Fairy Tail has arrived ladies and gentlemen! The popular series has finally made its U.S. debut thanks to FUNimation. This first release, of many more to come, features episodes one through twelve on two DVDs. Is the anime everything it was hyped up to be? Or is it just another shonen show?

Fairy Tail began airing in 2009 and was produced by A-1 Pictures. The series has been a mainstay on Japanese television ever since and to date it’s accumulated over 100 episodes. Not a bad showing by any means, especially when the field is dominated by the likes of One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto. Fairy Tail is a little different in some senses though.

The series follows the adventures of a magicians guild known as Fairy Tail (go figure). It starts out through the eyes of Lucy, a young magician with a talent for using magical keys that summon monsters from the astral plane. She’s seeking out Fairy Tail and wants to join its ranks, as they are renowned for being better than every other guild out there. In the early part of her quest she comes across a spiky-haired hot-head named Natsu and his friend, a cat named Happy. With dragon magic infused into his body, Natsu makes an immediate impression, though the Fairy Tail brand on his right arm is a dead giveaway that this is the guy Lucy has been looking for. Through circumstances Lucy winds up befriending Natsu and Happy, and is ushered into the ranks of her favorite guild shortly thereafter.

From this point on Fairy Tail heads down some familiar shonen territory with an adventure of the week so to speak. From episode to episode new members of Fairy Tail are introduced to Lucy as she gets to know everyone. There’s Ezra the super-powerful babe, Gray the ice wizard with a penchant for losing his clothes, and others such as Mirajane, Loke, Cana, and Plue. Each has something to contribute, but for the most part they have archetype personalities. There’s the lady-killer, tough chick, cute girl, hot-head, and pervert. It’s all been done before and in that sense Fairy Tail is rather dry.

Thankfully the show itself is rather entertaining, even if its characters are one-dimensional. The adventures contained here give Lucy and her compatriots plenty to do as far as things to blow up and people to beat. There’s nothing groundbreaking here and the aforementioned adventure-of-the-week approach actually gets old by the end of this first collection. There’s a lot of promise, however, and anyone that wants to get in on a show akin to One Piece from the ground up will find this series very approachable.

As far as the look and sound of the show, Fairy Tail comes with an anamorphic widescreen presentation. The show is vibrantly colored, sharp with its resolution, and all around easy on the eyes. The animation is a little choppy, but for the most part this is a decent looking show. The sound is also on par with expectations though from the English and Japanese language tracks, I found myself preferring the Japanese 2.0 stereo the most. Sure it’s a little on the flat side, but the voice quality was pretty solid all around. For English fans you’ll be pleased to note that FUNimation put forth some good effort into the dub. I actually had a tough time picking between the two.

For bonus features there are clean animations, trailers, and two audio commentaries.

Fairy Tail is a fun show. It’s made for mass consumption and it’s very easy to get into. The characters, setting, and action plays it safe for the most part and there’s nothing too original here, but there doesn’t really need to be. Genuine humor, lively antics, and plenty of shonen trappings make this one a success. Those looking for originality will want to look elsewhere, but otaku that thrive on shonen will eat Fairy Tail right up.

Easily Recommended

Tags: Anime, DVD, FUNimation, Review, Shonen