Hiro Mashima's popular shonen series Fairy Tail ran for an impressive 63 volumes before reaching its conclusion, and it inspired a lengthy anime series of the same name. It seemed the story of Fairy Tail was over and done. However, Hiro Mashima and manga artist Atsuo Ueda teamed up to continue the tale in Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, which is ongoing.
This is the official sequel to the original Fairy Tail and stars many of the same characters in major or cameo roles, including Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Erza Scarlet, and many more. It's a new age with new adventures, and Fairy Tail fans will want to know what makes 100 Years Quest worth reading. This sequel has plenty of exciting new material to offer.
WARNING: minor spoilers.
10 How The Quest Got Its Name
As the title suggests, the story of Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest is centered around a mission known as the Hundred-Years Quest, a unique mission that only Natsu and his friends are strong enough to even attempt.
This particular quest demands the capture of the five great dragon gods, and no one has been able to complete that quest since it was created a century ago. Everyone who attempted it failed, but now it's Natsu's turn, and he might just succeed.
9 The Series Showcases The First-Ever Wizard Guild
Wizard guilds have been around for quite some time, and the Fairy Tail guild is Fiore's biggest and strongest, with the Sabertooth guild serving as a worthy rival. But neither of them was the first guild. In fact, even ancient guilds such as Blue Skull weren't the first.
The first-ever guild was formed in the year X633, according to a short and tragic prologue, where a man vowed that wizards should come together to do good and not harm others. Magia Dragon was the result, the first wizard guild to ever exist.
8 The Introduction Of A New Continent
Although Fairy Tail doesn't have worldbuilding on par with One Piece's, this universe does have a canon map, and it features a few continents divided into numerous nations. The story mostly takes place in the nation of Fiore, which in turn is located on the Ishgar continent. There is also the Alvarez Empire on a new continent to the west.
Meanwhile, 100 Years Quest expands the map with an all-new continent named Guiltina, located north of Ishgar. Natsu and his allies visit this exotic new land to begin the quest, and they take note of the cold weather, constant snow, and strange plant life there.
7 The Series Introduces White Magic
Early in 100 Years Quest, a character introducing herself as Touka arrives in the Fairy Tail guild, claiming she is searching for Natsu, her love interest. But that's not her real goal. Touka is acting against the Fairy Tail guild, and she can use a type of magic no one has seen before.
Touka can use White magic, which can block the magical abilities of anyone it affects, even powerhouses such as Erza Scarlet and Laxus Dreyar, the lightning dragon slayer. The affected wizards may also become Touka's unwitting assistants.
6 The 100 Years Quest Series Introduces The Biggest Dragon Of All
Dragons such as Igneel and the monstrous Acnologia are huge and powerful beasts, but not even they are the largest dragons in the world. The five dragon gods are even larger, and Natsu and his friends will see that for themselves.
Aldoron is the wood dragon god, and he is the single largest dragon in the entire world. In fact, there is a town on each of his hands and a few more on his body. When Aldoron lays down, he seamlessly becomes a part of the landscape itself.
5 100 Years Quest Returns To Edolas
During the original Fairy Tail story, Natsu and the others had their own isekai adventure, ending up in the strange world of Edolas, far away from their native Earthland. There, the Fairy Tail guild members met their Edolas counterparts, and the two guilds parted ways when the story arc was resolved.
It seemed that Earthland and Edolas would remain apart forever, but during 100 Years Quest, Natsu and his friends will visit that realm once again and meet their counterparts on friendlier terms. In particular, Edolas Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia all have a surprise in store for their Eartland twins.
4 100 Years Quest Will Get An Anime Soon
The original Fairy Tail series was popular enough to get its own anime, which was animated by two different animation studios. Now, the 100 Years Quest sequel is living up to the original story's standards, and, sure enough, it's getting an anime. Many Fairy Tail fans are looking forward to it.
Details of the 100 Years Quest anime are still hazy, and the anime's very existence was only recently announced by Hiro Mashima himself. With any luck, the anime will have fantastic production qualities and bring this sequel to life in style.
3 The Cast Of Characters Is Streamlined
Like other major shonen series, Fairy Tail has a large and diverse cast of characters, since the story keeps introducing more, and relatively few characters actually die. Potentially, 100 Years Quest could have had a massive cast, but author Hiro Mashima decided to streamline things.
The story focuses on five major characters, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy Marvell, and Erza, and other characters are merely supporting characters or cameos. Not everyone can take part in the 100 Years Quest, after all. Even Mirajane Strauss and Laxus make only limited appearances in the story, and guilds such as Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale are practically absent.
2 The Story Is Fast-Paced
The original Fairy Tail proceeded at a leisurely pace, with the Grand Magic Games Tournament arc taking up many episodes and the Tartaros arc being nearly as long. This is definitely a series for patient anime fans, especially with its numerous filler episodes, but 100 Years Quest is different.
Not only does the sequel have a streamlined cast, but it also has a snappy pace to match, delivering one shocking plot twist after another with minimal downtime or digression. And there is certainly no filler in this manga series.
1 The Manga Releases New Volumes Slowly
Hiro Mashima and Atsuo Ueda are both working hard to create 100 Years Quest and deliver it to fans, but it's not easy, and the manga industry as a whole has had some hardships within the last year and a half. 100 Years Quest may have been impacted, too.
The first few print volumes of the English release came out within three months of one another, but later volumes were staggered further apart, often as much as five months apart. No manga fan likes having to wait so long, but many are patient and want to support the industry however they can. For reference, 100 Years Quest Volume 7 was released on May 18th, 2021, and Volume 8 was released on September 28th. Volume 9 is slated to be released on December 14th.