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natsubeatsrock · 8 years ago

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Looking Back at Fairy Tail... II

After posting my Quick Notes for chapter 529, I got this ask.

I responded to the Phantom Lord thing later on but I really struggled with how I should address this. Not because this is my first time getting “anon hate”, but because I’ve been questioning my place in this fandom.

I feel like it’s becoming way too common for people to bash Fairy Tail or Mashima as a writer. Every other week, someone is declaring that whatever chapter happened that week is the worst one in the series and/or something to be the worst thing in the series. Fans of the series are dropping it left and right. People are regretting even defending Mashima’s work from dissenters in the first place.

It’s gotten to the point where people who have problems with the series and vocalize said problems are having a hard time deciding what to talk about in detail when it comes to the issues the series has. I can joke about one flaw, ac-fairytail will explain why something else is wrong with the chapter, fairytail-whathesays will bash something entirely different made no sense and any number of other people will find something else that made no sense in any given chapter from story to art to ships.

I’m not here to argue that any of the criticism levied towards Fairy Tail or Hiro Mashima isn’t warranted. In fact, about my only problem with the people who have dropped Fairy Tail and try to get other people not to even start it is that they’re using old information. Frankly, I think I could easily argue their points with current information and potentially even make a stronger case for not getting into this series than them. Heck, I might even be able to pick up stuff they forgot or left off.

And yet here I am.

Still running a Fairy Tail side blog.

Still making (usually) weekly reviews of chapters as they come up on Crunchyroll after reading each chapter multiple times.

Still working on long posts talking about the series and its fandom.

Still excited for the new anime and, to a lesser extent, Dragon Cry.

Am I out of my mind?

If that’s not crazy sounding enough, I’ve given both the manga and anime for Fairy Tail a MAL Score of 7. By my own personal standards, that means that I would be willing to re-watch and/or re-read Fairy Tail.

While that score and/or the fact that I would go through Fairy Tail more than once might not mean that much to some of you, I should probably also mention some of the popular anime that I’ve given similar or lower scores:

Bungo Stray Dogs (both seasons)

One Punch Man

Mob Psycho 100

Neon Genesis Evangelion (both the TV series and End of Eva)

FLCL

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Nisekoi

Sound! Euphonium

K-On (both seasons)

My Neighbor Totoro

Any Ghibli film by Isao Takahata

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

While I would argue that all of those shows are technically better than Fairy Tail on a number of individuals levels and many are probably better as complete packages, I would still watch Fairy Tail again before I revisit any of those other shows. If you haven’t read my posts about Naruto, I said had similar feelings for that manga.

Come to think of it, I saw your name. in theaters last month and I gave it the same MAL score as Fairy Tail. Let that sink in. I gave the current highest-earning anime film and top-ranked anime on MAL the same score as Fairy Tail.

By the way, those are just the shows I finished. I’ve been sitting on finishing the original Fullmetal Alchemist and I dropped Nichijou, Kill la Kill, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. While I might end up finishing those guys, I dropped Attack on Titan and I have no intentions of getting back to that ever.

So again, am I out of my mind?

Probably.

This January, I decided to rewatch one of the episodes from the Grand Magic Games “Sin and Sacrifice”. I’m planning on writing something Graytear-related and I wanted to refresh my memory on certain events. Not to mention, I kind of wanted to remind myself of what certain characters sounded like because it’s been months since I’ve seen real FT anime. If my reasoning wasn’t proof enough already, after I went through the entire episode I came to a really weird conclusion.

I don’t hate Fairy Tail.

I was still able to find myself laughing at the jokes, even though I’ve heard them before. I found myself actually caring about what happened to characters I knew would be fine by the end of the arc, and even the episode. I still got chills listening to the OP 16 and ED 16, which I consider to be two of the best openings and endings in the series respectively.

During February, I was introduced to some of Mashima’s other works, Monster Soul and his one-shot Starbiter Satsuki. And…

I enjoyed them.

Don’t get me wrong. Neither is in the running for “Best Manga Series Ever” or even “Best Hiro Mashima Work Ever”. Frankly, some of the same complaints I’d have with Fairy Tail are in both. However, I still had fun reading both. It’s been a while since I laughed as hard while reading manga as I did with Monster Soul and Starbiter Satsuki could have been its own series is Mashima wanted to go that way. I would easily trade all of the FT OVAs and the first movie in order to get an animated version of Monster Soul made, either as a movie or its own series.

I’ve seen a lot of amazing anime and some not so good anime. I’ve been playing video games for more than half of my life and I’ve been a musician for even longer. If it isn’t all too obvious, I could be running a blog that has little to nothing to do with Fairy Tail. However, I can really only think of three series that I could run an effective side blog for. Those three are Bleach, Rave Master, and Pokemon.

Even then, I’m not sure I could even do those well. I’m way too late to either Bleach or Rave Master to make posts anywhere near similar to what I’m doing here. I’m not even close to being finished with Bleach right now and Rave Master’s fandom is all but dead. It’s getting some more stuff in it, but it’s not very lively. Not to mention, I have no intentions of watching the anime versions of either, unlike Fairy Tail.

As for Pokemon, my experience is limited to my own experience to some of the games. Again, I’m not caught up with any form of the anime and I have no interest in the trading card game. And even my experience with the video games is limited. I’ve only played half the generations and I’m not even playing the current generation of Pokemon.

And honestly, I don’t want to quit Fairy Tail.

Even though I know that this series probably isn’t going to get better and it probably hasn’t been good, to begin with, I still can’t pull myself away from it. While part of it is personal stubbornness and the fact that it’s ending anyway, I still do enjoy Fairy Tail.

I still enjoy thinking about things that have happened and are happening in the series. I still enjoy seeing how the fans react to both the good and bad from each chapter. I still enjoy reading and talking about the chapters every week. I still enjoy listening to the credits songs and soundtracks from the anime.

A lot of my frustrations with Fairy Tail come from my genuine enjoyment of the series. As much as I enjoy it, I can’t even recommend that anyone actually go through with the series knowing everything that happens. I think it really set in when one of my college friends accused Fairy Tail of being porn based just off the title and I had finished the Christmas Special just minutes before.

That was in December 2015, and I’m still here complaining about weird covers, stupid design choices, bad angles and whatever Larcade did to the guild that one time.

The phrase a lot of people would use to describe this kind of thing is “guilty pleasure”. While I get the sentiment of liking something while being fully aware of its flaws, I struggle to call Fairy Tail my guilty pleasure, because I don’t feel guilty for it. I probably should, but I don’t.

I don’t feel guilty about the fact that I enjoy reading this series. I don’t feel guilty that I could be reading literally any series other than this. I don’t feel guilty talking about Fairy Tail and I feel even less guilty over the things I say. If anything, I feel guilty that I’m associated with this fandom, but not because I enjoy the series.

That doesn’t mean that I enjoy everything in this series. If you think I have, you need to read more of my stuff. I call stupid things in the series I see stupid. I question the motives behind certain weird choices from chapter to chapter. More often than not, I concede to the people who can do it better than I can.

But I’m not planning on leaving the series. I still do enjoy Fairy Tail.

#fairy tail #fav

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theworstbob · 7 years ago

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yellin’ at songs, week forty

oops

brief considerations of the songs which debuted on billboard on 10.11.1997, 10.13.2007, and 10.14.2017

10.11.1997

1) "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something in the Way You Look Tonight," by Elton John

princess diana seemed like a nice person and i don't agree that it is good that she passed on. i think she should have continued to live, and finally, i found a song that agrees with my worldview.

44) "Too Gone, Too Long," by En Vogue

So real talk this is late because one week I saw two Post Malone songs and I said fuck it because, like, it's, and I just, I don't think it's fair when older generations yell at younger generations? But the average '90s R&B track was infinitely better than the average '10s anything. You could drive down the street bumping the radio and a song like this, with that small miracle that happens around the 3:00 mark, and this would be like the seventh-best song you'd hear. Kids these days are just listening to songs that don't make any stabs at greatness, they just exist in a way that doesn't motivate you to change the station. The problem is with the children. I'm not actually talking about this song, I'm talking about the way people consume music. This song is heckin' great and everyone should listen to it 20 times and then try to get through a Post Malone song.

58) "Heaven," by Nu Flavor

In this overly intense '90s R&B slo jamz, the R&B boys plead to God to convince this woman to fuck them. That sentence is the last thing I wrote for YAS before taking a weeks-long sabbatical and I'm glad I found it.

63) "Love Gets Me Every Time," by Shania Twain

Where do we rank Shania Twain in the diva pantheon? Like, this is a song with a hook I recognized when I heard it, after 20 years of just not thinking about this song I heard "dolgurn gone and done it" and was like "oh yeah! This jam!" and not all singers can dig that deep into your memory, but in terms of historical import, where does she rank? You can't really argue that "country needs a rep in the pantheon" because um hello? Dolly? but there's at least four Shania songs that are absolutely legendary. Does that merit inclusion among the greats? Or is Shania just on that second tier with a Kelly Clarkson or a Carrie Underwood, reliable but not as powerful as the women we'll tell our grandkids about?

65) "Electric Barbarella," by Duran Duran

One of the things that struck me as odd about the film Sing Street was the reverence with which the film treated Duran Duran. I always sort of thought Duran Duran was a boy band, but there was a film set in the heyday of Duran Duran's popularity, with a scene where an older brother extols the virtues of Duran Duran's musicianship to a younger brother, and I'm just like, "I never would have guessed this band was at the vanguard of new wave?" But I guess maybe they were a less dark Depeche Mode and I should check this out because this song from 1997 probably isn't indicative of peak Duran Duran? Hello welcome back to YAS I'm already asking questions to no one instead of offering criticism, it's like I never left.

70) "They Like it Slow," by H-Town

Sometimes, when you abandon a project for a while and come back, you notice things about the thing you're doing that you never would have noticed if you had worked on it in the last two months. To that end: I just realized all the 1997 and prolly most of the 2007 music videos were shot in 4:3. Like, when they filmed these music videos, they were composing shots with the idea they would be on TVs. That's kind of interesting! Like, when you go to film school, you probably have the idea you're gonna direct films, so having to compose shots for a smaller aspect ratio probably fucks you up a little bit. Anyway, I can't tell if this '90s R&B slo jamz is a parody or not.

87) "A Smile Like Yours," by Natalie Cole

"I have seen the bluest skies/Rainbows that would make you cry." It's absolutely amazing which lines in these songs gain significance from 20 years of events. Like, that line about rainbows takes on a whole new meaning now that we've all enjoyed and then forgot about the Double Rainbow video.

91) "Alright," by Jamiroquai

groovy! i’m okay with this! this is like what all the calvin harris songs would sound like if they were good.

92) "Spin Spin Sugar," by Sneaker Pimps

there's so much cool stuff happening in this song and i really just wanna sit down and get to know this band a lot more because they've always seemed like something i was supposed to like and now i realize that i do actually like them, unfortunately WE'RE LISTENING TO 100 SONGS TONIGHT GOODBYE GOOD SONG I WILL KEEP THIS MEMORY WARM IN MY HEART UNTIL THE END OF TIME

10.13.2007

58) "Tattoo," Jordin Sparks

This is a song that just barely missed the lyric video trend. If any song needed to have words appearing on random actors' skin, it was this one, it would have been such a no-brainer decision. Like, you do it right, hire some calligraphers and tell them to take it up a thousand notches, you have a classic lyric video. Wasn't e'er to be, though. Just a standard music video, and I guess a nice song? It's very2007. It's very the sort of song you'd give to the winner of a forgettable Idol season. "Oh, that? Uh, yeah, keep it. It's either going on this album or in that trash can, might as well use every part of the buffalo that is my brain."

80) "The Way I Am," Ingrid Michaelson

this is the sonic version of a scarf worn indoors in june

86) "Our Song," Tay Tay

"Our song is a slammin' screen door." Did you know Tay Tay's dad was an investment banker? I have reason to believe Tay Tay's only seen a screen door in movies. I dunno. Do rich people have screen doors? I've never been in a mansion, but I don't think screen doors would be appropriate for mansions.

91) "Shoulda Let You Go," Keyshia Cole intro./Amina

I like how Billboard gave Amina an "introducing" credit. You don't see that in music nowadays. Now it's just "hey this 17-year-old has a million plays on Soundcloud, what do you mean you 'haven't heard of him,' he's already been responsible for thirteen memes and they're all dead, we're actually over him already, he's lame now." It is now known that Amina was actually a woman who was okay at rapping. The point still stands, I'd at least like to know that the randos on these songs are people no one but the people who made this song know.

96) "Hypnotized," Piles ft./Akon

"I know she wet 'cuz she told me." I don't know why, but this line tickles me! "Piles, you got me so wet." "YO, SHE'S WET! I MADE HER WET, GUYS!" "You touch mine and I touch yours." Piles must be hypnotized because in my (admittedly limited) experience with his work he doesn't seem like a man who gives head. He seems like a man who needs to be coerced into reciprocating pleasure.

97) "Nothin' Better to Do," LeAnn Rimes

OK so real talk, while I was listening to this song I got distracted because I realized I hadn't updated my Poke Bank subscription in like a year and I have so many precious little babies I need to keep forever, and you know what? This is a fun song. I didn't really need to pay attention to it! It's a song about being naughty that keeps it PG enough to play on country radio, and I wouldn't mind bumping into it again!

100) "Fake It," Seether

So Amy Lee and the dude from Seether broke up. After the break-up, Evanescence hit first with "Call Me When You're Sober," which isn't a particularly devastating song, but the title is incredibly unsubtle, and, like, Seether's a shitty post-grunge band, of course he's an alcoholic, and Amy Lee is right to say "yo I'm kinda done with this, I don't like dealing with the drunk you." Seether strikes back by saying Amy Lee is a liar and that he "feels so raped," and Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm gonna go ahead and say that's #problematic! Amy Lee made a dumb but fair song about how she was out of patience, and here comes Donald Trump by way of Creed to say "YOU ARE RAPING ME WITH THIS BREAK-UP." Like, I'm gonna go ahead and say that the part using rape metaphors to describe their feelings is the one in the wrong in this mediation.

10.14.2017

65) "I Fall Apart," by Post Malone 100) "Go Flex," by Post Malone

i could have spent eight minutes sitting perfectly still listening to ambient noise and have had the same emotional reaction. "never caught a feeling this hard/harder than the liquor i pour." oh fuck off already.

70) "Good Old Days," by Macklemore ft./Kesha

FINALLY. The pop music gods have heard my prayers: Macklemore rapping about nostalgia. Everything I love, in one delightful package! ...He shouts out Minnesota and this is probably gonna end up being the best song from this week because of that and also because this week is lookin' pretty horrible.

94) "Losing Sleep," by Chris Young

OK so real talk during this bro country joint I got distracted because I was looking at new music releases and APPARENTLY THERE'S AN ANIMATED MOVIE BASED ON "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU?" IT WAS MADE THIS YEAR? THIS YEAR. YOU CAN BUY IT ON DVD TODAY AND OWN IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR FUCKING LIFE. I'm sorry. I'm not going to bother processing whatever bullshit this song is about, sex I guess, because THIS WORLD IS CAPABLE OF SO MUCH MORE. This is a movie. This is also a movie which presupposes that this entire time "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is about a puppy that Mariah Carey needed for a... charity fashion show? "Great! We're short one girl with a dog!" "Oh..." This is a cinematic masterpiece and my life is better for having stumbled across it. This and Pokemon Christmas Bash.

95) "Like I Loved You," by Brett Young

So the writer of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You is one Temple Mathews, who has also written The Little Mermaid II, Peter Pan II, and 101 Dalmatians 2. That is a fucking nuts credit roll, Temple. Dude also goes multiple years between projects, which suggests to me he's like someone at Disney's cousin, and every couple years that person at Disney goes "hey, Temple, wanna make $100,000?" and Temple says "fuck yeah bro" and Temple just lives off that. He makes smart investments and lives in a cabin in Montana and has never actually seen a movie because why would you look at pictures when you've got mountains in your backyard? Temple is living the best life. Dude's my hero. He has someone describe a cartoon to him and writes something based off that and never has to write a second draft.

97) "Round Here Buzz," by Eric Church

Listen, if Eric Church is gonna give us repeats of songs he's done before, at least he's giving us repeats of "Give Me Back My Hometown." It's a slower, sadder version of that song, one that can't be misconstrued as an "I'm poor AND PROUD OF IT!" anthem, this is a song that can only be about a dude thinking about a girl living a life without him while he lives a life with her ghost, but also "Give Me Back My Hometown" is more fun? I dunno, this still prolly gets 2017 SOTY, I've just heard it before. Also, Eric Church? Welcome to the Decade Dance Club. You are the 36th member, and the tenth white male country artist.

98) "Plain Jane," by A$AP Ferg

ok nvm this is song of the week, simply because in the first verse Ferg raised and lowered the volume of his voice. this song went somewhere! this song actually did something! it didn't just bleep and bloop for three minutes or be about how it's nice when things are good, Ferg had things he wanted to say and delivered his lines with actual emotions! he did the bare goddamn minimum, and by 2017 standards, that's pretty good! i'm actually going to remember this song a little bit!

Who won the week?

1997. Like, of course 1997 won. It had Sneaker Pimps and Shania, if 1997 lost to these other wack-ass years it would’ve been stunning.

Standings: 1997: 15 2007: 12 2017: 13 oh god all the songs for the next edition look awful, welp

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