Fairy Tail has been serialized in Weekly Shounen Magazine since 2006 and currently has over 60 million copies in print worldwide. The series won the 33rd Kodansha Manga Award for shounen manga and also the Japan Expo Award in 2009. It has inspired multiple anime adaptations; including a 175-episode TV series, a 102-episode sequel, two OVA series, two anime films, several spin-off manga, and a side story novel series.
Prior to becoming defunct, Del Rey Manga published the first 12 volumes of the manga in English in North America. Kodansha Comic USA resumed its publication with the 13th volume in 2011. FUNimation Entertainment licensed the anime for North American distribution and has been releasing the series on Blu-ray and DVD since 2011.
Source: Hachima Kikou
Mashima had asked fans in March to wait until he can announce some "good news" since the first television anime adaptation of Fairy Tail ended that month. Mashima added on Twitter at the time, "It's actually not over yet. I can't say more than this, but I hope you watch the rerun starting in April and wait for the day I can announce some good news. […] Anime is not the end. Don't stop believing." The series concluded with a "To Be Continued" title card.
Mashima also asked fans in English on June 7 to "please wait until next week. You will be surprised." However, that time he was not teasing good news, but talking about not discussing the spoilers in the following week's chapter.
