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Review: Fairy Tail, Vol. 01

Fairy Tail, Vol. 01 Fairy Tail, Vol. 01 by Hiro Mashima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Ah, Fairy Tail, my childhood. I've been meaning to read the manga from the beginning for a while now, and violă, I have finally started!

This series has been a part of my life for seven whole years now, so it has a dear place in my heart. So even though I know the series is RIDDLED with flaws, I can't help but still love it and the characters that grew up with me. This means I'm probably going to have a better time reading these--as I revel in the nostalgia--than someone impartial to the series who's just checking it out for the first time. In that case I'm not sure how useful these reviews will actually be...

Embarrased

But I'll do my best to make them good and entertaining nonetheless!

Determined

I personally thought this volume was relatively enjoyable. It's the beginning of the series so I've rewatched this part of the anime the most times and I'm very familiar with it. Though it does have one tiny scene at the very beginning that the first episode of the anime didn't have, so that was very exciting!

The reason I ever read manga after watching the anime is always so I get to read bonus scenes, and to see how the original handled things compared to the anime. I get very disappointed when they're exactly the same, because then I don't get any bonus content. This is the total opposite of how people usually are about adaptations, I know! But in the case of Fairy Tail, the main reason I'm reading this is actually to refresh my memory about the series.

Like I said, I started watching the anime seven years ago. That is a very very long time, and I've forgotten a lot of things that happened, especially in the middle of that time period. So instead of rewatching the anime (ain't nobody got time for that) I decided to read the manga. Even though bonus content is not the reason I'm reading these, they're still fun when they happen. So yeah, if bonus scenes are also what you're after, there's a tiny one in the beginning, but other than that it's exactly the same as the anime as far as I remember.

The characters are fun. The art is very nice. I appreciate the character's big foreheads because I too have a ginormous noggin, and it feels nice to be represented. As for the story, it's also fun, but the writing is where Fairy Tail is often rightfully criticized.

I Mashima was very laid back when he wrote this series. He was just set out to write a really fun adventure series, and didn't put too much thought into the planning of it. Because of this, later on in the series there are lots of instances of characters having "plot armour". This is where characters don't die or are saved/win because they're still essential to the plot. So a lot of times characters pull bullshit powers right out of their asses in order to win, which is very bad writing. In this very first volume I also found an instance of poor writing.

This volume has two and a half arcs in it, and what I'll dub as the "Saving Macao" arc happens second. In this arc, they need to save some dude named Macao. We don't know who he is, we have no allegiance to him other than we know he's a part of the Fairy Tail guild. This arc should not have happened before we even know who he is, because it would've been a lot more effective and suspenseful if we actually already knew him, and gave a shit about his well being. Now it's just like... Rooting for Lucy and Natsu to succeed rather than also having that second layer of worry for Macao, which would have enhanced the quality of the narrative for sure. This just seemed super random and poorly placed within the series.

So yeah, writing is definitely not the strong-point of this series. The strong point would be the characters I'd say. Though maybe that's just me, because I've grown very attached to them after all these years.

Anyway yeah, give this a read or a watch if ya want! Don't be super critical about it, enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed, just have fun with it.

I suggest listening to the Fairy Tail Soundtrack Volume 1 while you read this, for a fun and enhanced reading experience! The music matched my personal reading pace surprisingly well, which was awesome.


Click to read all of my Fairy Tail Reviews:
Volumes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

View all my reviews
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