. Since you’re going to follow along some mages with issues, get ready for some crazy shit. For entertainment purposes only!
Meet up with young and beautiful Lucy, who has decided to become a mage. She definitely wants to join a guild called Fairy Tail, who are pretty well known for causing havoc everywhere they go. On her way, she encounters Natsu and his companion Happy (a flying cat) an incident which proves to be useful. Especially after Lucy ends up kidnapped on a ship. Lucky her, Natsu, who is a member of Fairy Tail, arrives to save the day, and we pretty much have the manga summed up.
Personally, I think the anime is nicely animated and well put into action. I somehow really like the colour schemes. It’s like entering a bubblegum world, with some explosives hidden on the ground. What’s most stunning is, how well the facial expressions come across. They’re a huge comic relief factor and haven’t been messed up once. Unfortunately though, even Fairy Tail has to deal with nasty filler arcs that take some of the original plot’s speed away.
Am still stunned by how quickly I got into this manga. The first chapter really got me, and we have a nice balance between an interesting plot, well planned arcs and hilarious characters. I honestly thought, those issues would get on my nerves after the first 10 chapters – I’ve never been so wrong. As a fan of comic relief, it has by now become one of the absolute highlights of the series. Fairy Tail is pretty entertaining and doesn’t try to convince you of a deeper message. You can see it as a hymn to friendship, but you can also simply enjoy reading, which is always an incentive for me to get my head into it. The set-up is also easy to follow along and despite the arcs being rather short and to the point, we have something like an all over plot keeping it together nicely. Something which is a con for me is how the difficulties the protagonist face are being solved: it’s always along the lines of “your true strength hasn’t been revealed yet!” Fortunately, to keep things from getting too one-sided, antagonists also get their second chances! It’s a constant up and down, nothing entirely new but still f***ing hilarious.
If you already thought, Bleach, Naruto and Dragonball are too similar, you will end up reading the same story again. If you can’t understand how someone can call those mangas one and the same, you are more than welcome to chapter 1! Let’s be honest, if you were looking for Shakespearean wit, you better get out, because this is pure awesome entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. Fairy Tail is for all those who don’t like the new stern atmosphere of Naruto, whose favourite Bleach character is Urahara, who think, Black Star should have been Soul Eaters main character. Short: If you like mangas to be fun and games with some ass-kicking, this is the thing to go for.
Fairy Tail – FACTS
by Hiro Mashima
Published in 2006-ongoing by Kodansha, A-1 Pictures & Satelight
Age: 12+
Recommended for: Everyone who calls themselves a childish weirdo and fans of slapstick humor.
Animus&Anima 