Togashi and Yudetamago Cross Publisher Lines to Draw Natsu
The anniversary tribute is the part of this announcement that would have sounded impossible a few years ago. According to Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, a group of manga artists contributed illustrations of Natsu and the Fairy Tail crew, each with a personal comment, to celebrate the new series and the franchise's 20th anniversary.
The lineup crosses publisher and editorial boundaries. From the Kodansha side there's George Morikawa (Hajime no Ippo), Kouji Seo (Umine the Island Inn), Miki Yoshikawa (A Couple of Cuckoos), and Atsuo Ueda, the artist of Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. Then come the two names from outside the family: Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Hunter x Hunter, and Yudetamago, the duo behind Kinnikuman. Both built their legacies in rival publisher Shueisha's magazines, which makes their appearance in a Weekly Shonen Magazine anniversary celebration a rare sight.
Mashima's First Weekly Shonen Magazine Series in Two Years
FAIRY TAIL RE:FANTASIA began in issue 35 of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, on sale July 29, 2026. It's a completely new story drawn by series creator Hiro Mashima himself, running as a limited series rather than an open-ended weekly one, and it's his first serialization in the magazine in two years.
Fairy Tail launched in 2006 as Mashima's battle fantasy about Natsu and his guildmates, and grew into TV anime, theatrical films, stage plays, games, and mountains of merchandise. The original manga wrapped in 2017, and the TV anime aired its final episode in 2019. The story continued in Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, a direct sequel with storyboards by Mashima and art by Ueda, which follows the returning guild members as they take on the legendary 100 Years Quest. That sequel got its own TV anime from July 2024 to January 2025. RE:FANTASIA now puts Mashima back on art duties for the first time since the original run ended.
Volume 1 Hits October 16 With a 16-Postcard Special Edition
The collected volume is already locked in. Volume 1 arrives in Japanese bookstores on October 16, 2026, in two versions: a standard edition (¥570 before tax, 208 pages) and a special edition (¥1,500 before tax).
The special edition bundles a 16-postcard set that turns the anniversary tribute into a physical collectible. It includes celebratory illustration postcards from Morikawa, Seo, Yoshikawa, Ueda, and Togashi, color postcards featuring the Weekly Shonen Magazine cover, the volume cover, and the color title pages, plus monochrome postcards of selected scenes from the new series.
Mashima is also hitting the road. A five-city signing tour takes him to Sanseido Nagoya Main Store on October 24, Coach & Four Shinkawa-dori in Sapporo on November 7, Maruzen & Junkudo Umeda in Osaka on November 21, Maruzen Hakata in Fukuoka on December 5, and Kinokuniya Shinjuku Main Store in Tokyo on December 12. The announcement notes all dates are subject to change.
Looking Ahead
The next fixed date is October 16, when both editions of volume 1 go on sale, followed by the signing tour's first stop in Nagoya on October 24. Entry details for the signings will be posted in stages on the 20th anniversary special site, so fans in Japan should keep an eye on it.
There's no word yet on an English simulpub or print release for RE:FANTASIA. The original Fairy Tail manga and Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest are both available in English from Kodansha, so an eventual localization wouldn't be a surprise, but nothing has been announced. In the meantime, the official FAIRY TAIL 20th Anniversary Special PV is up on YouTube for anyone who wants to mark the occasion.