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‘Fairy Tail’ author looks back on adventure
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Natsu, center, sets off on another adventure with others in a scene from the final installment of 'Fairy Tail.' (Hiro Mashima / KODANSHA via The Japan News/File)
I
n creating epic fantasy manga “Fairy Tail,” Hiro Mashima always kept in mind how exciting it could be for children if they feel like they are going on an adventure with the characters. The mangaka’s work has become popular both at home and abroad, selling more than 60 million copies, but the 11-year run ended in July.
Serialized in the weekly Shukan Shonen Magazine since 2006, “Fairy Tail” called it quits with its 545th installment. The manga featured attractive characters, friendship and fierce battles with formidable enemies, as any manga for boys should.
Set in a world with magic, dragons and wizards’ guilds, “Fairy Tail” tells the story of Natsu, who has the power of slaying dragons. The title of the work comes from the name of the guild he belongs to.
The wizards’ guild receives various requests, such as a plea to get rid of a monster. Natsu teams up with the heroine Lucy and his best mate Happy and goes on adventures to fulfill those requests. They are sometimes joined by Gray, who can create and shape ice at will, and Erza, who is the mightiest mage of the guild.
“Fairy Tail” naturally depicts many battle scenes, but Mashima said this is not the main part of his work. “What I wanted to draw was the comradeship of Natsu and others, which can be clearly shown through how they take on the battles,” the 40-year-old mangaka said.
Natsu and other members of the Fairy Tail guild rise to the occasion when any of their comrades get hurt. But the manga is not a simple good-versus-evil story, so characters who initially appear as enemies often end up becoming allies. As each character’s background is depicted in detail, before you know it, they have become popular among fans.
“I like the gap those characters show between their cruelty as villains and their meekness after becoming allies,” Mashima said, adding, “It’s a challenge for me to draw a genuinely evil character.”
Mashima, who aspired to become a mangaka even before he entered elementary school, made his debut at 20. His previous work, “Rave,” is also a fantasy that ran in the Shukan Shonen Magazine for six years.
The mangaka admits he is influenced by “Dragon Quest,” a video game about the adventures of a hero and his company. He describes the blockbuster game as “a textbook of life for me.”
In the world of fantasy, the imagination knows no bounds. In “Fairy Tail,” Mashima created a number of enemies, guilds and killer moves.
“Ideas kept on coming to me one after another, making it hard for me to pick which ones to draw,” he said.
Read also: Eiichiro Oda has prepared ending plot for ‘One Piece’ manga: Report
In the work, an episode on Tenrojima island is Mashima’s favorite. It features a shocking development in which the protagonist and his company disappear with the island, returning seven years later.
As the starting point for his ideas, Mashima said he aims to “draw what makes readers surprised and what they want to read.”
He is committed to creating fantasies for boys because he was fascinated by manga as a child.
“I hope children feel the same excitement I felt at that time,” the mangaka said. “It’s fun if you feel like fighting with the characters in a manga or becoming a friend with the lead character.”
Eye on fans overseas
“Fairy Tail” is also popular outside Japan: As of July, the work was available in 20 countries and territories.
During the serialization of the manga, Mashima visited both France and the United States three times, in addition to going to Spain and Taiwan once.
During these travels, the mangaka felt “huge respect” directed toward him. “As I draw fantasies, it’s also very stimulating for me to get firsthand experience of different cultures and environments from those in Japan,” he said.
For his foreign fans, Mashima sticks to not using vertically long balloons that may give translators and foreign editors trouble. He also does not use jokes that can be understood only by Japanese readers.
As a side note, the city where the Fairy Tail guild is located is modeled after Paris.
Although the manga’s serialization has come to an end, its 62nd volume went on sale on Sept. 15, and a new anime series is slated for broadcast next year.
“It hasn’t really sunk in that it’s over,” Mashima said. “Since I worked on the manga for 11 years, I feel really attached to it and feel a little bit of sadness. But I feel much more excited because now I can take on a new challenge.”
The mangaka is already planning a new work.
“I’m thinking of something even more interesting than ‘Fairy Tail.’ I hope readers will look forward to it,” he said.
This article appeared on The Japan News newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
