Gender: Male
Age: 33
Birth date: May 3, 1977
Birth place: Nagano, Japan
Notable Work/s: Rave Master, Fairy Tail
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Action
BACKGROUND
As a young boy, his grandfather would find discarded manga for him to read, and Mashima would always trace the pictures. Two manga series in particular were the main inspiration for him to become a professional manga artist: Dragon Ball, a well known manga produced by Akira Toriyama, and Ultimate Muscle, which is created by Yudetamago. Hiro Mashima especially enjoyed parts featuring the main characters getting into trouble, but somehow always managing to win in the end. After High School, he decided to go to an art school because he believed that going to school would help him in learning how to improve his manga drawing ability. However, he ended up detesting the approach and taught himself. He was a notable guest at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.
He currently has five assistants. They are Ueda I, Sho Nakamura, Bobby Osawa, Kobayashi Kina, and Kain. Formerly, Miki Yoshikawa and Shin Mikuni were also his assistants. According to Fairy Tail Wikia, Mashima has never worked as an artist's assistant. However, it is said in his Wikipedia Article that he has worked under Oda Eichiro in the past. Mashima is well known also for his speed in drawing and production of manga. His record is 65 completed pages within one week, 3 of which were colored.
WORKS
Groove Adventure Rave (Rave Master) (1998–2005)
Plue's Dog Diaries (2002–2007)
Mashima-en Vol.1 & 2 (2003)
Monster Soul (2006–2007)
Fairy Tail (2006-ongoing)
Monster Hunter Orage (2008–2009)
Nishikaze to Taiyou (2010)
Sangokushi Taisen card illustration
Respect Gundam contribution
Cocona (2003)
TRIVIA
The main characters in his magazine serializations are named after seasons:
- Rave (Haru=Spring)
- Fairy Tail (Natsu=Summer)
- Monster Soul (Aki=Autumn)
- Monster Hunter Orage (Shiki=Four Seasons)
PERSONAL COMMENTS
I've read Rave Master and watched its anime. I'm also reading Fairy Tail and watching its anime. I just love Hiro Mashima's works! I usually go for romance manga and anime. If not, I go for sports. But, both of Mashima's works that I have read are neither romance nor sports yet I loved them more than most of the manga I've read. Well, there is some romance in Rave Master. :D I love his characters, too. Reading Fairy Tail is bringing back lots of Rave Master memories!