Fairy Tail is an anime series adapted from the manga of the same title by Hiro Mashima. Produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight, and directed by Shinji Ishihira, it was broadcast on TV Tokyo from 12 October 2009, to 30 March 2013.[1] It later continued its run on 5 April 2014,[2] and ended on 26 March 2016.[3] A third and final series premiered on 7 October 2018.[4] The series follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the Fairy Tail wizards' guild who is searching for the dragon Igneel, and partners with Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial wizard.
The series uses 52 different pieces of theme music: 26 opening themes and 26 ending themes. Several CDs containing the theme music and other tracks have been released by Pony Canyon and Avex Group. The first DVD compilation was released on 29 January 2010, with individual volumes being released monthly. The Southeast Asian network Animax Asia aired part of the series locally in English.[5]
In 2011, Funimation licensed the first season for an English-language release in North America. The Funimation-dubbed episodes aired on the Funimation Channel. The first DVD set, containing 12 episodes, was released on 22 November 2011.[6] Similarly sized sets followed, with 14 sets released as of 2 December 2014. Funimation also acquired the rights to simulcast the relaunched anime episodes.[7]
"Wendy vs. Aquarius – Let's Have Fun in the Amusement Park!" Transliteration: "Wendi vs. Akueriasu, Yūenchi de Asobo!" (Japanese: ウェンディ vs. アクエリアス､ 遊園地であそぼ!)
November 22, 2014 (2014-11-22)
210
"Guild Deck vs. Celestial Deck" Transliteration: "Girudo Dekki vs. Seirei Dekki" (Japanese: ギルドデッキ vs. 星霊デッキ)
November 29, 2014 (2014-11-29)
211
"Gray vs. Cancer! Dance Battle!" Transliteration: "Gurei vs. Kyansā, Dansu Batoru!" (Japanese: グレイ vs. キャンサー､ ダンスバトル!)
December 6, 2014 (2014-12-06)
212
"Juvia vs. Aries! Desert Death Match!" Transliteration: "Jubia vs. Ariesu, Sabaku no Shitō!" (Japanese: ジュビア vs. アリエス､ 砂漠の死闘!)
December 13, 2014 (2014-12-13)
213
"Erza vs. Sagittarius! Horseback Showdown!" Transliteration: "Eruza vs. Sajitariusu, Bajō no Kessen!" (Japanese: エルザ vs. サジタリウス､ 馬上の決戦!)
December 20, 2014 (2014-12-20)
214
"Natsu vs. Leo" Transliteration: "Natsu vs. Reo" (Japanese: ナツ vs. レオ)
December 27, 2014 (2014-12-27)
215
"Ophiuchus, the Snake Charmer" Transliteration: "Hebitsukaiza no Ofiukusu" (Japanese: 蛇遣い座のオフィウクス)
"Tartaros Chapter – Drops of Fire" Transliteration: "Tarutarosu-hen: Honō no Shizuku" (Japanese: 冥府の門編 炎の雫)
December 19, 2015 (2015-12-19)
265
"Tartaros Chapter, Finale – Where the Power of Life Lies" Transliteration: "Tarutarosu-hen (Shūshō): Sore ga Ikiru Chikara Da" (Japanese: 冥府の門編【終章】それが生きる力だ)
Lucy investigates a suspiciously rewardless job posting that requests a female recipient to come to Fairy Hills, Fairy Tail's all-female dormitory. The client, dorm matron Hilda, asks Lucy to find a missing box on the property; to Lucy's indignation, Hilda forces her to wear a skimpy cat costume while doing so. After receiving a tour of the building from Erza, Lucy finds the box hidden in a tree in the backyard. When she explains Hilda's request to Erza, however, Erza tells her that Hilda has been dead for six years. The box is revealed to contain jewels that Hilda, shortly before her death, promised Erza would receive from a "cat princess" (Lucy) once she became an adult. With Hilda's unfinished business complete, the job request fades away, as does the cat costume, leaving Lucy nude in public. Meanwhile, the male guild members discover a periscope designed to spy on women in the guild's swimming pool from underground. When they use it, they are horrified to see Makarov losing his bathing suit in the pool, causing them to unwittingly demolish the pool in a panic.
2
"Fairy Academy: Yankee-kun and Yankee-chan" Transliteration: "Yōsei Gakuen: Yankī-kun to Yankī-chan" (Japanese: 妖精学園 ヤンキー君とヤンキーちゃん)
June 17, 2011 (2011-06-17)
In an alternate setting, Lucy is a transfer student at Fairy Academy, where Fairy Tail's members are depicted as high school students, and Happy and the celestial spirits serve as teachers and staff. Erza, the student council president, asks Lucy and fellow transfer student Wendy to help her prepare for a date with Siegrain. En route to her date, the three are harassed by Gajeel and the Element 4 from the rival Phantom Academy. Erza savagely beats up the Phantom students, aided by delinquents Natsu and Gray, but she is spotted and dumped by a terrified Siegrain. Later, Gajeel and his gang retaliate against Fairy Academy in a school war; Erza, who is heartbroken over Siegrain, is unable to intervene when she sees the identical-looking Jellal and Mystogan. Afterwards, Erza cheers up and invites her friends to a karaoke bar. In response to the fight, school counselor Carla gathers the students to be lectured by their principal, Plue, who gives an unintelligible speech that only Carla and a chastened Natsu understand.
While cleaning the guild's storage, Natsu has a traumatic memory of an event in which he received the scar on his neck. This activates a magical book called Memory Days, which transports Natsu and his friends back six years in time to the day from Natsu's memory. Ignoring Erza's warnings to not interact with anything while she decodes the book for a way back to the present, Natsu and Gray go off exploring in disguises. While following them, Lucy stops a runaway carriage that carries her own younger self, who notices the emblem on her present self's hand and becomes inspired to join the guild. Meanwhile, Natsu and Gray spot their younger selves fighting before getting into a brawl themselves. When the younger Natsu loses to Gray, he is attacked by his bruised and unrecognizable present self, who inadvertently causes his own childhood trauma as the younger Natsu scratches his own neck while trying to fight back. Upon discovering that only Natsu will return to the present, his friends race to reach him in time and successfully return with him, creating a time loop as the book remains behind to be picked up and stored away by Makarov.
4
"Fairies' Training Camp" Transliteration: "Yōsei-tachi no Gasshuku" (Japanese: 妖精たちの合宿)
November 16, 2012 (2012-11-16)
Mavis's spirit leaves Sirius Island to visit Fairy Tail, watching as Natsu and his friends train for the Grand Magic Games. That evening, the girls drink all of the alcohol at their lodging and tease the mortified boys in a drunken state. Later, at the hot spring, Lucy tells the girls about how she first discovered Natsu and Happy's house. In a flashback, Lucy plans to play a prank on Natsu and Happy by waiting in their room as revenge for the many times they have appeared uninvited in her own home. She is initially disgusted by the filthiness of their house, but notices that they have taken special care of various memorabilia they have collected from all of their missions with her. Touched, Lucy tidies up their room while she waits for them. When they do not return, she becomes forlorn and returns home, only to find the two have fallen asleep in her bedroom while waiting for her. In the present, after the boys are caught trying to peep on the girls, Mavis decides to lend the guild her support for the tournament.
Movie–OVA
"The First Morning" Transliteration: "Hajimari no Asa" (Japanese: はじまりの朝)
February 15, 2013 (2013-02-15)
The priestess Éclair sews together a stuffed bird doll that is inadvertently brought to life by the magic from her mystical Phoenix Stone. The doll, Momon, attempts to befriend Éclair, but Éclair despises him for being a creation of magic, calling him "Bird" out of contempt. She brings Momon to a nearby village where she works as a fortune-teller by looking into others' pasts and making up predictions. One of her customers is a young boy, Dist, who asks her in vain to revive his dead pet weasel. When told that he will also die someday, Dist tells Éclair his desire to live forever. That evening, Éclair returns home to find her missing Phoenix Stone, rebuffing Momon's warnings of wolves prowling about. She is attacked by a wolf pack, but Momon fends them off and guards her into the morning, gaining Éclair's friendship. Deciding to learn more about the stone, the two visit a city where they briefly cross paths with Lucy, Natsu, and Happy.
5
"The Exciting Ryuzetsu Land" Transliteration: "Dokidoki Ryūzetsu Rando" (Japanese: ドキドキ・リュウゼツランド)
June 17, 2013 (2013-06-17)
On the third night of the Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail visits the popular water park Ryuzetsu Land to relax, meeting and playing with various other competitors from the tournament. However, Natsu inadvertently causes havoc when he crashes into a water slide, starting a chain of events that leads to Gray freezing the slide and Natsu attempting to shatter the ice, destroying the park as a result. Natsu and Gray are subsequently punished while Fairy Tail is left to pay for the damages.
6
"Fairy Tail x Rave" Transliteration: "Fearī Teiru x Reivu" (Japanese: フェアリーテイル x レイヴ)
August 16, 2013 (2013-08-16)
In a crossover with Rave Master, Natsu and his friends separately meet Haru Glory and his companions Elie, Plue, Musica, Let, Julia, and Griff. Natsu and Haru strike up an immediate friendship until Haru learns that Natsu is on a mission to capture someone at Ruby's casino who seemingly matches Elie's description. The two break into a destructive fight that is eventually broken up by Erza, the actual, unwitting target of Natsu's mission. The casino is suddenly attacked by a giant slot machine mech piloted by the living staff Kurodoa, who has obtained a Dark Bring that creates soldiers from coins. While their friends battle the soldiers, Natsu and Haru team up and defeat Kurodoa, gaining each other's respect. The two groups go their separate ways, fondly reminiscing the encounter.
7
"Fairies' Penalty Game" Transliteration: "Yōsei-tachi no Batsu Gēmu" (Japanese: 妖精たちの罰ゲーム)
Makarov holds a tie-breaking contest to determine the victor of the Grand Magic Games between Fairy Tail's "Team A" (Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Elfman) and "Team B" (Gajeel, Juvia, Mirajane, Laxus, and Cana). Laxus beats Erza at rock-paper-scissors, and Team A is consequently forced to follow Team B's demands for the day. After Team A searches a swamp for a magic stone to power Team B's hot tub, each member is put through a different penalty: Laxus makes Natsu and Elfman run menial errands; Juvia feeds Gray with shaved ice and water from her body; Mirajane engages in sadomasochistic play with Erza; Gajeel uses Lucy as a backup dancer alongside Levy for a music routine; and Panther Lily forces Happy and Carla to carry him around the city. Wendy is terrified when she is paired with Cana, but is surprised when Cana brings her to an orphanage to spend time with children her age who admire her. At the end of the day, Wendy thanks Cana for her thoughtful "penalty" while the rest of Team A retaliates against Team B.
8
"Natsu vs. Mavis" Transliteration: "Natsu vs. Meibisu" (Japanese: ナツ vs. メイビス)
November 17, 2016 (2016-11-17)
Mavis joins the girls at Fairy Tail's bath house, unhappy that she cannot enjoy the qualities of a hot bath in her incorporeal form. Erza recruits Natsu to heat the bath water to extreme temperatures, successfully allowing Mavis to experience its warmth. Although Mavis is pleased with the bath, she appears to remain upset about something. Warrod visits the bath house with a job request to find a box Mavis buried under a tree 100 years ago. Natsu and his friends accept in the hope of cheering her up with the box's unknown contents. After uprooting every tree in Magnolia, the wizards find the box by digging up the underground tree Natsu's house is built around. Mavis appears and explains she is not upset about the box; rather, it is the hundred-year anniversary of her bidding farewell to her friend Zera. The wizards open the box to find a crude drawing of Mavis and the guild's founders, which is framed in Natsu's house, now perched atop the tall, unearthed tree.
9
"Fairies' Christmas" Transliteration: "Yōsei-tachi no Kurisumasu" (Japanese: 妖精たちのクリスマス)
December 16, 2016 (2016-12-16)
On Christmas Eve, the Fairy Tail wizards spend the day decorating Kardia Cathedral for the holiday. That evening, Lucy and her friends gather at her apartment for a Christmas party, where the girls once again get drunk and torment the boys. When all but Erza begin flirting with the boys, Erza enviously proposes they play the "guild master game" (a game identical to the king game), where a constantly victorious Erza orders her friends to carry out increasingly raunchy demands, much to their horror and embarrassment. Fed up with her bullying, Gray cheats and orders Erza to walk home in the nude; to his dismay, she takes the challenge seriously and leaves the party upon stripping. She finally sobers upon running into Jellal in the streets and becomes ashamed of her behavior. Jellal kindly gives Erza his coat and escorts her home.
