The Fairy Tail anime series was actually adapted from the same-titled shounen manga series by Hiro Mashima. It is set in a magical world and whereby magic users (wizards) are group under different guilds to perform dangerous jobs. Of course, one of the top wizard guilds that everyone wants to join would be “Fairy Tail”, where it members are awesome wizards with great personalities just like any popular shounen series out there.

My Thoughts about the First Episode

Let me start off by saying, if you have a cute talking cat companion that flies in the show, that is already sufficient reason to watch the series.

I really enjoyed the happy-go-lucky nature of the show’s main male protagonist Natsu (a fire using wizard know as Salamander) and his cat companion Happy. You know that these kinds of folks are just magnets for trouble and will be able to shine as saviors at the end of the day. The first episode also introduces Lucy, the main female protagonist.  Even though she appears to be weak and needs to be rescued by Natsu from an evil band of wizard, she can really hold her own battles in subsequent stories.

Since it is a shounen series, you wouldn’t expect much for the artwork quality, but you can be sure that the action is fast and tight. I think one of the highlights would the first battle against Bora of Prominence where Natsu showcases his fire-eating skills. The special effects that appears when Natsu cast his dragon fire spells are quite cool.

The anime series is a close adaption of the manga series, so do expect to see more heart-pumping action as the story develops in subsequent episodes and more characters appear in this massive mystical world of magic.

As promised in my earlier post, Animax-Asia has prepared 10 sets of lovely Fairy Tail premiums to reward those who had caught the show. Each set of Fairy Tail premium is worth approximately USD$30 each, and includes a chain tag, a folder, a jigsaw key chain, a normal key chain and a stick poster.

All you have to do is to answer this simple question:

Question: In the first episode, Lucy Heartfilia wanted to buy the Doggy White gate key in a magic store. How much did it cost?

1. 20,000 jewels
2. 1,000 jewels
3. 10,000 jewels

Do take note that this contest is open to Singaporean residents only. Readers can submit their answer to contests@animax-asia.com along with the following particulars:

In conjunction with the premiere of Fairy Tail (フェアリーテイル), Animax-Asia will be giving away 10 sets of Fairy Tail premiums to my readers. All you need to do is to watch the show, keep track of the storyline and then answer a simple question that I will be posting on my blog.

I will be posting the contest question on this blog on Saturday, 2 Oct 2010 at 12pm noon. The first 10 readers with correct answer to the quiz will win this awesome set of Fairy Tail premium worth approximately USD$30 each. It includes a chain tag, a folder, a jigsaw key chain, a normal key chain and a stick poster.

(P.S. This giveaway contest is only open to those residing in Singapore.)

For folks who are not familiar with the anime series, here’s the synopsis of the first episode:

Fairy Tail
Premieres Thursday, 30th September 2010
Every Monday to Friday at 9.30pm
On ANIMAX (StarHub TV ch 532)

Set in a fantasy world where magic is the way of life, Lucy had always wanted to join the famous Fairy Tail mage guild and travelled to the kingdom of Fiore in that hope. Along the way, she crosses paths with Natsu and his talking-and-flying cat Happy who are seeking a dragon.

Abducted by someone posing as ‘Salamander’ from the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy is then rescued by Natsu who reveals that he is in fact the real ‘Salamander’ with dragon slaying abilities. Offering her membership into the Fairy Tail guild, Natsu, Happy and Lucy then join female warrior Erza Scarlet, and ice mage Gray Fullbuster as a team to embark of various missions for the Fairy Tail guild.

Fairy Tail is co-produced by top anime studios A-1 Pictures (Kuroshitsuji, Valkyria Chronicles) and Satelight (Macross Frontier, Hellsing OVA). Fairy Tail features top voice actresses Aya Hirano (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note) and Rie Kugimiya (Shakugan no Shana, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) as the voices of lead characters Lucy and Happy respectively.

An action video game for the Sony PlayStation Portable titled ‘Fairy Tail: Portable Guild’ was unveiled at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show and in development by Konami for release in 2010. A fighting game for the Nintendo DS, entitled ‘Fairy Tail Gekito Mado Shikkesen’ is also slated for release this year.

And here’s the first opening theme of Fairy Tail (フェアリーテイル) – Snow Fairy.

This piece of news was spotted in a magazine scan:

Natsu Dragneel: Tetsuya Kakihara [柿原 徹也] (Notable characters – Simon, Fujioka)

Lucy Hearfilia: Aya Hirano [平野 綾] (Notable characters – Haruhi, Konata, Misa Misa)

Erza Scarlet: Sayaka Ohara [大原 さやか] (Notable characters – Yūko Ichihara, Milly Ashford)

Gray Fullbuster: Yuuichi Nakamura [中村 悠一] (Notable characters – Tomoya Okazaki, Greed, Mister Bushido, Alto Saotome)

Happy: Rie Kugimiya [釘宮 理恵] (Notable characters – Nagi Sanzenin, Alphonse Elric, Taiga Aisaka, Shana)

Source:  猫とネギま！と声優さん via AnimeVice

This is an awesome cast that is fit for an awesome storyline. Can’t wait for fall season to come!

This piece of news can be seen in the latest issue of Weekly Shounen Jump magazine. According to the scan, the anime will be produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight.

Source: Moetron

This is a great manga series to be adapted. I have been reading the manga for quite some time and it has a nice storyline. However, there are certain similarities between Fairy Tail and One Piece, especially the personalities of the two protagonist, Natsu Dragneel and Luffy. But then again, Natsu seems to be more intelligent in during fights ^^