Forget Bleach, forget Naruto, heck, forget Dragon Ball, Fairy Tail is the ClichéStorm for excellency. This shows, while admittedly having a good animation in the anime, suffers heavily of any semblance of originality.

Let's start from the first arc, especially the pilot and the Deliora arc, they are mostly a rip-off of One Piece, with Lucy a stand in for Nami (only her running gag inverted)and Natsu fulfill the same role as Natsu as the Unskilled But Strong Idot Hero.

Most of the characters are forgettable, their design uninspired due to being either Gonk or Fanservice incarnate. The Running Gag aren't amusing either and the friendship speeches are Anvilicious enough to make Tea cringe, and the Power Of Friendship makes the characters Boring Invincible Heroes. No tension in fights as the enemies hyped up are crushed in Curb Stomp Battles. Admittedly, at least, in this series Dragons are really badass, and there is a character, Erza, with a genuine character arc.

However, the series is dragged down by being So Okay Its Average and, when there are twists, they carry out nothing (like Lisanna's return).

Most disappointing in this point is the Tenrou arc with the promise of being a Wham Episode with deaths and reveals. While a few decent reveals about the Big Bad, they carry no relevance and only (two) villains die, while all the other prove lackster.

If it is your first Shounen, it will be good, but any frequent viewer would quickly figure out most plots and don't bother with it.

6/10

How the series weighs overall, as of chapter 328,

Pros:

• Fights are fast paced. No match drags on into tedium.
• The comedy. Even as the threats become greater, Cerbus Syndrome is never powerful enough to kill the series’ sense of humor.
• The characters are well developed for a shounen.
• Fan service is fairly equal. The author does not objectify women while ignoring that some fans are female.
• Strong female characters. The girls are not left waiting for the guys to save the day and often contribute just as much (and sometimes more) to achieving victory.
• The continuity. While it’s not without slight consistency errors, the series does a good job of remembering the entirety of its cast, which is no small feat. Minor details in character design and relations between characters are never missed.
• The plot. Fights are somewhat predictable in that hero will obviously win, the twists and turns that each arc takes, especially later arcs, is always a surprise.

Cons:

• The shortage of overarching villains leads to new enemies being hyped to make them seem like a threat. Coupled with short fights, this can lead to anticlimactic moments.
• The fan service. While balanced, it can detract when it comes too frequently.
• Lack of death. While the series isn’t void of it, you will never feel like something bad could happen to anyone in the core or even supporting cast, and the loss of a minor character is so rare that it’s a shock simply because someone actually bit it.

And on the anime, up to episode 175:

It’s well animated, though not without the dips in quality that you would expect in a long running series. It follows the manga closely, with the only notable changes being aesthetic adjustments to an early arc. It also adds details to early scenes that the manga did not think to mention until later, giving certain events a stronger emotional impact. It’s had two filler arcs so far. While the first, which was fairly short, is a completely skipable nightmare, the second is impressive to say the least. Without reading the manga and knowing its filler, you may not even notice a difference in it and the other arcs. That the manga creator got involved in its writing and even made a point of referencing the events of the arc within the manga itself may contribute to this.

Fairy Tail is enjoyable, not good, enjoyable. I say this because it follows the vast majority of shonen tropes to a T, with the notable aversion of property damage being taken extremely seriously. Despite the fairly cliched plot, the feel of the world and powers are well enough in sync and the characters likable enough to be a competent and enjoyable execution of said cliches.

This is a review of the manga up to chapter 191.

Apart from my PSL for Erza and Lucy, I liked:

• The slightly more realistic tone. Unlike One Piece's protagonists, they still have to submit to authority sometimes. Plus the Guild conflicts (internal and external) showed promise. I hope they'll expand upon those a bit, but it's shonen, so yeah.
• Erza is badass and a good character besides. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to be depowered, derailed or forced into the background to make way for the main hero, as has happened elsewhere. The fact that she hasn't is a source of joy and squee.
• Following on from that, there's a good bit of teamwork. Natsu is often their trump card, but the team doesn't stand around waiting for him to show up.
• Power is not everything here, and neither is fighting. Skill, experience, luck and a cool head can triumph. There's that 'realistic' touch again.
• The multiple cute women of Fairy Tail. It has to be said. :-) Interestingly, there is one old woman in the recurring cast; a skilled healer, she looks old but is neither a Gonk nor comic relief, as so often happens.

What I didn't like:

• Yes, yes, Power Of Friendship is supah-powerful and OMG wonderful, I get it already. Now stop bashing me over the head with it. Same goes for Nakama.
• Villains are far too Easily Forgiven.

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.

Well, I've reached the end of the Phantom Lord Arc, and this series has won a new fan. There isn't much different it from other shonen, but there are small touches that I appreciate. The one that's first and foremost is the humor. There's nothing really different about the tone of humor from the norm, but what I appreciate is that it doesn't stop. Many series, such as Bleach or One Piece tend to annoy me somewhat because the plot tries to take itself absolutely seriously aside from extremely jarring instances of Mood Whiplash. (OMG, the villain just slaughtered that entire villa—huh, why are these two arguing over something petty? Aren't you supposed to be hurrying to the rescue?) Fairy Tail, on the other hand, constantly maintains humor at virtually all times. Even during "serious" battles, facial expressions remain cartoonish and exaggerated and characters remain consistently silly. What's funny is that before I saw this series, I would have sword that heading in the opposite direction (more consistent drama, less silliness) was the proper way to go. Fairy Tail has changed my mind about that.

The second thing I like about it is that, so far, the story arcs are short. A consistent problem in anime/manga these days is that the buildup and execution of climactic fights slow the pacing of story to ridiculous levels (example: the entire Hueco Mundo arc in Bleach). Fairy Tail's arcs don't tend to last that long so far (again, this is a first impression review, so I have no idea if this changes) and the story continues at a refreshing pace. Likewise, battles are rarely longer than an episode, which I really, REALLY appreciate. The annoying practice of shonen battles sluggishly shifting back and forth between a series of No Sells, anti-left-handedness, and Plot Leveling just wears things down horribly. I sincerely hope that Fairy Tail keeps up such a pace.

And lastly, the cast is likable. As it currently stands, my favorite characters are Team Natsu (Natsu, Gray, Happy, Lucy, and Erza) along with Juvia. Everyone else isn't bad, but these six are my favorites. Everyone gets their own spotlight and the story doesn't typically amount to waiting for Goku to get to Namek Ichigo to escape Hueco Mundo Natsu to beat the Big Bad.