Oddly enough, it's not even one of my favorite shows. I mean, it is, but in more of a Top 15, and those don't really count. Sure, it's got one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, but as a whole, it's something I enjoy watching, but not something I would die without. It's just something that's very accessible, and compared to other long-running, popular anime, it's pretty short. I mean, comparing it to something like One Piece in regards to length is like comparing the first "Harry Potter" book to the fifth one. Kind of a big gap between them.
Like any long-running/ popular anime, though, there are a considerable amount of critiques/ YouTube comments about this series that generate negative feelings. Out of most of the long-running series, this one tends to get the most flack. Why? Well, there are multiple reasons why this is, and I'll get into it as we move along.
I mean, there is no one series that everyone will like universally. Even Dragon Ball Z, arguably the most popular anime of all time, has gained tons of negativity in recent years. Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece all also have haters. It just comes with the business. Fairy Tail in particular, though, seems to get the most amount of hate. Many even consider it some of the worst anime they've seen recently. So, is Fairy Tail, one of the most popular anime currently, really bad?
I've reviewed the show in English and have read the manga through where it is now, or at least, what's been released. Sure, I haven't finished the Grand Magic Games arc, but I have a good feeling of where it's going based off of dialogue and characters present in the Tartaros arc (loved it, by the way, I thought it was very well-done in most areas). I have a good feeling for what's good and what's bad.
The bad is that it, sadly, does fall prey to the typical "power of friendship" garbage many times, where our heroes boldly rise to their feet because their friends believe in them and they have to keep fighting. Personally, I saw much less of that in the Tartaros arc, but there were many instances where this is present. The show, and manga, tend to do this a lot, too.
Like I said, it comes with the trade. Tons and tons of shows do this, but I think how they make it work is by dispersing it, or at least, making it realistic. Fairy Tail can work this in similarly, but often fails to do so. For example, the Dragon Slayers are capable of this by unlocking their Dragon Force. It's perfectly feasible for them to fall an get back up by unlocking it. It's a well of power they haven't yet tapped into, so it's fair to have them empowered. But for other mages like Lucy and Erza, it really doesn't make much sense at all.
Oftentimes, it feels that our heroes are faced against people they normally shouldn't be able to defeat, and another problem arises here. It was also seen in the movie, and is actually mostly a problem with Erza. She's often pushed into a corner, but once she finds an out, it really only takes one or two punches for her to defeat her enemy. Wait...what? I feel that if someone were truly that strong, they would be able to withstand one or two punches. It's a major failing in a battle scene and doesn't make our hero seem any better, it just makes the creators look lazy for continually using a long-dead trope.
The Zentopia arc is usually the arc I look at in regards to the bad of Fairy Tail. It has its redeemable moments with Michelle, Doranbolt, and Coco, but outside of that, I mean, it's really boring. It's Fairy Tail constantly getting their butts kicked and then coming back and somehow pulling through and not at all losing their magic power. It was like this in the original Oracion Seis arc, but at least there we had new characters from the Blue Pegasus guild as well as the introduction of Wendy and Carla to help keep things interesting, as well as the suspense as our characters fought on without any magic power. Plus, Dragon Force. Again.
I mean, after the excitement that was Tenrou Island, you really expect something big and grand to come. Instead, it's just a scandal to...uh...see, I can't even remember what they were after! I don't even know what the point of it was, it just seemed like the show was buying time by reusing old enemies that we didn't need to see. Heck, the arc is hardly ever mentioned in the ensuing one, and some of the dialogue comes off like it never even happened. What was the point, then?!
Fairy Tail tends to rely too heavily on friendship saving the day rather than using friendship as a means of motivation. Which is perfectly fine. When Gray is preparing to sacrifice his life against Lyon to stop him from resurrecting Deliora, it's Natsu who saves him because they're friends. See, that's a good use of it. Laxus returning to fight alongside Fairy Tail against Hades works because he has a bond with the guild, he is, at heart, still a member of the guild.
The Tartaros arc seems much less of the friendship saving the day and instead uses family as its major theme, which is sort of stronger. I won't spoil who makes appearances, but, it's very exciting and the way it all ends is very gut-wrenching. But it worked. The final battles featuring Gray and Natsu are the best moments of the entire arc because it plays off of how our characters are affected by their situations rather than focusing on the fights themselves and how they are going to win.
However, the show is not yet there, so the best example I can think of is Edolas, where the guild powers through against an entire kingdom. One simple-minded way of taking is is that "oh, they're only saying they can win through the power of friendship!" which is absolutely wrong. There's half an episode dedicated to Mystogan giving Lucy and Gajeel the method by which they can restore magic and help rescue their friends. At that point, their powers are restored and they are simply waging a war against a pretty weak enemy, comparatively. Fighting the Dorma Anim isn't just some fight that they shouldn't win, it's a fight they are meant to win given that they are Dragon Slayers. Sure, there are some heavy-handed moments in the arc, but every show has hammy moments.
The Flash is seen as TV's next best thing but let's not forget that this is the same show that had the Flash punch the metal off of someone in a ridiculously cheesy way as well as the show with a military that can apparently pull random super-stopping weapons out of their butts at will. Arrow is no better at that (still the better show, though).
I think what some people might be skipping out on here is that Fairy Tail can appeal to younger audiences. Sure, there are some pretty heavy fan-service episodes, but, do you not remember watching Dragon Ball Z? Master Roshi, I mean, come on! In the same ways that Fairy Tail can occasionally curse and show fan-service is the same way that DBZ did back when it was aired in the afternoon! So, with that in mind, of course there are going to be silly moments.
Are you really going to take a show with a flying, talking cat and a guy with pink hair that shoots fire from his mouth fighting against some lunatic riding a flying snake who can "hear" everything seriously, though? Fairy Tail is meant to be fun. There are many elements to the show that we are meant to take with a deeper meaning, such as the Lisanna subplot and, as the story will progress, things with the dragons as well as Zeref and his bigger picture, but, it's still just fun.
It has really fun action scenes when it can, the animation isn't bad, the characters are for the most part a blast (when they aren't preaching friendship and somehow able to keep fighting when they've lost all five of their senses, which does happen) and I continue to enjoy myself watching it.
So, is it a bad show? I think it all depends. For my money, I would say no. It's harmless and entertaining if you're just looking for a good time. If you want to watch something serious and really invest yourself in the story, you'll be disappointed in some moments, but a show called "Fairy Tail" doesn't exactly scream "story," you know?
Because it's a pretty by-the-books action series, I can see why many people get bored of it. There are some new things brought to the table but most of this has been otherwise seen before. Still, if you're not looking to catch up on really long shows, this is a pretty good one. And if this the first of its kind you've seen, it should be a pretty good time,
I think it's only "bad" because people tend to hate whatever's popular or they think that if they don't watch it, it's automatically bad/ they've seen it all before. Just take it for what it is and judge it yourself. I did, and I'd say it's not bad, it's quite good indeed.
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