‘Fairy Tail’ Creator Shares Surprising Secret About The Series’ End

When it comes to shonen titles, fans know to know they should look out for some weaknesses. Series like Naruto have been critiqued for their lack of character development, but no sin is committed as often as having a lackluster ending. Fairy Tail is the latest manga to fall prey to the truth, and the franchise’s creator is now opening up about a secret of the story’s end.

Over the weekend, Hiro Mashima appeared at New York Comic Con for a series of panels in a rare appearance. The artist sat down to answer fan questions during a few of the events, and it was during one that Mashima said he had little foresight into Fairy Tail‘s ending.

According to YonkouProductions on Twitter, Mashima told the crowd via a translator that “he didn’t plan the ending of Fairy Tail at all.”

For those of you who kept up with Fairy Tail, you may have seen the answer coming. One of the story’s most consistent critiques was it haphazard storylines. The manga’s final arc was a particularly confusing one that had fans balking nine times out of ten.

The storyline, which is known as the ‘Alvarez Empire’ arc, took place shortly after the Fairy Tail guild was revived in the wake of Makaov’s dissolution. Erza Scarlet came to lead the guild in the aftermath, but the Fairy Tail gang was far from safe. A new threat made itself known to the world when the military-loving Alvarez Empire waged war on Ishgar to steal a powerful artifact from Erza’s guild.

Oh, and Acnologia is still a big threat. You can’t forget that terrifying dragon.

When Fairy Tail ended, it did so with a vague finale that left fans with plenty of questions. None of the franchise’s romantic ships were addressed, and readers had hoped for a more final farewell. Of course, the loose goodbye could be an intentional one; There’s no telling whether Mashima may one day return to the franchise, but it seems the artist is happy as is right now.

After all, it’s not like the guy has had a break really since Fairy Tail began all those years ago.

If you are not familiar with Fairy Tail, then it is about time you familiarized yourself with the story. The series follows a guild of young, powerful wizards who call Fairy Tail family. Set in a fictional Earth, a boy named Natsu teams up with an unlikely friend Lucy Heartfilia as the latter dreams of becoming a powerful wizard. To date, there are more than 250 episodes of the acclaimed series, and fans can expect more to come in the new year.

To date, several million copies of Fairy Tail have been sold worldwide. Published by Del Ray in the west, there are over 35 million volumes of the manga in circulation at the moment. Kodansha Comics is now overseeing the release of Fairy Tail projects in the U.S. and other western territories, and the licensing return has helped the publisher amass popularity. Other series like Attack on Titan have also helped bolster Kodansha’s visibility outside of Japan, so fans can expect the company to continue pushing out new content as it becomes available.