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Around five years (or even more) has passed since I started watching – and I still cannot believe how good that anime is.

I meant it and I can argue for its sake.

In my arrogant opinion, nothing is wasted in “Fairy Tail”, neither characters nor time.

Almost all episodes have a purpose do them – they mean something, they introduce something important for the great plot, in the worst case they at least develop the characters. Personally I still consider this kind of development worthy, although the pace of action is a bit decreased. “Fairy Tail” apparently values your time, consumer, or so it ... seems. Nice, is it not?
And characters. They are fantastic - they are like Chekhov’s gun, bringing something refreshing to the plot. It is quite difficult to express precisely what I mean. Let’s say that I have always felt that “Fairy Tail” did not need to produce tons of tons of secondary characters; and it does not try that. The author is able to simply explore the existing ones deeply, revealing or adding more and more in every following arc. The characters do not strut and fret their hour upon the stage and then are heard no more, to paraphrase Shakespeare. They are very likely to be recycled, reused, given a new role which lets them show their another side, maybe better, maybe worse. They are growing in front of us. It is truly superb.

I love it how the author approaches the characters’ past. It is so meaningful, pushing the character to act in a particular way as well as causing some of the present events. The repercussions are chasing after the sinners. The past mistakes are not just slipping by. There are causes and result, actons and reactions.

Sure, you could say there is unfortunately some cliché contained… but it is rather arguable. Okay, some jokes and talks are dry. That’s one thing I mind a little. The series is so very optimistic, almost to the utmost. Some would say it is an unrealistic defect and that it is well-worn – yeah, hey, let’s feed the audience with some cheerful nonsense, why not? Well… I am not convince this is what “Fairy Tail” is about. If you ask me, the strength of characters is implied right by the optimistic nature of the series. It is not like the characters’ lives were not tough or that someone has just popped up and fixed everything. It is only that they still can enjoy their time, just as everyone in our world should do in spite of problems. It makes sense to me, as it sort of is what I am trying to do. And I could not live, seeing that kind of attitude as impossible.

It works. You can be like the member of Fairy Tail, standing up when you are thrown to the ground, because you are surely something else. Not a magician, but a hero of your neighborhood, believing in your family and friends who are to fight for. You could say “Fairy Tail” is sort of a moral story, so that it does not have to focus on what the majority of us is like, but show some nice role models instead. Still realistic to the extent they need to be considering the genre of the story.

There are some good lessons to learn while watching the anime. Hopefully you will gain something – about not giving in, about friendship, about having some secret assets and gifts (that is also something I noticed about characters, and liked it a lot) or about anything else. Just have a good mindset. And watch!

I went off to some preaching, I admit, but this should be viewed as a special praise of mine. If the series makes you consider more serious issues it is… rare. And proves the author’s artistry.

Then there are sountracks, cherry on top, as they match the plot so effectively. Not that they would not be good alone. They are just outstanding, fabulous, tremendous.

“Fairy Tail” for life.

For me, it's just fair enough, but nothing more. The casual story with casual features, which didn't leave me too impressed. You know, while reading I had that impression I had seen something (too) similar so many times.

Its plot seemed very, very simple. Boring, not catchy, didn't even bring me any emotions, and it was even hard to get to the last chapter. And I'm really sorry to say that, I really thought I was going to be amazed as I've never been.

Characters were nice, but not outstanding (the standard cast of characters to release some series). They didn't even feed me with ... some memorable speeches to get excited about, so I don't have any mercy, sorry.

Art was quite okay, maybe a bit above that; I liked it. Obviously, that's too little unless I overlooked something really great, doubting the quality of that manga too early.

Probably both the small number of chapters and the lack of the final resolution killed the mood. I suppose so, but am I too optimistic? Well, having heard as people went into raptures over the series, I'll probably have to check the anime version. I hope it's better, when it comes to... managing the plot. And I hope to see some kind of the end. Any kind, actually.

At least I will listen to some jazz music.

‘Bleach’ is a mixture of true equitableness and mean boredom. It’s a rarity, I suppose. And how was that special created?

Well, let’s start with (in)famous fillers. When we’re talking about ‘Bleach’, sometimes they turned out quite decent. Usually they would be just stick without any reflection in the middle of some interesting action – truly, such a pain and mood killer. Maybe in a different configuration they would be just fine.
But recklessly suspending the plot is not cool.

I had dropped the series once due to that. If it wasn’t for my divided attention, allowing me to kill boredom while watching, as well as ... my friend, who was so much into it that he finally got me excited, maybe I wouldn’t pick it up again. I also skipped the fillers to watch them later slowly, out of sentiments. This way the they were somehow bearable… more or less, say.
Right, fillers ticked off. Now we’ve got something like two third of the anime left. Or less.

On the contrary, here… oh, no, here we are still facing ambivalent feeling. Or it’s only me? I clearly remember both my states of mind while watching – either the one when I couldn’t stop myself from playing the next episode or the other when I couldn’t bring myself to watch.

Capitalism is definitely to blame here. You know, that unequal distribution of goods. Namely, the characters that are either great in their complexity or pitiful in their simplicity; some of them are just fine, some are literally fabulous and polish creations, the others are unfinished… Same goes for other aspects of the series. Same goes for everything, I guess. Good concepts and kind of worse execution. Sometimes, that is. Moreover, as for me, ‘Bleach’ is a late bloomer. You should probably wait till the hundredth episode or so before it gets you. It’s too long, isn’t it?

I didn’t expect myself to be into it… but right now I’m going to say that ‘Bleach’ has that mystic something, so that it’s worth watching after all. Yes, regardless of what I’ve just mentioned.

If you are ready to think about that, if you accept some slow motion or occasional stimulation for your brain (in rational and irrational ways) instead of sheer fun, if you get along with the merciless length – have a shot, why not? And try to endure, it may pay off in the end. But it’s always a question of taste.