Since the ending of Fairy Tail, fans all over have been left wanting more. Thankfully, not long after he finished the series, creator Hiro Mashima treated fans to the news of a sequel to the fan-favorite shonen, titled Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. With the sequel taking place right after the final chapter of its predecessor, the new story follows Natsu and his friends taking on the titular 100 Years Quest, the famous quest that only the strongest wizards are allowed to accept.
While more Fairy Tail isn't necessarily a bad thing, it would be unfortunate if the sequel brought nothing new to the table. Thankfully, not only does 100 Years Quest have all the charm of the original series, it also manages to improve on the foundations it left behind and push the narrative, characters and world forward all at once. Fairy Tail is back, and for multiple reasons, it is better than ever before.
The Narrative is More Focused and Thought-Through
The original Fairy Tail was an adventure story, much like other shonen series such as One Piece and Hunter x Hunter. There is an overarching plot made up of smaller, individual stories that culminate into a satisfying final product. These smaller arcs didn't necessarily need to lead into or relate to any previous story though, and really only needed to keep developing the cast further. This was one of the original Fairy Tail's best and worst features.
Rather than having a clear outline from the beginning, Mashima claims that all he really had when the series began was a general idea of Natsu Dragneel, the main protagonist, and the rest of the characters, their arcs, and pretty much the entire narrative he'd come up with on the spot. Mashima would write in such a way that he would plant seeds for later twists and reveals, but make them just vague enough that if he decided to do anything with them, he'd have plenty of options to choose from and not be forced to commit to any single idea before that moment. Ultimately, this made the overall narrative a little all over the place. Certain story arcs never ended up even being relevant once they ended and others were confusing or worse, plain disappointing.
That being said, 100 Years Quest seems to have fixed this issue. The premise for the original was that Natsu wanted to find out what happened to Igneel and go on fun adventures with his friends. Obviously, things got a bit off-track at some point, with Zeref and Achnologia spilling out of that original journey along the way and ultimately taking center stage by the end, but still found a way to bring that plot line to a close. The 100 Years Quest handles this much better. Every plot thread that appears always relates to the overarching narrative in some way, that being the completion of the titular quest. The quest itself is also incredibly interesting, and revolves around one of the most important parts of the franchise: dragons. The goal of Natsu's team is to find a way to seal or destroy five dragons known as the Dragon Gods, each of which has power on par with Achnologia. While there are only five of them, they each act completely independent of one another, meaning that dealing with each dragon is at least five separate adventures, with each being clearly connected to the other. This helps gives 100 Years Quest a sense of purpose and cohesiveness that wasn't really there in the original series while still maintaining the fun and charm from before.
100 Years Quest Continues to Develop Beloved Characters
One nice thing about 100 Years Quest is that it barely feels like sequel and much more like a continuation. This might be because it takes place right at the end of the original series, but that isn't a bad thing by any means. While the general plot of the original was resolved, there were still a number of smaller plot threads that hadn't been dealt with. In the sequel, however, many of these old threads brought back. The group even travels back to Edolas, further exploring the aftermath of their first visit as well as establish a brand-new realm for them to explore.
100 Years Quest has bravely tackled many of these dangling plot points and handled them expertly well. The eponymous quest not only pushes the plot and characters forward, but it also helped expand upon the fate of the dragons as well as the lore that surrounds them. For a series where finding a dragon was set up as the initial goal, the draconic figures were actually a very small part of the series overall. Most of the time dragons were introduced, they were either from the past, already dead, or humans that turned into dragons against their will. The Five Dragon Gods helped put more of what was known into better context as well as show that dragons can be as different from one another as humans. Speaking of humans, many of the characters fans already know and love are explored further. Jellal from the original series returns, and actually plays a large part in the story. It shows how much he's changed from when he was a villain and even elaborates on how he sees himself and processes his guilt from back then. The same can also be said for Laxus, who, while not exactly in the spotlight, still manages to get the spotlight from time to time. Fans get a very rare look into how Laxus really feels about himself in comparison to the rest of his guild and this moment, while relatively short, helped expand his character greatly, proving how great the character is.
Switching over to the main cast, their stories also get developed further, with each of their journeys being following a core theme. Lucy is trying to find Aquarius's Celestial Key, Gray is trying to become a better man so that he can give Juvia the kind of relationship he feels she deserves, Wendy is learning more and more about her magic and how its potential is seemingly limitless, and Natsu is getting stronger, so he can face off against the Fire Dragon God, who also happens to be Igneel's son. Erza is the only one whose goals are rather uncertain, but it seems that they've stayed the same as before, with her trying to make Fairy Tail as strong as it can be as well as keep it safe from all harm. She's even gone so far as to invite Jellal to join its ranks to accomplish that goal, as well as maybe one more closer to her heart.
The Romance is on Full Display
If there were one complaint fans had with Fairy Tail, it was that the romantic subplots rarely led anywhere. While romantic subplots can be frustrating in any series, with many arguing it can even ruin them, Fairy Tail is special in that it would actually fit the tone and themes of the show. Fairy Tail is a series with a lot of fun and light-hearted moments as well as one that can't get enough of characters talking about and being true to their feelings. In this way it is incredibly surprising that almost none of the characters really ended up with one another aside from Gajeel and Levy. Gajeel and Levy's relationship has actually taken front-and-center as far as subplots go, with both characters expecting their first child with eager anticipation. Gray and Juvia's relationship is also very important in 100 Years Quest, which some might find rather odd. In the original, while Juvia was head-over-heels for Gray, the latter would try his very best to avoid her affections. It wasn't until the end of Fairy Tail that Gray actually started to hint that her feelings for him might be mutual. As mentioned above, in 100 Years Quest, Gray's main goal is to become a better man for Juvia, and has pretty much told her that he loves her back. Believe it or not, that isn't even the most surprising romantic development.
Of all the characters fans wanted to ship, Natsu and Lucy were at the top. Mashima even admitted that he tried to steer the story away from Natsu's potential love interests due to being worried about making fans upset, but in 100 Years Quest he has hinted he's over that fear. Not only has he had the Natsu and Lucy from Edolas end up together, with a young daughter at that, but he's even written and drawn a scene where Lucy is confronted by the other female guild members about their relationship.
While Lucy tries to deflect by saying Natsu isn't emotionally mature or smart enough to understand what a romantic relationship is, she says so in a way that clearly shows that she's sad and in no way denies she has feelings for him. This is may be the most direct Fairy Tail has ever been about the romantic possibilities between Lucy and Natsu. There have been multiple times in the past that implied Lucy had feelings for Natsu, but never in such an outright way before. For just this alone, fans of the original have something to be happy about.