It's an awesome Japanese Manga, and was recently released as an anime also. It has 7 anime eps so far, and releases a new episode every monday. The manga however has been out since August 2006. This is from the same guy who made Rave Master.
Here's a link to the wikia and the wikipedia info.
I started the manga a long while back, read through the first chapter, heard there was an anime coming out soon, and thought I'd wait for that. Think I'll start getting the subs soon.
Ok i was hooked when i first picked up the manga and had high expectations for the anime which i have watched the first to episodes of but am a little disappointed in maybe i should just keep watching and see if it gets better just my 2 cents.
The Lucy is a young girl, who really wanted to be a fully integrated mage. Once she visits the Town named Harujion, then lucy meets Natsu, a young man who gets sick by even type of transportation. But Natsu is not any ordinary kid, he is one of the member of the world's most famous mage guilds.
i started watching the anime last week and i just finished the Phantom Lord arc, from what I've seen, this series lacks the depth of the other big shounen titles but it's pretty much fun...
as for the comparisons to OP, I don't really see it that much, sometimes Natsu has the same eyes as Luffy but that's pretty much it. Loke looks just like Ichigo imo, I also think he wears the same clothes as Ichigo from Bleach's first anime intro...
Natsu, Gray, and Erza are okay but my faves so far are Mira, Happy, and Juvia...