The point about it being more realistic in terms of the protagonists submitting to authority seems to be missing of the whole point of One Piece being about pirates. Pirates who, while they might not do much pillaging, have the "don't give a damn about the Government" part down pat. You're comparing two completely different situations. While they share the Nakama theme, the Strawhat Pirates are outlaws with bounties on their heads, criminals, while the members of Fairy Tail are all above board and legitimate, if a tad destructive.
At this point they are barely above the board though. The Magic Council is more corrupt now and showing signs of turning Lawful Evil whereas before it managed to squarely fall into the Lawful Neutral side of things and are kind of out to get the guild. With all the plot lines revolving around dark guilds and how bad they are, I’m betting the mangaka would see it as a huge twist for Fairy Tail to become a dark guild after the current arc is over, at least temporarily, because remember: the only thing that makes a dark guild “dark” is that it operates without the government’s consent. Dark Is Not Evil.
That said, the situations are different, but not by very much. Fairy Tail may submit sometimes, but they do enjoy spitting in the face of authority about as much as the Straw Hats, and some of the main characters and supporting cast are definitely not above attacking government officials if they threaten the guild. And remember, the Marines and the Government went after the Straw Hats first and those large and in charge would make some of our real world 20th century dictators look positively humane in comparison, and the first bounty Luffy received was for taking out another pirate, and a Fishman, that had been terrorizing East Blue and bribing the local Marines.
Not all villains are Easily Forgiven in this series, though. Jose wasn't
I don't think the Magic Council were ever portrayed as evil, Eight Bit Bastard. They may have cared about publicity, but I don't ever recall them making a decision I would call really out of line. That Fairy Tail Continues to just end up destroying vast swaths of towns they're supposed to be helping and then acting like they shouldn't be reprimanded because they're just "following their own path" always struck me as bull.
And yeah, pretty much ever Dark Guild we've ever seen has been unambiguously evil, and no one (not even the members of such guilds) have ever pretended that wasn't the case.
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A good ride with a twist of reality
This is a review of the manga up to chapter 191.
Apart from my PSL for Erza and Lucy, I liked:
What I didn't like:
Recommendation: Read if you like fighting, teamwork, magic used in ways both creepy and cool, badass ladies of war, and can tolerate teen-oriented fanservice and The Power Of Friendship.