Fairy Tail

It's not bad, maybe – on the humorous side – I'm having more fun with it than Bleach or Naruto. Not to mention Reborn!. But then again, I don't snore at it like I do with One Piece. I like that the main character can think (I mean, even Naruto has figured that out, but it took him a while... :-D) and he's not weak, he's one of the stronger ones from the start. A nice change. There's a lot of likable characters (e.g. Gray ^^) and the girl isn't (mostly) the whiny Inoue type = more positive points for FT. But it has one major flaw – it's just not suspenseful enough and it didn't engage me enough to leave me quivering for more episodes. When Natsu fights, you subconsciously somehow know he's going to win, so then where are you supposed to get the suspense? You just kind of get a feeling how it's going to turn out. And the fights aren't that great either. Which means points down again for me. Worse than Naruto and One Piece, but definitely better than Bleach. Oh well, maybe I'll be (pleasantly) surprised in the future. And maybe I won't. (2011.01.06)

I love Fairy Tail, and so far, I have not missed a single episode. Sure, when I have been watching it, I have read a few reviews saying that it is not very funny. They also said that it is just a silly narrative with a bunch of cheesy fan service, a blatant rip-off of various anime series like One Piece, and some of the worst fillers to see the light of day. I could relate to the opinion on the fillers in some cases, and some of the filler arcs are morbid. On the other hand, what I love about the concept was made up for even in the worst episodes. I like the individual characters, which are rather cookie-cutter. After a hundred episodes or so, you know exactly what any given character is going to do at any given moment. However, I still enjoy it. A lot of the jokes are predictable, and some are repetitive. Usually, that is bad; however, if it can be delivered well, even if it is being told for the hundredth time, it can still bring a smile to your face. It does not have an especially profound narrative at first glance, although I enjoy it, and in the long run, it shows that first impressions can be deceiving. Some of the subject matter is definitely taken from other concepts, although why get upset when it works? There is fan service; many times almost to the point of being unnecessary and it almost seems as if the anime's creators wanted to please everyone, even though it does not bother me personally. In summary, I have not actually disputed any of the criticisms I outlined in the introduction, even though, at the same time, I want to say that I do not care about them. I find that Fairy Tail is a likable, pretty fairy tale with very nice fights, and it makes me smile more than once per episode; I look forward to every episode, especially when a big story unfolds. I have my favorite characters and ones I could do without. However, I do not mind anyone explicitly, and even Lucy is much more bearable for me than Sakura from Naruto or Orihime from Bleach. So I still enjoy it and do not care about other people's opinions... 9/10. (2016.01.10)