Story: I gave this a 9 out of 10. The story in this series has been one of its biggest sellers for me. It originally started with Natsu looking for Igneel and so far it hasn't happened but there have been small and vague hints for what happened. Not only the whole plot with dragons but each arc is incredible. Tower of Heaven, Grand Magic Games, Tenrou Island just to name a few. At some point we will find out what happened to the dragons but for right now this show is keeping a lot of people entertained. Not to mention this show is finally having its first filler season since the show started. That's pretty impressive to go almost 200 episodes without having to jump into filler episodes.
Art: I also gave this a 9 as well. There are somethings that throw me off with the way the art is done in certain episodes, but either way the rest of it makes up for it. Especially the art during the Eclipse Gate arc. That was incredible every character looked full and complete and you can tell there was a good amount of detail involved with each character. The one thing I will admit I miss though is the magic circles when they did spells. BRING BACK THE MAGIC CIRCLES!!!!
Sound: Another 9 here. Even though most of the themes and songs you hear are the main theme with different tempo or a slight variation in the beat it is still very well done. Some of the music for the fights that happen in the series are fantastic for example the Fire Dragon vs Flame God theme is absolutely amazing and gets you into the fight just as much as the characters are! The OP and ED themes are just as good throughout the series. When this show came back in April the first song Masayume Chasing was incredible not just because it was a great song, but it marked the return of a series that millions of fans have been waiting for. Then the fabulous band Back-On had another incredible OP theme for this series, and now the newest theme Break Out by V6 is just as good. The only reason I gave this a 9 and not a 10 is because of the fact that it just re-uses themes with the slight variation in it(mentioned above)
Characters: This definitely gets a 10 from me. Most anime with this many characters have several of them just become just background fillers you don't know who they are or where they came from. Fairy Tail does the complete opposite of this. You know about every single character in the guild. From the lazy Nab all the way to Macao. You learn every characters backstory whether or not it is a quick flashback or a whole episode you get to learn about every single person in the guild and outside of it. Natsu and Gray and Erza are my favorite characters in this series. When I learned of Erza's backstory, I immediately loved her. All the things that she has been through and still able to stand tall is one of the best things about her. Gray is just as good from learning about his past and Deliora, even learning the reasoning on why he is always taking his clothes off! Most shows these days wouldn't care twice to go into the reasoning behind something like this. Last but not least Natsu, this guy is incredibly well written sure he occasionally gets his friendship power ups but there are other times where that guy refuses to stay down no matter what happens. The way they showed how he had to learn the concept of fear and know when to back down was huge. Prior to that happening he never put out those flames of his, after that he now knows that fear is just as important as courage. He is incredibly funny especially with Happy and the random tangents they go on about nothing. As a kid growing up I watched a lot of DBZ and obviously Goku was one of the best characters there because he was always getting stronger. Now I'm not saying Natsu is stronger than he is but I am definitely say that he develops around the same pace as Goku does which is something that I haven't seen from other characters in other anime that I have watched. Wendy and Gajeel get honorary mentions as well.
Enjoyment: This gets a flat out 10. There is Magic and so many different kinds of it. I love seeing magic and different ways shows portray it. The way Fairy Tail does it is incredible. Going from something like Script magic up to Devil Slayer magic is insane. Each arc has been able to keep my interest so far which is something I can say that has not happened when I have watched other so called "better" shows. Eventually Natsu and friends will meet their dragons and once that happens who knows where the show will go from there!
Overall: 10 as long as this show keeps the pace it is going it will not drop lower than this! I've even gotten 4 people to start watching this show and one of them is almost caught up to me and they watched all 175 episodes starting from 49 in about 2 weeks. The rest are still around the 3rd season. The only reason they are watching the show is because it is held in incredibly high regard not only from me but millions of other fans around the world. The Fairy Tail fanbase is gradually getting bigger each day and as fans it is our job to spread the word about how great this show really is! The show is heading towards a big arc coming up this Spring and according to Hiro Mashima the Sun Village arc which is coming up soon was only the halfway point in the manga. It shows we have a lot more of this to come and I will definitely be going along on the ride so I can see where this show ends up. It is already in my top 5 anime of all time lets see if it can be at the top by the time this show is all said and done!
