Prelude

Many people put down titles like FT, considering them "for kids", when in reality, they couldn't have been more wrong. "Couldn't have been more wrong" are strong words to use, no doubt, because there is some truth to them: the title doesn't take itself seriously 90% of the time and is written in a light-hearted manner with the ever lasting theme of "power of friendship". But it's these 10% of when Mashima cares more than he usually does that I'd like to talk about.

I'll take a couple characters and some key points in the story arcs they were involved in off the top of my head to prove the point I'm making.

The Subject

Let's start with Lucy, the character we see first and foremost when the story begins. Hers will be a bit more generalized so bear with me for a sec. I wasn't too fond of her until recently, thinking of her as a DJ Khaled of FT, as in, "what does she even do?" until I realized SHE is the true MC of the story, not Natsu. Let me explain: hers is a journey of rebellion (running from her father's home), finding a place to be in this world (which she did by joining the (in)famous guild of Fiore) and getting stronger to stand up for herself and her friends, which, eventually, she does succeed at. That point is being solidified by the fact that she keeps her diary up to date with all the major events that took place as the story progressed, reflecting on how it affected Lucy personally. What makes her an MC in my eyes and not Natsu, you ask? Those things I listed above, and the fact that Natsu only gets development in terms of what his true origins are. He remains that aloof, strong goof as the story events went further on, and still is in 100YQ.

Side Characters

Now, let's delve a bit deeper on the side characters that struck me the most in terms of how they were written. First, Juvia: she discarded her feelings because they weren't reciprocated during her childhood, as all the kids thought she was a weirdo. Then, through the fight she had with Gray she was able to discard her heartless "cog" persona and became a proper human being. Unfortunately, that comes at a cost of Mashima's infinite gag of her being a simp and shouting "Gray-sama" for the rest of the story. Though in the final arc of OG manga, their sacrifice was pretty cool too, icl.

After that, comes Ultear, my favorite FT character. Her story is that of sacrifice (another one): with all the wrongs she did, Ultear figured the only was to atone for her sins is to make a sacrificial gamble, as she wasn't in the know that Last Ages could only rewind back time by one singular minute. And it paid off in the bigger scheme of things: FT launched a counterattack with the vision of how it'd have played out and turned the tide of battle in their favor. I will always consider Ultear the most well-written Mashima character ever. She's got it all: the awful past, the haunting present and no future, as her sacrifice made her age like 60 years older right after. What I think Mashima SHOULDN'T have done is bringing her back as a plot device when he couldn't think of some other way of saving characters in a pinch, e.g. the Dimaria vs Wendy and Sherry fight.

Also, the 2nd half of GMG arc is his best as well, in my opinion. Everything fell into place and almost everyone got to play their part, more or less.

Final Arc

I would've said that I like the final arc the most, had it not been for Mashima making the allegedly "strongest sorcerers of the whole planet Earth" lose like the dumbest gag characters I've ever came across. Take Brandish, for example: the girl, whose nickname is "COUNTRY DESTROYER", only lost because she's ALLERGIC TO POLLEN. Make it make sense, I beg. And how Erza suddenly became Kenpachi from Bleach and cut the meteor in half. I'm forever convinced that's where Mashima took the inspiration from. The only saving grace of this arc was Mavis and Zeref's backstories and some Brandish content in relation to Lucy's mother knowing hers. Aaaand some of Natsu's origins, too. Can't overlook that one as well.

The Conclusion

Notice how I never mentioned the fanservice? Even some serious moments have some of that. Like here, during the part when Ultear criticizes her very being. Or is it supposed to show that she lays all her emotion naked, open for everyone to see? I guess we'll never know. Still, fanservice is not much of an issue, personally.

All in all, I knew what I signed up for beforehand, so I couldn't be too harsh about it. 'Tis a bedtime story manga, after all. Truly been our Fairy Tail. 7/10