August 1, 2008 - To say Comic-Con has a few celebrities attending would be a massive understatement. From actors to editors to directors, the halls are packed with those that create our favorite pop culture products. This year also had a few notable celebs from the world of manga and anime. One of those was Hiro Mashima, creator of Fairy Tail and Rave Master.

With the first volume hitting North American shores just a few months ago, we had the honor of sitting down with Mashima for a few minutes to get his perspective on Tail as well as the state of the industry. Read on for our full chat.



IGN: Is this your first trip to the San Diego Comic-Con?

Hiro Mashima: Yes.

IGN: Any similarities between Comic-Con and some of the conventions held in Japan?

Mashima: The enthusiasm from the fans is very similar in both.

IGN: Let's talk about Fairy Tail. What influenced you to create it?

Mashima: I wanted to create a community where friends gather and party and have fun and have adventures and that was kind of my inspiration for Fairy Tail. I also wanted to weave in a story of young people finding their own path.

IGN: One thing that really stands out about Fairy Tail are the many different characters. How hard is it to create so many personalities and are any based on people you know?

Mashima: Basically when I start creating characters, I base them on my friends and different people that I've met, but it's also different aspects of my personality that I work into all my characters. For example, Natsu (a major character in Fairy Tail) has severe motion sickness, and that's actually one of my friends, so I have a little fun with that.

IGN: What are some things that go into creating manga readers probably don't consider?

Mashima: Working in the industry you learn certain things, like when people go to watch movies their opinion is "I like it or I don't like it", whereas if someone in the industry were to watch it they'd go "I'd do this differently", picking up the small details.

IGN: What influenced you to first pick up the pencil and start creating manga?

Mashima: Basically my grandfather would go into the mountains and find where people had discarded old manga. He'd bring it back and I'd start drawing it, and it's something I've wanted to do forever.

IGN: What do you like to do when you're not creating manga? I understand you're really into music?

Mashima: In my free time I love watching movies. I'm a gamer, and I love books. My favorite band is Green Day.

IGN: What's one thing you're hoping to do while you're here? Will it be fun to meet your fan base?

Mashima: One thing I wanted to do I've already accomplished, and that was going to a really rambunctious bar and party up a storm. What I'd really like to do is meet my fans and read them a speech in English that I'd composed.

IGN: What is your outlook on the state of manga today? Do you think we'll still be reading serialized stories printed on paper in the future?

Mashima: It's a difficult question. It's hard to comment on the direction of the industry as a whole. I believe in the paper culture. Paper and ink is how manga should be created and I'd like to continue in that tradition. Although I do feel online content will increase over time.

IGN: Manga sales are actually down in Japan, but seem to be at an all-time high in the United States. Do you have any comment on that?

Mashima: I feel it's unfortunate that it's decreasing in Japan, but at the same time I'm thrilled to find it's increasing in the US. It's more important for authors like myself to work harder to build up the Japanese audience.

IGN: If you could recommend any manga, besides your own, as essential reading for anyone into manga, what would it be?

Mashima: Dragon Ball.

Spoiler: