Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail (フェアリーテイル, Fearī Teiru?) is a Japanese manga series by Hiro Mashima. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine since August 23, 2006 where it is still on-going. The individual chapters are being collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Kodansha, with 18 released as of November 2009[update]. An anime produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight was released in Japan on October 12, 2009.[1] The series follows the adventures of the sorceress Lucy Heartfilia after she joins the Fairy Tail Guild and partners with Natsu Dragneel, who is searching for the dragon Igneel.



The series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which began releasing the individual volumes on March 25, 2008.
A young sorceress, Lucy Heartfilia, travels to the land of Fiore to join the magical Fairy Tail Guild. Along the way, she meets Natsu Dragneel, a teenage boy looking for a dragon named Igneel, with his best friend, Happy. Shortly after their meeting, Lucy is abducted by Bora of Prominence, who was posing as Salamander of Fairy Tail, to be sold as a slave. Natsu rescues her and reveals that he is the real Salamander and has the skills of a Dragon Slayer. He offers her membership into the guild, which she accepts, and they become a team performing various missions for the Fairy Tail guild.
Media
Main article: List of Fairy Tail chapters

Written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima, the Fairy Tail manga premiered in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in the August 23, 2006 issue. The series is still ongoing and as of October 2009[update], 165 chapters have been serialized. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Kodansha, which released the first volume on December 15, 2006. As of January 2010[update], 18 volumes have been released in Japan. A special in Weekly Shōnen Magazine featured a crossover with Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, released in 2008.

The series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga.[2] The company released the first volume of the series on March 25, 2008. As of October 2009[update], 8 volumes have been released. The anime adaptation premiered on October 12, 2009. It is co-produced between A-1 Pictures and Satelight.[1] From episode 1 through 11, the opening theme song is Snow Fairy, performed by FUNKIST, while the ending theme song, Kampekigu~no ne, is performed by Watarirouka Hoshiri Tai. The opening theme for episode 12 and after is Sense of Wonder, performed by IDOLING!!! and the ending theme is Tsuioku Merry-Go-Round, performed by onelifecrew.

A video game for the PlayStation Portable is being developed by Konami, and was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show of 2009.[3]
Reception

In Japan, the fifth volume of Fairy Tail was ranked seventh in a list of the top ten manga, and the series once again placed seventh after the release of the sixth volume.[4] It also won the 2009 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen manga.[5] It has also won The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation's Industry Awards for best comedy manga. About.com's Deb Aoki lists Fairy Tail as the best shōnen manga of 2008.