It's hard to believe that Fairy Tail is almost 20 years old. If Rave Master was the series that gave Hiro Mashima his first dose of fame, then Fairy Tail was the series that launched his popularity into the stratosphere. While the franchise may not be talked about as much compared to its peak despite technically continuing in the form of Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, the franchise is still fairly popular. This omnibus covers the first three volumes of the original manga and offers a good opportunity to revisit the series from the beginning. While I am talking from a place of nostalgia, I will genuinely argue that the early volumes of Fairy Tail still hold up today.

First, we got to get used to the stylistic changes. Fairy Tail eventually streamlined its design sense to a more modern aesthetic. However, this omnibus features a much more lean and cartoony art style. This is more Rave Master than Eden Zero. I'd even go so far as to say there's a little bit of One Piece in there, especially when you look at the way that some of the women are drawn. There's a bit of a “rough” style to the characters as the outlines are just a little bit sketchy. Some don't look great in certain panels like Happy's overall design (he looks less like a cat and more like a balloon with how round his head is), but overall I admittedly miss this aesthetic. The design sense feels more in line with old-school RPG or fantasy storybooks. There's an emphasis on the fantasy element and the art draws you in despite the stakes of the early arcs being relatively low.

In each volume, we get a little bit of insight from Hiro Mashima himself and in one section he explains that the original story of Fairy Tail was going to be about a guild of couriers without any magic. Not the most exciting setup but I think that a potentially mundane atmosphere contributes to a lot of what is appealing about Fairy Tail. This is before we're fighting dragons and gods. Fairy Tail is just a group of friends who are performing odd jobs and while magic informs a lot of these jobs, the payoff for a lot of them comes off as surprisingly personal whether it's collecting a book that holds a lot of sentimental value or stopping a band of crooks that feel like they were done dirty. One of the main themes of Fairy Tail is the idea of found family and as long as you're surrounded by people that you care about, you'll always find a way to be happy.

It's about freedom and Mashima''s ability to imbue almost all of his characters with a jovial sense of free-spiritedness is addictive. Even some of the more stoic and “serious“ characters have their quirks like Erza pulling people into her bosom like a big sister although she's wearing an armor plate or how Gray tries to be the serious badass even though he can't seem to keep his clothes on. It does feel like a lot of the characters in Fairy Tail embody the idea that “growing old is inevitable but being an adult is optional”. A lot of the characters act like rambunctious kids, especially near Lucy who acts as the straight man and eyes in character. However, this characterization is never done in a demeaning or condescending way. The Fairy Tail guild knows when to get serious and they know when to be silly but they operate in such extremes because that is how they choose to live.

That doesn't mean the early volumes of Fairy Tail are flawless. There are a lot of jokes that get run into the ground very quickly and a lot of them have to do with the idea of consequence. This is a problem that I think Fairy Tail has always had in different ways. During these early volumes though that sense of consequence comes from dealing with the aftermath of a lot of the major confrontations. As early as the first chapter, there's a lot of destruction and collateral damage. It constantly gets brought up and is the source of a lot of stress for the guild master. The book is semi-self-aware about those consequences with there being this allusion to the fact that Fairy Tail Is allowed to get away with all this destruction because their involvement in things makes life more interesting. But when it's brought up a dozen times throughout these three volumes, it feels less funny over time.

Also, the final resolution to a lot of conflicts boils down to hitting the enemy even harder than you did before. There is some strategy involved in some of the action scenes and creative choreography born out of the unique skill sets of the characters. Mashima came up with unique forms of magic and abilities in ways that I don't think have ever been emulated in other fantasy stories since. However, almost every conflict kind of ends the same way; with a big speech followed by a super big attack that just wasn't used before. This might be a very common complaint that gets brought up if I review future omnibuses for the series.

This Fairy Tail Omnibus is a great opportunity to return to the series for both longtime fans and even new ones. Fairy Tail will always have a special place in my heart but even devoid of that nostalgia, as a fantasy story, there is a lot to enjoy from the unique magic set to the quirky characters to just the overall atmosphere of freedom. These early volumes are just the embodiment of a feel-good series of adventures. They were there to entertain and inspire you to also accomplish a lot by being bold and a little bit more carefree with the way you go about your life. In this day and age where I am sometimes terrified to look outside my window, I think walking away from a piece of art with that feeling is a treasure that should be preserved. I don't think the book ever reaches a moment of laugh-out-loud humor or peak writing, but I had a stupid grin on my face from beginning to end.