Hiro Mashima Praises Fairy Tail 2 Video Game in New Interview

While video game adaptations of popular anime are now more than commonplace, few anime are as well suited to jump between the mediums as Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail. With its sprawling fantasy world, extensive cast of colorful characters, and focus on explosive action, it's no wonder there are more than a dozen tie-in video games based on the popular series. The latest of these games is KOEI TECMO's Fairy Tail 2, which adapts the Alvarez arc that capped off the original manga and anime. Anime News Network had the opportunity to ask series creator Hiro Mashima about this latest game via email, as well as his broader thoughts on the success of his work.

Perhaps Fairy Tail 2's strongest selling point is how it adds new storylines not present in the anime or manga to this final arc of Hiro Mashima's most popular story. “The scenarios that they presented me exceeded my expectations. If there are opportunities like this again, I would love to have them add more original scenarios,” Mashima said about these additions to his work. This attitude fits Mashima's history of playing it fast and loose with his work rather than holding canon material as sacrosanct. There are numerous crossovers between his first manga, Rave Master, and Fairy Tail, often involving mascot characters like Plue or the Jingle Butt Gang gag characters. Mashima even penned a one-volume crossover series involving Rave Master, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero called Mashima Hero's, where the main cast from each of these series goes on an adventure together.

Mashima also expressed that he was “very happy” with the number of times Fairy Tail has been adapted into a video game, with Fairy Tail 2 being the latest example. Mashima is an avid gamer, with his work taking inspiration from epic RPGs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. He even previously penned Monster Hunter Orage, a work based directly on the famous video game franchise. Moreover, he published his top five games of 2020 and has a video series where he designs a game in Unreal Engine 5.

In regards to Fairy Tail 2, he added that “the level of accuracy is high, and being able to walk to places that were actually in the manga is fantastic.” Giving the game a more lived-in feel builds upon some recent insights Mashima shared about his work. In his latest New York Comic Con appearance, Hiro Mashima revealed that Fairy Tail was born out of his loneliness. “To tell you the truth, I wrote the story because I had no friends. My loneliness is what you're seeing,” Mashima said in response to a panel audience question about his motivations behind creating the series. The idea that Fairy Tail would stem from a place of loneliness tracks, as one of the overarching themes in Fairy Tail is how cool it would be to go on adventures with half a dozen of your friends all the time. The desire to explore and interact with the locals present in Fairy Tail 2 makes even greater sense, as they're designed to evoke curiosity and a desire to explore them with close friends.

The character designs in Fairy Tail are also a big part of the franchise's success. Mashima's more simplified art style is recognizable at a glance, and his characters often change costumes between or during different arcs. When asked about his design affinities, Mashima said, “I like the swimsuits and bunny girl outfits because they are fun to draw.” This answer shouldn't be surprising for longtime or even casual fans of Fairy Tail, as the fan service present in the series has been a talking point for much of the series run. This focus on character designs and outfits manifests in Fairy Tail 2, with all of the base game's playable characters having at least one alternative outfit.

When asked about what video games he's playing currently, Mashima noted that he's enjoying Activision-Blizzard's free-to-play hero shooter, Overwatch 2. Mashima previously stated that he's a Reinhardt main, a giant knight character with an energy shield and massive hammer that makes him ideal for protecting teammates in ranged battles and leading the charge in close-quarters combat. Mashima has also expressed his appreciation for the game and its characters. A few months after the release of the original Overwatch in 2016, Mashima shared a drawing of D.VA, one of the game's most popular characters, on his social media account.

The final question of this interview centered on the lasting popularity of Fairy Tail. When asked why he thought the series was such a hit, Mashima guessed, “It might be the characters or the romance elements. I am not entirely sure myself.” There's something to the idea of the series' romance elements driving its lasting success. Several characters are in unresolved relationships that span hundreds of chapters. Furthermore, the larger number of supporting characters and the series' emphasis on creating cool situations for them all to hang out has led to fans pairing characters up as they see fit. There are over 22,000 results for “Fairy Tail” on the fan-fiction platform Archive of Our Own. Furthermore, the Fandom Shipping Wiki has a dedicated page for Fairy Tail, which contains dozens of pairings for its myriad of characters.

Mashima has only fueled this fervor around his characters and their relationships with his writing. Within Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, multiverse counterparts of popular ships, like Natsu x Lucy and Grey x Juvia, are in canonical relationships and have children. Mashima also has a penchant for drawing the subjects of these ships in intimate situations, which fans of the series have long documented.

Though the original manga ended in 2017, between the release of the sequel manga Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, the recent anime adaptation of that sequel manga, and now the release of the video game Fairy Tail 2; it's clear that this shonen series is going to stick around for a long time. After all, the series is immensely profitable, and in the same panel that revealed Mashima's original motivations behind the series, he expressed that 100 Years Quest was more of a corporate decision and that “When I was working on the original series, it never occurred to me to have a sequel.” Fairy Tail continues more for the sake of its fans than anyone else now, meaning that, so long as this audience remains sizable, they'll likely have more Fairy Tail manga, anime, and games to look forward to for years to come.

Fairy Tale 2 is available for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC.