On March 4, 2013, Mashima announced on his Twitter account that the anime would not end yet, and confirmed on July 11 that a sequel series was greenlit. The sequel series was officially confirmed in "Weekly Shonen Magazine" on December 28, 2013 with a special edition chapter. The sequel is produced by A-1 Pictures and Bridge, featuring character designs by Shinji Takeuchi; the original series' voice actors also returned to the project along with director Shinji Ishihira and writer . The official website for the sequel was launched on January 7, 2014. The series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2014, and was being simulcast by Funimation Entertainment. The second series concluded its run on March 26, 2016. On March 22, 2016, Mashima announced via Twitter that another "Fairy Tail" series was being developed. On July 20, 2017, Mashima confirmed on Twitter that the final season of "Fairy Tail" would air in 2018. The final season of "Fairy Tail" aired from October 7, 2018 to September 29, 2019. A-1 Pictures, CloverWorks, and Bridge produced and animated the final season, which ran from October 7, 2018 to September 29, 2019. for 51 episodes.