Just as author Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail manga received an anime adaptation, its sequel will also be receiving the same treatment. Titled Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, the manga follow-up began in July 2018, and the confirmation of an anime series landed in July 2021. Since then, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest anime release details have been vague, with hints at an announcement in late 2023 and a possible 2024 release date.
Considering the original Fairy Tail anime rivaled the popularity of Shonen Jump‘s Big Three, there’s no telling how successful its next installment will be. Assuming it does as well as its predecessor, it’s worth diving into the new Fairy Tail anime’s storyline. The manga sequel picks up where the original Fairy Tail left off. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Carla have all embarked on a 100 Years quest in the northern continent of Guiltina. As the title implies, the job is so difficult that nobody’s been able to complete it in at least a century.
What Is Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest About?
The “100 Years Quest” that Natsu’s group undertake requires them to seal the Five Dragon Gods by any means necessary. These five dragons are so powerful that each one of them has the potential to wreak havoc on a global scale. This puts them all on the same level of threat as Acnologia of the previous series. As difficult as sealing these Dragon Gods sounds, they’re not the only challenge that Natsu and company must face.
Back home, a new mage calling herself Touka has joined the Fairy Tail guild in hopes of meeting Natsu. She seems like a nice fit for the guild, but harbors a sinister personality deep inside of her. Known as the White Mage, this dangerous being apparently has the ability to steal and erase others’ magic. If the Five Dragon Gods are the Acnologia of 100 Years Quest, then the White Witch would be the Zeref of this series.
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, there’s another major antagonistic faction in 100 Years Quest. While trying to seal the Five Dragon Gods, Natsu and his friends find themselves at odds with Diabolos. This Guiltina-based guild is comprised entirely of members who gain their abilities by either eating dragons or cannibalizing other Dragon Slayers.
Naturally, they’ve developed a craving for Dragon God meat. Since the goal is to seal the Dragon Gods and not slay them, Natsu and his friends would like to complete their task as it was assigned. Diabolos doesn’t exactly have good intentions, so it would be best if they didn’t get their hands on the Dragon Gods’ power.
What To Expect From Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest
Besides antagonists, Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest should have plenty of things to keep veteran Fairy Tail fans happy. There will be plenty of cameos from old characters, callbacks to the original series, comedy, fanservice, action, and everything else that gave Fairy Tail its unique charm. Anyone who was a fan of Fairy Tail will likely get fired up watching 100 Years Quest.
While no information has currently been given about when 100 Years Quest‘s first slew of episodes will be released, there’s still been plenty of buzz surrounding the upcoming anime series. It should generate a large following, bringing back fans of the original Fairy Tail while winning over newer anime fans with its exhilarating action and likable characters. As long as the anime captures the magic of the manga, it should succeed.
It’s true that Fairy Tail never reached the same heights as the classic big three in the same era, but the current shonen anime landscape is now much different, with more room for other series to find their own voice and explore shonen in new ways. Surprise hits like Spy x Family and Hell’s Paradise found room to shine between new mega-stars like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer, so a leaner, meaner Fairy Tail sequel may do the same.
Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest Could Improve The Franchise
On a technical level, the Fairy Tail anime franchise can greatly enhance its animation with the Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest anime adaptation, like Bleach did with its current anime, but the new Fairy Tail anime has even more room for improvement than that. For all the original anime’s strengths, it also had serious narrative flaws, and not just its contrived, overused power of friendship, either. The original Fairy Tail had a meandering, messy plot whose disparate parts never added up to anything, making it feel like an anthology in the worst way. Many anime fans considered Fairy Tail the “poor man’s One Piece,” and it’s easy to see why. Fairy Tail did hop around from one unique plot and setting to another, but without the benefit of One Piece‘s cohesive worldbuilding and clear end goal. That made the anime’s pacing feel off, since the story didn’t provide viewers with a clear end goal or narrative milestones with which to measure this anime’s progress.
Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest can’t go back and fix the original anime’s problems, but it can provide a much-needed narrative reboot. Based on the original ongoing manga, the new Fairy Tail anime will cut out the fat and focus more intently on its primary storyline, and focus on the characters’ long-term goal.
This tighter, leaner pacing will help keep anime fans engaged, especially since viewers are used to short but sweet series that get right to the point. That should go a long way toward winning over new fans and convincing old fans there’s still plenty of life left in the franchise. At its core, Fairy Tail still has plenty of magic, and the new anime will strip away the bloat so that magic can finally shine for all to see.