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In Conclusion (For Now)

In the beginning of this story world I wanted to take this story world and highlight a topic that was not explicitly addressed: orphanage. All the central characters within the story deal with the loss of their parents (Dragon slayers twice over) and it has effects. In an abstract sense, FairyTail is an orphanage, filled with those that are outcast from society and have lost their sense of purpose. Together they design a new purpose for themselves: protect each other and the world from evil.

I have thankfully had both parents in my life, for my entire life. A life without them is not one that I could have imagined. I would like to think that I have forged my own identity, my own moral compass, and made most of my life decisions independently. However, I know that all my decisions have been a culmination of my past guidance from my parents, so I cannot definitively say that I would have come to these same conclusions and decisions without them. 

In the story of FairyTail, the characters did not have the luxury of that influence. So, what influenced them and motivated their decisions? They relied on each other. Most people believe that friends have more impact upon the individuals lives than parents and to a certain extent that is true. Even though I have had my parents most of my time has been spent at school with friends, in afterschool activities, and in college I see my parents for a few weeks at a time. The time we spend with our friends is more than we think about, and we have ignored the impact that they have on our lives. We all want to imagine ourselves, especially as young adults in college, as independent free thinkers that could never be influenced in any form or fashion.

So, does that make us a reflection of our friends, or our friends a reflection of ourselves? I personally believe that the exchange is mutual. There is a constant exchange of information and tendencies that though we all have distinct characteristics; we are all tied to a common ideal that we regard as friendship. In FairyTail all the characters maintained a common experience: loss. Losing things that are irreplaceable are facts of human existence, however we still grieve and mourn inevitable losses. I believe it is due to the comfortability in familiarity.

In FairyTail, the characters all lost their parental figures within their lives. Throughout the series I watched the characters undergo significant changes in their worldview, their purpose in life, and how they will go about achieving that purpose. I am at a point in my life where everything around me is changing, causing things inside me to change as well. This show is personal in a sense that I want to find motivation in my friends around me to realize the dreams that I have and the goals that I have set for myself. The same way the characters in FairyTail created a family out of strangers, there should be a possibility of this happening in our lives.

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Why Anime?

In this post, I will go outside the scope of FairyTail and talk about what initially drew me to anime. Anime wasn't popular among the crowds I was a part of growing up. Honestly, I wasn't that attached to it at a young age. The first few shows that I was introduced to were Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, but that was because everyone I knew watched them. The games were insanely popular in middle school, so it was almost self-exclusion to not know anything about it. However, I didn't know these shows to be neither Japanese or anime.

DBZ

\When I got to college I started to reengage with Anime to destress. I went to Naruto Shippuden, as it was familiar to me from my childhood. I more appreciated the action and storyline more than anything else. I started to venture out of the extremely popular Naruto into lesser known anime. I started to get into new shows like Kuroko’s Basketball, Food Wars (Shokugeki no Soma), FairyTail, SAO (Sword Art Online), and Twin Star Exorcist to name a few. I appreciate the struggles that all the characters must face in each of these storylines.

FOOD WARS

 I think I subconsciously find motivation in their struggle. I know personally I don't have the worst life in the world, but there are days where I feel like I do. Anime shows me triumph over conflict, or they show me a dire situation I cannot fathom, which I find a strange comfort in both. For the former it is motivating, the latter is weirdly comforting. These past few years in college have been a tumultuous time for me, so I watch more than I ever have. I wouldn't go as far as to say I have adopted anime culture, however anime has had a positive impact on my life and I appreciate what it has done for me personally.

SAO

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A Page from the Manga, This is depicting the exciting return of the members of Fairy Tail to the guild.

I have not read all of the manga version but I am up to date with all of the anime. For those that do not know, the show fairy tail is based on the manga version. The manga version is very far ahead of the anime, also the anime does not touch on every single thing the manga does. So if you find yourself being a big fan of an series, check out the manga, as it can give you a detailed perspective into the series you love.

DB

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Here is a mixture of Fan Fiction and Shipping. Mavis and Zeref are two characters in fairy tail that I have previously described in my prior posts. Here is a work that talks on a fictitious love relationship between the two.

DB

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Just to get a feel of the show without just describing everything, here is a compilation video I found of some funny moments from FairyTail. This is the Sub version, as I think it gives better immersion into the story world in its natural form.

DB

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Double Orphanage

If we look, the dragon slayers, some of the most powerful mages in FairyTail, were raised by Dragons because they did not have parents. Their dragons then leave them after a small period as well. I’m going to refer to this special case as “double orphanage” There are 3 distinct character archetypes because of their “double orphanage”

Natsu and Igneel

His parents’ whereabouts, or origin are unknown. He was found by Igneel, the fire dragon and was raised as his son. Then on July 7, 777 Igneel disappeared, along with the rest of the remaining dragons in existence. Natsu’s loss of his original orphanage doesn't affect him as much, as he was never enaged with his original creators and or parents. His loss of igneel however devastates him, but at the same time gives him purpose. He sets his life to getting stronger and looking for his lost father in a hope to prove to Igneel that he is all that his father wanted him to be.

Gajeel and Metallicana

Similar backstory. His dragon Metallicana took care of him and disappeared on the same day. Gajeel orphanage results in a path opposite to Natsu as he becomes very problematic, getting in a lot of trouble and joined a dark guild. After one of his crimes he is sent before the magic council to be disciplined.  He is then mentored by a woman on the council and she tells him that he reminds her of her son. The woman dies later and he finds purpose and truth in the lessons he did not appreciate at the time. His orphanage is that of a distraught child unable to cope with all the afflictions he faces, and thus turns to crime. His growth and change over the course of the story is phenomenal and he is my favorite main character of the story along with Happy.

Wendy and Grandine

Wendy is another orphan raised by Grandine, the sky dragon disappears. She wanders aimlessly looking for her mother until she runs to the Jellal. They travel together and she grows find of him, as a big brother figure. He leaves her with an old Man who he wants to take care of her because “his journey is too dangerous”. The guild she joins is an illusion created by this old man to alieve her of her loneliness. The result of Wendy’s orphanage has made her very timid, lonely, and afraid. Her exceed counterpart is her only best friend. In the show, she is extremely soft spoken, and in the beginning, she doesn't even know how to attack people with her magic; she only knows how to heal. She grows to become strong and confident, believing in herself through after conquering numerous trials.

DB

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Guidance

Where are they? Within my viewing FairyTail it was clear the lack of Parental guidance had on the main characters of the novel. It has been said that the reason for the conflict of parental absence is something the author of the show struggled with, and thus made it a prevalent part of the show. I believe FairyTail is a orphanage turned into a familial community who loves for each other. These main characters all had parental issues that played a factor in them being member of FairyTail.

Lucy

Lucy was an only child and mother dies when she is a kid. Her life at the time is filled with loneliness and lack of purpose, as she receives little to no attention from her father, who is a rich businessman constantly focused on wealth. All that she has are the Guardian Keys that she inherits from her mother, as her mother was a mage as well. These guardians come to be Lucy’s family in the absence of one. She decides to leave home in her teenage years to seek a new family in her favorite guild, FairyTail along with her guardian companion. These keys serve as a connection to her mom and inspiration to the new life she will lead as a mage

Gray

Gray’s parents are killed by one of the demons of the books of Zeref, Deloria. He is crushed, as any child would, watching his parents die at the hands of a demon. As a kid looks to magic to gain revenge and is adopted by the Ice make master Ul. She treats Gray as her son and teaches her the basics of her knowledge, to advance one day to strength beyond hers. One day Deloria is destroying a town and gray tries to confront him. He is obviously unable to defeat Deloria with his level of magic and then needs to be saved. Ul uses a life consuming magic that traps Deloria in ice that cannot be melted by anything. Her death takes a toll on Gray as well, as he blames himself for lack of restraint. With the loss of his master he joins FairyTail as a kid.

Erza

Erza loses her family as child as well (surprise). One day in her town is raided by evil guys who seek child laborers to work on a remote island. They storm the town, killing all parents and taking all children. After some time being trapped as a child slave, she and others incite a rebellion to free themselves from captivity and succeeds. Her partner and inspiration from it all Jellal, turns evil and stays on the island with some others. She leaves scarred and joins the guild as a child as well.

Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna

Parents. Dead.  So Mirajane, being the eldest took care of her younger siblings. One day a demon attacked her city and she was able to defeat it using her magic abilities. Her power, Beast Takeover, a gives her demon strength. However, the side effect of this power is that she resembles a demon herself. She was then outcast from the city and joined FairyTail with her siblings. She felt isolated and alone in her beast powers, until her siblings developed their own similar beast powers at the guild.

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SHIPS

Within the FairyTail Storyworld, and in all manga shipping is a bug part of the storyline for the fan base. For those that do not know what shipping is, it basically informal character relationships created by the viewers and or authors that van be between friends and enemies, and can be either heterosexual or homosexual. In this post, I will discuss some of the major relationships between the characters of FairyTail.

 Natsu and Lucy

The biggest and most obvious ship is between Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. The central story line follows these two characters, and their journey begins with Natsu’s invitation to Lucy to join the Guild. The author has made strong suggestions to this relationship as Natsu constantly saves Lucy from her mistakes… and he has also walked in on her naked several times

 Gray and Juvia

Another obvious character relationship is the one between Gray and Juvia. Juvia is madly in love with gray, and although being very standoffish at first, has slowly but surely surrendered into her. They make a good team with his ice magic and her water magic, and have defeated countless enemies as a duo in the shows major arcs.

Natsu and Gray

A little unconventional, but there have been many instances where people have shipped these two male characters. Natsu and Gray suffer from a serious bromace that is evident throughout the story. But instead of being the peaceful, effective couple they could be, they end up fighting endlessly. These fights are typically broken up by Erza (Who I think has a thing for both of them). Always a competition between the two, they both seek to be the dominant figure in their relationship.

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Enemies

FairyTail is an adventure story so obviously the characters encounter many enemies along the way. In this post I will only touch on two main plot enemies of FairyTail one of them being Zeref and the other being Acnologia. Here is a brief bio of the two powerful foes of FairyTail.

Zeref- Black Magic 

Zeref is the darkest and most powerful mage in the world. He is cursed with immortality and has the ability to create demons through his mastery of black magic. He also maintains a curse that kills every living thing in his presence. He has had  tremendous influence on multiple generations, having been alive since the age of dragons (making him over 400 years old). He is responsible for teaching Mavis Vermillion and her companions, creators of FairyTail, how to use magic. In his immortal existence he has developed care for living things and wants to atone for the evil actions of his past. He desperately seeks death but nothing is powerful enough to kill him. It is said that he creates demons in an attempt to have them kill him but he is obviously unsuccessful as he is still alive.

Acnologia- Dragon Slayer 

Acnologia is also known as the King of Dragons and The Black Dragon. He is a dragon slayer that has killed so many dragons that he has gained enough power to become one. He held the festival of the dragon king, where he himself fought and killed dragons for amusement. He is responsible for killing hundreds of dragons, friendly or hostile. He is feared by many and makes his first encounter with Fairytail at the end of  the Tenrou Arc almost killing all of the members. He is easily recognizable through his unnatural black skin with glowing blue patterns. He returns during the Tartaros Arc to unleash pain against all humans although he is a human himself.

Without giving too much away, theres two enemies can be related to most of the conflicts faced by mages in the world of FairyTail. However, these enemies are not cooperative. These enemies do, however, unite the kingdom of Fiore as it must be a a kingdom wide effort to have a chance at defeating one of these enemies. Zeref and Acnologia make the guild stronger, as their existence against these enemies is contingent on the strong bond the characters have with each other.

DB

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More Friends

Round 2 of some of the main characters from Fairytail.

*Spoilers*

Wendy Marvel- Caitshelter/ FairyTail (Current), Dragon Slayer (Heaven)

Raised by the Sky Dragon Grandine, Wendy is a young girl that was left an orphan when Grenadine and all the other dragons disappeared. This is very similar to what happened to Natsu and Gajeel. She lived in an imaginary guild called  Caitshelter before joining Natsu and the rest of FairyTail after the Oracion Seis Arc. She is always with her best friend Carla, an Exceed.

Carla- Caitshelter/FairyTail (Current), Exceed

Carla is similar to Happy as she is also the partner of Dragon Slayer Wendy. Carla is an Exceed Princess from Edolas and she was aslo sent to EarthLand with a mission that  is critical to the Edolas Arc. She joins FairyTail with Wendy and Happy is madly in love with her. She has the power to foreshadow events that affect the world.

Gajeel Redfox- Phantom Lord, FairyTail (Current), Dragon Slayer (Iron)

 Gajeel was a prime enemy during the battle of Phantom Lord and FairyTail. After his former guild was defeated he was invited by Makarov Dreyar, 4th Master of Fairytail, to restart his life and join the guild. Gajeel was raised by the Iron Dragon Metalicana and was abandoned on the same day Natsu and Wendy were abandoned by their respective dragons. He also has an exceed companion that he finds later, named Panther Lily.

Panther Lily- FairyTail, Exceed 

Another exceed discovered in the Edolas Arc, he became Gajeel's partner in crime after their fight in Edolas. He was apart of the royal army in Edolas and is a master swordsman. He has a strong love for kiwis and hates thunder. He is without a doubt the strongest Exceed as he has the ability to transform into his combat style.

Makarov Dreyar- Fairytail, Lightning Magic 

Son of Yuri Dreyar, one the four founders of FairyTail, Makarov is the Master of the Guild when the story  is introduced. He is one of the 10 great wizard saints,  which is an assembly of the 10 strongest  living mages in the world. 

Laxus Dreyar- Fairytail, Lightning Magic

Grandson of Makarov and great grandson of Yuri Dreyar, Laxus is deemed the one of the strongest S class mages in fairytail Second to only Gildarts. He is important due to his familial linage within Fairytail and his internal confilcts with himself and the guild.

DB

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Friends

Here is a list of main characters from Fairytail.I will introduce their names guild affiliations, magic type, and brief bio. I will split the characters into a couple posts.

Lucy Heartfilia- Fairy Tail, Celestial Spirit Magic

Lucy is  the central character to the story of Fairytail, the Story is usually told  from her perspective as a recollection of events. She runs away from home to  magnolia due to a dysfunctional relationship with her father, who is a wealthy businessman. She is invited to join the Guild by Natsu Dragneel.

 Natsu Dragneel - Fairy Tail, Dragon Slayer Magic (Fire)

Natsu is one of the  most important characters in the story. He was did not know his parents and  was raised by a dragon named Igneel. One day Igneel leaves without a trace  and natsu ends up joinign fairytail as a kid. He spends his time training and  looking for Igneel.

 Happy- Fairy Tail, Exceed

Happy is an Exceed,  a special race of talking catlike creatures that do not originate in Earthland. Natsu finds his egg in  the forest and the egg hatches and they become best friends and  partners.His magic gives him the ability to fly. and thats about it. He is undoubtedly my favorite character in the whole series for is unrelenting sarcasm.

Ezra Scarlet- Fairy Tail, Requip (Armor) Magic

Erza Scarlet is a S  Class Mage in Fairy Tail. She was stolen from her home as a kid and sent a a  child slave to work on a island. She escaped and joined fairy tail. She is the leader of the group and one of the strongest, and her strong will is very critical to FairyTail’s survival. Her Magic allows her to instantaneously                  change armor and weapons.

Gray Fullbuster- Fairy Tail, Molding Magic (Ice)

Gray Joined Fairy  tail as a kid after his hometown was destroyed by one of Zeref’s demons and his parents were killed in that attack. He had a master, Ul,  who gave her life to defeat the demon at a later time. The memory of the demon haunts him years after the event and learned magic as a way to fight through his problems.

Juvia- Phantom Lord/ Fairy Tail (Current), Water Magic

Once apart of Phantom Lord and the powerful Element 4, an Enemy guild of Fairytail, she joins fairytail due to her deep obsession with Gray Fullbuster and becomes a valuable asset to the guild. She is very close to Gajeel Redfox, as they were both members of Phantom Lord.

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Map of EarthLand, one of the realms of FairyTail. Fiore, Where the guild is located, is the peninsula to the Northwest of the land.

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Home

The story of FairyTail takes place on Earthland, which is made up of several different kingdoms. The Kingdom central to the story line is the Kingdom of Fiore, which is the home of Fairy Tail and many other wizard guilds. Within Fiore is the town of Magnolia, where the guild is founded by Mavis Vermillion in the Year X686 after the town is liberated.

The Second home of FairyTail is Tenrou Island (Tenrōjima), which is the birthplace and burial site of Mavis Vermillion. The island is a sacred place as it is infused with the magic powers of Fairy Tail members of past. For example, members of Fairy Tail cannot die while on the island, as magic is constantly replenished in their bodies. It is the site of the Tenrou Island Arc, which is a critical time period in the guilds history. Home is a central theme to the storyline as characters are in constant travel due to missions and jobs that take them across Fiore. Home is established anywhere the guild members are present and the FairyTail insignia ensures them a place among friends, as most of them have no other relationships to rely on. One permeating issue is the lack of parenthood and being lost and without a purpose without parents to guide and care for them. The guild members find comfort and peace in FairyTail and home is at the center of many of their ambitions.

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Friends are Family

My Project for this semester will follow the popular Japanese manga series Fairy Tail, written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. I am going to focus particularly on the relationships of all the characters in the story on both an individual character-to-character basis and by the different group affiliations the characters have. My logline “Friends are Family” is one of the more resounding themes of the plot. The characters come from a myriad of backgrounds and find a way to establish a sense of community among friends and enemies alike. My project will highlight this sense of community in hopes to find some real life application to some of the divisive issues our world faces today. My hash tag #Parentless enters a subtle yet impactful part of the story line. Almost all of the main characters of the story have experienced orphanage at some point. They have all had their parents removed from their lives in different ways, and this controls the personality of all the characters in the series.

A brief overview of the story follows: 

*Spoiler Alert*          

 The story takes place on Earthland, a world filled with magic and people who are able to manipulate the abundance of this energy. The characters live in the kingdom of Fiore, and the focal city of the story is the town Magnolia. The story follows the life of the main character, Lucy Heartfilia, who is currently living in magnolia looking for work. She is a magician, however she is unaffiliated with any magician guild. Her magic power revolves around celestial spirits, which becomes crucial later on in the series. Lucy has a strong desire to join Fairy Tail, a popular guild. She encounters one of the guilds more popular members, Natsu Dragneel, a boy raised by a dragon and has magic akin to that of a dragon, and his companion Happy, a flying cat apart of a foreign race called the Exceeds. After an incident forces their cooperation, he invites her to seek membership within the guild. She becomes a member, and the story follows her adventures as a member of Fairy Tail.

-DB