The Fairy Tail

Lucy wants nothing more than to join Fairy Tail, the most rambunctious wizard's guild in Fiore. When a phony lures her onto his ship with the promise of getting into the guild of her dreams, her newest friends arrive to bail her out!
— FUNimation

Plot Summary

The Fairy Tail
Kanji 妖精の尻尾 Romaji Yōsei no Shippo
Air Dates
October 12, 2009 November 22, 2011
Counterpart
Manga Ch. 1 (Vol. 1)
Theme Music
Opening Snow Fairy Ending Kanpeki Gū no ne (List of theme music)
Eyecatch

Natsu's weakness: transportation.

A boy with spiky pink hair called Natsu and his talking feline companion Happy arrive in the port town Hargeon by train. Unfortunately, Natsu suffers from extreme motion sickness and is having a rough ride. He leans out the window to take a breather and the train leaves the station, taking him away with it.

Elsewhere is Lucy Heartfilia, a wandering wizard, in the local magic shop seeking out the keys required to summon Celestial Spirits. She finds a "little doggy" gate key and asks for the price, which is quoted at 20,000 jewel. Even after using her "feminine wiles" on the shop keeper, she only manages to get 1,000 taken off the asking price, much to her dismay. Things take an interesting turn as she overhears some girls talking about "Salamander", a famous fire wizard, visiting town. Natsu and Happy are close by, also searching for the rumored Salamander, who they believe to be a fire dragon called Igneel.

True love?

Lucy and a crowd of other girls with hearts in their eyes gather around the man who claims to be Salamander. At first sight, Lucy's heart quickens and she's drawn towards him, seemingly in love. Natsu and Happy stumble onto the scene and unwittingly break Salamander's charm spell on Lucy. After Natsu gets a beating from several of the girls followed by an unwanted autograph, Salamander invites all of the girls to a party on his boat, and then leaves using his Red Carpet spell.

To thank Natsu for breaking the charm spell, Lucy treats him and Happy to an enormous meal, draining away the money she saved earlier. Lucy explains all about wizards and guilds, and Natsu and Happy tell her that they're searching for Igneel, a real fire dragon, much to her surprise. As she's leaving Natsu feels bad for being treated to all the food and tries to give Lucy the autograph Salamander gave him earlier.

Salamander eavesdrops on Lucy.

While admiring Mirajane's bikini shoot in Sorcerer Weekly, Salamander appears and promises her a place in the guild she wants to join, Fairy Tail, if she attends his party that evening. She attends, and Salamander and his crew attempt to place her under a sleeping spell, as they already have to a number of other local women. Lucy grabs her gate keys, but Salamander uses his magic to take them from her and throws them outside, into the water.

Natsu storms in, angry that Salamander is claiming to be a Fairy Tail wizard, but immediately feels ill after landing on the boat. Happy, floating in mid air with wings on his back, picks Lucy up with his tail to escape. Salamander tries to stop them with his Prominence Whip spell, but Happy dodges it. Shortly after, Happy's transformation wears off and he and Lucy are plunged into the water. Lucy finds her keys and summons Aquarius, who uses her powers to wash the ship up on the port.

Natsu using Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

Natsu reveals that he is a real Fairy Tail wizard and he's never seen Salamander before. Upon noticing Natsu's Fairy Tail insignia one of Salamander's men accidentally calls him Bora, realizing Natsu is definitely the real deal. Happy notes that Bora's full title is Bora the Prominence and he'd been kicked out of the Titan Nose guild in the past. Bora attacks with a Prominence Typhoon, which has no effect on Natsu, who proceeds to eat the flames and counter attacks with a Fire Dragon's Roar, showing everyone that not only is he a Fairy Tail wizard, but he is in fact the real Salamander; Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon Slayer. Bora hopelessly attacks with a Red Shower spell and Natsu defeats him with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. After destroying most of the town in the battle, the royal army shows up to apprehend those responsible. Natsu drags Lucy away with him, promising to take her to the real Fairy Tail Guild.

Next Episode Preview

Lucy practices introducing herself to the Fairy Tail Guild while preview clips play in the background.

Points of Interest

• Happy is seen using Aera for the first time.
• Natsu is seen using Fire Dragon's Roar for the first time.
• Natsu is seen using Fire Dragon's Iron Fist for the first time.
• Lucy is seen summoning Aquarius for this first time.
• Lucy purchases Plue's silver gate key.

Quotes

The following quotes are from the FUNimation subtitle script, timestamps are approximate.

Fights

Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, & Happy vs. Bora

• Status: Started & Concluded
• Notes: Natsu does most of the fighting, delivering the final blow to Bora, while Lucy and Happy play support roles.

Abilities, Moves, & Items Used

Abilities include types of magic and combat. Moves include spells and techniques.

Icon	Character	Abilities, Moves, & Items
	Shop Owner	Items Used ColorS Magic
	Bora	Abilities Used Charm Magic Fire Magic Moves Used Red Carpet Prominence Whip Prominence Typhoon Red Shower Hell Prominence Red Skull Items Used Love Charm Ring Sleep Charm Ring
	Lucy Heartfilia	Abilities Used Celestial Spirit Magic Moves Used Summon Aguarius Items Used Gate of the Water Bearer Key
	Happy	Abilities Used Aera
	Aquarius	Abilities Used Water Magic Moves Used Giant Wave Attack (unnamed)
	Natsu Dragneel	Abilities Used Fire Dragon Slayer Magic Hand-to-Hand Combat Moves Used Fire Dragon's Roar Fire Dragon's Iron Fist

Sub & Dub Differences

The following points compare the FUNimation dub script and subtitle script.

• In the sub, after Bora throws away her gate keys, Lucy thinks: "Who is this guy?! I can't believe a wizard in Fairy Tail would do something like this...!" In the dub, she has no dialogue here.

Manga & Anime Differences

• Lucy poses differently to get a discount on the silver gate key.
• In the manga, one page of Mirajane's photo shoot is shown, in the anime, multiple pages are shown and her poses are different.
• In the manga, the drink Bora tries to give Lucy is drugged, in the anime it's enchanted with Sleep Magic.
• In the anime, the fight with Bora is extended and his spells are given names.
• In the manga, Lucy asks Happy why a dragon would teach Dragon Slayer Magic to a human, in the anime she doesn't.