Fairy Tail (フェアリーテイル Fearī Teiru, also romanized as Fairy Tail) is a manga from the mangaka Hiro Mashima. Its serialization began in Shōnen Magazine number 35, on August 23, 2006. As of November 10th, 2007, Fairy Tail has 63 chapters and 7 tankōbon volumes. New chapters are published in Shōnen Magazine every Wednesday. Volume 5 of Fairy Tail was ranked number 7 in a list of the top ten manga, and it continues to top the top ten chart with volume 6 ranking number 7.^[1] Del Rey announced their acquisition of Fairy Tail during the San Diego Comic Con 2007. The first volume will be released during Del Rey Manga’s Spring 2008 manga lineup in April 2008.^[2]

Plot overview

Further information: Fairy Tail story arcs and List of Fairy Tail chapters

The story of Fairy Tail focuses around the adventures of main characters Natsu and Lucy, who are sometimes accompanied by the members of the Fairy Tail Guild.

In the beginning, Lucy is a young sorceress, who wants to join Fairy Tail Guild. On her trip, she meets Natsu, a young boy, who is looking for Igneel the Salamander. She offers them a lunch and Natsu explains that Igneel is a dragon. Lucy talks about her dreams to join a famous guild, which she later reveals as the Fairy Tail Guild. Later, she is tricked and abducted by Bora of Prominence to be sold as a slave. She is rescued by Natsu, who is the real Salamander, and a true member of Fairy Tail Guild. He offers her to be a member of Fairy Tail. Lucy gladly accepts and joins the guild. Since then, Natsu and Lucy have formed a team. So begins the adventures that the pair encounter while operating missions from the guild.

Currently, Fairy Tail has been assaulted by another mage guild called Phantom. Phantom has been enemies with Fairy Tail for quite sometime since the beginning. It is illegal to wage war between guilds, but Phantom has done so. Natsu has just beaten an incredibly difficult opponent in a stroke of luck and defeated Phantom, but at a price: his own guild was destroyed. Thus, Phantom has been defeated.

In the Fairy Tail universe, some people are gifted to use magic, which often grant them capabilities far beyond those of normal people. This society of wizards and sorcerers align themselves to different Magical Guilds, where missions to earn pay, as well as other information involving magic can be found. A governing group, the Magic Council, watches over the Magical Guilds. They have declared Dark Guilds (guilds that have committed crimes against society or have done things that go against Guild rules such as accepting assassination quests) banned. The currency is called the Jewel (ジュエル Jueru) and its symbol is a "J".

All of the action so far takes place in the land of Fiore^[3]. The land of Fiore is where the Fairy Tail Guild is located, as well as the Magic Council and other places visited by the main characters.