|
Manga have made a habit out of grabbing the biggest and best series for the UK, and with the likes of Bleach, Naruto and D.Gray-Man already under their belt they've now grabbed the latest series to make waves in America - Fairy Tail. Despite a title that suggests a whimsical fantasy romance,
Fairy Tail is actually an action-packed tale of wizards and monsters.
The story is set in a fantasy world where magic users are aligned to various
guilds which hire them out to complete missions and tasks. Of all the
wizard guilds the one called Fairy Tail is both the most famous and the most
controversial, counting within its ranks some of the world's most powerful
wizards but having a reputation for being unruly and frequently causing
collateral damage. Despite this mixed reputation the guild is one of the
most exclusive, and 17-year old Celestial Wizard Lucy Heartfilia has made
joining it her goal. Joining a guild requires an invitation from an
existing member so Lucy has come to the land of Fiore to track one down, and
thinks she is in luck when she encounters a wizard claiming to be the famous
Fairy Tail member Salamander. Lucy is taken in by his claims and is on her
way to a bad end when she is rescued by the real Salamander Natsu Dragneel, who
gives her the opportunity she has dreamed of. However, being a wizard of
Fairy Tail is not an easy task, and fitting in with the powerful, colourful and
above all eccentric wizards in the guild will require a huge amount of effort
and no small amount of support from Natsu and his talking cat companion Happy.
There's also the problem that the missions Fairy Tail gets are amongst the most
dangerous of all, and whilst Lucy may be talented does she have what it takes to
keep up with her new colleagues and above all stay alive? |
|
Fairy Tail is the latest in a line of long-running action series featuring magic or supernatural abilities to hit our shores, and whilst on paper it doesn't sound like anything particularly impressive it does have more going for it than it may first appear. Lucy is nominally the main character, offering an outsider view of the raucous guild for the benefit of the viewer, but the cast rapidly expands to include several other wizards. The story is very fast paced, covering Lucy's induction into Fairy Tail in the first episode and then throwing her straight |
|
|
into battles against wizards, monsters, an enemy 'Dark' Guild and a resurrected demon. A lot of information is revealed about characters early on, and there are some intriguing ideas that lay the groundwork for some potentially interesting future storylines. For the most part this first volume builds the world of Fiore and explains the various abilities the wizards have through a series of self-contained, single episode stories of varying quality. At its best Fairy Tail channels the action and
inventiveness of the classic fantasy comedy Slayers, albeit
played less for laughs, and melds it with the team dynamic of Naruto.
Several tropes shine through, from the short-tempered, treasure-grabbing
female lead to the sibling-style rivalry between Natsu and ice-wizard
Gray Fullbuster, whilst the frenetic pace still manages to leave plenty
of time for running gags. However, the series really shines with
its action, and it wastes no time in throwing the characters into it.
From the word go Lucy and Natsu are given every opportunity to
demonstrate their abilities, and gain new powers from their frequent
confrontations with enemy wizards and strange monsters. There's
hardly a pause for breath as villains come thick and fast, and despite
the lack of a major overarching storyline at this point there's plenty
to keep you entertained. |
|
|
In fact it's only really the pacing and lack of a main storyline that lets things down. Without an underlying narrative there's a lack of focus for most of the volume which leaves you wondering what Lucy's ultimate aims are. It's also sometimes a little bit too fast paced, and tries to cram in a lot of background info into quite a short space of time, which on occasion can cause you to miss things. It's also a guilty of a lack of originality at times, which is a common complaint with these kinds of series but disappointing nonetheless. Running gags |
|
such as Natsu's motion sickness or everyone's fear of the strict female wizard Erza are slightly stale, but thankfully don't detract much from the series as a whole. It helps that there are some extremely good action scenes and some funny gags to cover up the series' weaker elements, and that great animation and presentation adds a sheen of quality that is sometimes missing from these kinds of series. Fairy Tail Part 1 is bright, colourful, action-packed and highly entertaining, even if it is a bit unfocused at the moment. The characters are good and there's plenty of scope for development both in terms of story and character background. The series is reminiscent of Slayers, which is no bad thing, and like that series it blends action, drama and comedy particularly well. Whilst there is room for improvement there's still plenty to enjoy in this volume and whilst it follows the same lines as the likes of Naruto and Bleach it's still an entertaining watch. The series feels like it's yet to fully find its feet, but this is a solid start nonetheless and it promises even better to come. Well worth checking out. Extras Textless opening and closing sequences, trailers and commentaries for episodes 1 and 9. Not bad. Ratings Feature:
|
