Fairy Tail Vol. 1

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Hiro Mashima Publisher Del Rey

Fairy Tail is casual entertainment for anyone who wants to escape reality by following boat-loads of fictional drama or needs a hug and a psychiatrist.

Hiro Mashima, creator of Rave Master and Fairy Tail, is the epitome of cool. He says in the author’s notes that he does not know where this series will end up but he is having a great time making it as he goes along.

Mashima’s characters all need high-dose Ritalin prescriptions and straight jackets but within the bipolar scenes are perverted, alcoholic, good and bad guys that are simply fun. The only level headed one is a cat named Happy. The other characters have tempers as sensitive as a frustrated customer at a hardware store.

Natsu is the worst and apparently does the most damage. He is a fire wizard who is also known as “Salamander.” He wanders around with his little winged pal, Happy, looking for someone when they find an imposter. Villagers swarm about like bees around a pretty flower and Natsu ends up meeting Lucy, a cute celestial wizard who’s not afraid of using her assets to get what she wants. She hopes to one day join the Fairy Tail Guild (one of many congregations of wizards-for-hire but this one makes the headlines). If you use magic, why not get paid for it, right?

Coincidentally, Natsu and Happy are Fairy Tail wizards. After an adventurous encounter with the imposter, the trio goes to Fairy Tail and Lucy meets many unique members. Makarov is the master of Fairy Tail and he does not care for authority very much especially when he has the higher council nipping at his ear every time one of his members demolishes a harbor or sends it an unpaid bar tab. Wizards pick jobs they want so there is an endless possibility of what Mashima will have them do.

Volume #1 doesn’t stop there! Natsu, Happy and Lucy go off on another adventure looking for a boy’s father. You learn a bit about Natsu’s past and see what happens when the loosely dressed Lucy is in a blizzard.

I see this series doing very well in American pop culture because of how random and entertaining it is. The pages are overstocked with different emotions and actions. The author is having fun and it shows. The artwork is good and very different. It feels like more of a punk cartoon instead of a beautiful masterpiece so fortunately the story won’t be delicate.