Fairy Tail: How to be bad yet good at the same time

Fairy Tail is not even close to being my favorite animes. It has constant repetition, lack of character development, and overall bland arcs for the most part. Yet you'd think it would rank lower than lots of my shows. But why does it stand at a 6/10? The answer. It's bad enough to where it's good

The characters are likeable, the interactions with every character is likeable. There is a sense of family when you are watching Fairy Tail that makes you so intrigued to watch. You aren't watching the complex and well written characters fight, you are watching some fun actions thats turn off the brain fun, not some amazing thriller which requires tons of knowledge.

Yes, Fairy Tail is not great. But it does a good job of being bad

It's the kind of show where I find myself tuning in almost like it's a Saturday morning cartoon: pulpy TV with a lot of color and sound that just makes you want to root for the main characters to win. You don't tune in for the emotional beats or the character development, unlike many of its contemporary Shonen (and it doesn't have their soaring moments that separated the Big 3 from the rest back in the day), but you appreciate it all the same for just having this fun team dynamic and the ridiculous caricatures. It's never done anything unforgivable during its run (*cough* Bleach *cough*), its plot twists don't break new ground, but it steers a relatively steady course with a pretty similar progression every arc. If I had to say one thing that separates it from the rest, though, it's that the main character isn't so much a single character. You could point to Natsu, Lucy and Gray, but in all honesty, the main character is the Fairy Tail guild as a whole. There's an emphasis on the group that you don't see nearly as much in Shonen, and that's probably the biggest thing the series has going for it.

I'd agree and like I said, the interactions between the characters is very good and it makes you feel as if you are a part of the guild. I think one of the reasons I like the show but don't love it is because the characters are OK, but the interactions between them are great as well, sorta like you said. It's just comical fun, like a Spongebob show with more layers.

I think Grey and Erza and Zeref are the best written, but they don't compare to some of the best characters in Shonen 

It’s also the reason why the Grand Magic Games arc is probably the best, since it emphasizes their teamwork rather than individual fights. 

I’d agree that Grey, Erza and Zeref probably have more well fleshed out stories than anyone else in the series.

Actually going back to your plot twist point. I think there's one that was shocking but was poorly executed in Elodias. I thought that one was poorly written but the ending of it was pretty wholesome

I think I know what you’re talking about. There’s something to that one, even if it ends up being a whole lot less interesting than it probably should have.

Yeah, mostly cuz it's rushed