with it. The openings aren't as rock and roll as later seasons or arcs would have them, and it works. The very first opening has a great feeling of adventure with it, and since it is the first one, it should. It sets the overall tone of what the show wants to do. I say they probably had more fun with it because there a lot more goofy moments this season than in others. It almost reminds of Teen Titans the way they are able to go from over-blown animation and moments to very serious and tense moments. 

No character is spared from this, either, including ones like Erza, who comes off as very serious. She really lets go this season, particularly after the whole Tower of Heaven thing. This season is also very comedic, with almost an equal amount of action. They don't make many jokes, per say, rather just include funny moments or animations. 

Speaking of action though, there are a lot of fights in the show and they are all pretty great. Very Shonen, if you know what I mean. Natsu, Gray, and Erza are all, apparently, supposed to have around the same amount of power, but the main fighter we see this season is Natsu. He's always fun to watch as he never gives up and it's inspiring for the other wizards, even his rival Gray. 

Also, might I add, the music in this season is amazing. There are just a few more songs that the show is missing (like "Dragon Force" !!) before the soundtrack is complete, but staple songs like "The Last Magic" and "Dragon Slayer Theme" are evident throughout the show, as is the more emotional songs. 

I know that I'm probably overstepping a boundary here, but, when I got through the first season I really got a vibe similar to watching Dragon Ball Z, only with a much smaller main roster (and main female characters). It was funny, the fights were amazing, and I liked how everything looked in terms of the world given to us. Fairy Tail is one of the newer, longer anime and it's definitely one of the best. Season 1 is a very good indicator of what you'll like of the show, as it has glimpses of almost everything and sets up the two future seasons very well (I haven't seen much of Season 4, so I can't really speak too much on it, since I'm waiting for the Dub to come out). If you want, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Next week, we take on Season 2, and take a look at one of my favorite arcs in all the anime I've seen: Edolas.