Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network found Fairy Tail followed conventional shnen action manga cliches in its first volume, saying that "the blend of silly comedy, face-crushing violence, and teary-eyed sap is so planned as to be mechanical." [114] Carlo Santos of Anime News Network concurred in his assessment of volume three, praising the art, especially the action sequences, but criticizing the lack of plot and character development. [115] Santos noted in volume 12 that Mashima's genuine genius resides in "picking the most conventional, expected components of the genre and yet weaving it into a delightful, fist-pumping adventure." [116] Kimlinger, his colleague Rebecca Silverman, and IGN's A.E. Sparrow all thought Mashima's artwork was strikingly similar to Eiichiro Oda's in One Piece. [117] While Sparrow viewed the similarity as a complement, saying it had enough distinct traits of its own, Kimlinger went so far as to suggest that made appreciating Mashima's "undeniable technical excellence" difficult. [114] [118]
From 2009 until 2013, 175 episodes 211,211 views Lucy is a seventeen-year-old magician with the ability to conjure star spirits, but her true desire is to join a guild - and not just any guild. She has her sights set on Fairy Tail, a famously irresponsible and outlandish bunch of magical users that are either intoxicated or destroying buildings and cities in the course of performing a task! While in town one day, Lucy meets Natsu, a constantly seasick kid who, via a sequence of circumstances, reveals to her that he is none other than Fairy Tail's fire-eating magician Salamander! Lucy is finally allowed to join Fairy Tail and swiftly starts to take on odd activities for fame and profit alongside Natsu and his crew. Lucy goes off on great adventures with her fiery buddy, Happy the flying cat, Natsu's archrival Gray, and their supervisor, the indomitable and gorgeous Erza, leaving an amazing amount of havoc in their wake. After all, it doesn't matter whether they demolish a city or five as long as they get the job done... right?!
