I had a craving to watch a more traditional and longer-lasting magic anime, and my adventure watching Fairy Tail began. Fairy Tail is a show that follows its plan of action tirelessly and manages to curb its obvious criticisms with equally obvious ploys. Some are enthralled by this aspect, as you can see by the 8+ rating; other critics who bash the crap out of this show overlook the fact that the "bad" aspects of the show are done in a self-aware way. Overall I was slightly disappointed that the degree of world building I wanted from a magicky anime wasn't there (lacrimae are cool, but the concept is overused). There were just enough gems amidst the rubble to keep me from dropping this show.
Story: 6/10
What I look for in longer shows that span multiple arcs is some sort of interesting and/or meaningful progression as well as good use of repeats. Fairy Tail does a passable job for the most part; the copying of a simple formula for each arc is a mark against it, but they stick with it to such a degree that it ends up working out. I'll review each arc of the first season briefly.
Macao: 5/10. Bare minimum intro arc with just enough world building to start, haphazard introduction to characters befitting the genre. The newness of it all carries you through the mediocrity.
Daybreak: 7/10. Though only 2 episodes, this is the best self-contained arc of the entire series and highly underrated. We see the team start to meld, the puzzle of a mission they have is intriguing, and even the minor antagonists are given a bit of explanation unlike future ones.
Lullaby: 6/10. Natsu's big fight gives us our first glance at the show's treatment of elements, which was one of the initial draws for me. The first glance at the basic good vs evil skeleton the show uses (and of having some bad guys become good guys after their arc), which we'll see in almost every arc from here on out.
Galuna Island: 6/10. The next few arcs contain backstory for members of Team Natsu. This is Gray's, and the backstory is done pretty well. How the present plays out is relatively disappointing though.
Phantom Lord: 6/10. An important arc for character-turnover reasons, but it carries the same resonance that a good number of antagonistic forces have in this show, which is "why do they hate the Fairy Tail guild so much?"
Loke: 5/10. One of those arcs done just passably enough to move ahead the plot. In this case, we get some backstory for Lucy in the sense that we become more knowledgeable about how her Celestial Spirits work.
Tower of Heaven: 7/10. Erza's backstory arc and our first encounter with the main evil of the show, which automatically makes it good. In comparison with other arcs, this one amps up the gravity of the situation much more effectively.
Battle for Fairy Tail: 6/10. Ridiculous premise, but this civil war somehow works, probably because what the characters of the Thunder Legion do are pretty interesting and the final fight is quite satisfying.
Oracion Seis: 7/10. Plot progression is a glorious thing. This arc causes a domino effect for the next few arcs being good. The most satisfying battles yet, and important introduction to other guilds, both good and evil.
Daphne: 4/10. Wish I skipped this abysmal arc; this is the only truly bad arc of the show that has no relevance whatsoever to anything and doesn't even make sense motive-wise.
Edolas: 6/10. This arc explains a lot, has an amusing opposite personality quirk, and shows why certain new characters are important. Not really any good fights though.
Tenrou Island: 8/10. This and Grand Magic Games are THE arcs to watch. Amazing fights, very important plot progression and character development, multiple things happening at once which interact in surprising ways, whose significance isn't understood yet. The most intense climax yet. All marks of a good arc.
X791: 5/10. Interim arc to rebuild after Tenrou.
Key of the Starry Sky: 6/10. Lucy's backstory arc f'real this time. Mediocre arc that dragged a bit, but it did have some surprise twists that made it worth my time, as well as one great fight part way through.
Grand Magic Games: 8/10. The end of the first season cuts off this arc part way through, but even before the cut off, this arc impresses and lives up to its name of "grand." Tournaments in action animes usually are recipes for success, and this is no exception.
Character: 6/10
The characters of Fairy Tail are largely interesting when first introduced, but quickly become disappointing as they operate the same way each arc. There are notable exceptions, such as Erza, whose initially intimidating demeanor gives way to quirky mannerisms and obsessions. Lucy's Celestial Spirits in particular are very well designed characters, each being very unique and memorable. There are enough characters for everyone to have a few favorites (mine are Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pantherlily, Ultear, and Yukino), but almost without exception each character is linear (some painfully so, like Juvia) and operates according to Fairy Tail's agenda, which is choppy humor amidst quick-paced action with a touch of heavily suggested romance.
