To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Fairy Tail, a traveling art exhibition is once again
making its way across most of Japan’s major cities through May 15th. Organized in collaboration with specialized art distributor and printmaker Art Vivant, the event allows fans to get up close and personal with some stunningly detailed art pieces — and even take them home!
This marked the third exhibition of its kind for Fairy Tail, with some pieces featured in the previous iterations.
For visitors to get an idea of the pieces available, previews are available on the official website. The Tokyo exhibition took place in the Shinjuku area, right by the famed Metropolitan Government Building.
Of the features in the entrance area, my personal favourite was deciphering the messages written on the “Fan Voice” poster. This included notes of thanks to Fairy Tail‘s creator Hiro Mashima. Messages were also from fellow fans with thanks for keeping the love for the series alive for all this time. After a short intro presenting prints displayed at previous exhibitions, around the corner was the main gallery area. The area was set up with various chair groupings facing empty easels and picture lights. Here you could take your time to view the paintings displayed across all four walls of the space.
Consultants from Art Vivant stand by to personally elaborate on the meticulous process behind creating each print from Mashima’s original designs. Detailing the materials used in the layering (ink types, shading methods and even, delightfully, glitter application techniques).
If observing the pieces up close didn’t convince you of their craft and quality, the price tags certainly leave no room for doubt.
The lowest figures started at ¥330,000, or roughly $2,119.26. Most priced at ¥440,000. While all prints were created for and exclusively available at the exhibition, there was a new design specially for the exhibition titled, “Ryū-en no kizuna”, meaning ‘Dragon Flame Bond’, depicting Natsu and Igneel wielding the Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist. This served as the event’s signature piece, and had the value to match at a whopping 880,000 yen ($5564.41). For those who reserved a spot ahead of time, a clear, A4 poster of the print was a free gift. The merch area featured standard offerings at fan events — mugs, stationery, and smaller art canvas prints. Most were not of the same designs of the gallery, but were for sure more affordable retail therapy options.
As beautifully made as each print was, I was definitely in no position to even consider forking
over the small fortune they were worth — let’s check in at Fairy Tail‘s 50th anniversary, and see if
it’s in my budget by then!
