Fairy Tail (2014)

This is the first time I actually write a review, so please forgive me if I write it in a bad way. Also, this is purely based on my opinion.

Despite reading the manga, I dropped this (for now, maybe I'll continue once it's finished airing) because so many things were wrong with this it wasn't funny anymore.

Story:
Pretty much not existing at all. The characters lose sight of their goals and every 10th / 20th episode (This includes the "old" Fairy Tail as well) they suddenly remember it. "Oh, right, we were looking for our dragon parents who vanished."
The "story" is made out of single arcs ... which almost always don't have some kind of connection at all. One of the most serious problems Fairy Tail has, is seriousness. Of course, comedy is nice and all but sometimes the comedy is misplaced. "Oh, we're trapped here and might die because we can't get any food - How about the girls strip and wear bikinis / sexy underwear so that the men will release us." I know Fairy Tail is infamous for its fanservice, and I am a fan of it as well, but Mashima should know when he should add fanservice and when not.

Battles:
The most important part of a Shonen anime and I almost always enjoy them.
But not here. I am a tolerant watcher that can tolerate minor logic errors or slight friendship power-ups since nearly every Shonen has something like that. But Fairy Fail is overdoing it. Let me take one of the fights from this series as an example:
Rufus:
"I can use ancient magic, no one can beat me, I have all the magic in this LIBRARY and can even use ANCIENT / LOST magic nobody else can use. OH, I can also dissolve the magic of my opponent so that he can't use his magic anymore. I am SOOO gonna win this fight."

Gray:
"I was being pwned by but thanks to my nakamas I can now counter the magic that screwed me up 2 seconds ago."

This is just not okay. In the end it all comes down to opinions here but this fight was the pinnacle of stupidity.

Characters:
The characters are almost always stereotypical (Shounen) characters that can mostly be summed up with one or two words. They also don't get any major character development (If we exclude Gray and Erza, that is. (Then again, we only learned about their pasts. I doubt this can be called "character development", Mashima just seems to like these characters so he decided to give them some depth.)) which is very important in a Shonen anime. After 170 episodes Natsu is still the same idiot as in episode 1 that likes to show off. Nothing changed at all.


Sound:
Outstanding / Awesome / Superb.
Easily the best part of the whole anime. The medieval soundtrack fits perfectly and is one of the best out there.

Art / Animation style:
Many people complain about it but just as many people like it. The new animation style resembles the manga and is pretty damn good in my opinion. The character designs are now much better.

Enjoyment:
I wouldn't have dropped the series if I enjoyed it, right?
Despite having enjoyed the first season, I can't bear to watch this one. I don't know what happened but it pains me to watch it.

Conclusion:
It's probably a good Shonen anime if you didn't watch many animes yet, good thing for newcomers. If you just like me prefer animes with some depth this isn't a series for you.

Note: I wrote this review in the time of the filler arc.
==Mild Spoilers==

Fairy Tail (2014) is the direct sequel of Fairy Tail which continued the Grand Magic Games Arc.
Not only that many changes were made. Character designs are different but the biggest change happened is the change of studio which formerly was Satelight to Bridge (creators of Nobunagun and Devil Survivor 2)

The thing is the sequel did not solve any problems the Fairy Tail has. It only got worse. Its still has bad story, bad characters, and bad writing and this was added by the horrible animation. Bridge is very inconsistent in animating. The first ... episode has exemplary animation but this was the opposite on the next episode. This is still continuing up to now. Some episodes have great visuals but some were not.

The characters did not change too. They were still bland and badly written. Natsu is still the same stupid protagonist with the powa of friendship. Unlike Gray and Erza, his character did not have the chance to develop. Most Fairy Tail characters are like that. This is dragging the story down. Their personalities actually is the cause of the repeatedness of the storyline. The resolve to protect their friends is actually the cause why the same thing happens over and over.

Every arc didn’t change at all. It was still still like this:

Villain appears ⇒ Hurts some Fairy Tail members ⇒ Natsu got angry ⇒ Fairy Tail fight the villain ⇒ Fairy Tail won either by some Deus ex Machina or Powa of Friendship

Almost all the arcs was like that. It became worse at the end of the Eclipse arc. The end of the Eclipse arc in the manga angered many people leading them to drop Fairy Tail. That end was a actual Deus ex Machina. And now another tedious filler arc is still airing in Fairy Tail 2014

As always Fairy Tail’s music is still amazing. Still has the same composer. Fairy Tail’s iconic soundtrack change a bit but nevertheless still amazing.

Overall, Fairy Tail (2014) failed to solve the problems its facing and only got worse. But nevertheless I will not drop this for the reason this is my gateway anime and I want to see it ending with my own eyes and see how they animate Tartarus arc

EDITED: THIS REVIEW ENCOMPASSES THE WHOLE 102 EPISODES OF FAIRY TAIL (2014)
*NOTE: Due to the nature of this series some comparisons between the new series and the original run will arise but generally this review is spoiler free.

Fairy Tail (2014) was a highly anticipated sequel to the original run of Fairy Tail which lasted from 2009 to 2013. Now the original anime wasn't anything special or groundbreaking by any means however it was an anime that managed to avoid the majority of the pitfalls associated with long running anime like Naruto, Bleach etc. Sure it had the 'plot convenient' power ups and ... the 'power of friendship' cliches but it still managed ti garner a pretty huge and devout fan following. The main reasons were the fact that it had extremely consistent animation, brilliant soundtracks and very likable characters along with interesting arcs that didn't drag on and fights that were short and sweet. I confess that i was among that devout fan following and loved FT like it was the greatest anime ever (this was about 3 years ago mind you) so how is it that a fan like me is giving this sequel such a low score? Lets begin...

Story: . The pacing of the story is horribly inconsistent and extremely slow paced. There are some episode that will try to fit in a lot of content in the space of just one episode and others where there will be nothing of consequence done over the course of many episodes, a problem that arises from dragging out episodes is the extremely corny dialogue that is quite often cringe worthy. Now a typical aspect of shounens is 'hyping up' every battle and every showdown for eg Shokugeki no Souma does this excellently. Fairy tail tries but fails miserably at this not because of its inability to hype up sequences but because of the inability to follow up on it which leads to extremely boring battles and plot conclusions. Also many of the most interesting characters including Erza, Zeref, Jellal etc suffer deeply from a lack of screen time. Plot holes run rampant in this anime and character motivations are seldom explored. An example i would like to mention here form the series is the FT zero arc which animated 13 chapters in the space of almost 10 episodes, this is by no means helpful to the pacing of the series and means that episodes drag on aimlessly because of the little content that they get to adapt.

Animation: As i mentioned before Fairy tail mainly drew me in because of its consistent animation however that is not the case any more. FT tries to experiment with a new animation style that resembles the manga but in colour it doesn't look quite as good. The biggest letdown in terms of animation is, unlike the first series, inconsistency. BG are well drawn but during battles many characters look nothing more than doodles (naruto anyone?). Another problem is the extremely bland colour template, for some reason the colours are towards the dark side and this does not fit the previous series' cheery looking vibrant colours.

Sound: This is hands down the best aspect of the anime. All of the OPs and EDs are very well done and continue the legacy of the original's brilliant soundtracks. Some tracks that have stuck with me are 'Masayume Chasing', 'Believe in myself' and 'Ashita wa Orase' all of which are eargasmic. The osts on the other hand are overused but still are acceptable.

Character: Due to the inconsistent and slow nature of the story the characters don't really have a chance to shine like they did in the original. Many interesting character's like laxus, erza, gajeel, jellal etc are thrown into the background and only appear rarely. Their development has remained stagnant over the course of these 102 episodes. Many important moments from the manga that are important in fleshing out the characters were animated without any of the emotional drama and this means that character emotions look forced and overdramatic. Natsu is much the same and Lucy is still quite useless as a MC. Zeref is sorely missed and only appears in about 4 episodes despite the fact that he is the main antagonist. The rest of the antagonists are not nearly as interesting and their motivations are petty to say the least.

Enjoyment: Probably the only reason that i have stuck with this anime for so long is the feeling of nostalgia i got every week i sat down and watched another episode, but nostalgia can only take you so long and at some point watching it became nothing more than a chore, devoid of enjoyment and the love that i once had for this anime.

I am honestly shocked at how such an amazing anime has been ruined, it is now nothing more than a shadow if its past glory and is a prime example of how greedy studios can turn an interesting show into a shitty cash grab.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this long review and any feedback is greatly appreciated since this is my first review.

This is a 100% spoiler free review of Fairy Tail (2014) the sequel to Fairy Tail - An anime that I thoroughly enjoyed watching for 175 episodes and consider as one of my favorite anime.

I know what you are probably thinking,"there's already dozens of low rated reviews for this anime, despite it having such a high MAL rating; how is this not just another troll review by a typical fairy tail hater." So I would like to clarify that this is a 100% serious review with no hate specifically towards Fairy Tail or the shounen genre.

So if you have not seen either Fairy ... Tail or Fairy tail(2014) then you are probably sitting down with a puzzled look on your face wondering why anyone would give a continuation of one of their favorite anime such a low rating.
The answer is pretty simple; this is not the anime that I fell in love with, it is not the anime that i spent over 50 hours watching and it certainly isn't an anime I would recommend to my friends or to the members of MAL. It is just a poor sequel to a popular anime; with drastic quality reductions and sub-par animation to milk more money from it's targeted audience.

Story + Fights : 4/10
Since this review is a continuation for Fairy Tail i presume you already know the basic plot and most likely consider the Grand Magic Games arc that ended halfway in the original was one of the best arcs in Fairy Tail, and are eagerly waiting to carry on.
This is where I would like to state my opinion - Yes, the grand magic games arc started off amazing, but it honestly isn't worth carrying on.
In Fairy Tail 2014, the pacing of the fights is honestly dreadful.

We all got into Fairy Tail for the fast paced,action packed fights didn't we?

Well there is no more of that anymore, instead you are forced to wait 5 episodes in the hopes of watching decent fight, only to realize that it lasts for mere minutes being switched to a different fight which u clearly don't have any interest in, or some characters talking about some plot which is clearly not important and only exists so that the anime can drag a fight for 4 episodes longer than is should be.
Honestly Natsu vs Sting and Rogue in the original Fairy Tail is 100x better than fight there will ever be in the second season. Do yourselves a favor and savor this fight as your last Fairy Tail memory otherwise you will regret ruining your views on such an enjoyable series.

Animation + Art : 2/10
This is very much my biggest problem with Fairy Tail 2014, remember the epic battles with amazing animation and colorful abilities. Well that isn't the case anymore in Fairy Tail 2014; instead you should expect clunky character movement and animation, incorrect and totally absurd body proportions - I am not even joking sometimes you will notice characters half the size of the rest of the cast, and other times you will see characters with the tiniest heads and smallest bodies. But the thing that completely dwindled my faith in the animation for the Fairy Tail 2014 is the fights; it seems as if half the battle seems to be cut out of the picture, the abilities used are half animated and the screen often shifts to the characters so the studio doesn't have to animate the rest of the ability, instead we see stupid crap; such as a zoom in on Natsu as his enemies are sent flying into the air, without us even seeing him remotely use his abilities. The new modern style that the studio tried to use in this production is clearly not working and greatly takes away from what we all loved about Fairy Tail.

Sound : 10/10
The one part of Fairy Tail that will always be amazing; the OP, the ED and the OST are still amazing, everyone already knows that the soundtracks to Fairy Tail are some of the best you will ever see, and this season is no disappointment in that regard, rarely will you find poor music in Fairy Tail and even in such a poor season it is still exceptional

Overall : 5/10
This sequel is nothing like the prequel; every single aspect of the show from animation to battles has taken a drastic drop in quality, and has gotten to the point where you are better off looking elsewhere for the shounen action you desire. Yes, you may have developed an attachment to the amazing cast of characters in Fairy Tail or the concept of magic and the wide array of intricate powers out there in Earthland but trust me when I say that even the exceptional music and sound in Fairy Tail won't save you from being disappointed in the downwards progression of all the other aspects of Fairy Tail.

However you can still find some enjoyment in this series, it isn't complete trash and is still watchable, some of you may enjoy it, so don't let this review stop you! Decide for yourselves if you think that it will be worth it. Yet, I still do not recommend it.

I decided to write this review after reviewing other reviews over the same anime. 90% of the reviews were against this legendary anime. people said this anime was overrated but ask me that i believe that Fairy Tail (2014) in underrated. It should have been in the best. Any way lets get to the point.

This season comprise of 4 arcs although the last arc (10 episodes) are not that interesting because they go to way before past where fairy tail wasnt even borne yet still the other 3 arcs are full of action and entertainment. Its a total blast of shounen. Although i too believe ... that this season was not funny like the previous one but that was because this time they took a rather serious way to deal things as the troubles this time were greater than ever.
The dialogues the feelers and the chills of excitement are filled in this season and the one thing that has advanced is the fighting style. It is superb this time not to say that it was not superb the previous time but this time it was on a far whole level.
So i believe one should watch this anime regardless of the size because after watching it you will find your true self, you will start to believe in yourself and also a sense of goodwill will be born within you regarding your loved ones. this anime will boost your courage and fill you with enthusiasm.

the only problem this anime had like always with all other fairy tail animation is poor execution of the animation fluidity, its not smooth, this hamperssome of the fun but ...

One should really watch this anime with full interest and i am sure you will enjoy it so best of luck with it. I hope you liked my review even though it seemed a little unrealistic.

I am simply writing this because all the other reviews here gave me an incredibly negative impression of Fairy Tail 2014 before I even watched it.

I'm a fan of the first Fairy Tail series, many reviews here complain about all these changes and how horrible this season is.

But guess what? I've noticed none of these changes so far.

If you didn't tell me this was a new season, I wouldn't have even noticed.

It picks up right where it left off in season 1 and is the same old Fairy Tail I always enjoyed.

... Art, Sound, Story, Characters...there's no difference. They're all great.

If you loved the first season, try the second out at least. Please don't let these reviews scare you off.

Fairy Tail is one of those long-running series many ridicule, and I understand that. I see the flaws just as much as any outsider does. I get pissed off the characters' being overpowered without any reason or proof of having acquired them most of the time. The whole "Friendship is magic" is literally everything in Fairy Tail and it gets too fucking old. But, it is also because of that, that I fell in love with it. I love the concept of family and unity and shit like that. I'm a sucker for those things and Fairy Tail is all about that. Also, all the ... over-the-top revelations for this series have been really fucking awesome. I love the character interactions and the way they genuinely bond.

You can't make me memorize the names of hundreds of characters but you don't need to force me to do that for FT. I know the Fairy Tail members by heart, because they are able to make you feel like you are part of their journey. Yes, FT has so many short-comings when it comes to the action and story-telling, but there is charm in this one that many people fall in love with which is why it is still popular to so many.

I believe that these sort of long-running shounen series are not for everybody, and it's certainly not something you watch if you want to get deep shit from it. When watching such shows, you have to take it in raw and as light-hearted as possible. You don't need to think. You just have to watch the shit. No analyzing shit or so on, because you're only going to be wasting your time.

To end, I have enjoyed this immensely as I have already been a fan since before. This direct sequel has more or less the same elements and aspects as the previous one. Just more "boom" and more questions answered for some of the characters' unknown pasts. Try it if you will, and don't if you're not up for it. It's as simple as that.

Picking up where the series last left off, A-1 pictures adapts Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail at the Magical Games Arc. Now before I can actually review it, a lot of my gripes with series stems from the one before it and it's not like it's two separate series of continuity.

I didn't hate watching Fairy Tail at first. But the deeper I got into it, the more I felt it squandered all the potential it had at the start. In the end, I couldn't help but see it as the most generic shonen ever - it was as if the author ticked all the boxes ... (stupid male characters with predictable quirks, average-smart females of the needs-saving variety, power of friendship, fanservice, magic power systems, climbing-ranks-and-being-the-best goals, etc.) that are supposed to make a shonen series good, but failing to actually give arcs substance as a whole to make the world believable.

While ever long running show has weaknesses, the others take their setting making most of their unique world and dilemmas. Fairy Tail on the other hand doesn't seem to be getting plot or character developments done. Yes, a few things do happen that seem to affect more than just that arc, but in the end, there isn't even a depth and it remains as shallow as ever.

NOW, why did I keep watching? The first Fairy Tail's glorious osts and it was actually mindless entertainment for the most part. But now that they changed it, while I'm open to change, the music just doesn't mesh well with it. The show also tries too hard to make itself funny and the animation seems to have taken a turn for the worst. I might pick it up some time but I've dropped it for now.

In the end, it's okay-ish if you're brand new to the anime but Fairy Tail never brings anything new to the table that you've probably seen in other shows. If if you're thinking about watching this show, you're better off with another of the Big Three (One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach), Dragon Ball Z, or Hunter X Hunter.

Fairy Tail 2014 is the sequel to the original Fairy Tail anime that aired from 2009-2013. It's actually an upgrade in many ways from the previous anime despite having a shaky beginning with their budget it seems (Early episodes have varying quality throughout). Let's just be clear, this is still the same Fairy Tail everyone knows and loves.

Story: I think a lot of the problems people have with the 2014 series is that the beginning of it is the second half of the Grand Magic Games (Which for whatever reason is the most critically panned non filler arc of the series, so it being ... the first arc affects people's ratings) and then it goes straight into a filler arc afterwards. I agree, it's unfortunate the sequel anime to the original Fairy Tail got shackled by 2 arcs in a row that "most" people didn't like (I actually loved the Grand Magic Games, but understand I'm in the minority).

Recently however, the anime has been on track to reclaiming its former greatness. Adapting the popular sidestory omake chapters and starting the Tartarus (or Tarataros) arc have seen the budget and artwork increase, and storywise the series has never been better. This arc is pretty much the epitome of greatness concerning Hiro Mashima's writing. Each of the main cast members get something awesome to do in this arc, and it features some of the best plot twists in the series.

10/10

Art: Even if the earlier episodes were filled with inconsistent artwork, the DVD releases actually fix up a lot of noticeable problems, so for the sake of my review I'll use those redone episodes as the basis and the current quality of the Tartarus arc. While the first anime made things too colorful and purposely avoided blood, Fairy Tail 2014 takes that darker step and makes the color palette closer to the original manga, and even adds blood into scenes! (There could be more blood though, but that's just a nitpick at best. It's still better the original Fairy Tail in that regard).

9/10

Sound: The sound track for the series continues to be superb. While some of the original tracks from the first Fairy Tail do make reappearances as remixed versions of themselves, most of the OST in this series is brand new. The Tartarus arc especially has some great new darker themes (With demon chanting) that definitely sets the mood, on top of having the soul pumping kickass main theme when main characters kick ass.

10/10

Characters: Oh boy, where Fairy Tail has always shined is its cast of characters and the 2014 series is no exception. You have your main 5 cast members from the previous series returning: Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Wendy. Then you have all the various side characters from their guild and all the other guilds. Every character gets a chance to shine, and it's hard to not have a favorite in a show where so many characters get ample amounts of screentime. Certain characters, like Gray, especially have seen some major development and focus in the 2014 series due to certain story sequences, more so than he did in the original Fairy Tail anime.

10/10

Enjoyment: Definitely love watching Fairy Tail each week with my friends and family. We have come a long way from getting still frames, magic circles, and reused battle animation to where we are now. I would even go as far to say that now the animated action clearly outshines the manga.

10/10

Overall: In conclusion, I have to say that Fairy Tail 2014 has surpassed the old series in nearly every category. It really annoyed me that so many people were rating this series 4s and 5s based off just watching the first few episodes but not waiting to see how this adaptation would turn out. I'm hoping many people find my review helpful and that it encourages them to watch to at least the Tartarus arc to see if they'll like the new series or not. Fairy Tail 2014 gets a 10/10 overall.

Fairy Tail 2014 is the sequel to Fairy Tail starting off right where the other one left off, in the grand magic games arc. (Not going to go into detail about the story since most of those reading this will have already watched the first one) So Lucy a main female character is captured and now the gang has to go and bust her out of prison guns (magic) blazing right? Well, no. They sneak in to save her (Which is totally the smart thing to do) but right after they do they fall into a trap and now they have to escape the place ... or die. There lies the problem with these first few episodes, they spend a lot of tine dragging things out with fan service and constantly switching back and forth between the grand magic games.

The early fights, (seeing as there are only 9 episodes out right now) are boring and don't give an intense feel like the first one does, (which I really enjoyed) all the fights this time either, drag out too long or doesn't even last for a good length of the episode (although do the the constant switching between fights the battles usually last an episode or 2).

The cast of characters didn't change and if you like how they were in Fairy Tail, you'll like em just as much in this one. All the characters though are pretty much just classic stereotypical shounen characters that we've all seen. The cast doesn't get much development (except for Ezra, Lucy, a little on Wendy, and a little on Gray.) seeing as Natsu is still the same bumbling idiot that attracts all sorts of trouble (probably my favorite character though.) The thing that really saves and stands out about these characters are their interactions.

The music is good, but the first opening is (arguably) worse than the first one.

Although it's very early to be saying this, I personally like the first one better and didn't get as much enjoyment out of this one as I did in the first one. There are many better anime this spring season (my opinion) than Fairy Tail right now such as No Game No Life and Haikyuu. I believe that Fairy Tail 2014 was just too hyped or "fanboys" just gave Fairy Tail 2014 the scores it has just because it's back or they are blinded to the flaws and think IT'S THE BEST ANIME IN THE WORLD! (there are those who do genuinely believe that it deserves a 10 who are or are not "fanboys".)

It may seem like I'm hating on Fairy Tail but... okay I am hating on it a bit because of the crazy amount of 10s it has for almost no reason and being higher ranked than shows I believe to be far superior (such as No Game No Life, Kuroko no Basket, and Chihayafuru) but I am a fan and will be following it.

As a person who has fully watched the first fairy tail series i can say that this one is just as best so far from the first fairy tail series i cried plenty of times, goose bumps, adrenaline rush, laughter, sadness, pretty much anything and everything i cant wait till i cry out of joy n such from the 2014 one, the characters themselves seem so real to me. in a way it does seem to repeat it self but in a way it doesn't because theres nothing the same there bonds as friends tighten greater n greater

Ps. if you jump into this ... series with out watching the first half you will more confused then a whale waking up on land

Since the anime adaptation of Fairy Tail began in 2009, the franchise has established itself as a moneymaking machine. In fact, it appears that it is well on its way to establishing itself among the likes of Naruto and One Piece as one of those series that just doesn't seem to have any end in sight.

I was actually a fan of Fairy Tail during its initial run. Quirky characters, attractive designs, a lot of humor, it was just good fun. The story arcs were also, for the most part, pretty decent. There was character development and each episode kept me engaged. Unfortunately, now that Fairy ... Tail's renewed run is well underway, it seems that almost all of the original appeal has been lost.

Despite picking up right in the middle of a story arc, I can't help but feel like the pacing has been turned down to a minimum. There are far too many episodes in which virtually nothing happens to advance the plot and leaves me feeling like I just wasted 20 minutes. In the currently ongoing Grand Magic Games arc, the plot feels bogged down by too many elements and its progression is hindered by the series' continuous attempts to juggle numerous battles/situations in one episode. The result is that we get a quick glimpse of each separate, but simultaneously occurring situation, bouncing back and forth, and the show ultimately takes far too long to reach key plot points. From what I recall, the show's initial run did not have such atrocious pacing issues.

In terms of animation there is nothing new or improved here. It's essentially the same as it was when it last left off and budget constraints are painfully evident in almost every episode. You'd think such a popular show would be able to allocate more resources to animation, but I guess not. (For those of who watching for the fanservice, there's still plenty of that.)

Funnily enough, perhaps the thing that I find the most lacking is the absence of the original Fairy Tail theme. I'm a big fan of it and I felt more than a little disappointed upon noticing that it had been omitted in the renewed run. The soundtrack just feels dull without it. On the bright side, though, both OPs so far have been excellent (although you know there's a problem when the OP is more exciting than the actual episode).

Although its redeeming factors are few and far between, as long as new episodes continue to be made, people will keep watching, and the producers will keep making money. Of course, being based on a manga, it's unfair to place all the blame on the producers. Most of Fairy Tail's fundamental flaws can be chalked up to bad source material. I may keep watching just out of some curiosity about what happens next, but in all likelihood I will probably be dropping Fairy Tail sooner rather than later.

A lot of people hate Fairy Tail. Despite the popularity, it's probably more hated than Sword Art Online and Boku no Pico, and that's saying something.

I'm writing this review as fairly as possible.

STORY:
The new series carried on from the previous (Grand Magic Games arc). Since the end of the arc, there were about five arcs (Eclipse Celestial Spirit Arc + omake, Sun Village Arc, Tartaros Arc, Tenrou Jade Arc and the first two episodes of Avatar Arc).

During the one-year time skip within the series, we also saw Mavis' back-story in the Tenrou Jade Arc or Fairy Tail Zero as it's known to some ... people.

The story follows the manga and the omake manga. There was only one true filler arc throughout.

The main disappointment is ending the series two episodes into a new arc.

ART:
The art was noticeably different, and was still bright and vivid - until the Sun Village Arc. During this arc and the following arcs, the animation colours seemed to gain a purple filter - that's the only way I can describe it, but it was around that time that the story no longer immersed me, because I was agitated with the new colours.

SOUND:
The soundtracks, oh my.
Acnologia could have been voiced by someone who knows how to truly sound badass.

CHARACTER:
The characters were more fleshed out during the omake.

ENJOYMENT:
I have to give this a lower rating than its predecessor. This is mostly down to the artwork involved. It's the main area that let down the series for me, to the point where it is no longer in my top 5 series.

Fairy tails climatic peak at the end of first series left a sweet taste in the mouths in some people returning for the second season, and left others with the kind which isn't so nice. There have been many revamps from animation to soundtrack, but don't worry, it still keeps its story as shallow as a puddle in the Sahara (basically it's non existent).

The story directly connects season 1 to season 2, and continues from the current grand magic games, where Natsu and fairy tail come up against other guilds for the crown of the best in Fiore. Problems arise, and fairy tail are in ... a race against time for more reasons than one.

Don't worry folks, it may have changed its image, but this shounen story sticks at what it does best, bad writing disguised as "epic, brilliant, wowza!". Fairy tails usual pacing is very rushed due to it's build up to arcs and fights described in simple terms with little or no thought of tactics or strategy. Furthermore, the atmosphere exudes a lack of seriousness, due to comedy being introduced at the wrong time. This eventually leads to emotional events and fights to not be taken seriously enough, because care and attention to detail is skipped for a quick thrill. It's also a "the strongest fighter wins" storyline and is concluded with short fights that have a rinsed and repeated story line, where random power ups occur and no real explanation is given as to how fairy tail truly win. This is where the dues ex machina comes in, as Fairy tail will be in a hopeless position to winning a fight in seconds. Unfortunately, this formula still exists. This eventually leads to Fairy tail frustratingly becoming more and more predictable in its fights and story line as time goes on.

Regardless of this, there's something about fairy which can easily let's you give into the childish, cheesy jokes once in a while. You can find yourself almost getting swept up in its hype sometimes, as it is shounen after all. Then again, bad writing eventually acts as the nail in the coffin for fairy tail.

The second major revamp clearly seen by Fairy tail 2 is the animation. Everyone's loving characters from Natsu to Laxus have all had a good wipe down, and are looking pretty neat. The designs are much more sharper, and this has had a direct impact on the fan service too, with every bussom being as big as before. Unfortunately further evidence of frame rate drops make another shameful comeback, which is surprising and ridiculous coming from a very recent anime.

With characters however, we still have the same, rememberable cast, with Natsu, Lucy, Erza and Gray still battling it out for the guild. The characters are very much the shounen stereotypes, Natsu the tough guy, Lucy the damsel who constantly tries to prove her worth all the time, Erza the overpowered typhoon ect. But only a few drops of character development reach some of these characters like Gray and Erza. This equates to each character never really changing after certain events. In the end, it's almost as if they have a limited set of phrases or ways to act because they are never changing. This is especially seen in Natsu, who hasn't changed from episode 1. To sum then up, the characters of fairy tail wholly offer very few rememberable moments, but will be rememberable for being a stereotypical cast.

The last overhaul comes from the music department, as a new series lead to a new soundtrack. The opening song unfortunately gave away spoilers, plus it wasn't very memorable. The OST however is top notch, it really does bring fights an extra essence of battle to them. The ending unfortunately catered to those whose life long dream it is to ship characters, not my thing.

To conclude, Fairy Tail left me wanting to wash my mouth out. There are many flaws from the old season carried on into this season and nothing has been done to address them. In fact, it turns to glorify them instead. I would only recommend for those new to shounen anime, other than that, it's not worth your time.

Since 2014 is over I think it's appropriate to write a short review of how I felt about Fairy Tail in 2014. I watched all of the Previous episodes so of course I had some expectations going into this season.

Almost none of those expectations were met.

The fight scenes are terrible and leave so much to be desired. The humor isn't funny anymore. The dialogue is cringe-worthy at times. Natsu has become a pansy. I haven't felt any satisfaction from anything that has happened so far this season.

Overall Fairy Tail feels like it has become exclusively an anime for children and young teens. But ... then there's the raunchy fan-service and Lucy getting naked for no good reason so that probably isn't the case. After some censoring it's one of those shows I'd expect to be on Disney XD on Saturday mornings. It's like a 4Kids dub and it hasn't even been dubbed yet.

It suffers from the biggest case of "main character gets his ass kicked and somehow pulls through at the end with the power of friendship" that I've ever seen. And if you've watched Fairy Tail since the beginning you know it's always been suffering from this. It really feels like they sacrificed Natsu's awesomeness for the sake of hilarity (Natsu gets beaten around by low-tier enemies and screams wildly while it happens) except it isn't funny. Remember how epic it was when Natsu finally got serious and had that look in his eyes like nothing better stand in his way? Yeh, none of that happens either.

Everything that happens is completely predictable 5 minutes before it happens. This isn't an exaggeration. Fairy Tail is riddled with so many tropes it's like the writers went to TVtropes and said "yeh this looks good, let's put this in the show." Everything follows the same tired formula over and over and over.

One good thing that remains is the music. Fairy Tail always had great music that was unlike any other show out there. Also, many people aren't too fond of the new art but I think it's a step up from the previous seasons. Maybe that's just me.

So maybe Fairy Tail is going through a slump and it'll make me eat my words this year. I really hope that's the case. But as far as 2014 goes, Fairy Tail was forgettable and almost laughable.

I personally love Fairy Tail. It is very good and I wish more people would give it a try.

-STORY- 10 - The story is very interesting, and while some people think it is very weak, I quite like it and think it is very unique.

-ART- 10 - The art is quite outstanding, but I'm honestly not one to ask. It's pretty easy to see.

- SOUND - 10 - Fairy Tail has some of the best soundtracks and music I've heard in any anime. IT has amazing openings (*COUGH* the first one *COUGH*), and has really good endings as well.

- CHARACTERS -10 - This ... is another many people say are weak. Many dislike the some of the main characters, I even dislike a few characters in this show, but they are still amazing! Almost every character has their own respective back story, (unfortunately they are almost all sad, if not all of them) but they are all very interesting in their own way, and they are all powerful in their own way.

- ENJOYMENT - 10 - I enjoy this anime a lot, and enjoy all of it, from the epic fights to the sad back stories, it is amazing. I just have to warn you, it has very heavy fan service, but don't let that stop you! :)

As someone who has pretty much marathon-watched all the fairy tails in the past few months I was quite surprised to see the rather paltry scores the 2014 version achieved.

The major concern people seem to have is with the story and writing. In a shounen battle anime.
This seemed a bit odd to me.
That isn't to say that the story and writing aren't fairly poor, of course. They rely upon the same clichés in each arc. The writing is predictable and, hell, the characters even have catch-phrases.
But does any of that really matter for a shounen battle anime?

I would say no. What matters most in a ... battle anime - especially one as lighthearted as Fairy Tail, - are the battles and the slapstick. It's dumb entertainment, to put it bluntly. But who watches such a thing and expects to be challenged mentally? That's like watching a horror and expecting romance and drama that makes you cry and feel along with the actors.

When it comes down to it I did not notice a major drop in quality between this series and the previous. The animation can be outstanding on some episodes and lazy on others. Only half of the characters have actually had a major amount of development but that development is noticeable and included in the writing.
The sound design is also outstanding. Everything from the music to the VAs used. And on the whole it's just a fun series.

If you enter it with the knowledge that, yes, a shounen battle anime has clichés out the arse and yes, it won't challenge you mentally then you're pretty much good to go. Fairy Tail is dumb feel-good entertainment. And it's pretty good at being what it is. Because sometimes it's nice to have something that isn't very serious.

This is my first review, and i hope it actually sounds like a review..
so far i've only watched 11 eps, that might not be enough to write a review about it since it's still airing... but i just wanted to point out some things about fairy tail. i have watched some eps of the first series, but i dropped it, and this time i decided to give the new fairy tail a try since i know many that have recommended it saying that its amazing ...etc. and so i did, but that didn't last for too long since i dropped it after watching the ... 11th eps. of course, what i'm about to mention is just my opinion, some will agree, some will disagree... well here it goes:

i think that the new fairy tail art did quiet improve compared to the first series (slightly). the opening songs are catchy and they kinda suit the series. however, there are various reasons that made me drop this anime.

first : they barely focus on the main plot, its all about comedy (which in my opinion isn't funny at all, it's all cliche..). when i watched the first ep of the new series, i thought they might actually focus on the plot.. but as i watched more eps, it felt as if the plot isn't actually there. fairy tail lacks seriousness. not necessarily a lot. but just some to make use of the plot. i'm personally not a fan of comedy, but i wanted to give fairy tail a try since its a fantasy themed anime, with guilds, magic and dragons... but i just couldn't stand it anymore because the characters don't take anything seriously, I'm not gonna give examples since it might be considered as a spoiler ( i think). but i'm sure you can relate to what i'm saying (maybe ) .

second: theres no character development at all. also, the characters always rely on Natsu making him sound like a very strong person. when hes actually nothing special. he's just a showoff brat that launches fireballs. i honestly dont see what makes Natsu so special and why the rest of the characters say that he's powerful and rely on him. and its not just natsu, i find lucy quiet useless too. shes basically dead weight that literally does nothing. she gets in trouble and natsu saves her. pure cliche. sometimes i even wonder why shes in the series. her only purpose is fanservice which i hate. theres fanservice in every scene... which i find disgusting, i like concentrating on the plot more. but instead of the plot, fairy tail chooses to concentrate on fanservice and comedy. which is why i couldnt stand it anymore. also, aside from lucy and natsu, erza. to be honest, i expected a lot from her when she first showed up (in the first series), cuz everyone referred to her as "scary" and "powerful" but she's nothing special either. shes not scary , neither is she powerful either. like lucy, her purpose is also fanservice, although unlike lucy, i find erza better compared to lucy that literally does nothing. but i still hate both though. i find gray and gajeel quiet interesting, but they barely show gajeel (or focus on him either), compared to natsu i think gray and gajeel are better and deserve more focus. but it seems the anime only wants to focus more on natsu, its all about natsu, natsu, natsu , nastu... ugh.

third: the action scenes. honestly... theyre rly bad... action is one of my favourite genres in anime. and since fairy tail is highly rated, i thought maybe it's action scenes would be awesome and cool. but no... they barely show what actually happens in those scenes. its like... a battle starts...they switch scenes, showing us what the other characters are doing (which is all just talk). then they go back to that scene, the fairy tail character is almost losing and the enemy is like " haha u cant beat me!!!" then the character is like " ur underestimating fairy tail! i wont lose since i have friends on my side!!" the they switch scenes again. then back again to that scene and the fairy tail character wins. and the enemy is like " nooo ! i lost! how did u????" and that character starts with all his big talk... i dont know if what i just said makes sense, but what im trying to say is that the actions scenes dont actually show, and its all cliche, the main character is about to lose then somehow gains power to defeat the enemy. sure friendship is important. but fairy tail exaggerates A LOT when it comes to it... and its overused... which makes it predictable....

fourth: the backstories are quiet lame too ( in my opinion), they're really not that special... they're not emotional either... they're just like some average backstories with not much depth in them. (but thats just my opinion)

there are some more minor things about this anime... but the point is... it's too predictable... and i think is so overrated. but let me just say this again.. this is all my opinion. i dont expect everyone to agree with me. i know a lot will disagree.. but it's just my opinion. and i think that if, like me, you are more into anime that is serious and goes pretty deep ( the plot) then you most likely will not like this anime. but if youre new to anime, or if u just want to watch some hyper anime( just for fun) with fan service, or if u dont like anime with a deep plot... then yeah.. you'll probably like this anime... or you can probably give it a go and see.

i dont know if what i said actually looks like a review.. but... yeah... it is my first time... and it is just my opinion.... and im not saying that fairy tail is a terrible anime ( okay maybe i think it is) but still, i know that there are many people that enjoy it....

Well this is my first review, well in this site . So ummm I guess I should start at how the action scenes here aren't awesome as they use to be during the last seasons boring fights takes longer this and the awesome ones takes like a few minutes of the episode. I'm still not over how they don't actually add blood but just stain them in clothes or hands. I'm expecting more from this. We have several episodes to come so I'm hoping something can be more improved here .I'm digging the new style too but I also miss the old style.

Art 8/10: I ... like it and the high quality it gives but I'm just so used to the old style and I feel like it's better but this one is like the one in the movie well a little bit .

Story 9/10: Seriously, the story is really unique about a huge gate linking the past and future and dragons. The strongest wizard being someone of darkness.

Character 8/10: Lucy became like a model for fan services in the past episodes. Where the heck are the other characters like Gildarts?! Man , where does that guy even go

But despite some flaws I enjoy really much and that I'm happy watching it or rewatching it or ok ok ok fine I'm done x'D

Overview:

Time to look at a steaming #2. Fairy Tail 2! Despite the fact that I had a LOT of problems with the first Fairy Tale series, I honestly thought that Fairy Tail still had some potential. Fairy Tail had an excellent animation budget, a large cast of characters of whom at least a couple were interesting, and a solid soundtrack. Under a capable director and with a few tweaks and changes, perhaps Fairy Tail could have become a top tier shonen anime. After all, the first Hunter X Hunter series was garbage, but a slightly better budget and a few tweaks and BAM! all the ... new anime fans think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Unfortunately, not only is Fairy Tail 2 NOT a vast improvement over the first Fairy Tail, it is almost universally considered worse. Why? There are several reasons, which I will explain and break down.

1. Plot: When a shonen series goes on for a few years and fans that got into the series as age 12-13 start to grow up, there are 3 things you can do. The first is to pull a Pokemon and keep rebooting the series so old fans leave and new fans keep coming. The second is to pull a Naruto/Dragonball and try make the series darker and more action oriented to fit the tastes of a maturing audience. The third is to not do anything different, but have the title "One Piece". Fairy Tail 2 tries to pull a One Piece and not do anything different and expect audiences to keep buying it. The difference is that Fairy Tail has never had the same level of quirky comedy that One Piece does and it isn't quite as creative. Instead, Fairy Tail took a highly formulaic plot that was already beaten to death and decided to simply beat it further to death! The whole series fills like filler at this point, even when it isn't. NOTHING happens to change the status quo or challenge the viewer with a new and truly engaging plot.

2. Characters:
The main characters: Natsu, Lucy, Grey, and Happy are still just as obnoxious and generic as ever. No effort has been put into developing their characters or making them even slightly more likeable. Erza has received at least a little character development from the beginning and is by FAR the most likeable character so...why isn't she the main character again? The greatest thing that could happen to Fairy Tail would be killing off the 3 main characters with horrible, painful deaths and replacing them with characters like Erza, Laxus, and Mirajane. The supposed reason for not doing this is that having a team of just badasses would wear thin and they would be less special if you saw them all the time. However, other anime like Yu Yu Hakusho managed to pull it off. Even if the series needed to be shorter, so be it! I would MUCH rather have a short series with awesome characters than a neverending series with shitty characters. Too bad Fairy Tail is all about running as long as possible to make as much money as possible, rather than actually giving a shit about quality!

3. Art:

The art studio has changed between series and unfortunately not for the better. Anime should gradually look better each year just like Hollywood CGI gets slightly better every year. Fairy Tail 2014 looks shittier than the first Fairy Tail did in 2009! Maybe budget issues are to blame, but Fairy Tail is a highly successful series financially and that doesn't seem too likely. I honestly suspect that the studio just wanted to spend less on art and take in more cash. Unfortunately, Fairy Tail wouldn't be the first anime series guilty of simply not giving a FUCK about its own fanbase.

Overall: 4/10

I currently have this series "on hold". If something drastic happens and there is ever a reason to watch it again, I might give it a shot. As long as the series is desperately trying to maintain the status quo and wallow in its own mediocrity I will be staying far away from this underachieving waste of time.