Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail (Fairy Tail Month Part 9 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.**

Series Synopsis

Do fairies have tails? More than that, do fairies even exist? Nobody knows for sure. So, this guild is like them. An eternal mystery. An eternal adventure.

-Mavis Vermillion, First Master of Fairy Tail

Our story takes place in the world of Earth-land. Here magic is the norm. The people who practice the art tend to join the various wizarding guilds across the continent. To make a living, wizards seek out odd jobs that require their abilities.

One of the more rambunctious guilds is the lively Fairy Tail. Its members are some of the most well-known magic users around. Among their most reliable is the team considered Fairy Tail’s strongest.

Natsu Dragneel (voiced by Tesuya Kakihara), the Dragon Slayer, and his partner Happy (voiced by Rie Kugimiya). Lucy Heartfilia (voiced by Aya Hirano), the Celestial Wizard. Gray Fullbuster (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura), the Ice Mage. And Erza Scarlet (voiced by Sayaka Ohara), the legendary sword master.

With these five, no task is too great. Come hell or high water, they will see the job done.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Zero (Fairy Tail Month Part 8 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

Last time was ninety. This was twelve. Which do you think was easier to get through?

Given how every season this month had a minimum of twenty-five episodes, this was nothing. And before we get into this installment, why don’t we recap where we have been

Since our last retrospective, there have been five more story arcs and 135 more episodes. Among that run, this series’ biggest turning point came to pass. 

At the conclusion of the Tenrojima Arc, Fairy Tail’s core members were sealed away for seven years. Upon reviving, the once prosperous guild had become the laughing stock of the land. Our team then sought to build back their reputation. A goal achieved when they won the prestigious Grand Magic Games.

That victory was short-lived when the mystical Eclipse gateway opened. Planned as a super weapon to wipe out an assumed dragon assault, the unthinkable occurred. The dragon invasion did come to pass and through Eclipse it came.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Seven (Fairy Tail Month Part 7 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

First thing, ninety episodes. Even if good, a watch like that takes a lot out of you. It also takes up a ton of your time. About thirty-six hours’ worth in case you were wondering. When getting into these types of runs, you can only hope they will be decent. Given this was Fairy Tail, the odds of that being the case were in our favor. It wasn't one hundred percent, but it was still pretty high.

This season was coming off a year’s hiatus and it could not have been more obvious.

The animation and general design of this series underwent some changes. Changes for the better.

In addition, the first few episodes were hilarious because you could see what this season was trying to do. It was attempting to get the audience back up to speed. This involved simple, and sometimes awkward rundowns of who was who. In Fairy Tail’s defense, this would have been necessary back when this first aired. I won’t dwell on how silly this got. Besides, it didn’t last that long.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Six (Fairy Tail Month Part 6 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

If you’ve been following along this month, first thank you for sticking around. Second, you’re aware of my thoughts concerning the previous Starry Sky Arc. In case you’re jumping in here, the nicest way to describe the thing, “I didn’t like it.” That storyline has been the lowest point of this series so far. Let’s hope it stays that way.

One question has refused to leave my head. How do you follow up such a huge waste of time? One would like to assume, regardless of that answer, it would be better. Right? Things couldn’t get worse, could they? Of course, they can. That's a notion I don’t want to consider with this series.

Fairy Tail’s response to the travesty that was the Starry Sky Arc was the Grand Magic Games Arc. And boy was this a welcomed return to form and then some. Not only was this a massive improvement, this was the best this show has been. This was phenomenal.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Five (Fairy Tail Month Part 5 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

This last batch of episodes made up the Key of the Starry Sky Arc. For the series up to this point, my favorite storylines have been the Moon Drip, Tower of Heaven, and Nirvana Arcs. Adding to that, some of my favorite moments occurred during the Edolas Arc ending and to the lead into the Tenrojima Arc. Along the way, there have been plenty of lows. There have been many highs. There have been more highs than lows.

That was where my mind was when beginning the Starry Sky Arc. Looking back, this one was indeed special. Starting at episode 126 and finishing at episode 150, this marks the halfway point of this series and month. And this span of twenty-five episodes is one-hundred percent skippable.

The Starry Sky Arc was utter garbage. This was so bad. By its own merits, this was a complete mess. When compared to Fairy Tail that came before, this was painful to sit through.

It’s hard to only say there was a dip in quality. It was like watching a different show. The unfortunate part is, this wasn’t unprecedented. Although not on this scale, there was a moment that was similar to this gigantic fumble. The Daphne Arc.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Four (Fairy Tail Month Part 4 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

Time for a recap. We’re four entries deep into Fairy Tail Month. It can’t hurt to look at where we’ve been.

From season one, there were five major arcs.

The Lullaby Arc saw our team fight their first big threat. We also got the introduction of the powerful dark wizard, Zeref. Be sure to remember that name.

The Moon Drip Arc, which was fantastic, solidified Fairy Tail’s strongest team. Bigger and more dangerous villains came to be. The beginnings of future storylines took root.

The Phantom Lord Arc has actually been growing on me the more I think about it. Plus, this series saw great additions in the forms of Juvia and Gajeel.

The Tower of Heaven Arc’s significance, much like Phantom Lord’s, I respect much more in retrospect. This was when Erza rose became my favorite character in this series thus far.

The Battle of Fairy Tail Arc was a super cool, super drawn out free for all. Yet it did serve to establish two potential developments in the future. Though entertaining, its place in the show doesn’t appear pivotal yet.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Three (Fairy Tail Month Part 3 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

Season three was an interesting beast. The majority of the story contained the Edolas Arc. The last few episodes were the beginning of the Tenrojima Arc. What I can say for the latter is that they were a pretty good start. I look forward to seeing how this storyline continues. However, since there was so little, I will cover it in more detail in the next review.

As for the rest of the season, it contained some of the finest moments of the series thus far. It was as fun as the rest of Fairy Tail has been. Nevertheless, this was the most frustrating collection of episodes up to this point.

Here was a perfect chance for Fairy Tail to elevate itself. The story could’ve taken a solid step forward. Instead, this opportunity was more squandered than anything. Although the foundation for something fantastic remains. This season should’ve been a huge improvement.

The greatest thing going for the Edolas arc was its core idea. Bringing the Fairy Tail characters into a parallel universe offered many possibilities. And this season focused on two good ones.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season Two (Fairy Tail Month Part 2 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Season Positives

This season made sense. Fairy Tail is progressing along as I imagined it would be. It got bigger. More characters got introduced. The challenges are becoming more and more difficult to overcome.

In turn, the action is getting more intense. The powers of characters are growing. Their backstories are now more detailed. If this continues, that would be fantastic.

This season didn’t go backward. Although season one was better. Believe it or not, that had much to do with the difference in length. Yes, twenty-four episodes are easier to sit through than forty-eight. Except what happened during those episodes is more important.

Season two’s biggest strength and weakness was its episode count. This season didn’t have some of the problems of the first. That doesn’t mean it fixed those problems. Fairy Tail season two played out different than its predecessor. This was both good and bad. But it was never better.

That said, season two had plenty of moments that were outstanding. As well as many more moments that helped give weight to everything that has occurred so far. I’m still enjoying this series. That has not diminished.

Anime Hajime Review: Fairy Tail Season One (Fairy Tail Month Part 1 of 9)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fairy Tail. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Introduction

Fairy Tail takes place in the world of Earth-land. Here magic is the norm. The people who practice the art tend to join the various wizarding guilds across the land. To make a living, wizards seek out odd jobs that require their abilities.

One of the more rambunctious guilds is the lively Fairy Tail. Its members are some of the most well-known magic users around. Among their most destructive is the team considered Fairy Tail’s strongest.

Natsu Dragneel (voiced by Tesuya Kakihara) the Dragon Slayer and his partner Happy (voiced by Rie Kugimiya). Lucy Heartfilia (voiced by Aya Hirano) the Celestial Wizard. Gray Fullbuster (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura) the Ice Mage. And Erza Scarlet (voiced by Sayaka Ohara) the legendary sword master.

With these five, no task is too great. Come hell or high water, they will see the job done.