With more than 300 episodes, Fairy Tail is one of the “long runners” of shonen anime. But, how many of those episodes are filler?
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a wizard to separate the manga canon episodes and story arcs from the ones which can be skipped.
All you need is a guide to help you weed out the filler episodes.
Fairy Tail Basics
Fairy Tail is a fun, but sometimes overlooked shonen anime series about a wizard guild.
The series features an entertaining mixture of comedy, fantasy, and action/ adventure. It has a huge, unique and varied cast, although the main stars are Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet.
In addition, unlike some shonen series, Fairy Tail has quite a few strong, dependable, and well-developed female characters.
Hiro Mashima created the series. It’s not part of Shonen Jump’s empire; instead, it ran in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2006 to 2019. The anime started in 2009. In nine seasons, 328 episodes were produced.
Fairy Tail Plot
Fairy Tail starts out with the hotheaded, fire-breathing Natsu, and Lucy, a rookie wizard.
Lucy joins Fairy Tail, and soon learns of its many quirks. On the one hand, it is undeniably a popular and famous guild, filled with powerful wizards. However, these powerful wizards are also a rowdy and destructive bunch.
The early story arcs feature Natsu, Lucy, and others going on various missions. However, the story slowly works its way up to longer, more complicated adventures, with more difficult enemies to defeat.
Some of these later arcs center on hidden secrets about specific characters, such as Erza’s history during the Tower of Heaven arc. Even cheerful comic relief character Happy gets an important story arc — Edolas, which reveals the cat’s origins.
Dark guilds also challenge Fairy Tail. There is also a literal timeskip, when the guild members time travel ahead several years.
Eventually, all of the arcs build up to Natsu and the other dragon slayers fighting against the Dragon King, Acnologia.
Watch Order – Canon and Filler Arcs
In anime, the term filler describes anything which isn’t adapted directly from the source material. Filler isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s often considered padding.
Filler happens when an anime begins to overtake the manga, leaving animators with nothing new to adapt.
The line between filler and canon gets a little blurred with episodes based upon omake, or manga extras. These extras are typically created by the manga artist. However, they’re not relevant to the main plot, making them both canon and padding.
Fairy Tail’s filler is relatively manageable. There are three filler story arcs, and a couple of filler episodes scattered around within other arcs.
All Story Arcs
- Macao (1-2)
- Daybreak (3-4)
- Eisenwald (5-10) — includes one omake episode
- Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon (11-20) — includes one filler, one omake
- Phantom Lord (21-29)
- Loke (30-32)
- Tower of Heaven (33-40)
- The Battle of Fairy Tail (41-51) — includes two omake
- Oracion Seis (52-68)
- Daphne (69-75) — filler arc
- Edolas (76-95)
- Tenrou Island (96-122)
- X791 (123-124)
- Key of the Starry Sky (125-150) — filler arc
- Grand Magic Games (151-203)
- Eclipse Celestial Spirits (204-226) — filler arc
- Sun Village (227-233)
- Tartaros (234-265)
- Zero (266-275) — includes one filler
- Avatar (276-284)
- Alvarez Empire (285-328)
All filler episodes (including omake)
- Episode 9 — omake, “Natsu Eats A Village”
- Episode 19 — filler, “Changeling”
- Episode 20 — omake, “Natsu and the Dragon Egg”
- Episode 49 — omake, “The Day of the Fated Encounter”
- Episode 50 — omake, “Special Request: Watch Out For the Guy You Like!”
- Episodes 70-75 — the Daphne filler arc, with one omake (“Rainbow Sakura”) in the the middle
- Episodes 125-150 — the Key of the Starry Sky arc
- Episodes 202-226 — the Eclipse Celestia Spirits arc
Note: episodes 202, 203, 219, 220, 222, and 226 are omake episodes. Episodes 223 and 224 are based on a light novel.
- Episode 268 — filler, “Fairy Tail Zero: Treasure Hunt”
Good filler?
Honestly, the filler arcs aren’t bad, if you have time for them. And some of the individual episodes deserve a look, if you like comedy:
- Episode 19, Changeling — a silly episode involving body swaps.
- Episode 222, Transform! — the Fairy Tail wizards study transformation magic, and Erza becomes a superhero.
- Episode 226, Fairy Tail of the Dead Meeeeeeeeen — a parody of zombie invasions.
Movies and Specials
Fairy Tail has a couple of movies, along with several OVAs.
The movies are Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess (2012); and Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry (2017).
As with a lot of films based on anime series, the two movies aren’t based on the manga. They don’t affect the main continuity. Phoenix Priestess probably takes place after the Grand Magic Games, while Dragon Cry is somewhere near the end.
The nine OVAs are mostly omake, with varying degrees of canon. These can be hard to find:
- Welcome to Fairy Hills — omake
- Fairy Academy — alternate universe omake
- Memory Days — filler
- Fairies’ Training Camp — omake
- The Exciting Ryuzetsu Land — canon with Chapter 298
- Fairy Tail x Rave — a crossover with Rave Master
- Fairies’ Penalty Game — omake
- Natsu vs. Mavis — omake
- Fairies’ Christmas — omake
Easiest Places to Start Watching Fairy Tail
1. Netflix (Singapore)
Netflix in Singapore has the first 150 episodes of the series.
Pros
- Good language options
Cons
- Not complete
Language: Audio in Japanese, English, Mandarin, and Italian; with subtitles in English, Malay, Simplified Chinesse, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese.
Price: Standard with ads, $6.99/ month. Standard: $15.49/ month. Premium: $22.99/ month.
Watch Fairy Tail at Netflix (Singapore)
2. Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll has both the series and the Dragon Cry movie.
Pros
- All of the episodes, and a movie
Cons
- Limited language options
Language: Japanese or English dubbed, with English subtitles. Latin American Spanish, European Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic subtitles are available for some episodes.
Price: $7.99 for “fan” level; $9.99 for “mega fan”; and $14.99 for “ultimate fan.”
Watch Fairy Tail at Crunchyroll.
How to Watch Fairy Tail Anywhere in the World if Netflix or Crunchyroll are Geoblocked
This method works on both desktop PCs and mobile phones or tablets.
- Purchase (or start a free trial) of a VPN. I can confirm that NordVPN works for this purpose.
- In the settings, choose Singapore as your location.
- Fire up the VPN and wait for it to do its magic
- Once you’re connected, navigate to Netflix (browser or app)
- Search “Netflix” in the Netflix search bar and you should see the anime pop up.
Enjoy! Please note that if your Netflix library doesn’t update to reflect the country you selected in your VPN, you may have to clear the Netflix cache first and try again.
To do this on mobile, go to settings -> apps -> Netflix -> clear cache. To do this on PC, you have to clear the cache in your web browser.
I’ve had no trouble using this method and I still use NordVPN to watch anime from various Netflix country libraries daily.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been avoiding Fairy Tail because of its length, I hope this filler guide helps. The series is definitely worth watching.
Navigating the extensive world of “Fairy Tail” episodes should become much simpler by following our guide above to distinguish between canon and filler content. This beloved shonen anime, with over 300 episodes, offers a delightful blend of comedy, fantasy, and action-adventure.
While filler arcs exist, they are manageable and sometimes offer enjoyable moments. Notable story arcs, character development, and thrilling battles characterize the series, culminating in a showdown against the formidable Dragon King, Acnologia.
For viewers interested in exploring this magical guild’s adventures, accessible streaming options like Netflix and Crunchyroll are available.
Moreover, with the help of a VPN, fans worldwide can unlock their desired “Fairy Tail” content on Netflix, making it a global anime favorite. Happy watching!
