Hiro Mashima facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hiro Mashima
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| 真島 ヒロ | |
Mashima in 2018
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| Born | May 3, 1977 Nagano, Japan
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| Occupation | Manga artist |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Employer | Kodansha |
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Notable work
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| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Kodansha Manga Award (2009) |
Hiro Mashima (真島 ヒロ, Mashima Hiro, born May 3, 1977) is a Japanese manga artist. A mangaka is someone who creates manga, which are Japanese comics. He became famous with his first big series, Rave Master. This manga was published in a magazine called Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 to 2005.
His most popular work is Fairy Tail. It was also published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 2006 to 2017. Fairy Tail is one of the best-selling manga series ever, with over 72 million copies sold. In 2009, Fairy Tail won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen manga. Shōnen manga are comics made for a young male audience. Mashima also received special awards in 2017 and 2018 for his work.
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Hiro Mashima always knew he wanted to be a manga artist. His father was an artist too, but he passed away when Mashima was young. Growing up in the mountains, his grandfather would bring him old manga to read. After reading them, Mashima would draw his own versions.
In middle school, he was a bit rebellious but still drew every day. In high school, he played guitar in a rock band. He was suspended from school for a while. During this time, he decided to seriously try to become a professional manga artist. After high school, he moved to Tokyo. He went to a special school for manga artists but left early. He felt it taught the basics but not what he needed for a professional career.
How His Career Started
In 1998, Mashima created a short manga story called Magician. He sent it to a competition held by Weekly Shōnen Magazine. While waiting, another short story, Bad Boys Song, was published. When Magician was published, it won the Rookie Prize. This earned Mashima about $7,000.
His first full series, Rave Master, started in 1999. It ran until 2005. Rave Master was even turned into an anime TV show called Groove Adventure Rave. In 2003, some of his early short stories were collected into two books called Hiro Mashima's Playground. After Rave Master, he worked on Monster Soul from 2005 to 2007.
The Success of Fairy Tail
Mashima started Fairy Tail in 2006. It became one of the most popular manga series ever. It finished in 2017. Fairy Tail grew into a huge franchise. This includes many spin-off manga and anime shows.
In 2011, Mashima drew a special story. It was a crossover between Rave Master and Fairy Tail. This story was later made into an original video animation (OVA) in 2013. There was also a small crossover with Nakaba Suzuki's The Seven Deadly Sins. Each artist drew a four-panel comic of the other's series. A full crossover chapter came out in December 2013.
From 2014 to 2015, Fairy Tail had its own monthly magazine. It included a prequel manga by Mashima called Fairy Tail Zero. Several spin-off manga were also created by other artists. These include Fairy Tail: Ice Trail and Fairy Tail Blue Mistral.
In 2018, an official sequel to Fairy Tail began. It is called Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. Mashima writes the original story ideas for this manga. Another artist, Atsuo Ueda, draws it. In 2021, Mashima helped start a contest. It looked for video game ideas based on Fairy Tail. The winner would get a large prize.
Other Manga and Projects
While working on Fairy Tail, Mashima also created Monster Hunter Orage. This manga was based on the popular Monster Hunter video games. It ran from 2008 to 2009. In 2008, he also drew a remake of an old gag manga called Chameleon.
His fantasy one-shot story, Hoshigami no Satsuki, was published in 2014. Mashima started his newest series, Edens Zero, in 2018. This series finished in June 2024. In 2019, he made a mini-series called Mashima Hero's. It brought together characters from Rave Master, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero.
Mashima also drew a one-shot manga based on the video game Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. In 2021, he announced he was making an Edens Zero video game himself. He called it a "hobby project." He released the game, Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan, for free on PC in March 2022.
Art Style and Inspirations
Hiro Mashima grew up loving Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. He also enjoyed the Dragon Quest video game series. These works inspired him to become an artist. He also watched many films by Hayao Miyazaki as a child.
In 2011, he said Berserk was his favorite manga. Mashima likes to include strange and fun mascot characters in his stories. Characters like Happy from Fairy Tail are an example. He thinks these characters make the visuals look "beautiful."
For Rave Master, Mashima was inspired by wanting to travel the world. For Fairy Tail, he was inspired by hanging out with friends. He wanted to show how young people find their purpose. He tries to balance his own ideas with what fans want to see in his stories.
Mashima often names his main characters after the seasons. In Rave Master, the hero is Haru, which means spring in Japanese. In Fairy Tail, the main character is Natsu, meaning summer. In Monster Soul, the hero is Aki (autumn). Characters in Monster Hunter Orage and Edens Zero are named Shiki, meaning seasons. He also named a character Fuyu (winter). He does this because Japanese readers might not know Western fantasy names. The main characters in Rave Master and Fairy Tail do not have fathers. This comes from Mashima's own experience of losing his father when he was young.
How He Works
In 2008, Mashima had six assistants. They worked in a large space with many desks. There was also a sofa and TV for video games. His schedule for Fairy Tail was busy. He would write the story and plan the pages on Monday. Rough sketches were done on Tuesday. He would draw and ink from Wednesday to Friday. Weekends were for Monster Hunter. He worked on a quarter of that story each weekend.
In 2011, he said he worked six days a week, about 17 hours a day. Some of Mashima's assistants have become successful manga artists themselves. These include Miki Yoshikawa, who created Yankee-kun and Megane-chan and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. In 2008, Mashima and Yoshikawa made a crossover story. It was called Fairy Megane. Characters from Yankee-kun looked for jobs at the Fairy Tail guild.
Works by Hiro Mashima
Manga Series
- Rave Master (1999–2005, 35 books)
- Plue's Dog Diaries (2002–2007)
- Monster Soul (2005–2007, 2 books)
- Fairy Tail (2006–2017, 63 books)
- Fairy Tail Zero (2014–2015, 1 book)
- Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest (2018–present, 19 books) – He writes the story ideas
- Monster Hunter Orage (2008–2009, 4 books)
- Edens Zero (2018–2024, 33 books)
- Mashima Hero's (2019, 1 book)
- Gate of Nightmares (2022, 2 books) – He is the original creator
- Dead Rock (2023–present, 3 books)
Other Manga Stories
- Hiro Mashima's Playground (2003, 2 books) – A collection of short stories:
- Bad Boys Song (1998)
- Magician (1998)
- MP (Magic Party) (2000)
- Plue's Adventure II (2002)
- Fairy Tale (2002)
- Xmas Hearts (2003)
- Cocona (2003)
- Fighting Force Mixture (2003)
- Chameleon (2008) – A one-shot remake
- Nishikaze to Taiyō (2010)
- Hoshigami no Satsuki (2014)
- Dragon Quest XI S: Tōzoku-tachi no Banka (2019)
Other Projects
- Sangokushi Taisen – He drew cards for this game
- Respect Gundam – He contributed to this project
- Bakemonogatari – He drew an end card for the fifth story
- Gate of Nightmares – He designed characters for this game
- Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan – He developed this game
- Farmagia – He designed characters for this game
See also
In Spanish: Hiro Mashima para niños
