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 famous Japanese manga artist. He is best known for creating popular manga series like Rave Master, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero.
His manga Fairy Tail became a huge success. It sold over 72 million copies worldwide. For his work, Mashima has won several awards, including the Kodansha Manga Award in 2009. He also received the Harvey Awards International Spotlight award in 2017.
Contents
Becoming a Manga Artist
Hiro Mashima always knew he wanted to draw manga. His father was an artist who hoped to become a professional. Sadly, his father passed away when Mashima was young.
Growing up in the mountains, his grandfather would bring him old manga comics. Mashima loved reading them and then drawing his own versions. Even when he faced challenges in middle and high school, he kept drawing every day.
After high school, Mashima moved to Tokyo. He briefly attended a school for manga artists. However, he felt he learned more by practicing on his own. He soon decided to try becoming a professional manga artist.
Starting His Career
In 1998, Mashima created a short manga story called Magician. He sent it to a competition held by Weekly Shōnen Magazine. While waiting for the results, another one-shot story, Bad Boys Song, was published.
Magician won the Rookie Prize, which helped him start his career. The next year, he began his first long-running series, Rave Master. This manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 to 2005. It was even turned into an anime TV show.
In 2003, Mashima collected some of his early short stories. They were published in two volumes called Hiro Mashima's Playground. After Rave Master finished, he worked on Monster Soul from 2005 to 2007.
The World of Fairy Tail
Mashima started his most famous series, Fairy Tail, in 2006. It quickly became one of the best-selling manga series ever. The story follows a group of young wizards and their adventures. Fairy Tail finished in 2017, but it created a huge world of stories.
The success of Fairy Tail led to many spin-off manga series. These are new stories set in the same world. Some examples include Fairy Tail: Ice Trail and Fairy Tail Blue Mistral.
In 2011, Mashima drew a special crossover manga. It brought together characters from Rave Master and Fairy Tail. This crossover was later made into an original video animation. In 2013, he also did a crossover with Nakaba Suzuki's The Seven Deadly Sins.
After Fairy Tail ended, an official sequel began in 2018. It is called Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. Hiro Mashima writes the original story ideas for this series. Another artist, Atsuo Ueda, draws the pictures.
Other Exciting 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 2018, Mashima started a new big series called Edens Zero. This manga also appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and finished in 2024. In 2019, he drew a mini-series called Mashima Hero's. This special series was a crossover of his three main works: Rave Master, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero.
Mashima also enjoys making video games. In 2021, he announced a contest for game ideas based on Fairy Tail. He even developed his own Edens Zero video game as a hobby. He released it for free on PC in 2022.
His Style and Inspirations
Hiro Mashima has been inspired by many things. As a child, his favorite manga was Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. He also loved the Dragon Quest video game series. These works made him want to become an artist. He also watched many films by Hayao Miyazaki.
Mashima often names his main characters after the seasons. For example, the hero of Rave Master is Haru, which means spring in Japanese. In Fairy Tail, the main character is Natsu, meaning summer. This helps Japanese readers remember the names.
He also likes to include funny and unique mascot characters in his stories. Characters like Happy from Fairy Tail add a special touch. Mashima works very hard, often drawing for many hours a day, six days a week.
Many of his assistants have also become successful manga artists. They include Miki Yoshikawa, who created Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches.
His Works
Manga
Serials
- Rave Master (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 1999–2005, 35 volumes)
- Plue's Dog Diaries (プルーの犬日記, 2002–2007)
- Monster Soul (Comic BomBom, 2005–2007, 2 volumes)
- Fairy Tail (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2006–2017, 63 volumes)
- Fairy Tail Zero (Monthly Fairy Tail Magazine, 2014–2015, 1 volume)
- Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest (Magazine Pocket, 2018–present, 19 volumes) – writer/storyboarder
- Monster Hunter Orage (Monthly Shōnen Rival, 2008–2009, 4 volumes)
- Edens Zero (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2018–2024, 33 volumes)
- Mashima Hero's (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2019, 1 volume)
- Gate of Nightmares (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2022, 2 volumes) – credited as original creator
- Dead Rock (Monthly Shōnen Magazine, 2023–present, 3 volumes)
Other Manga Stories
- Hiro Mashima's Playground (ましまえん, Mashima-en, 2003, 2 volumes) – collection of short stories:
- Bad Boys Song (バット ボーイズ ソング, Baddo Bōizu Songu, 1998)
- Magician (マジシャン, Majishan, 1998)
- MP (Magic Party) (MP（マジックパーティー）, Majikku Pātī, 2000)
- Plue's Adventure II (プルーの冒険日記II, Purū Bōken Nikki II, 2002)
- Fairy Tale (フェアリーテール, Fearī Tēru, 2002)
- Xmas Hearts (クリスマス ハーツ, Kurisumasu Hātsu, 2003)
- Cocona (ココナ, Kokona, 2003)
- Fighting Force Mixture (混合戦隊ミクスチャー, Kongō Sentai Mikusuchā, 2003)
- Chameleon (Weekly Shonen Magazine, 2008) – one-shot remake of Atsushi Kase's title
- Nishikaze to Taiyō (西風と太陽, 2010)
- Hoshigami no Satsuki (星咬の皐月, 2014)
- Dragon Quest XI S: Tōzoku-tachi no Banka (ドラゴンクエストXI S 盗賊たちの挽歌, 2019)
Other Creative Works
- Sangokushi Taisen – Card illustration
- Respect Gundam – Contribution
- Bakemonogatari – End card – fifth story
- Gate of Nightmares – Character designs
- Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan (レベッカと機械ノ洋館) – Game developer
- Farmagia – Character designs
Images for kids
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In Spanish: Hiro Mashima for kids
