Fairy Tail Zero

Fairy Tail Zero
The cover of the single collected manga volume. Clockwise from top left: Precht Gaebold, Yuri Dreyar, Warrod Sequen, Mavis Vermillion, and Zera.
フェアリーテイル ゼロ
(Fearī Teiru Zero)
Manga
Written by Hiro Mashima
Published by Kodansha
English publisher
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Monthly Fairy Tail
Original run July 17, 2014 – July 17, 2015
Volumes 1
Anime

Fairy Tail Zero (Japanese: フェアリーテイル ゼロ, Hepburn: Fearī Teiru 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, with its episodes airing from January 9 to March 12, 2016.

Plot

In X679, six-year-old Mavis Vermillion lives on Sirius Island as a servant at the Red Lizard (赤い蜥蜴, レッドリザード, Reddo Rizādo) wizards' guild, where she is bullied by the guild wizards and Zera (ゼーラ, Zēra), the young daughter of Red Lizard's master. A violent skirmish breaks out between Red Lizard and Blue Skull (青い髑髏, ブルースカル, Burū Sukaru) a rival guild, leaving Mavis the apparent sole survivor alongside Zera, who becomes her friend. Seven years later, the island is visited by a trio of bounty hunters – Yuri Dreyar (ユーリ・ドレアー, Yūri Doreā), the future father of Makarov Dreyar; Precht Gaebolg, the future leader of the dark guild Grimoire Heart; and future Wizard Saint Warrod Sequen (ウォーロッド・シーケン, Wōroddo Shīken) – who come to the island in search of its sacred relic, the Sirius Orb (天狼玉, Tenrōgyoku). As Yuri contends with a teenage Mavis over ownership of the orb, they discover it has already been taken by Blue Skull. Mavis proposes that she and Zera accompany the treasure hunters to recover the orb.

The group journeys to the city of Magnolia, where Blue Skull has established a brutal regime. Mavis fails to bluff the guild's master into returning the orb with her illusory magic, and she and her outmatched allies retreat into a nearby forest. There Mavis encounters a young man who, unbeknownst to her, is the infamous dark wizard Zeref. Mavis expresses sympathy for Zeref when she identifies a curse he is afflicted with that kills all life around him, and convinces him to teach her and her allies how to use magic to combat Blue Skull. After Mavis and her friends successfully use their magic to overthrow Blue Skull and capture their master, Mavis discovers that the orb has become contaminated with evil magic. Yuri ignores her warnings and takes the orb for himself, only to become possessed by its magic and unwillingly fuse with Blue Skull's massive skeletal dragon, which rampages mindlessly through the city. Mavis exorcises the magic from Yuri by casting Law (ロウ, Rō), a prototype spell learned from Zeref. As a side effect of using the spell, however, Mavis becomes permanently ageless.

After recovering and learning of Mavis's condition, Yuri dedicates himself to protecting her as a friend. He also reveals to Mavis that Zera is an illusion only she can perceive; Zera further confirms that the real Zera died during Blue Skull's raid on the island, and that Mavis subconsciously replicated her to cope with her death. Mavis accepts Zera as an illusion, causing her to disappear. To help the people of Magnolia rebuild, Mavis and the treasure hunters organize the Fairy Tail wizard guild 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.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 November 17, 2015[8] ISBN 978-4-06-395540-8July 12, 2016[9] ISBN 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

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 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]

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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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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