The Fairy Tail Anime, Era by Era
Three productions, three studio line-ups, one director, 328 episodes.
The Fairy Tail television anime is really three series wearing one name. The first ran from October 2009 to March 2013 and made 175 episodes; the second, from April 2014 to March 2016, made 102; the third and final, from October 2018 to September 2019, made 51. Added together: 328 episodes, a decade of television.
What changed between eras was the studio bench: Satelight co-produced the first, Bridge joined for the second, and CloverWorks for the third, with A-1 Pictures present throughout. What never changed was the director's chair, occupied for the entire decade by Shinji Ishihira.
THE THREE ERAS
175 + 102 + 51 = 328Era one, 2009–2013 · 175 episodes
Produced by A-1 Pictures with Satelight, directed by Shinji Ishihira, and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 12, 2009 to March 30, 2013. The era that made the guild a household name, and the one Funimation licensed for North America in 2011.
Era two, 2014–2016 · 102 episodes
After a year's pause the anime returned on April 5, 2014, now animated by A-1 Pictures with Bridge, Satelight having departed. It ran to March 26, 2016, and reached deep into the manga's late arcs.
The final series, 2018–2019 · 51 episodes
The third production, by A-1 Pictures, Bridge and CloverWorks, aired from October 7, 2018 to September 29, 2019, and adapted the manga's conclusion. Ishihira directed across all three eras, the constant through every studio change.
52 pieces of theme music
Across the 328 episodes the series used 26 opening themes and 26 ending themes. Soundtracks were released by Pony Canyon and Avex; the first Japanese DVD compilation arrived on January 29, 2010.
The bundled anime DVDs
Alongside the broadcast, original anime DVDs were bundled with special editions of the manga itself, beginning with volume 26 in April 2011. The stories were storyboarded by Mashima, making the manga volumes their first home video release.
And the sequel's anime
The story's screen life continued separately: Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest was animated by J.C.Staff in 2024–25, with Ishihira returning as chief director. It has its own page in this archive.