Fairy Tail Zero

Fairy Tail Zero (stylized as FAIRY TAIL ZERØ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series is a prequel to Mashima's Fairy Tail manga, depicting the events leading to the formation of the titular wizards' guild. It was released in Monthly Fairy Tail from July 2014 to July 2015, running 13 issues, and was later published as a single volume by Kodansha USA in North America. The eighth season of the Fairy Tail anime television series included an adaptation of Fairy Tail Zero, which aired in 2016 from January 9 to March 12.

Fairy Tail Zero
The cover of the single collected manga volume of Fairy Tail Zero, released by Kodansha in Japan on November 15, 2015.
Manga
Written byHiro Mashima
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineMonthly Fairy Tail
DemographicShōnen
Original runJuly 17, 2014 – July 17, 2015
Volumes1
Anime television series
Directed byShinji Ishihara[upper-alpha 1]
Produced byYoshikazu Beniya
Tetsuya Endō
Noritoshi Satō
Written byMasashi Sogo
Music byYasuharu Takanashi
StudioA-1 Pictures
Bridge
Licensed by
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo), AT-X
English network
Original run January 9, 2016 – March 12, 2016
Episodes10[upper-alpha 2]

Plot
Main article: List of Fairy Tail characters

In X679, six-year-old Mavis Vermillion lives on Sirius Island as a servant at the Red Lizard wizards' guild following the deaths of her parents. A violent skirmish breaks out between Red Lizard and the rival Blue Skull guild, leaving Mavis the apparent sole survivor alongside Zera, the daughter of Red Lizard's master, who becomes her friend. Seven years later, a trio of treasure hunters – Yuri Dreyar, the future father of Makarov Dreyar; Precht Gaebolg, the future leader of the dark guild Grimoire Heart; and future Wizard Saint Warrod Sequen – comes to the island in search of its sacred relic, the Sirius Orb. As Yuri contends with a teenage Mavis over ownership of the orb, they discover it has already been taken by Blue Skull. Mavis forms a truce with the treasure hunters to recover the orb, proposing that Zera accompany them as well.

The group journeys to the city of Magnolia, where Blue Skull has established a brutal regime. Mavis uses her illusory magic to intimidate Blue Skull into returning the orb, but fails to bluff the guild's master, Geoffrey. Outmatched, the group retreats into a nearby forest where Mavis encounters Zeref, an infamous dark wizard. Unaware of his identity, Mavis expresses sympathy for Zeref after identifying a curse he is afflicted with that kills all life around him which is amplified by his love for living things. Grateful for her company, Zeref agrees to help Mavis and her allies combat Blue Skull by teaching them how to use magic, becoming close friends with Mavis in the process.

After Mavis and her friends successfully overthrow Blue Skull and capture Geoffrey, she discovers that the orb has become contaminated with evil magic. Yuri ignores her warnings and takes the orb for himself, becoming possessed by its magic and unwillingly fusing with Blue Skull's massive skeletal dragon, which rampages mindlessly through the city. Mavis exorcises the magic from Yuri by casting Law, a prototype spell learned from Zeref, which permanently halts Mavis's physical age as a side effect.

Guilt-ridden over Mavis's sacrifice, Yuri dedicates his life to protecting her. After Mavis accepts his friendship, he confesses to her that no one can see or hear Zera besides her, revealing Zera to be a sentient illusion Mavis subconsciously created in place of the real Zera, who died during Blue Skull's raid on the island. With Zera's encouragement, Mavis accepts her as an illusion, causing her to disappear. To protect and reassure the people of Magnolia, Mavis and the treasure hunters organize Fairy Tail in Zera's memory.

Production

In an interview published in the Fairy Tail Zero graphic novel, creator Hiro Mashima said he had been busy with the manga and supervising the anime that he did not have time to do a series for his Monthly Fairy Tail magazine. After taking on a short job designing characters for a video game, he had time to focus on manga and planned a spin-off. He conceived an old, grandfatherly character named Mavis, only to realize that "Mavis" was a feminine name, and his editors expected Mavis to be a female as a result. He then made her a young girl and integrated her story of becoming a ghost into the main series. Her popularity resulted in her making further appearances, and also inspired him to make Fairy Tail Zero focus on how the guild was founded.[1]

The chapters for the monthly series were 20 pages each, as with the weekly, and spanned a year across 13 issues. Mashima had planned the story to involve Mavis overcoming a hatred of guilds, but dropped the idea due to page limitations.[1] He designed the character Zera specifically for the series as a bully who becomes a kind person later in life, likening her to the character Éponine in Les Miserables. He designed thick, black eyebrows for her to contrast with Mavis's short, thin eyebrows. He also tried to keep Zera's identity a secret, although his editors already figured it out after reading the first chapter, and were surprised when she reappeared in the next one; however, he was able to fool Mavis's voice actor, Mamiko Noto.[1]

Media

Manga

Hiro Mashima began publishing the series in the first issue of Kodansha's Monthly Fairy Tail magazine on July 17, 2014.[2][3][4] The series ended in the magazine's 13th and final issue on July 17, 2015.[5][6]

The series is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA, who announced their license at an event at Books Kinokuniya in New York on November 15, 2015.[7]

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 November 17, 2015[8]978-4-06-395540-8July 12, 2016[9]978-1-63-236284-1
  1. "The Fairies in My Heart" (心の中の妖精, Kokoro no Naka Yōsei)
  2. "The Truth Game" (真実のゲーム, Shinjitsu no Gēmu)
  3. "The Night They Set Out" (旅立ちの夜, Tabitachi no Yoru)
  4. "Dancing with Blades" (刃と踊る, Yaiba to Odoru)
  5. "Moonlit Lake" (月明かりの湖, Tsukiakari no Mizūmi)
  6. "Blue Skull" (青い髑髏 (ブルースカル), Burū Sukaru)
  7. "Black Wizard Mavis" (黒魔導士メイビス, Kuro Madōshi Meibisu)
  1. "Is Magnolia Burning Down?" (マグノリアは燃えているか, Magunoria wa Moeteiru ka)
  2. "Treasure" (宝物, Takaramono)
  3. "Law" (ロウ, Rō)
  4. "That Which Vanishes" (消えゆくもの, Kieyuku Mono)
  5. "Zera" (ゼーラ, Zēra)
  6. "Eternal Adventures" (永遠の冒険, Eien no Bōken)

Anime
Main article: Fairy Tail (season 8)

An adaptation of Fairy Tail Zero was announced for the Fairy Tail anime television series on the jacket bands of Fairy Tail volume 52 and on the single collected volume of the series.[10][11] The adaptation premiered on January 9, 2016.[10] Funimation simulcasted the series as part of the anime's eighth season with a broadcast dub in North America.[12]

Reception

The tankōbon of Fairy Tail Zero ranked 11th in sales by the end of its first week of release, selling approximately 7,104,878 copies.[13] The volume ranked 21st on its second week,[14] and 40th on the third week.[15] The New York Times listed the North American release as the 10th best selling manga at the end of its first week,[16] and 8th on the second week.[17]

Notes
  1. Part of the main Fairy Tail series' anime, specifically the 8th season
  2. The last two episodes of the 8th season are an adaptation of the last two chapters of the 49th volume of the original manga, rather than Fairy Tail Zero

References
Fairy Tail Zero manga volume by Hiro Mashima. Original Japanese version published by Kodansha. English translation published by Kodansha USA.

Vol. 1 (ch. 1–13): November 2015 (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4-06-395540-8. July 2016 (in English). ISBN 9781632362841.

Other sources
  1. Mashima, Hiro (2016). "A Long-form Interview with Hiro Mashima". Fairy Tail Zero. Kodansha Comics. ISBN 978-1-63236-284-1.
  2. "Monthly Fairy Tail Magazine to Launch With Fairy Tail Zero Manga". Anime News Network. March 30, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  3. Green, Scott (March 30, 2014). ""Fairy Tail" Author Announces Spin-off Manga". Crunchyroll. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  4. Green, Scott (July 2, 2014). "VIDEO: "Fairy Tail" Magazine Promo". Crunchyroll. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  5. "Fairy Tail Zero, Fairy Tail: Ice Trail Spinoff Manga to End in July". Anime News Network. June 18, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  6. "Kodansha's Monthly Fairy Tail Magazine Ends Publication". Anime News Network. July 18, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  7. "Kodansha Comics Adds Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail Zero Prequel Manga". Anime News Network. November 15, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  8. "ＦＡＩＲＹ ＴＡＩＬ ＺＥＲＯ". Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  9. "Fairy Tail Zero". Penguin Random House. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  10. "Fairy Tail Zero Prequel Manga Gets TV Anime Adaptation in January". Anime News Network. November 16, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  11. Green, Scott (November 16, 2015). ""Fairy Tail Zero" TV Anime Announced". Crunchyroll. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  12. "Funimation to Stream Dimension W, Grimgar, Pandora, Divine Gate, Prince of Stride, Dagashikashi With Dub". Funimation. December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  13. "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 16–22". Anime News Network. November 25, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  14. "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 23–29". Anime News Network. December 3, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  15. "Japanese Comic Ranking, November 30-December 6". Anime News Network. December 9, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  16. "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, July 17–23". Anime News Network. July 29, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  17. "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, July 24–30". Anime News Network. August 5, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
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