This post is a part of Anime QandA’s 100 Follower Celebration. Part 2 can be viewed here and Part 3 is here.
Wh-wh-what does that say up there? Up where?
Up there, the title of this blog entry, read it to me! Fairy Tail, 100 Question Anime Review.
100 Questions?! Have you lost your damn mind?! Not at all, it’s a sort of thank you to the readers of my blog for reaching 100 followers on WordPress.com, seems apt don’t you think?
100 Questions! Problem?
Ah, yeah, a few… Such as?
Well first of all—am I getting paid overtime for this— No! You should be grateful!
F-fine… ugh, and secondly who on earth wants to read a 100 Question review? I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Plus, calm down, it’s only a one-off, I thought it’d be a fun little celebratory gimmick!
Okay, guess I don’t have a choice, right, let’s get this show on the road then! That’s the spirit!
What’s the show? Fairy Tail.
Ooh~ I’ve heard of this show, well that is to say I’ve heard you mention it in other reviews. It’s kind of a big deal—for me especially—it was the show that got me back into anime after having not watched any anime for about 5 years.
Wow! You went 5 whole years without watching anime? That’s kind of impossible to imagine, knowing how much of a weeb you are now. I was a different person back then, a poor and misguided fool, without as much as dakimakura on my bed or a lewd tapestry on my wall. Dark times indeed.
Uh-huh. Sounds like I may have actually gotten along with the you back then… You bite your tongue, sir!
Right, so maybe let’s start at what got you wanting to watch an anime after such a long break. Right, so first of all you’re going to have to understand something about me as a person, I like buying and collecting things.
Okay… No but really, you have no idea how into materialism I was. Like one day—on a whim—I decided to buy every episode of the classic 1963-1989 Doctor Who series on DVD. And so me and the irl waifu drove around to like 10 different stores over the course of a couple of weekends trying to get the hundreds of DVD’s that comprised the collection. Not only do I get obsessive about things quickly but I go ‘all in’ when I do.
I think they call that an ‘addictive personality’ but let’s not dwell on this too long since, you know we’re trying to get to reviewing an anime here… some day… Right. So one day while surfing my favourite DVD/blu-ray website for upcoming TV show releases I noticed a series that was in its seventeenth blu-ray volume and obviously my obsessive collector impulse was intrigued! ‘Fairy Tail Volume 17’ and it’s got a very attractive anime lady on the front… *a million Google searches later* I’m at my local DVD/blu-ray store buying Volumes 1 to 5 of Fairy Tail on blu-ray, after having only briefly watched the first episode on Netflix before leaving for work one morning.
Wait. Stop. You bought it on blu-ray even though it was on Netflix? You underestimate the depth of my collection obsessiveness. If I want something in a physical copy because of ‘collection aesthetics’ I will buy it physically even if a digital alternative is cheaper/easier to obtain.
You’re an absolute mad man. Yes, I have been told as much.
Great, so are we at the point where we can actually start reviewing the show? I guess we’ve established the context around me discovering ‘anime’ again to properly ascertain my frame of mind when first watching this show.
Super. So after you’d watched a half dozen or so episodes… what was going through 2016 era Cactus Matt’s head? “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever watched in my entire life.”
So low bar then? Hey! Don’t judge, it’s not like you’ve watched Fairy Tail, so you can’t speak for it!
True, but I know this much at least… it’s not the greatest thing ever, I can speak to that fact with some certainty. Tch. Fine, you’re right. But listen, to someone who’d been so deprived (and it was an unintentional self imposed deprivation mind you) from the world of anime, something this rich and varied and action-y and comedic and emotional and just plain fun was bound to push every button.
Just say what you’ve been wanting to say for a while… Fine. Fairy Tail for me was like the second coming of Pokemon. Not in any literal sense but rather the sense of joyous abandon that accompanied following a young and headstrong protagonist as he begins exploring a wider world, with attractive companions and a cute animal sidekick, not to mention a rambunctious rival and an older tutor to guide him where need be.
You gonna keep going with that metaphor or should I just cut you off before you make a total fool of yourself? Alright fine, it’s not the perfect comparison, sure there’s some similarities but Fairy Tail definitely has the edge. It’s well-written and not aimed at small children, also in there’s a whole ‘Guild’ full of side characters to help populate the universe. And well, a lot of them are really sexy anime girls and I’ll be in my bunk—
Oi! What the hell are you doing? There’s sexy anime girls so I’m just having some private time… to myself…
Ugh, you’re the worst. Hey! I’m just trying to give you an accurate representation of my experience while watching Fairy Tail back then!
“Back then”? It was only two years ago! Besides, this review doesn’t need to chronicle every instance of you ‘jerking it’ to anime girls… Don’t be so crude, it was a very romantic experience…
*sigh* So we’ve gotten this far in the review and all we’ve talked about is how sexy the girls are, I wish I was even a little surprised. This so called ‘100 Follower’ celebration sure took a turn for the worse and quickly too. I’m pretty sure everyone reading this pretty much expected it. But all right fine, let’s get serious, let’s talk about the show properly!
Only 28 questions in and we’re finally talking about the show itself. Wow, just wow. Shut up. So our protagonist is Natsu Dragneel he has the power of fire! Also the power to be cocky little twat!
So you don’t like him? Oh, he’s fine. He’s exactly what I expected from a Shonen protagonist, shouting catchphrases and being noisy and angry and dumb!
So who else is in the show? There’s Happy, Natsu’s flying blue cat, who is absolutely adorable and a loyal companion! Then there’s Lucy Heartfilia, the busty summoner and aspiring writer and let’s not forget Erza Scarlett the headstrong and dependable warrior and Ice wizard Gray Fullbuster who’s frequently butting heads with Natsu! And… hmm…
And what? What’s up? I don’t know, it just kind of feels weird talking about Fairy Tail with a critical eye… I mean any show can be reviewed critically it’s just it’s hard to do it about this show for some reason.
You speak down to it often in your reviews despite the fact you clearly have a reverence for it. If I sometimes sound cynical about the show it’s only because I expect a lot from this franchise because it was so influential in bringing me back into the anime world and so whenever it deviated from its initial quality and enthusiasm it kind of felt ~personal~. Let’s just say I’ve got some complex feelings about this show!
Right, I think we need to take a break and continue this in another part. 100 Questions or not, no one’s going to want to read something like this that’s over 4000 words so this needs to be split up. Click on the links to continue reading Part 2 and Part 3 of the Fairy Tail 100 Question Anime Review!
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