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.
