Fairy Tail the Movie: The Phoenix Priestess - The First Morning

フェアリーテイル: 序章「はじまりの朝」 (Fairy Tail Movie 1: Houou no Miko - Hajimari no Asa)

7.3(47,771)

MAL Score

Ranked #2948

Popularity #2499

Fantasy
Anthropomorphic
Pets
Mythology
Super Power

Episodes: 1
Duration: 12 min
Aired: Feb 15, 2013
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Beneath the blazing desert sun, a solitary girl named Éclair travels alone, guarding a sacred relic known as the Phoenix Stone. Though she harbors a deep dislike for magic, the Stone’s power unexpectedly animates the plush toy she made by hand.

Finding comfort in the companionship she’s long been without, Éclair names the living toy Momon. With the Phoenix Stone as their guide, the two set out on a journey across Fiore.

Otaku Consensus

The First Morning lands best as a focused Phoenix Priestess companion piece: Masaya Fujimori’s direction and the A-1 Pictures/Satelight polish give Éclair’s prologue a cleaner, more wistful identity than a throwaway extra, and fans consistently single out the fluid, clearly staged animation. The genuine knock is that, like the movie it supports, it trims back the guild comedy and ensemble texture that define the TV series, so newcomers should not use it as their entry point.

Why You Should Watch

Watch The First Morning if you want Fairy Tail in concentrated side-story mode: less guild-hall noise, more mythic mood, and a guest heroine whose distrust of magic cuts against the franchise’s usual spell-slinging exuberance. It scratches the same itch as the better Naruto or One Piece theatrical tie-ins: familiar shounen energy reframed around a self-contained emotional problem, with enough production gloss to feel distinct from a weekly episode. The ideal viewer is already past the relevant TV material and wants Phoenix Priestess to hit harder, especially if mascot-companion dynamics and folklore-styled relics are your lane. It is not the place to sample Fairy Tail’s comedy machine; it is the quieter morning-before-the-storm piece that rewards franchise literacy.

Key Characters

É
Éclair
Éclair stands out among Fairy Tail guest heroines because her anti-magic attitude creates tension with a franchise normally built on the joy and identity of magic.
M
Momon
Momon gives the special its anthropomorphic pet angle, functioning less like a gag mascot and more like a compact emotional anchor for Éclair’s side of the story.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
A-1 Pictures and Satelight are the credited studios, linking the special to the same theatrical production ecosystem as Phoenix Priestess rather than the rhythm of a standard TV episode.
2
The special functions as a prequel featurette to Fairy Tail: The Phoenix Priestess, a structural choice that makes it more of a mood-setting companion piece than a standalone franchise introduction.
3
Critics and fan reviews repeatedly highlight the action staging for keeping battles readable, with full-view choreography rather than cutting around impact.
4
The screenplay is credited to Masashi Sogo under Hiro Mashima’s original creator credit, giving the anime-original film material a direct bridge back to the core Fairy Tail authorship.
5
The AniList tag profile puts Magic and Female Protagonist at 79% each, reflecting how unusually centered Éclair is compared with the guild-ensemble focus most viewers associate with Fairy Tail.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The First Morning aired on February 15, 2013 as a single finished episode, making it one of the franchise’s compact movie-adjacent releases rather than a TV arc.
Fun fact 2: Home-video coverage of Phoenix Priestess specifically lists The First Morning alongside the original trailer, US trailer, and textless opening and closing themes, positioning it as a notable bonus rather than a disposable extra.
Fun fact 3: Its MyAnimeList score sits at 7.33 from 47,771 votes, while AniList records it at 69/100 with 168 favourites, a reception profile that reads as fan-approved but not franchise-defining.
Fun fact 4: Viewer discussion commonly places the material after the exam-era portion of the TV anime, reinforcing the advice that it plays better for caught-up Fairy Tail fans than for first-time viewers.
Fun fact 5: English-side production credits include Gen Fukunaga as executive producer, reflecting the film special’s dedicated international release pipeline.