The manga industry has been gifted with a lot of talented creators, including Masashi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima, i.e. the genius minds behind Naruto and Fairy Tail respectively. However, all of these mangakas have different styles and approaches based on their own personal preferences and ways of thinking, and not all of them follow the same process while developing their respective storylines.
That being, mangaka Mashima sensei even proved this claim that not all mangakas use the same approach while curating their masterpieces by revealing how he had no idea how one of his best manga projects would ever end. This goes contradictory to Mangaka Kishimoto sensei, who once revealed that he had known right from the beginning how he wanted to end his iconic saga!
This One Fact Sets Hiro Mashima Apart From Masashi Kishimoto
Usually, artists and comic book creators know the entire course of the saga they decide to conceive, with the details being the only exception that they devise on the spot while drawing. In fact, many creators have even shared how they knew how their story were to end even before starting it.
But for Hiro Mashima sensei, things were a lot different than this when it comes to his super popular manga, Fairy Tail. In fact, if anything, he had no clue while starting the series about how he wanted the story to end or what the last scene of the masterpiece would be like.
As he frankly shared during an interview with Anime News Network when asked about the same:
“I honestly didn’t have any idea what the last scene of the story was like in my mind when I started the series.”
While that comes as a surprise, it is also understandable, keeping in mind how Mashima sensei must be more focused on the plotline and how he wanted to continue it instead of thinking about how he wanted to end it right when he was only beginning to develop it!
Moreover, comparing this with Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto sensei’s ideal way of producing projects comes as a further surprise in a contradictory manner. This is because the Naruto creator already knew how his saga was to end, even before materializing it completely.
According to what he has shared in multiple interviews, Kishimoto sensei had intended right from the start for Naruto’s iconic story to end with the final big battle between him and Sasuke, who had initially been introduced as his rival (via ScreenRant).
In fact, he even shared this with the editors even before the series was actually serialized!
That being said, it only further proves that despite all of them being true masterminds, all mangakas don’t think alike or follow the same process while developing their respective projects.
Hiro Mashima Claims Not Knowing the End was “The best part of working on this series”
Just like how most of the mangaka who follow the same procedure, as Kishimoto sensei, have opinions and thought processes of their own behind the same, Mashima sensei has a positive part to not knowing what happens next in his series as well.
As he continued to share during the same interview:
“The fact that I didn’t know what was going to happen next was actually the best part of working on this series.”
Why, you may ask? Well, it is simple: Because that’s when his imagination launched at its peak and allowed him to create all of those intriguing storylines in the piece of masterwork Fairy Tail.
According to how Mashima sensei happily explained it:
“For example, when there is a cliffhanger where the characters are in a really tight spot, the fans wonder what is going to happen next? Well, that’s actually my question and I really have to think about it.”
Needless to mention, that is some seriously genius way to wrack your brain for the best ideas that could take the entire readers’ community by storm. After all, not all mangakas prefer to approach their stories the same way that Hiro Mashima sensei does!
You can read Fairy Tail on Kindle and comiXology, and Naruto on the Viz website/app.
