Director Ishihira assures fans that though some staff members have changed, quality of the anime has increased

The sixth issue of 2014 of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine is announcing on January 8 that the anime adaptation of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail manga will return in April on Tokyo TV and its related channels.

Director Shinji Ishihira expressed his joy at being able to bring the anime to fans in the spring. He mentioned that while there will be a change in staff for the restart of the anime, they are working to increase the quality of the show as a whole.

The magazine lists the cast and staff:

Cast

Natsu - Tetsuya Kakihara

Lucy – Aya Hirano

Happy – Rie Kugimiya

Gray – Yuichi Nakamura

Erza – Sayaka Ohara

Staff

Director: Shinji Ishihira

Series Composition: Masashi Sogo

Character Design: Shinji Takeuchi

Animation Production: A-1 Pictures, Bridge

Takeuchi is replacing Aoi Yamamoto as character designer, while Bridge is replacing Satelight as one of the studios animating the series.

Mashima had asked fans earlier this year to wait until he could announce some "good news" since the first television anime adaptation of Fairy Tail ended. 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 later announced that the television anime project had relaunched.

Update: Image with higher quality added.