So, how is Fairy Tale?

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
8,687
0
0
Is there any reason to watch it besides the fanservice provided by Erza?

(note: honest question, thinking about watching it after seeing the most recent episode of Death Battle :^) )

Edit: Apologies for the typo in the topic's title.
 

axlryder

victim of VR
Jul 29, 2011
1,862
0
0
No, it's really terrible. It's a mediocre shonen up until 3 arcs in and then it really falls apart. I've been told it's getting...a bit better with the current arcs, but it's really not worth sloughing through the 25 or 30 bad arcs to get to that point. I only watched as much as I did because my fiance was too far in to quit so I just watched it with her. Thankfully, she too decided it was awful and we both abandoned it.
 

Queen Michael

has read 4,010 manga books
Jun 9, 2009
10,400
0
0
Nitpick time: it's "Tail," not "Tale." On-topic, it's good but not great. It's the kind of thing that I like reading now and then but wouldn't even consider paying money for.
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
8,687
0
0
Queen Michael said:
Nitpick time: it's "Tail," not "Tale." On-topic, it's good but not great. It's the kind of thing that I like reading now and then but wouldn't even consider paying money for.
My apologies for typo.

Seems that's the general consensus (I went to a couple other boards I frequent since my fellow Escapists apparently aren't feeling very talkative on the subject)...most people have been giving it a "meh/10" rating. Not gonna give you cancer, but not really worth the time.

Thank you for your input.
 

bartholen_v1legacy

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
Jan 24, 2009
3,056
0
0
I browsed through a couple of chapters some years ago. It seemed like Shounen manga: the manga. Meaning every possible clich?, trope, annoying archetype character and so on was present. Didn't grab me at all.

Read Dorohedoro instead!
 

Mechamorph

New member
Dec 7, 2008
228
0
0
Its mass market shounen. Its a great time waster if you feel like some feel-good "friendship will prevail" stories. It has some humor but it is not laugh out loud funny and it has decent action but relies a lot on deus ex machina or "my kung fu, er magic, is stronger than yours" with pulling out previously unseen moves for the protagonists to win.

I would think that Fairy Tail's main selling point (aside from the gratuitous fanservice) is the sense of family among the characters. You really get the sense that the guild is one big extended clan. If a story about a family overcoming the odds, sticking together through thick and thin is something you are looking for, Fairy Tail is for you. Otherwise it is decent fantasy action. Might be a good gateway series for some though due to its "shounen lite" nature.
 

TheMysteriousGX

Elite Member
Legacy
Sep 16, 2014
8,300
6,798
118
Country
United States
Characters use so many "final moves" and jump in front of so many enemy attacks I suspect most of the cast has a martyrdom fetish, enemies that just a few episodes before were savagely beating captive friends or manipulating the entire clan into fighting amongst themselves by threatening the lives of the female members of the group are welcomed back into the clan unconditionally, and even on the off chance any of these brain donors make a sound decision, it's usually for reasons that only an elder god could comprehend. Add in an overdeveloped and unearned sense of melodrama, and you have an anime that makes Dragonball Z look grounded and realistic.

I've got opinions about anime.

Fight scenes look okay though, if you can ignore the dialogue.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
Not really (this is coming from a guy who watched One Piece, Naruto and most of Bleach).

It's a generic as Shonen as it can get but with alot of downside.

With the anime, you will find the conclusion of a final battle resolve in the middle of the episode instead of the end. The biggest annoyance it has is it seen to lack conviction or rather I don't believed in their "power of friendship". There are other shonen that does this better and also there is a lack of struggle in the series too! I mean seriouly they just steamroll throught the enemies as either the guild is OP or the villain are super weak, at least with other shonen, it shows that they barely defeated them or it came with a cost.

I would say however, compared it to Naruto, Bleach and One Piece, it it more ecchi!
 

DeadProxy

New member
Sep 15, 2010
359
0
0
As someone who's current on Fairy Tail, I can say it's pretty decent, at least when it comes to the manga. I haven't watched the show in some time, and isn't the show on break right now or something?

Either way, it's got the "I fight for my friends" cliche dripping from everywhere, but that gets offset by all the fanservice, so neither get too obnoxious if you can stomach it at all. I'd recommend this FT to anyone who likes One Piece though, since they're pretty similar in design and execution. However, I would strongly recommend reading the manga over the show simply because it would take less time to read. When you read a part you really enjoyed, then I'd say go watch those moments/arcs wherever, and then go back to the manga, cause Fairy Tail is at maybe 200 episodes? 100? There's a lot...And while I have your attention, I'd say do the same to One Piece, cause it's just better.

A thing I really like about Fairy Tail, is that there are almost no cliffhangers in the manga or show. You never find yourself wondering, "Is that characters attack going to connect? Is the bad guy actually done? Whats this secret technique this character is talking about?" because 99% of the time, ny the end of a chapter or episode, it's been explained or shown to you.
 

Bob_McMillan

Elite Member
Aug 28, 2014
5,175
1,851
118
Country
Philippines
Mmmm, Ezra...

Anyway, after they all came back after time travelling, I realized just how stupidly shonen it all was and I dropped it.
 

Blitsie

New member
Jul 2, 2012
532
0
0
Its the most by the numbers shonen anime you can get, from the first episode already you can call out the cliches before they come and from the 70 episodes I've watched I honestly can't recall any moment where they decided to push things out of the comfort zone for a bit and try something new.

Does that mean its bad?

Ehhh not really, I had a pretty fun time watching it. It makes up for playing everything so extremely safe with a lot of charm and the whole family bond thing which has already been mentioned does feel very genuine and gives you some heartwarming moments. The fights are also fun to watch at the very least.

Watch the first two episodes if you can, they encapsulate what the show is about quite well and if you end up enjoying them then chances are you'll enjoy the series.
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
8,687
0
0
Blitsie said:
Watch the first two episodes if you can, they encapsulate what the show is about quite well and if you end up enjoying them then chances are you'll enjoy the series.
Yeah, figured that's what I was gonna go with after gathering up everyone's thoughts: give it the good ol' "Three Episode Trial" to see if there's anything that hooks me in.

"Well why'd you bother asking for opinions if that's what you're gonna do?"

Well if people told me that it's actual, literal shit then I wouldn't need to bother now would I? :^)

I've managed to enjoy shows that I fully realize are "meh at best", so I'll give this one it's shot. :p

Edit: Thanks for everyone's input, btw!
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

New member
May 7, 2016
1,020
1
0
For awhile, it's all someone I knew talked about to me as if I was a fan despite that I never saw it and never was interested. Happens everytime there's some hot shounen released and people never get that I DO NOT LIKE SHOUNEN. Never will.

Then this RWBY thing came along..yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.....
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
8,687
0
0
Smithnikov said:
Then this RWBY thing came along..yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.....
Is that still going on? I would have thought it was over when Monte (think that's what his name was) passed away. o.o
 

Smithnikov_v1legacy

New member
May 7, 2016
1,020
1
0
RJ 17 said:
Smithnikov said:
Then this RWBY thing came along..yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.....
Is that still going on? I would have thought it was over when Monte (think that's what his name was) passed away. o.o
Yea, it's still in the "people I know won't shut the fuck about it already" category.
 

Blitsie

New member
Jul 2, 2012
532
0
0
RJ 17 said:
Blitsie said:
Watch the first two episodes if you can, they encapsulate what the show is about quite well and if you end up enjoying them then chances are you'll enjoy the series.
Yeah, figured that's what I was gonna go with after gathering up everyone's thoughts: give it the good ol' "Three Episode Trial" to see if there's anything that hooks me in.

"Well why'd you bother asking for opinions if that's what you're gonna do?"

Well if people told me that it's actual, literal shit then I wouldn't need to bother now would I? :^)

I've managed to enjoy shows that I fully realize are "meh at best", so I'll give this one it's shot. :p

Edit: Thanks for everyone's input, btw!
Hahahaha I know exactly what you mean! And heck its interesting anyway discussing it and getting all the different perspectives from peeps. And with Fairy Tail its legit one of those shows where what you experience in the first episodes is what you get with the series (albeit just in the usual "bigger, more everything per arc" fashion these kinds of shows go for).

If it was the kind of show where the first ten episodes drag on and it only picks up at episode 30 or something I'd definitely not have recommended the episode trial route xD
 

Michel Henzel

Just call me God
May 13, 2014
344
0
0
Personally I still enjoy it. Sure it's nothing spectacular and it does generally go by the books, but I wasn't expecting it to be more then it is. I genuinely enjoy the characters and it's light hearted nature, and I like it for the fact, that with other long running shounen shows, it's arcs generally progress really fast and don't outstay their welcome. And it's atleast still better then Bleach or Naruto combined.
 

NPC009

Don't mind me, I'm just a NPC
Aug 23, 2010
802
0
0
I was never able to get into Fairy Tail, but I figure that's because it's one of those series you have to start following young. And... that's fine, right? In my days of being a teenage anime fan, it was all about Inu Yasha. I adored it. However, I doubt I would have started reading it in my twenties.


bartholen said:
Read Dorohedoro instead!
Listen to this person. His taste is irrelevant to this topic but absolutely great.
 

Jute88

New member
Sep 17, 2015
286
0
0
It's nothing exceptional. The art is good, the characters are meh, the story feels aimless, the rules of magic don't exist, the fanservice is okay and the humor is either a hit or miss (mostly miss for me).