Welcome Otaku & Otakuette’s to Ani-Monday; a new segment here on Unleash The Fanboy, that reviews (as you have already may have guessed) anime. Each Monday I, Marcell (your lovely dark skinned host) will bring you 3 anime from the land of the Rising Sun. Broken down episode by episode and analyzed to see if these animated marvels are worth your time. Let’s Begin with our first anime: Fairy Tail

Written by Hiro Mashima (creator of Rave Master) Fairy Tail is a story of might, magic, and friendship all centering around the titular guild. Quickly becoming one of the most popular manga in Japan, Fairy Tail is a series loaded with potential and a faithful fan following.

In a far off land is the Kingdom of Fiore, a small often peaceful land consisting of 17 million. In this kingdom, magic is used everyday by the populace and has become commonplace. Regular people use it as a tool to make their lives easier, but for others, magic is more than just an everyday need; to these people, magic is an art form and they use this passion to become wizards and seek to use their magic to amass fame and fortune. Throughout the land there are collections of wizards who form Guilds in order to find work and make a name for themselves.

Spoilers Ahead

The 1st episode begins in the port town of Hargeon; a gathering place for wizards and a tourist spot. A train pulls into the station and a pink-haired boy named Natsu Dragneel (Todd Haberkorn) & his talking blue cat (i know, anime) named Happy (Tia Ballard) prepare to depart the train but Natsu passes out (he has motion sickness you know) and the train departs with him on it. We cut to a magic shop in town where we meet a young wizard by the name of Lucy Heartfilia (Cherami Leigh) buying a Celestial Key (the “key” so to speak of her magic). She has come to Hargeon in order to get information on how to get in to the titular guild of Fairy Tail, one of the most popular (if not most destructive) guilds in all the land. She receives information that Salamander (a member of Fairy Tail) is coming through town. She encounters a man named Bora (Ian Sinclair) in the town square who claims to be Salamander, and is almost caught by his “Charm Magic” (makes the opposite sex attracted to the caster) until she is inadvertently snapped out of it by Natsu; who mistakes the imposter for his “father” Igneel.

I would have the same reaction If I saw a talking blue cat that walked on 2 legs

This is the point where 2 of the leads meet each other. Lucy takes Natsu & Happy to restaurant in order to thank them, where she reveals that she is trying to join Fairy Tail & Natsu tells her that he is looking for Igneel, who is in fact…a dragon (pretty badass being raised by a dragon). The trio parts ways and Lucy is once again encountered by Bora who tells her that he can get her into Fairy Tail if she comes to a party on his yacht. Things devolve quickly as it is revealed that Bora is NOT from Fairy Tail (big shock) and that he invited her and a few other girls in order to sell them into slavery (yikes); capturing Lucy and throwing her Keys into the ocean. However the day is saved when Natsu crashes through the roof of  the boat thanks to Happy, who can sprout wings and fly (anime remember) and lifts Lucy away as Natsu proceeds to get beat up due to his motion sickness (some hero). Happy’s transformation times out and he & Lucy fall into the ocean where she finds her keys. She the summons one of her Spirits, Aquarius (who has a bit of an attitude) and she crashes the boat into the shore; this allows Natsu to regain his bearings and it is once again revealed that Natsu is actually the Salamander Lucy was looking for, and he quickly beats Bora using his Fire Dragon Slayer magic, which grants him the ability to use the powers of a dragon (eat and breathe fire, claws, scale hide, etc.).

After the battle, Lucy, Natsu, & Happy flee Hargeon (from all the angry people who lost their homes due to boat crash and Natsu) with Natsu promising to get Lucy into Fairy Tail.

Pretty happy-go lucky for people who just caused thousands in property damage…eh wizards, what are you gonna do?

A pretty good 1st episode full of action and humor. We get a peek as to some of the character’s personalities, a look at the land, how the world works, and a peek into some of the characters magical abilities. While the animation can cut corners when it comes to quality at times, it is not a big deal in the long run. A nice start to a great series.

4/5