Hiro Mashima
Hiro Mashima (真島 ヒロ, Mashima Hiro, born May 3, 1977) is a Japanese manga artist. He gained success with his first serial Rave, published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 to 2005. His currently ongoing Fairy Tail, published in the same magazine since 2006, is experiencing even greater popularity.
Early life
Hiro Mashima stated that he knew he wanted to be a manga artist for as long as he can recall. His father was an artist that aspired to turn professional, but died when Mashima was young. Living in the mountains as a child, his grandfather would bring him discarded manga that he found. After reading them, Mashima would draw from them. When he graduated high school, he entered a school specializing in teaching manga artists, but left without completing the studies. He stated that while it taught him the basics, he felt it would not help as a professional.
Career
Mashima created a story on his own and brought it to manga editors, which led to entering it into a competition that he won. He made his official serialization debut the following year with Rave in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It ran until 2005 and was adapted into an anime titled Groove Adventure Rave from 2001 to 2002. Both the manga and anime were released in North America under the name Rave Master.
