I believe everyone may be aware of the plot, in general, so, I'll skip to the main points of my review:
Story:
Hiro Mashima knows very well how to estabilish a good plot, with various mysteries for you to wonder, etc. The problem is in the development of it. Most of them, end up as silly explanations, or things too logical, that leaves you wondering "So, that was all this was?". I won't lie, the plot still holds a lot of interesting points. But I don't know what to expect of them from now on...
Art:
Very good. At least in this, Mashima knows how to make it right, with nice and well-done drawings, reminiscent of a better quality One Piece.
Character:
OMG, this is where he is great to crap everything up. Let's start by the protagonist, Natsu.
He feels like a copy of Luffy, but, as another reviewer said, a more arrogant and cocky one. He acts imaturely through the entire series, and hasn't grown up an inch psicologically. Mashima makes him receives some good lessons from people more mature than him, but he spits on everything, and makes Natsu forget everything, acting again, as the same old cocky innocent kid, who believes he can just press on, that he will defeat the boss. And the worst: HE DOES IT! Mashima has developed escapisms to give the good guys the victory (and to him, mainly) through the use of absurd Deus Ex Machina, and THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP. Oh, come on, who does he think we are? 5 year-old childs? What makes me more impressed, is that there are people who find his explanations solid.
And that's not even the beginning. There is Lucy, the cute and dumb female protagonist, who is a contradiction herself: she is regarded as one of the most smart members of Fairy Tail guild, and has got miraculous powers every time, but acts dumb in almost every battle, always needing to be helped by the others (mainly Natsu, again).
There is also Erza, the tsundere of the main team, and Mashima's muse. Really, she is the second most-protected character of the manga, behind just Natsu, and is able to pull the most equally absurd victories, with, again, THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.
There is Gray, that's the rival of Natsu. And coincidentally, uses ice magic. But he ends up almost as a random character, as Mashima usually tends to give more focus on the three right up there. And, finally, there are tons of secondary characters, who, in the most funny way, end up being more interesting than the main characters. But Mashima almost don't give a damn, as he tends to illuminate them little, always giving the bigger actions for the great ones Erza and Natsu.
People may find that I'm overreacting. I won't lie again, there are nice secondary characters moments and battles, but that is all you will get from them.
Enjoyment:
In the beginning, you will have some fun, with the dumb adventures of Natsu and company, and, when it enters a certain arc, you will feel the pain and vengeance they will look to inflict on their adversaries (in what I call the best of the manga, till now). But, after this, if you do not like this Deus Ex Machina and friendship excuses for the good guys victory, you will start to feel unfazed, angered about every next impossible victory they pull out, and will even come to a point, where you will be cheering for the bad guys, to give them a good kick in the ass.
But, as I said, if you read it without any compromise or need for anything serious or plausible, you won't get as frustrated as I got.
Overall:
What began as a promising series, had one great arc, that created great expectations for me, in relation to the series, entered in what I could call the "Shyalaman effect" (which I believe film lovers will understand better than anyone): slowly went downhill with the story, focusing more on brainless battles, and exagerated use of plot and shonen escapisms, to make it move on. And I don't really know how it will end, but I can say I feel quite displeased to imagine...
