Fairy Tail

Overview

Fairy Tail anime is produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight and directed by Shinji Ishihira, and the anime series first premiered on the network, TV Tokyo in October 12, 2009 and is still running.

Prior to licensing, Crunchyroll had aired Fairy Tail simulcasts back in 2009.

Licensing

Animax Asia licensed the series and dubbed in English for Hong Kong in September 20, 2010, but the series is canceled after its 48th episode due to the lack of time. The series won Animax Asia's Anime of The Year Award.

At the 2011 Sakura-Con, Funimation Entertainment of North America announced it's distribution to American audiences. The first DVD/Blu-Ray box set was released on Novermber 22, 2011.

Plot

Lucy Heartphilia is a young mage who has grown up reading about the famous guild Fairy Tail, known for their strong members and wild parties. She dreams of joining them and thanks to a chance encounter one day with the famous guild member Natsu, she finally has her chance. She and Natsu quickly become close friends and the two of them end up forming the strongest team in the entire guild, made up of Lucy, a summoner with the power to call on Celestial Spirits, Natsu, a Dragon Slayer who uses fire style attacks, Gray, an exhibitionist ice mage who has a deep rivalry with Natsu, and Erza, the strongest woman in Fairy Tail who is so powerful almost everyone else in the guild is afraid of her.

Together, this team takes on jobs from the guild, ranging from large missions such as retrieving legendary magical weapons, to small jobs such as serving as temporary waiters for a restaurant. However no matter what mission they take on the guild usually finds itself being thrown into one chaotic situation after another as the Magical Council keeps trying to find a way to squash out the guild and the mythical dark alliance of guilds known as the Balam Alliance searches for the keys to this world's destruction. Then of course there are the threats from within the guild itself such as the guild master's grandson Laxus trying to take control, enemies from the past such as Erza's former friend turned vessel for evil Jellal, and the mystery of what happened to Natsu's mentor when he mysteriously disappeared years ago. But no matter what threats come their way the members of Fairy Tail always stay true to their code to protect each other and always celebrate every mission afterward with a joyful party (that usually turns into a fight).

Characters

Note: Brief information is given below. Please see their character pages for complete information. Changes will occur in order to keep it current with the Japanese release of the simulcasts.

Main Fairy Tail Team

• Natsu Dragneel - A Dragon Slayer who wants to find his father and become the best wizard.
• Lucy Heartphilia - A Celestial Mage who joins Natsu and Happy's guild, Fairy Tail.
• Happy - A talking blue cat who is partners with Natsu and Lucy on their quests.
• Gray FullBuster - An Ice Mage who strips frequently and fights Natsu often.
• Erza Scarlet - A big sister of Fairy Tail and a mage who uses requip to change her armor and weapons in battle.
• Juvia Loxar - Recently, she joins Fairy Tail after the Tower of Heaven Arc. Juvia is water mage who can change her body into water.
• Gajeel Redfox - He is a steel Dragon Slayer who is a former Phantom Guild member. Gajeel joins Fairy Tail at the same time with Juvia.
• Wendy Marvell - A former Caitshelter member and a wind dragon slayer who joins Natsu's group after the Nirvana Arc.
• Charle - Wendy's partner whose precognition ability allows Natsu, Happy, and Wendy gain entrance to Edolas.
• Pantherlily - An Exceed who is a former Edolas soldier and now, he is Gajeel's partner.

Supporting Characters

• Makarov - He is the Fairy Tail guild master who looks after his members like a father.
• Mirajane - She is the poster girl for Fairy Tail and supports her guild.

Villains

• Jellal Fernandez - A fallen mage who preaches about freedom and a former friend of Erza.
• Jose Porla - He is the Phantom Guild Master who opposes Fairy Tail.
• Zeref - A legendary black magician, who is regarded as origin of the magic.
• Hades - He is the guild member of Grimoire Heart.

Story Arcs

Note: A brief description is given for each story arcs and the episode numbers. Some of these names are not official arc names but will suffice for now. No images needed.

Season 1

• Introduction/ Macao Arc (Ep. 1-2)

Main Focus: Natsu and Lucy

Natsu and Happy meet Lucy for the first time and befriends her. This marks the beginning of their Fairy Tail adventures especially for Lucy.

• Day Break Arc (Ep. 3-4)

Main Focus: Lucy's first mission

• Lullaby Arc (Ep. 5-8)

Main Focus: Establishing a strongest team of Fairy Tail: Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy.

• Filler Episode 9

• Galuna Island Arc or Gray Fullbuster Arc (Ep. 10-18)

Main Focus: Gray is the main person of interest in this arc.

After Erza and Natsu fight each other, Natsu goes to jail with her to prove that he is the strongest and the one who caused collateral damage to the guild masters' meeting building. Shortly after, Natsu takes Lucy and Happy with him to take on an S mission about the Galuna Arc. The young heroes, Gray, and Erza learn about the enemies, Lyon and his members, and their true objective to revive Deliora.

• Filler Episode 19

• Lisanna and Natsu's Flashback or Natsu and the Dragon Egg Episode 20

Main Focus: Natsu rekindles his friendship or parent to son relationship with Happy upon reflecting on his flashback with his childhood friend, Lisanna.

• Phantom Arc or Lucy Heartphilia Arc (Ep. 21-30)

Reconstruction of Fairy Tail Guild, Lucy's Resolve, and Next Generation (Ep. 29-30)

Main Focus: Lucy is the main person of interest in this arc while in ep 28 and 30 focuses on Makarov's contemplation about who should be the next guild master of Fairy Tail.

Phantom Guild attack Fairy Tail and its team, Shadow Gear. This infuriates the Fairy Tail guild to fight back. However, Fairy Tail learn that Jose Porla's true objective is to kidnap Lucy Heartphilia to bring her back to Mr. Heartphilia (Lucy's father). During the many battles, Elfman learns how to control his beast soul and to use his emotions effectively, Gray has accidentally made a new ally in Juvia Loxar, Natsu learns that Gajeel is a fellow dragon slayer who had lost his father (Dragon), and Lucy realizes her guild will fight to protect their friends no matter what.

Lucy reveals her resolve and announces to her father that she is no longer his princess and a slave to the Heartphilia's legacy. (The slave part is a figurative meaning that Lucy's father wants Lucy to continue the family's legacy by quitting Fairy Tail and marrying someone against her will to bear a male heir who will inherit and continue the legacy.

Makarov thinks about who should replace him but fears for Fairy Tail's safety.

• Loke Arc (Ep. 30-31)

Main Focus: Lucy learns about Loke's true identity and establishes an everlasting friendship with him after persuading the King to grant amnesty to Loke which allows Loke to come back home to the spirit world.

• Tower of Heaven Arc or Erza Scarlet Arc (Ep. 32-41)

Main Focus: Erza Scarlet is the main person of interest, and she deals with her past. As of result, she finds new meaning in freedom and friendship.

• Battle of Fairy Tail (Ep. 41-49) and Fantasia Parade (Ep. 49)

Main Focus: Laxus decides to take Fairy Tail by hosting a tournament to see who is the strongest Fairy Tail mage. At the end, Fairy Tail finally have their parade while Laxus sheds tears when everyone does his hand sign.

Season 2

• Filler Episodes Ep. 49-51

Main Focus of Episode 51: Lucy and Juvia have trouble with love as Lucy tries to find out if Natsu likes her while Juvia tries to make Gray fall in love with her.

• Nirvana Arc and Wendy Marvell Arc (Ep. 52-68)

Main Focus: Even though Wendy is the main person of the arc, and she finds a new family in Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet and Jellal patch things up.

• Dragon Filler Arc (Ep. 69-72)

Main Focus: It is about Natsu's promise and the Fairy Tail member's memories of how Natsu help them as they fight Daphne.

• After Dragon Filler Arcs (Ep. 73-75) and Rainbow of Sakura (Ep. 73)

Main Focus: Rainbow of Sakura is based on an omake that revolves around Lucy's flash backs. Ep. 74 revolves around Wendy, and Ep. 75 is a race of Fairy Tail which may focuses on Happy.

• Gildarts Episode 76

Main Focus: A flash back of Natsu, Happy, and Lisanna's childhood plays out and reveals foreshadowing, Natsu's longing for his father and Lisanna, and Gildartz's introduction.

• Edolas Arc (Ep. 77-95)

Main Focus: Focuses on the dragon slayers (Natsu and Wendy) and the mysterious past of Happy and Charle. Also, Mystogan gains closure while Lisanna's mysterious death is unveiled.

Season 3

• S Class Arc (Ep. 96-123)

Main Focus: The Fairy Tail guild hosts an S Class examination which the winner of the 8 chosen mages becomes an S class mage while the exam takes place at Tenrou Island, Grimoire Heart attack Fairy Tail to find Zeref, the black mage.

• Time Skip (Ep. 124 and above)

• Filler Episodes (Ep. 126-

Theme Music

Openings

Endings

Notes: A recurring theme is an image of a calendar wheel when the characters walking. Also, characters tend to run a lot. Sometimes, the characters are in chibi form. The only exception is the 10th closing theme song which has no calendar wheel or characters walking.

Similarities to Other Animes

Rave Master

This is Mashima's previous work. The two female protagonists Elie ( Rave Master) and Lucy (Fairy Tail) share some remarkable similarities. They both meet the main male protagonist in the first episode and has agree to become partner with them and go on journeys (Rave Master) or missions (Fairy Tail). Also, Lucy and Elie wear similar clothes, are blonde, use weapons (tonka blaster vs whip), and have endowed body.

The main male protagonists also share some similarities because Natsu and Haru are abandoned by their fathers. Although Natsu is the only one looking for his father, Haru is angry at his father until he learns why has his father abandon his sister and him.