Im not going to talk about the Fairy Tail anime as a whole. Im not going to go into an absurd level of detail regarding the fight scenes. There is poor animation for the first half and although it improves over time Id never say it reaches the territory of being great animation. Many people coming here likely have seen or otherwise considered watching Nux Taku an anime r that sort of founds himself upon memess video on Fairy Tail. There are many fantastic points in that video but there is one key takeaway to be gained. The protagonist of Fairy Tail isnt Lucy nor is it Natsu. The protagonist of Fairy Tail is the Fairy Tail guild itself. https://i.ur.com/DoCtB4J.png Before we continue... I am not going to try to say that everyone should or will like Fairy Tail. But find out for yourself whether you are one of the many that do. Characters are flawed but they are written that way because none of them are meant to become the next Hokage. Nobody is going to become the king of the pirates. There arent dragonballs to collect here. Each character has their own little goal which seems mundane in the grand scheme of the world and the plot. But those characters evolve and progress together as the guild of Fairy Tail. You arent watching to see Natsu find his father. Youre watching to see the guild evolve as a family together. Hiro Mashima has written a pretty poor power scaling system for Fairy Tail. Inconsistent fight endings powers being stopped by things that should be obliterated by them the power of friendship etc. Theres also plot armor in the form of But is that really a bad thing? Sure it is for a show like the other shonen series I mentioned previously. Though whos to speak to the end that power scaling needs to be perfect in Fairy Tail? Whos to say that this flaw isnt intentional to further the beauty of the series. Mashima is 100 capable of a fluent and comprehensive power scaling system. Power systems in rave master for the most part and so far in Edens Zero are both very balanced. In Fairy Tail it can be inconsistent and ignored sometimes. But I think he does that absolutely intentionally. For lack of better terminology... I think that Mashima tries to intentionally break that power scaling system because the emotional impact of those scenes is much more important and much more powerful than any magic spell or punch. Surely if you have heard of Fairy Tail youve heard of the combined hate from one side and the sheer passion and love from the opposite. That love isnt unfounded. All of these big fight scenes end in a predictable finish. But whats not predictable is the growth of the characters by the end of it. They might not change drastically as people over such a short time but thats not the point they change TOGETHER as Fairy Tail. Much of the meaning and depth behind the characters in Fairy Tail isnt explicitly stated to you though I think that makes it allthemore fascinating to dive into analysis of. The following information is just going to be me analyzing 2 characters Gray and Lucy according to what is revealed within the first 20 episodes of the anime. Bare in mind that spoilers will exist for those first 20 episodes here and you may not recognize some names if you have yet to see them. I will mark when this section starts and ends to help if you are still here and reading my ramblings CHARACTER ANALYSIS BEGINS https://i.ur.com/vhyaAFa.jpg Gray I wont reference the direct setting or episode as I still want to keep this as spoiler free as possible. Ill just dive into this analysis with my information. Ur turned herself to ice as a sacrifice in hopes of allowing Lyon to live a free and happy life for himself. She wanted Gray to never tell him so that her sacrifice wasnt meaningless. But as Lyon reverted to dedicating himself to trying to overcome her instead Urs sacrifice was inevitably meaningless and pointless. Gray had been constantly blaming himself for that sacrifice for over a decade. He was depressed and wanted to die but bottled up those emotions just like so many people do in the real world. He says a powerful like that I didnt catch the first time around in his fight vs Lyon which was I have been ready to die for the last 10 years. He is stopped from sacrificing himself here by Natsu which is representative of the fact that he finally has a support group. Now that hes with fairy tail he doesnt only have friends but for the first time since childhood he has a family there to care for him. Continuously through the anime for the most part there are writing nods to this when Gray attempts to use Iced Shell. Attempts at suicide or self harm arent once and done they require continued support and help from friends and family. Between how sad the story of Ur and Lyons lives are and how cleverly hidden Grays emotions had been I think its incredibly well handled. Furthermore since Grays iced shell on Lyon would have been revered via Lyons moon drip ceremony on the island... This was also representative of Grays family helping him avoid meeting the same fate as Ur. Not just helping make sure that Gray didnt end his life but about the fact that Grays sacrifice would have been meaningless just like the loss of his teacher Ur. https://i.ur.com/3zI9wO8.jpg Lucy Early in... When its revealed that Lucy comes from a very wealthy and welloff family. She was coddled and treated like a princess by those around her and was stuck in that life despite how glamorous it sounds to the outside. She felt trapped. So when she spoke of her desires in the first episode of joining a guild... Recall that she did do super lovey and dreamy and excitedly. Thats because its a genuine dream. To escape her mundane and confined life in hopes of feeling like she is truly living. A sense of adventure finding likeminded people making friends being able to finally be a real teenage girl and not just a token of her family. She didnt explain her heritage to the guild as she joined because she didnt want to be attached to that. Thats why shes hopeless at the start. Because she has absolutely no experience. She wants to fit in so she acts like shes a big shot but she knows she isnt and she knows that she isnt helpful in the slightest. She constantly works to improve herself so that she can not only feel proud of herself but also so she can be of use to those around her. The anime doesnt specifically tell you some things in the dialogue in this exposition but the information is there. Shes not weak or useless just as a character flaw in the beginning. Lucy shows growth in strength both emotionally and in terms of performance. Shes a dynamic character that I love. Only through Fairy Tail and her new life that she developed for herself was she able to reflect upon her old family life and see her parents and siblings in another light. Lucy is just a beautiful and tragic character in my opinion. In that episode Im referring to what seems like just a normal saving moment of Natsu jumping out of a tower in hopes of her guildmate catching her is actually much more. Its Lucy finally feeling comfortable enough with the people around her to take a literal and metaphorical absolute leap of faith. To put all of her devoted trust into someone literally entrusting them with her life. Something she didnt feel capable of with her real family but was with her new one at fairy tail. Every character in the Fairy Tail guild is suffering in their own ways. Anyone is welcome because everyone has their own problems. Its none of their business to pry into your past and into your darkest moments. But when Lucy breaks down crying and cant say anything other than I love Fairy Tail I found it extremely beautiful. Because that was after a really symbolic moment of her finally realizing she found people that truly care about her and that she can trust. She doesnt feel alone or trapped any more she just feels like she can be her. Thats all that matters. END CHARACTER ANALYSIS https://i.ur.com/byGsHLX.jpg Almost everyone in fairy tail is orphaned or distanced from their family. Some of them LOSE that family over the course of the show and the everchanging story. Though YOU are also written to be a member of fairy tail. Mashima did a great job of that. While you arent a member of Luffys straw hat crew you ARE a member of the Fairy Tail guild... The fairy tail family. They dont call Makarov gramps just because hes old either. They call him Gramps because thats exactly what he is to them. He is their family their role model their parental figure their grandfather. Fairy Tail is really quite a beautiful series. Flawed but there is depth and beauty even to those flaws. While many might not understand those flaws others might not know how to look for them and others might not care enough to try... theres a strong community behind the series that passionately loves the series for all that it is and represents. Not even all Fairy Tail fans recognize some of the hidden depth and meaning behind the characters and the series as a whole. But hey just like the members of Fairy Tail we all have our flaws. We are Fairy Tail. https://i.ur.com/gOWLZbq.jpg Final Notes: If I were to give a word of advise to anyone interested in watching... dont approach Fairy Tail as a battle shounen. You may end up disappointed. Approach Fairy Tail as an experiment as something special. My 90/100 is a personal rating based on my scale rather than one based on direct comparison to similar anime. Im unwaivering on the idea that Fairy Tail really is something special though. Oh and its great seeing characters in a shonen anime find relationships and start to fall in love with eachother. Many ships are fulfilled here and those that arent are still being progressed and worked on for the fans in Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest. Feel free to reach out to me if youd like to discuss the series I have so much more that Id love to talk about regarding the depth of some of these characters and I find it fascinating to explore the stories and nuances behind each member of our guild. I have much more to share.