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Jan 8, 2025
Premise:
Giji Harem has a cute premise involving two drama club members: actress Rin and stagehand Eiji. After Eiji makes an offhanded comment about every guy dreaming of being popular and having a harem, Rin uses her acting skills to simulate a harem, adopting many typical anime personality tropes. Eiji plays along and appreciates her effort, setting the stage for their growing connection.
Rin and Eiji are introduced as friends in the manga, which allows the premise to feel more natural. In contrast, the anime rushes into the harem scenario immediately after their first meeting, making the premise jarringly rushed.
Character Interactions:
In the first few episodes, Eiji feels
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more like a self-insert "cardboard" character with less agency and thus seemingly less regard for Rin than she does him. Eiji then becomes a well-rounded character with a friendly, fun-loving personality. He engages with Rin's antics in a goofy way but also understands when she's being herself. His regard for her as an individual feels genuine, as he shows interest in Rin's true opinions despite the varied masks she wears.
Similarly, at the beginning, Rin's personality out of character is presented as more of a traditional, overly-blushy "yamato nadeshiko," which doesn't feel very nuanced, but is later developed as she grows more comfortable around Eiji.
At first, I thought the anime had more of a reliance on Rin's personas than necessary, often feeling more like a checklist of genre tropes (leaning a bit into fetish culture). This felt like it was turning the relationship into more of a wish-fulfilment "pseudo-harem," detracting from the quirky premise for a healthy relationship as presented in the manga. Nevertheless, the anime eventually shows more of the playful banter and skits between Rin and Eiji, allowing them to let loose and act like kids. This sense of fun and mutual teasing creates a naturally warm dynamic.
Art and Voice Acting:
At the beginning, anime Eiji feels stiffer and lacks the liveliness of his manga counterpart. The voice acting also adds to this: Rin's voice actor fits her character perfectly, but Eiji’s voice lacks the energy that would match, which negatively affects the chemistry between them. However, after the first few episodes, Eiji's facial expressions become more varied and expressive, bringing more personality to his character, similar to how he was in the manga.
Pacing:
The anime tries to make the episodic, skit-like nature of the manga continuous, but it doesn’t always work.
Themes:
The series implies that Rin’s true personality as a blend of her many personas. While she initially uses them to hide her feelings, Eiji eventually recognises that it's not just an act—they are all sides of Rin.
It's not explored deeply, but through Rin's adoption of various personalities, it could be said that the manga explores the dualities and multiplicities of human nature, showing that people are not confined to one type or another at all times.
Age Rating:
The series includes some teasing and suggestive language, but all scenes remain very PG with no fanservice.
Overall:
Although I was initially critical of the anime, the characters get better. It is adorable and lighthearted, full of fluff just like the manga, making for an easy watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 5, 2025
Story and Pacing:
While the nostalgia is strong, Fairy Tail was definitely more intellectually engaging when I was younger. The pacing in 100 Years Quest can be uneven, with many slideshow-esque scenes disrupting the flow. The story feels convoluted and disjointed, with little build-up to major moments, making it feel episodic—almost like a monster of the day setup. Additionally, the inclusion of two doppelganger guilds (Fairy Nail and Edolas) seems redundant and Irene’s role felt quite like a deus ex machina.
Humour:
The blend of action and comedy is a Fairy Tail staple, but the humour sometimes undercuts the gravity of the battles. While it’s part of the
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charm, it can feel out of place. That said, the comedic character interactions still shine, and the banter is the series’ strongest point.
Romance:
There’s more romance in 100 Years Quest than I remember from Fairy Tail. The ships—Gajevy, Gruvia, Jerza, and NaLu—have plenty of moments. While the will-they-won’t-they tension is fun, it’s clearly aimed at fans who grew up watching Fairy Tail but didn’t get their ships to fully materialise by the end of the original series.
Ecchi Elements:
It's tiresome to see how Lucy still bears the brunt of the ecchi humour and seeing strong, noble Erza weakened again just felt reductive. While I overlook this for the sake of nostalgia, the crude humour and perverted old men and women are definitely a turn-off. There's also a moment that resembles tentacle *ahem* material, which could be triggering for some. That said, Fairy Tail is somewhat unique in catering to both the female and male gaze (though it’s still biased towards the male), giving it broader appeal than many other shounen series.
Throwbacks:
Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is a nostalgic dive for long-time fans. It’s rewarding to see familiar characters and settings, especially with the trademark Fairy Tail medieval OST playing in the background. Seeing characters I adored over a decade ago is always fun (my fictional childhood friends 💀).
[spoiler]The exploration of Natsu’s vision of heaven adds emotional weight, and a highlight was seeing the Edolas ships sail, where the characters hadn't undergone the 7-year time-skip. It was also nice to see Mystagon again.[/spoiler]
Other Notes:
An interesting philosophical quote stood out: "When faced with immense power that they fear, humans sometimes revere it as a god out of both fear and awe."
In terms of new characters, [spoiler]Suzaku was fun (his one-worded responses encapsulated entire sentences) and Mercphobia was quite endearing.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Natsu’s use of the Ankhseram Curse against the God Seeds was also a clever move.[/spoiler]
While Fairy Tail was more about Zeref, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is about the 100 Year Quest (as one would expect lol).
Final Thoughts:
Overall, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest feels like a trip down memory lane. However, the story feels less polished compared to when I first encountered the series. The comedy still holds a nostalgic place in my heart, but it’s clear this series is more for fans who grew up with it. Maybe I’ve grown up too—Fairy Tail isn’t quite the same as I remember, but it’s still fun in its own chaotic way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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