Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest Cour 01
フェアリーテイル 100年クエスト

Since Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest just did a recap episode, marking the end of the first cour (in this case, the summer season of 2024), I figured I’d give a review of what we’ve seen thus far.

The Story, Thus Far

Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Charle (Carla), and Gray decide to do the “impossible” 100 Years Quest. They meet up with a former human turned dragon named Elefseria, who established the quest 100 years earlier. He wants them to defeat five dragon gods who are as powerful or more than the dragon Acnologia, whom Fairy Tail defeated earlier.

Meanwhile back at Fairy Tail, a new member named Touka joins. She seems to be in love with “Natsu-sama”. However, Jellal suspects she’s the dangerous White Mage. Across the ocean, Team Natsu deal with the Water Dragon god. At the same time, they are forced to deal with a mage guild called Diabolos. Its members are dragon eaters, gaining the powers of the dragons they consume. Further, its members at times are more powerful than Team Natsu.

After successfully dealing with the Water Dragon god, Team Natsu head off to deal with the Earth Dragon god. After learning the shocking truth about the Earth Dragon god, Team Natsu suddenly find themselves facing their guildmates. It seems that Touka instantly enthralled them to deal with the dragon gods. However, she’s doing it for other reasons, seemingly needing to control mages.

At the same time, Diabolos re-enters the frey. Juvia comes to herself, explaining that Touka is possessed by the White Mage. Cana shows up, not under hypnotism thanks to the booze in her system. Now Team Natsu have to battle their former teammates and Diabolos while dealing with the Earth Dragon god.

Mostly Typical Fairy Tail Fare

If you read the original Fairy Tail manga, or saw the anime adaptation and enjoyed them, no doubt you will enjoy Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest cour 01. The formula is still pretty much the same. Natsu is strong but dumb and wants to beat entities up. Lucy has “huge tracks of land” that gets emphasized, while she frequently changes “powered” costumes. Wendy is still the team buffer. Gray wants to be worthy of Juvia, but is still a bit dumb at times. Erza is Erza. And the cats are the cats.

I think my first issue with this series is the actual quest. Gildarts from Fairy Tail attempted it. In the OG Fairy Tail series, the quest seemed to be about Acnologia. However, in order to get the recon in, the actual 100 Years Quest came with a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), so Gildarts couldn’t tell them what the REAL quest was about. It is rubbish, but oh well.

Team Natsu deal with the Water Dragon god fairly easily, thanks to a deus ex machina moment that I won’t spoil here. (You can read the episode reviews to learn more.) I’m not a fan of this kind of “get out of jail free” writing. Team Natsu’s dealing with the Earth Dragon god has been more complicated. We’ll see how that gets resolved in the next cour.

Diabolos

Probably the one unique thing about Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest cour 01 is Diabolos. Sure, Fairy Tail has dealt with strong guilds in the past. The members of Fairy Tail, often employing “Nakama Power™”, rise to the occasion in the guild war. After defeating the other guild, the two guilds become allies. Indeed, we’ve seen cameos from previously defeated enemies in this new anime.

That aside, Fairy Tail hasn’t had a guild war with Diabolos. Instead, they’ve had skirmishes. The initial three members of Diabolos we see easily defeat Team Natsu, even though Natsu and friends defeated Acnologia and Zeref. However, when the plot required it, Team Natsu then easily defeat Team Skullion. The Diabolos members retreat.

Ah, but then they return, again ’cause “plot”. Team Skullion bring in two more members, but now have to deal with additional Fairy Tail members. Again, the plot requires Skullion and Madmole to be OP, preventing the OP Mirajane from doing anything. The only fight of interest was Laxus battling the insane Kiria, who became smitten with Laxus after taking a beating from him.

The end of the first cour sees Wraith killed. Kiria was defeated, but since Laxus used up his power defeating Erza, Kiria is poised to consume him. Obviously, Mashima-sensei isn’t going to allow that to happen. I’d laugh if Diabolos retreats again.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest cour 01 is fine for what it is. We have the typical, shounen battles done Fairy Tail style. We get the usual fanservice and ecchi gags. And while there’s a lot of stupidity, and an effort to maintain the status quo for the most part, there’s still a level of fun and entertainment. Thus I will watch the second cour when it drops.