Based on the manga series created by Hiro Mashima Fairy Tail takes place in a world of wizards. We begin with Lucy, a Celestial Wizard, who wants nothing more then to join a guild called Fairy Tail. In a seaside town she believes that she has finally come across a wizard from that guild named Salamander but she couldn’t be more wrong. Fortunately for her she is befriended by a fire wizard named Natsu and his cat Happy, Natsu is a true wizard of the Fairy Tail guild. From here we jump right into a seemingly never ending amount of action and comedy that reminded me of other anime shows like Slayers or One Piece. Sure the show covers some aspects that have been covered time and time again by any number of anime properties but the characters are engaging, their plights in the episodic and overall are outstanding, and there’s never a dull episode in the bunch. Fairy Tail, especially in this format, has quickly become a fan favorite in my household.

QUALITY:
Now if your just looking to find the most impeccably flawless picture quality for this release, depending on how completely anal you are, you might be a bit disappointed, but wait, hear me out first. Fairy Tail looks absolutely wonderful. Colors are amazingly vibrant, line definition is super sharp, almost attributing a 3D effect to the overall picture, and clarity is fantastic. Sounds like its perfect right. Well, the series is a mish mash of various styles of animation; hand drawn, very little CGI (but its present), and other forms I’m not quite versed with on a first name basis but easily can see with my own two eyes. Sometimes the animation is fluid and capable, the next it might look like a very attractive art house style rough draft, and then something completely different. I think that’s what makes the show so appealing as far as the aesthetic goes. Unfortunately not all formats of illustration can offer up the straight forward look of the animation in full swing. I do not detract any points from the show for this, I’m simply stating it as it is because some people may find that a little off putting. For me, and for this review, I’m jotting down the picture quality as perfection. Feel free to argue to my non-responsive, as of its being posted, unmanned digital review.

Audio quality is also fantastic. Funimation has yet to let me down as far as their audio presentations go for their anime releases. There is a nice amount of immersion with characters flying from the forefront, trailing passed your side speakers, and finally thudding out behind you. Dialogue never does battle with effects or soundtrack so your never straining to follow the story. Its simply put, all good.

BONUS FEATURES:
I was a little disappointed in the bonus features here but offer up the benefit of the doubt that we will get some truly magnificent BF’s a bit further down the line. I believe that the series is being stretched out into four releases so here’s hoping.
~Episode One Commentary
~Episode Nine Commentary
~Textless Opening Song: Snow Fairy
~Textless Opening Song: Sense of Wonder
~Textless Closing Song: None
~Textless Closing Song: Merry Go-Round
~DVD versions
~Trailers