Things are getting a little intense in the manga, and now it looks like Fairy Tail is set to give fans one-two punch of excitement, with the manga's publisher, Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, poised to announce that Fairy Tail will bring "important news" when it drops its 35th issue on July 27.
So far, there hasn't been any indication as to what the announcement will be, except that whatever it is will be revealed once the latest issue releases.
However, even if the announcement leaves us in the dark for the time being, we can still hazard a guess or two based on what we know about the current state of the manga. To start, we can surmise that the news has to actually be something "important" and Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine isn't just simply throwing the word around in order to attract attention and raise expectations. Why? Because author Hiro Mashima launched the series in the 35th issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2016, and the issue in which the news will be coming in will mark the manga's 10th anniversary. It wouldn't make much sense for the series to mark a momentous occasion on throwaway news that could come at any other time of the year, right?
With that in mind, what will the announcement be? The most likely topic is either an update about the anime project or the state of the manga.
Back in March, Hiro Mashima took to Twitter and revealed that a new anime project was in the works, but there hasn't been much news about it since then. As things stand, the anime is still somewhat close to the source material, since the last part of the series that was adapted was the Tartaros arc and Fairy Tail Zero (if you count spin-offs). Therefore, the anime would just need to cover the Guild Reformation arc (if that is even its formal name) and the early stages of the ongoing war between Fairy Tail (along with the other mage guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore) and the Alvarez Empire, before it catches up in full.
However, the announcement of an anime, series, movie or otherwise, is less likely than one about the state of the manga, since as mentioned before, fans already know about the existence of the anime project. Therefore, it would be a waste of time to make a further announcement about something that fans already know is coming.
On the other hand, an announcement about the state of the manga is more likely. As stated earlier, Fairy Tail is in the midst of a war against the Alvarez Empire, that will no doubt influence important factors of the world based on what transpires during the encounter. As of writing this, the most recent chapter has some of the main cast preparing to march on their guild, which has become occupied by the Alvarez Empire, thanks to a special magic that one of its most powerful members cast. Even worse, that same magic has resurrected some of its strongest combatants after they were thought to be dead.
Quite honestly, this screams of a final battle, especially when considering the backstories of Natsu and Zeref. The only thing that could trump that battle, would be one between Natsu and Acnologia — whom the former has sworn revenge against following the death of Igneel at the hands of the latter.
Mashima, who is also the creator of the hit series Rave Master, has no doubt struck gold with Fairy Tail. Since its debut, the manga has spawned two anime TV series that aired from 2009-2013 and 2014-2016, various manga spin-offs; a movie — with a second already green-lit; various video anime adaptations (OVA); a stage play that ran in Tokyo from April 30-May 9; as well as several video games.
In the meantime, whatever this announcement is, we'll just have to until July 27 to find out. The manga and anime are just the two most likely topics to cover, but knowing Mashima's penchant for throwing unexpected curveballs, the announcement could be about anything.
