These points are understandable (this is better than the "review" beneath this one), but I don't agree with all of the 5 points.
1) That was definitely a problem with Avatar (which I'd argue even Mashima didn't like to write, but I digress), but I honestly
2) Erza is the most guilty of this, but I'd disagree with some of them. Some of the power ups are explained, like those of Gray and Wendy.
3) Even Mashima himself acknowledge he went overboard with 355, but I've seen FAR worse in other stuff like Highschool of the Dead, so it doesn't bother me that much.
4) I don't really mind it myself, but I can understand why some people would.
5) This I disagree with fully. Fairy Sphere was a plot device, not a plot twist. And the big twists are actually pretty good IMO. I won't mention them for spoiler sake.
I'd seriously argue that the Avatar arc was something Mashima did under obligation. Considering that two chapters were released a week during that arc, it seems pretty clear Mashima wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. And at the very least (unlike the Fishman Island arc) it was mercifully short; twenty chapters, and that's including the first six and the last two, which don't have anything to do with it. If anything, the arc's more like twelve chapters. And I really disagree with the statement that the current arc started on a rough note. Fairy Tail had their asses handed to them in the first few chapters, and so far only one of the Spriggan 12 has been really defeated. Hell, the last chapter was one of Mashima's peaks.
Also, I don't think its accurate to say that Fairy Tail was inspired by One Piece, seeing as its really not that similar. The only thing it really has in common is the book dumb, big eating protagonist, which both series took from Dragon Ball.
This is all my opinion though. Different strokes for different folks.
I definitely believe that this series was inspired by One Piece.
The whole idea of Fairy Tail going around and completing objectives as a guild is practically a copy-and-paste of Luffy's crew going around to each island, and making a name for themselves by accomplishing something that the people would deem heroic. And while the adventure is going on, both the Fairy Tail guild, and the Straw Hat crew, pick up new members along the way.
There's also the whole family-bonding thing going on amongst the guild and crew of the two series'.
RLL
They might have similar things, but in my opinion, the overall atmosphere is very different. One Piece is a funny, action-filled pirates' freedom-filled daily life, where they travel through not-connected, vastly different islands, that have little relevance to them or each other, apart from greater scheme, but it feels like nothing ever happens. They just go and kick several superpowered villains, or something, but there is no tension. There is no possibility of anyone losing. People where shocked when a person died, in chapter 574, because after _eleven_ years they didn't believe even subconsciously that all those constant fights could even hurt someone!
I'm not quite sure what the opening statement of your comment has to do with the rest of it. Or what your comment on the whole has to do with Fairy Tail or this review.
Not gonna lie, a gang of people who are close friends running around having adventures for money is probably more inspired by tons of other fiction in that vein than anything else.
It's in: the vast majority of tabletop gaming, countless video role-playing games, a broad spectrum of low-grade movies, a lot of Lord of the Rings clones...
At MFM, its simple. The issues I have with the manga weren't made obvious until around the time of the 7-year timeskip.
RLL
Anyway, I just decided to delete the One Piece comparison since it came off kinda random to start with.
RLL
Sorry, I didn't mean to direct that to you. I was replying to Xenos.
Xenos: I don't understand the idea that there's no possibility of someone losing. There are many instances of the Strawhats getting their asses stomped, and several arcs where they don't go on to eventually beat the person they lost to, unlike what usually happens in Shonen. It is true that One Piece, like a lot of other shonen series, rarely kills off anyone of importance, but I personally felt that it made the aforementioned death all the more shocking.
If Natsu declared his intention to travel the world and become King of the Mages while serving as an outlaw fighting against a rule government, THEN you can say it was a copy and paste from One Piece.
All the things you seem to list that FT took from OP, OP didn't necessarily invent. Its not the bastion of originality people say it is, and many of the concepts, like the dumb, big eating, but smart in a fight a protagonist, the female character who often scolds and beats up the protagonist, the team of whacky friends who always help the protagonist and become practically family alone the way, the desire to become inherently stronger (actually that's an integral part of Japanese culture), and the seeing new places and having an adventure, were all taken from Dragon Ball. The details of the story may be different, but the skeleton is the same. It doesn't say that either story lesser, its just says that the stories aren't as completely original as some might thing.
So its inappropriate to say that Fairy Tail is a copy and paste of One Piece, and not say the same thing about One Piece and Dragon Ball.
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Had potential, but lost its way sometime around the 7-year Time Skip
As the title states, Fairy Tail is a manga that started off with some great potential, but continued to drop in quality as it chugged along. Mashima's become terrible in the storytelling department, and his fights are paced WAY too quickly to ever get truly invested in whats going on between two fighters.
Early on, the story arcs are passable. We follow along with the core members of the Fairy Tail guild to accomplish some impressive feats, and the battles were often fair and well-executed. It was just a fun adventure to watch Fairy Tail go on this grand adventure throughout the world Hiro created. However, that all changed sometime around the Sirius Island arc.
1) Villains suddenly being defeated in very anti-climatic fashion, or being hyped up only to not live up to the potential, and hardly receive any kind of development.
2) Characters we've been following along with suddenly getting random power-ups with hardly any justification whatsoever,
3) Fan-service being so upped to oblivion that its become more of a disservice to women (Chapter 355 being the prime example),
4) The voice of friendship being shoved so painfully into your face that its god's answer to everything,
5) Plot-twists being so odd and convoluted (that bloody Fairy-Sphere time-skip) that you could almost swear it was a bad fanfic.
Including a plethora of other issues, things started getting out of hand for Hiro at this point, and only got worse with how much of a joke the Avatar Arc turned out to be with Natsu going all marysue on a GOD. There's no longer any tension anymore as to what could actually pose a threat to the Fairy Tail guild; even Zeref's newly introduced empire which has already started off on a rough note.
As for the anime, its mediocre at best due to its low-key and still-framed animation. On rare occasions, the animation can be impressive (Laxus vs Natsu/Gajeel or even the 3-way duel between Erza/Minerva/Kagura being standout animation beauties), but for the most part, its nothing special.
The soundtrack is incredible though. I usually always find myself going back to listen to some of the music on youtube.