My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has kicked off the second half of its debut season this Spring, and the anime’s English dub release has recruited a major Dragon Ball star to help bring America’s new top hero to life. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has revealed a whole new side of how the hero world works in Japan, and with it has been able to explore how much has actually changed since Izuku Midoriya and the other young heroes enroll in U.A. Academy years later. But this also has been sharing a new look at the rest of the world too as we learn more about hero society on a whole.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been showcasing more of the grittier sides of the hero system as it’s been made clear that not only are there some criminals who are lumped into this system with bad luck, but the episodes have also showcased that the heroes aren’t exactly all on the up and up either. That’s the case with the debut of its newest hero, Captain Celebrity, who is brought to life by Dragon Ball franchise legend Sean Schemmel (who’s done the voice of Goku and many more).

Dragon Ball Star Joins My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 8 officially debuted Captain Celebrity to the anime. He’s a hero who comes from the United States, and was one of the top heroes in the region. Koichi Haimawari quickly runs into this hero in the neighborhood and finds out that the American hero is really only doing all of this for fame. Making things as big as possible so that he can show off to the press, he can fly and seems to have super strength. But he really only uses that strength when he’s either asked to by the police or the media can report on his actions.

He also comes with his fair share of controversies as Knuckleduster reveals that Captain Celebrity has only come to Japan in order to reform his image. He’s got a ton of scandals involving multiple women back in the United States, and is clearly going to be playing a big role in Koichi’s life from now on. So that means the two are going to be crossing paths in some wild ways, and he’s got the perfect star to help bring him to life in the English dubbed release.

RELATED: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Censors Major Moment in Latest Episode

Captain Celebrity Spotlights My Hero Academia’s Broken Heroes

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been highlighting how the hero world might be a more broken system than fans would have expected at first, and that’s the case with heroes like Captain Celebrity. Not only was it first revealed that the hero system came from the United States in the first place, but it has sparked a debate over whether or not it was meant as a way to control those with quirks. At the end of the day, only a small number of people were officially recognized as heroes in the United States.

Having Dragon Ball‘s Sean Schemmel bringing Captain Celebrity to life as a hero with more of an edge is a hilarious counterpart to fellow Dragon Ball star Christopher R. Sabat as All Might. The two heroes are pretty much mirrors to one another, and it reflects the kind of relationship that Goku and Vegeta have in Dragon Ball. The two have a lot in common, but their differences at their core bring the dynamic to life. Now that spirit has come to My Hero Academia: Vigilantes as well.

The post My Hero Academia Dub Recruits Dragon Ball Star for America’s New Hero appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Kohei Horikoshi’s manga My Hero Academia has come to an end, and the final season of the anime is on the horizon. The series embodies the core elements of the Shonen genre, packed with intense action and rich lore. What sets it apart is the concept of Quirks, unique abilities that have given rise to a diverse array of heroes and villains. Among them, none are more menacing than the main antagonist, All For One, whose terrifying Quirk, the ability to steal or transfer other Quirks, makes him a standout threat.

All For One’s Quirk allows him to steal the abilities of others and store them within himself, giving him access to a vast arsenal of powers. This makes him highly unpredictable, as he can deploy any number of Quirks to overwhelm his opponents. His ability enabled him to dominate the nation for decades until All Might rose to challenge and eventually defeat him. While the series has showcased All For One using an array of powerful Quirks, there are three particular options, any of which could have made him even more formidable. These Quirks would have either extended his range or provided him with defensive capabilities, potentially making him truly unstoppable.

1) Ectoplasm’s Clones

Ectoplasm in My Hero Academia is a Pro Hero and a teacher at U.A. High School. What enables him to excel in both roles is his impressive Quirk. His Quirk, Clones, as the name suggests, allows him to generate multiple copies of himself. What makes these clones truly unique is that they operate through a hive mind, functioning as direct extensions of Ectoplasm. This ability allows him to personally monitor multiple students simultaneously. Specifically, he can produce around 30 to 36 clones at once, which marks his limit.

Had All For One acquired this Quirk, essentially enabling him to create multiple versions of himself, he would have been nearly unstoppable, especially if each clone could access his vast arsenal of stolen Quirks. With multiples of himself, All For One could effectively become an army, posing an even greater threat than he already does in the series. However, Ectoplasm’s clones have a critical weakness: they disappear if hit with a strong enough blow. Given that many heroes are capable of such attacks, taking down these clones wouldn’t be overly difficult. Still, the hive mind feature of this Quirk could have greatly enhanced All For One’s surveillance and coordination, allowing him to plan and execute his sinister schemes with even greater precision.

[Related: My Hero Academia’s Final Season Will Be Incomplete Without Its Real Ending]

2) Twice’s Double

One of the most notable villains in My Hero Academia is Jin Bubaigawara, infamously known as Twice. He became a significant threat to both heroes and society through his involvement in numerous fraudulent activities. His Quirk, Double, allows him to create a clone of anything he desires, living or non-living, with the same properties as the original. Twice was frequently seen using his Quirk to duplicate himself, though this unfortunately led to deep psychological trauma. Unlike Ectoplasm’s clones, Twice’s doubles had independent minds, which caused severe identity issues when multiple versions of himself began to claim they were the original.

Since Twice’s doubles essentially functioned as complete versions of whatever he replicated, All For One acquiring this Quirk would have made him even more dangerous. Unlike Ectoplasm’s clones, whose ability to use the original’s Quirks is uncertain, Twice’s doubles could likely access the full range of All For One’s stolen Quirks. This would have allowed him to multiply his power and range several times over, creating independent versions of himself, each armed with devastating abilities.

The series never shows All For One attempting to acquire Twice’s Quirk. This could be because he viewed Twice as a close member of the League of Villains, particularly valued by Shigaraki. Stealing Twice’s Quirk might have risked destabilizing his larger plan of grooming Shigaraki as his true successor and extension, a risk All For One likely deemed unnecessary.

3) Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow

Fumikage Tokoyami is one of the few students from Class 1-A in My Hero Academia whose Quirk possesses immense power. His Quirk, Dark Shadow, allows him to summon a shadowy creature that is loyal to him and can be materialized at will. The strength of Dark Shadow increases in the absence of light, growing more powerful to scale with the surrounding shadows growing larger. The peak of Dark Shadow’s power was showcased during the final war, where Tokoyami unleashed its full strength against All For One. The attack was so overwhelming that even the Demon Lord himself was stunned and brought to the brink of defeat. Had All For One not used the Rewind drug bullet, this might have been his end.

Witnessing Dark Shadow’s unleashed potential, All For One was visibly impressed and considered stealing the Quirk. However, the countdown of his rewinding body forced him to redirect his priorities. Still, had he managed to acquire Dark Shadow, it would have served as either an impenetrable defense or a devastating offense capable of crushing his enemies with a single blow. Combined with Twice’s Double Quirk, Dark Shadow would have made All For One truly unstoppable, allowing his clones to be protected by Dark Shadow and deliver lethal attacks, turning the tide of battle decisively in his favor.

My Hero Academia can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Netflix.

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Live-action adaptations of anime are a real gamble that rarely works out. Multiple companies want a part of the anime cash flow as the medium has increasingly become mainstream in Western countries. 2025 is predicted to be the biggest year for anime yet, and companies are trying several different avenues to profit from it. Turning animation into live-action has been a habit for Netflix and several large studios to draw in a larger crowd. Many people erroneously believe animation is a lower art form because animation is viewed as something for children. However, that is a fallacy on two fronts, because animations and children’s products can be high art.

Nonetheless, since these live-action adaptations have sometimes made a profit, corporations will continue making them. Live-action adaptations of anime series have had a trickier reputation, especially for projects made by English-speaking production companies. Netflix has served as the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the prolific production companies in Hollywood, making several ventures into the potentially lucrative live-action anime pie. Netflix had announced multiple projects, including a live-action adaptation of My Hero Academia. Puzzling enough, no word on the My Hero Academia live-action series has been unveiled to the public since the project was officially announced in 2023.

[RELATED – Netflix Snags Major My Hero Academia Release]

Whatever Happened to the My Hero Academia Live-Action Series?

On the surface, My Hero Academia seems perfect for an English-speaking, live-action adaptation. The series is imbued with so much iconography lifted directly from American comic books that it feels tailor-made to be adapted for Americans in mind. Superhero culture is already huge in the United States thanks to movies and television, and a live-action My Hero Academia series would have fit right in at home on Netflix. Nevertheless, the series went dark almost immediately, with no major updates revealed since 2023.

Netflix has an uneven track record with live-action anime series. The company achieved the impossible and produced a relatively well-received live-action adaptation of One Piece, the over-the-top anime series starring a rubber boy. The live-action One Piece show may have detractors, but it fared better than most people imagined. However, while One Piece was a success, Netflix has had some huge blunders. The live-action Cowboy Bebop was a notorious misfire from the streaming service that cost a lot of money and was canceled after one season. The company may have been recalibrating how it handles its live-action series after suffering through some flops, perhaps most prominently Cowboy Bebop, explaining the silence on My Hero Academia.

These live-action anime are also infamously expensive, with no cheap workaround to convey the action and intensity displayed from animation. Netflix and its associated production companies needed to spend millions on the pirate ship sets and CGI for One Piece. Netflix may be scaling back certain projects as Hollywood has been in a state of panic for several years, brought on by studios’ miscalculations on streaming revenue, overspending, underpaying talent, and numerous other problems stemming from corporate greed.

There’s no cheap way to do a My Hero Academia series, where too many of the Quirks, AKA superpowers, would require a lot of CGI. My Hero Academia is likely no longer a priority for Netflix until the company can achieve more success, similar to that of the One Piece live-action show. If One Piece Season 2 becomes a hit, the other live-action projects Netflix has on the back burner may become viable again. It’s also possible the streaming company has been working on My Hero Academia quietly for the last two years, with the project still in the early stages of development.

The post 2 Years Ago, Netflix Teased the Ultimate Live-Action Anime Adaptation (And Was Silent Ever Since) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia has seen countless villains with powerful Quirks, but none as terrifying or iconic as All For One. Throughout the series, he proves himself to be ridiculously strong and a major threat with his unique ability that lets him steal other people’s Quirks. During the final war, victory seemed within his grasp – he had the power, the strategy, the momentum, and the same fearsome presence that had crushed heroes for generations.

He had just torn through multiple heroes and was heading toward Tomura Shigaraki to complete his plans, while the heroes were running out of time, energy, and hope. All he needed to do was keep going, but then he spotted All Might, the one person he couldn’t ignore. Instead of staying focused, his ego took over and led him to make a decision that cost him everything, showing that in the end, All For One wasn’t defeated by a stronger opponent or by bad luck, but by his own worst enemy: himself.

[RELATED – My Hero Academia’s Final Season Will Be Incomplete Without Its Real Ending]

The Need to Dominate, Not Just Win

All Might, also known as Toshinori Yagi, was Japan’s Symbol of Peace; his strength and presence gave civilians hope and frightened villains. But his first battle with All For One left All Might with life-threatening injuries. He recovered, but he was never the same. And when he temporarily defeated All For One again, he used up the last embers of One For All still inside him, making him essentially Quirkless and forcing him towards an early retirement.

But even after All Might lost his powers, All For One still viewed him as the man who haunted his existence for decades, a fixation that ultimately cost him everything when All Might returned to the battlefield in a special suit as bait. All For One knew it was a distraction, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to completely defeat his rival. So, instead of making his way to Shigaraki, he turned around, even though it was strategically the worst possible choice. 

For all his strength and experience, All For One had one weakness that ultimately destroyed him: he believed he was untouchable. His ego blinded him to the possibility that he, too, could be manipulated. So when a Quirkless All Might stood before him, All For One took the bait. 

All Might Knew Exactly What He Was Doing

And here’s what makes it even more poetic: All Might knew exactly how All For One would react. He had defeated him, shattered his image, forced him into hiding, and was the only one who had ever truly humiliated All For One. He understood his enemy’s psychology better than anyone, so during the final battle, All Might risked his life, not to win, but to play one final mind game, becoming bait that his nemesis couldn’t resist.

All Might then deliberately provoked the Symbol of Evil, his taunting pushing All For One into a blind rage. As the latter’s emotional state visibly deteriorated, he became increasingly reckless with every move, even regressing in age as he burned through powers to heal himself mid-fight. On the other hand, despite suffering multiple injuries, the former Symbol of Peace kept smiling and fighting, knowing that every second he held All For One’s attention was another second tipping the scales toward victory.

By engaging in his pointless vendetta, All For One gave the heroes exactly what they needed: precious time to regroup, call for reinforcements, and shift the battle back in their favor. And honestly, that’s what made this moment so brilliant. In a world filled with superpowered Quirks, it was a human flaw – pettiness – that brought a god-like villain crashing down. Proving that sometimes, the strongest weapon is simply knowing your enemy’s biggest weakness. In the end, All For One threw away his almost certain win over a personal grudge, sacrificing his tactical advantage and, ultimately, the entire plan, all because he couldn’t let go of his need to crush All Might once and for all.

This Wasn’t the First Time

Worse, this wasn’t the only time All For One’s ego got the better of him; it’s been a recurring flaw of his throughout the series. All For One was a sadistic and twisted man who liked to rule from the shadows while controlling others. In the past, he used his powers to help people, but only if they served him, and once they were no longer useful, he would abandon them. 

He took Quirks from those who didn’t want them and gave them to those desperate for strength, building a loyal army that followed him without any question. With this, he began seeing himself as a god-like figure and even compared himself to a demon lord from comic books. His obsession with stealing powerful Quirks just because he could also hints at kleptomaniac tendencies; he simply couldn’t resist taking what he viewed as rightfully his, and this need for domination and superiority ultimately led to his downfall.

The post All For One Would Have Won The War if Not for One Mistake appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia will be officially ending the TV anime later this Fall, but the anime will always be incomplete unless the TV series adapts the real ending to the manga. Kohei Horikoshi originally brought My Hero Academia‘s run to an end last Summer with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and with it ended the series with 430 chapters and a decade’s worth of serialization. This final chapter offered a brief look at Izuku Midoriya and the others’ future following the war against All For One and Tomura Shigaraki, and came after five chapters worth of exploring the war’s aftermath.

Without giving too much away for My Hero Academia fans who are waiting to end the story with the anime release, this final chapter of the manga isn’t actually the true ending for the series. Horikoshi actually returned later in 2024 with a special new chapter in the manga’s final volume that takes place after the final chapter, and this new epilogue offers an even more expanded ending than fans got before. It’s this version of the series’ ending that will need to be in the anime to help it be a truly grand finale.

My Hero Academia’s Anime Needs to Adapt the Epilogue

In the final volume of My Hero Academia, series creator Kohei Horikoshi returned for Chapter 431. This is a brand new chapter of the series that was not included in the original Shonen Jump run, and takes place after the original final chapter of the series. This new chapter takes the finale even further with a full look at the kind of future Deku and the others have fought for, and takes some pretty big steps with a couple of the characters. But that also wasn’t the complete end of the story either as Horikoshi also returned for a five page one-shot that keeps it going.

The release of the My Hero Academia Ultra Age fan book on shelves in Japan this Summer included yet another small continuation of the series with a new one-shot that takes place after Chapter 431. So if the anime wants to come to an even more conclusive end that the original manga run did, then it’s going to need to adapt all of these extra materials for its final episodes as well. If not, then fans of the anime are going to miss out on a huge part of My Hero Academia‘s future. They’ll be missing out on the real, canonical ending itself.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Just Released Special Discord Avatars: Here’s How to Get Them

How Will My Hero Academia’s Anime End?

If My Hero Academia does indeed choose to adapt the final epilogue chapters of the story, it could go about it in two different ways. The TV anime series might decide to end where the manga originally did in order to line up with how things worked out in Shonen Jump magazine. That leaves a final potential option to bring the anime back for one final project to adapt the epilogue. The franchise could instead decide to bring back the anime for one final feature film, and that movie would capitalize on the promise from the final chapter’s vision of the future.

It won’t be too much longer before we get to see how it all works out as My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON makes its debut later this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule. The anime has yet to set a concrete release date as of the time of this publication, but it will be streaming its new episodes with Crunchyroll when they hit. You can currently catch up with the first seven seasons of the anime there to get ready for it.

The post My Hero Academia’s Final Season Will Be Incomplete Without Its Real Ending appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Crunchyroll and Discord are partnering to deliver special Discord Avatars based on My Hero Academia. The collaboration will include nine Avatar Decorations and three Profile Effects, available in Discord in countries found in North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The nine decorations are based on Deku, Bakugo, Ochaco, Todoroki, Endeavor, Hawks, All Might, and the villain, Tomura Shigaraki. The three profile effects are themed around Deku, Bakugo, and the League of Villains. The Discord and My Hero Academia collaboration is part of the promotion for the 2025 Crunchyroll Awards, premiering on May 25th. My Hero Academia Season 7 is nominated for Best Continuing Series in this year’s Crunchyroll Awards, and the My Hero Academia: You’re Next movie is nominated for Film of the Year.

Even though the Crunchyroll Awards doesn’t have the same pedigree as something like the Emmys, the ceremony is still a fun way to celebrate the anime medium. Crunchyroll often brings in a team of anime experts to judge the nominees and invite surprise guests, including voice actors and other creators. The Discord and My Hero Academia collaboration is also advertising the upcoming release of the final season of My Hero Academia, which is scheduled to launch in October.

[RELATED – Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 Reveals Celebrity Presenter, Date, and More]

How to Get the My Hero Academia Avatars on Discord

Unfortunately, the bummer news is that the My Hero Academia Avatar Decorations and Profile Effects on Discord are not free. Users will need real money to purchase the cosmetics if they want to deck out their Discord Avatar with their favorite superhero anime. The Decorations and Effects can be found in the Discord Shop, which you can find by clicking on your profile image on Discord; it should be labeled simply as Shop. The My Hero Academia Avatar Decorations and Profile Effects should be on the front page of the Discord Shop since the products launched on May 21st, 2025, making them the newest items on Discord. The Shop can even be located above your Direct Messages on the Discord desktop app.

Prices vary from country to country, but you can buy the Avatar Decorations and Profile Effects individually in North American servers for $5.99 each. Users can only buy three bundles themed around Deku, Bakugo, and the League of Villains. The Deku and Bakugo bundles come with their respective heroes’ Decorations and Effects. The League of Villains bundle comes with the League of Villains profile effects and the Tomura Shigaraki Decoration. The bundles cost $10.99, saving people 31% if they wanted to purchase both Decorations and Effects for their favorite hero.

My Hero Academia is one of the most popular ongoing anime and manga franchises of the late 2010s and 2020s. The series has been praised for its wonderful characters and American-based aesthetics. The anime adaptation by Bones Studio has received praise for its smooth animation, well-choreographed fight scenes, and voice acting in both the Japanese and English dub. The manga ended in August 2024, but it received an epilogue chapter that gave readers a glance at the characters’ lives after the final saga, including canonizing a popular ship. Another tie-in book shared new drawn pages that revealed even more information on the characters after the epilogue.

H/T: Crunchyroll

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My Hero Academia has been no stranger to Western superhero comic influences, but the newest episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes took this even further by bringing in a legendary Marvel artist for some work for the anime. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been expanding on the hero world first introduced in the mainline My Hero Academia anime series, and has been revealing what the heroes had looked like before Izuku Midoriya and the others enrolled in U.A. Academy. This also includes a new look into the origins of hero society overall, and the newest episode dives into that even further.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes opened up even more about how heroes have boomed in the years since Quirks started popping up around the world, and the newest episode explained how the concept of superheroes began with its roots in the United States of America. To help illustrate the examples of these first American heroes, My Hero Academia actually recruited Marvel comics artist RB Silva (as announced with its official social media) for some legitimately incredible spreads for the anime series.

My Hero Academia’s Heroes Originally Come From America

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 7 officially introduces the mysterious Makoto Tsukauchi to the anime. Not only is she Detective Tsukauchi’s sister, but she reveals that she’s been doing research on the age of heroes overall. And through her, fans get a whole new look at the hero history of this world. It’s explained that when Quirks started to appear, vigilantes took to the streets to help restore societal order. It was then that only a few of the vigilantes would go on to be recognized as legal heroes. The Hero Licensing System itself actually began in Rhode Island, with only seven of the 189 vigilantes actually becaming officially recognized by the government.

This art from RB Silva comes during the explanation about America’s own vigilante turned heroes, and Makoto explains that it’s all sparked a debate among current theorists. Because while the prevailing thought is the fact that vigilantes that won public favor were eventually classified as heroes, there is a camp that believes the Hero Licensing System was instead made as a way to hammer down what classifies someone as a villain. Which is something My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been tackling head on since the first episode of its run as it has argued the need to have vigilantes working outside of the hero system.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Finally Debuts Its Own Cyclops and Wolverine

My Hero Academia Has Gone Full Marvel

The central debate then is concerned about the government’s control over people and the use of their quirks, and this is something that has been a thread all the way through the My Hero Academia franchise as a whole. Now My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been able to give just a bit of a bigger boost thanks to RB Silva, who has had plenty of experiencing illustrating Marvel works that deal with the idea of powers and societal control.

The illustrator has worked as a penciller, inker, and cover artist for many different works such as Superior Avengers, One World Under Doom, Rise of the Powers of X, and many more from across multiple titles and releases. His art stood out in the anime with its distinct look, and helps to make My Hero Academia: Vigilantes a can’t miss series. If you wanted to check out as it airs (and all of the episodes released thus far), you can find My Hero Academia: Vigilantes now streaming with Crunchyroll with both Japanese and English audio.

The post My Hero Academia Recruits Legendary Marvel Artist for the Anime’s Newest Episode appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia might have come to an end last Summer, but the creator behind it all has returned with a special new sketch for Tsuyu Asui ahead of the manga’s big exhibition later this Summer in Japan. My Hero Academia officially ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last year, but the creator has found ways to keep the series alive in the year since. Not only has the manga itself returned with all sorts of new material to help expand that original ending, but the creator has also returned with all sorts of new art to help celebrate the series’ biggest characters.

My Hero Academia has also been celebrated as a franchise in some big ways in the last year, and this includes a brand new exhibition coming later this year in Japan. This new exhibition will be showing off the creator’s art throughout the series at a much closer lens, and it was even promoted with some brand new art from Horikoshi as well. Leading into the debut of this new exhibition, Horikoshi has returned to social media with a special new sketch of Tsuyu Asui’s Froppy that puts her in a great new light. Check it out below.

What’s Going on With My Hero Academia?

My Hero Academia has had a great year thus far. Not only has the series returned with a special epilogue late last year expanding on the manga’s grand finale, but also recently returned with yet another one-shot taking that expansion even further. With the release of My Hero Academia‘s new Ultra Age fan book in Japan, there has been a ton of new information revealed about many of the characters that weren’t known in the main series. This includes more of the young heroes’ lives after the finale, and each of them has gone on to notable pro hero futures.

The final chapters revealed how Tsuyu is still very close friends with Ochaco Uraraka and the rest of her U.A. Academy classmates even years after they graduated, and it’s clear that everything that happened to them during the war had an impact on what they did in the years to come. Froppy was one of the most important characters around Deku in My Hero Academia overall, so it’s also a great thing to see Horikoshi bring the character back in such a way. But we’ll be seeing much more of her soon enough.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Teases The Arrival of its Own Captain America

What’s Next for My Hero Academia?

My Hero Academia’s manga might have ended, but it’s been getting ready to make the jump to anime with tis final wave of episodes later this year. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON will be directed by a returning Naomi Nakayama for studio Bones with Yosuke Kuroda returning to handle the series’ scripts, Kenji Nagasaki serving as chief director, Yoshihiko Umakoshi and Hitomi Odashima providing the character designs, and Yuki Hayashi composing the music. 

My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON is currently scheduled to debut some time this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule, and will be streaming with Crunchyroll alongside their premieres in Japan. It’s also where you can catch up with the first seven seasons of the anime in the meantime. If you’re still wanting even more of the anime, you can also check out the now airing spinoff prequel series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, with Crunchyroll now that it’s releasing new episodes this Spring. My Hero Academia is still going very strong this year, so there’s plenty for fans to enjoy.

The post My Hero Academia Creator Returns With Special Froppy Promo appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia’s main series only has one season left before the anime adaptation takes a bow but this doesn’t mean that UA Academy’s universe is ending entirely. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, the current spin-off series that follows heroes operating outside of the law, is going strong and might continue for several seasons past the main show’s end. As Crawler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster continue patrolling the city streets long before Deku joined Class 1-A, the side story is introducing some big new characters to the superhero shonen lore. In a preview for the anime’s next episode, the universe’s closest comparison to Captain America, outside of All Might of course, has been teased.

Captain Celebrity is set to debut in the eighth episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, a hero who has made his way from the United States of America to Japan. While there are still plenty of questions surrounding this celebrity superhero, it appears from the preview that Crawler and Pop Step aren’t too thrilled with the new hero on the block. On the official website for the anime spin-off series, here’s how Vigilantes describes the character, “Captain Celebrity is a top-ranking hero who came to Japan from America. However, Koichi seems to be annoyed by something about his attitude… Keep an eye out for the new developments that will be stirred up by this hero who will be making his first appearance in “Vigilante”!”

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Just Got Its Best Fight by A One Piece Animator]

Captain Celebrity Speaks

In prepping for the arrival of this new hero, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has revealed that the character will be brought to life by voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa. Morikawa has had some major roles in some big anime franchises including Bleach, Demon Slayer, Naruto, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Digimon to name a few. Taking on the roles of heroes and villains alike, Captain Celebrity will be a very different role from what the voice actor has done in the past. Here’s what Toshiyuki had to say about taking on the role,

“My name is Toshiyuki Morikawa, and I will be the voice actor for Captain Celebrity, Christopher Skyline. I have come all the way from America with great anticipation, so I hope to live up to everyone’s expectations. I’m sure that those who see him in action will become Captain Celebrity’s biggest fan! We are looking for cheerleaders!”

The Future of Vigilantes

At present, anime fans have yet to know how long My Hero Academia: Vigilantes’ anime adaptation will run. The original manga ran for one hundred and twenty-six chapters, meaning that there is more than enough material for the spin-off to continue past its first season. With some big events that will take place in UA Academy’s past, Vigilantes will throw out some big curveballs that further flesh out the universe’s past.

Want to stay in the loop when it comes to UA Academy? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on My Hero Academia and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

The post My Hero Academia Teases The Arrival of its Own Captain America appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While the manga’s ending in August of last year left a huge My Hero Academia-shaped hole in fans’ hearts ever since, the series’ new spin-off, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, has been successfully filling this void for the last few weeks. Despite not being created by Kohei Horikoshi, Vigilantes has managed to capture the same magic of the original series with a lovable new cast, gorgeous art, and, not to mention, stunning fights. If that weren’t enough to convince you to give Vigilantes a chance already, the anime just dropped what is arguably its best fight yet, and it’s animated by a famous One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen animator.

Episode 6 of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes sees Stendhal turn his sights to Soga Kugisaki as well as Koichi, who steps in to defend Soga. However, when Koichi is rendered powerless by Stendhal’s quirk, Bloodcurdle, Knuckleduster steps in to save the day with this gorgeous, fast-paced exchange of blows animated by none other than One Piece animator Vincent Chansard, whose portfolio includes fan-favorite matchups such as Zoro vs. King, Garp vs. Kuzan. Shanks vs. Kid, as well as the highlight match between Sukuna and Mahoraga in Season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen.

[RELATED: Would Attack on Titan’s Female Titan Beat Mt. Lady From My Hero Academia in a Fight?]

One Piece Animator Vincent Chansard Leaves His Mark on My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Across his work on series like One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Black Clover, Boruto, and even Mob Psycho 100, Vicent Chansard has made quite a name for himself not just within the anime industry but also among fans of the medium with his cuts known for being insanely over the top and immediately recognizable. While Chansard’s cut in Episode 6 of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes isn’t as over the top in comparison, it brilliantly expands what in the manga is essentially just a couple of panels into a beautiful 20-second sequence.

Make no mistake, Chansard’s style and influence on the episode are still very clear, even from a mundane close-up shot of Stendhal’s sword at the beginning of the fight, which looks like a shot straight out of One Piece. While this isn’t the first time Vincent Chansard has been brought into the My Hero Academia franchise, this episode in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes might be his most distinctive work for the franchise to date, and hopefully this opens the door to seeing more of Chansard not just in Vigilantes but also My Hero Academia’s upcoming final season.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

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My Hero Academia has revealed more about the series following the grand finale, and with it has showcased how Shoto Todoroki’s pro hero future is the complete opposite of his father Endeavor’s. My Hero Academia might have ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, but the franchise has been continuing to expand on the final chapter with all sorts of new information about how Izuku Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A went off into their own pro hero futures. This includes one of the biggest young heroes in the series, Shoto, as well as he’s had a pro hero career too.

My Hero Academia has released a special Ultra Age fan book on shelves in Japan, and it features all sorts of new information about the series’ characters from creator Kohei Horikoshi himself. Detailing things that never made it to the series’ pages before it came to an end (as spotted by @aitakimochi on X), it was also explained that Shoto has gone on to be a hero that many admire. Unlike the scary presence that Endeavor gave off when he was an active hero, Shoto is someone who has amassed a big following thanks to the work he’s done with the people.

My Hero Academia Reveals Shoto’s Pro Hero Future

As detailed in My Hero Academia’s Ultra Age fanbook, Shoto has gone on to be one of the most fondly looked on heroes thanks to his close work with the public, “He has a passionate following due to his dedication to his work and his unbiased treatment of fans. In fact, many people even faint when seeing his small smile up close. He also goes to various places to give lectures and assists with urban planning. He helps out with the annual ‘Masegaki Summer Festival’ by creating ice castles and slides, which brings smiles to the kids.”

This falls in line with what was seen in the final chapter of My Hero Academia as Shoto was revealed to be so popular with fans that he has risen to the number two spot in the rankings following the ten year time skip after the war. At that point, however, Shoto has also revealed that he had been exploring new avenues for the rest of his life as he’s starting to pull away from his pro hero career. So even with all of his success, Shoto has a much different perspective on it all than his father ever did.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Timeskip Dashes Hopes for One Pro Hero’s Daddy Future

Shoto Breaks Free of Endeavor’s Shadow

One of My Hero Academia‘s central threads followed Endeavor and the Todoroki family as it explored how All Might had a negative impact on the hero world around him. Endeavor was abusive to his children with the hopes that one of them would surpass the top hero, and only after All Might retired did Endeavor start to see the error of his ways. Shoto, however, had wanted to break free of his father’s shadow but also still had some desire to be a hero thanks to the support of Deku and everyone else in Class 1-A.

After the war, Endeavor was so injured that he too was forced to retire and vowed to work everyday to then earn the respect of his family. It’s something that Shoto had taken to heart, and it’s clear that he had a pro hero career that didn’t carry any of the darkness his father’s did. It seems like he actively pursued the opposite path his father once did, and it’s resulted in a much better reputation among the public too.

HT – @aitakimochi on X

The post My Hero Academia Reveals How Shoto’s Pro Hero Future Is Opposite of Endeavor’s appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has reached the halfway point of its run through the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and the preview for the next episode teases that the anime is finally going to debut Detective Tsukauchi’s sister. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been showcasing a special look at the My Hero Academia world as fans are getting ready to see a much darker look at things before Deku and the Class 1-A members enroll in U.A. Academy. This also means fans are getting to see new sides of each of the characters from the main series that don’t get a lot of spotlight either.

One of the characters already getting an expanded look has been Detective Tsukauchi, who had been mostly on the sidelines in the main My Hero Academia series until the later arcs threw the entirety of Japan into chaos. It turns out that he has a sister named Makoto, and she’ll be making her debut in the next episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes as teased by the preview that you can check out in the video above. You can also get a much closer look at her character design for the anime below too.

How to Watch My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 7

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 7 is titled “Makoto/Truth” and will be making its debut on Monday, May 19th in Japan and will be exclusively streaming with Crunchyroll in other territories when it hits. The synopsis for the episode teases it as such, “Koichi’s vigilante activities have put his university credits in danger! His smart senior, Makoto, extends a helping hand to him. As a thank you, he becomes Makoto’s bodyguard for his research, but the research topic is, of all things, ‘Naruhata’s Vigilantes’?! Will Koichi be able to carry out his role as bodyguard without revealing his true identity?”

Makoto will be voiced by Asami Seto when she makes her debut in the new My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and she marks a major turning point for Koichi and the others moving forward. Much like how their vigilante activity has started taking a more dangerous turn with run ins with Stendhal (before he becomes Hero Killer Stain), Makoto is about to bring a lot more attention to Koichi and the others as they’ll be dealing with even bigger hero focused problems.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Introduces Its Own Winter Soldier With MCU Easter Egg

What’s Next for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes?

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been a relatively quiet hit as while My Hero Academia fans can’t wait to see the main TV anime series return for new episodes later this Fall, this spinoff has been largely ignored because it seems to different from that main anime. But as fans have seen through the episodes so far, Vigilantes not only has a lot of direct connections to how things play out for Deku and the others years later, but is starting to build to a compelling story in its own right.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is only going to get more intense as the episodes continue as we’ll get more direct lead-in to events that happen years later in the main series, and even more heroes who will be joining the fray. Makoto kicks off a new wave of bigger problems for Koichi and the others as she opens up a whole new side of the world for the vigilantes, and that’s going to be an exciting prospect to keep up with as fans wait for My Hero Academia‘s final season to premiere some time later this October.

The post My Hero Academia Preview Finally Brings In Tsukauchi’s Sister appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia officially ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, and the series has never gotten around to ever revealing Izuku Midoriya’s father despite many opportunities to do so. Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series officially ended its run last Summer, but in the year since has returned with not only two special epilogue chapters that took place after the end of the story, but even a huge new Ultra Age fan book that has further revealed even more details that didn’t make it to the main story. So it’s been “ending” for the past few months now.

My Hero Academia is in a rare position in that while it might have ended its story, series creator Kohei Horikoshi has been able to return to the series with not only new chapters but also reveal all sorts of smaller side information and details that there wasn’t any time for during its run. Even with all of these opportunities, the series has yet to reveal something My Hero Academia fans have been wanting to see a hint of since it began. There is still no look at Izuku Midoriya’s father, or even a hint that he exists at all.

Deku Doesn’t Have a Dad in My Hero Academia

Deku having a present (or even seen) father isn’t the most necessary thing for his character. When he was first introduced in My Hero Academia, Deku was revealed to be a boy who idolized All Might and wanted to become a hero just like him. Then discovering that he was born without any quirk of his own, it was a shock to both him and his mother because both parents at least had quirks. Deku’s mother Inko had the ability to attract small objects to herself, and she mentioned how Deku’s father had the ability to breathe fire.

Neither of these quirks were notable in any real way, but it was still a shock to see that Deku wasn’t born without one at all. It even sparked theories for years that Deku’s quirk had been stolen, but this was later debunked as the series never confirmed it to be the case. This was notable as it was the first and final time that Deku’s father was ever mentioned in the series at all. Noting that he was working abroad in some unknown region for some unknown period of time, Deku’s father was then relegated to obscurity from that point on.

But even with the releases of its special epilogue chapter and Ultra Age fan book that came with new details about pretty much every notable character, it didn’t reveal anything more about Deku’s father at all. It not only highlights how little this character means in the grand scheme, but also further highlights how Deku’s parents overall had been left in the background as the fights got more intense. It was the same case for all of Class 1-A’s heroes, but at a few of them got both of their parents on screen for a brief time.

RELATED: Would Attack on Titan’s Female Titan Beat Mt. Lady From My Hero Academia in a Fight?

My Hero Academia Gave Deku Other Father Figures Instead

My Hero Academia was never really interested in revealing Deku’s father anyway, and Horikoshi’s reluctance to do so even with a sketch or something small after its finale further points that out. It’s because the series instead gave Deku more father figures as he started on his journey to becoming a pro hero. Deku’s connection with All Might is the most important relationship in the entire series, and the two of them are much closer than just being a mentor and pupil. The two of them grew alongside one another in many different ways, so Deku needed this connection to exist without any distraction.

Removing Deku’s father from the equation meant that Deku would then be more open to all of the older figures in his life. This didn’t stop at All Might, however, as Deku met many older figures to fill this role over the series like Sir Nighteye, Gran Torino, and all of the other Vestiges within One For All’s power. Deku was a sponge to all of these father type figures in his life, and his actual parents were unfortunately pushed to the side to help bolster these connections.

It’s why even Inko was pushed to the sidelines. She speaks with Deku ahead of the final one last time when she’s reacting to his injuries, but the two never get another full (spoken) scene together through to its grand finale. It’s because Deku was needed to save the world, and unfortunately heroes don’t really need parents when it gets to that level of intensity. But even after the finale, Deku’s dad is still hilariously nowhere to be found.

The post One Year After It Ended, My Hero Academia Still Hasn’t Revealed Deku’s Dad appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia is no stranger to superhero shout outs, and the latest episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes gave Marvel another fun cameo with a Winter Soldier Easter Egg. Ever since My Hero Academia began its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine over a decade ago, series creator Kohei Horikoshi has never been shy about all of the influences that Marvel superheroes had on the series. This even led to official crossovers with heroes like Spider-Man following its finale, and fans have spotted even more connections between the two worlds over the years through manga and anime releases.

This connection with Western superhero comics even extends to My Hero Academia‘s spinoff projects like My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. The new anime series has been airing its new episodes through the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and with it fans have gotten to see a whole new side of the hero world. This even includes some fun new Easter Eggs and shout outs to more superheroes, and the latest even brings in a Yakuza member inspired by the Thunderbolts* film standout, Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier.

My Hero Academia Introduces Its Own Winter Soldier

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 6 begins with an introduction to how the Yakuza world operates within the hero society. While fans have gotten to see this side of the crime world in the original My Hero Academia series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place years before the events of the main series. This means that the Yakuza world seen here is just starting to grow and change with all of the Quirks making the world that much more dangerous. It’s meant that those who are in the Yakuza ranks are getting deadlier thanks to their powers as well, and it’s getting to be a problem.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes addresses this with a deadly new vigilante who turns out to be Hero Killer Stain before he officially becomes the villain we see later. He kicks off the episode by killing a group of Yakuza, and one of them not only has black around his eyes but then one of his arms is coated with a metal. This makes him look at lot like Marvel’s own Winter Soldier, and while he’s not named, it’s fun and quick shout out to the Marvel Cinematic Universe nonetheless.

RELATED: Thunderbolts* Director Reveals Scrapped Scene Would Confirm a Surprising Survivor

What’s Next for the Winter Soldier in the MCU?

The Winter Soldier’s been through quite a lot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since he was first introduced to the feature films. Bucky Barnes went from being Steve Rogers’ best friend during the World War II era, and was thought dead for many years. It turned out that he was reprogrammed and turned into a deadly assassin known as the Winter Soldier. But after being saved by Steve, Bucky regained his mind back and was able to turn everything back around and is now one of the pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Bucky was a central figure of Marvel’s newest cinematic entry as well, Thunderbolts*. Releasing in theaters earlier this month, this film saw a bunch of scattered characters from across the MCU and put them together into a makeshift team that would allow them to become the heroes they never thought they would be. It ended up being a direct lead into the events of Avengers: Doomsday, and it won’t be long before we find out what’s next for Bucky and the rest of this new team. And considering how well it’s done with fans so far, we’re going to see a lot more of them soon.

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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes continues to prove that it’s a big spinoff that fans of the original My Hero Academia anime need to watch, and that’s more true than ever before as the newest episode has shockingly revealed Hero Killer Stain’s bloody origins. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is a much darker take on the hero world seen in the main series as it takes place years before Izuku Midoriya and the others enroll in U.A. Academy. Heroes aren’t as widespread as they are later, so this new series gets to explore that transitional period as crime gets more intense and heroes become even more necessary.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes took a deadly turn when the previous episode saw a deadly new vigilante named Stendhal save Koichi by killing the attacking villain. As the newest episode brought Stendhal more into the spotlight as he faced off against Koichi directly, it turned out that Stendhal was actually the prototype version of who Hero Killer Stain would eventually become. Not only do we see what happened to Stain’s nose in this episode, but also see why he’s inspired to kill who he saw as fake heroes in the main My Hero Academia anime.

My Hero Academia Turns Stendhal Into Stain

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 6 brings Stendhal more into the spotlight, and it turns out that he’s working with Kuin to find villainous targets to eliminate. He’s only working with her due to the connections she has with the underworld, but he’s out to serve his own needs and pass his own version of judgment. He quickly kills some Yakuza members with his own quirk, Bloodcurdle, which stalls everyone in place once he licks their blood, and it’s immediately clear that he’s actually the Stain we’d come to meet later. But this comes to a head when Stendhal starts to seek out Soga, and Koichi happens to catch them in the middle of their fight.

When Koichi gets involved and cut by Stendhal, Knuckleduster soon joins the fight. The two of them have a rather honorable battle in which Stendhal tries to explain that the two of them are the same, but Knuckleduster doesn’t want to hear any of that. Noting that someone like Stendhal could never have the true resolve to be a hero thanks to hiding behind their mask, Knuckleduster defeats Stendhal by decking him so hard that he gives Stendhal a very bloody and damaged nose. Even if he lost, however, Stendhal is inspired by Knuckleduster’s words.

RELATED: Would Attack on Titan’s Female Titan Beat Mt. Lady From My Hero Academia in a Fight?

How Stain Becomes Stain in My Hero Academia

Stendhal then becomes inspired by Knuckleduster and realizes that resolve is what makes someone a true hero. Heading back to his hideout, he continues to mumble to himself about what that means and decides that his new journey is to fully realize his own resolve. Casting away his masked self and cutting off his nose (leading to his final look in the main My Hero Academia series), Stendhal declares that he won’t be holding himself back any more.

Declaring that he has become the faceless ideology that will be changing the world, Stain then becomes the full villain we know from the main series. As for the name, his final words in the episode help bring that full circle as he gives a very ominous speech, “Action without existence. A color that dyes the world. The blood I shed, the blood I bleed, is proof of its importance. Behind me, a path remains. Indelible bloodstains that show the way.”

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Be it One Punch Man’s Saitama versus DC’s Superman, or Naruto’s Kakashi against Star Wars’ Obi-Wan, fans love debating who would win if characters from different worlds were to face off against each other. This is especially true for characters with similar powers, like Attack on Titan’s Annie Leonhart versus My Hero Academia’s Mt. Lady. Both the giants are unique in their own way and possess skills like no other, but who’d actually take the trophy home? 

A 14-meter behemoth, Annie’s Female Titan is a martial arts master who could go toe-to-toe with Mikasa Ackerman in her human form. Her hardened fists and tactical mind make her a nightmare on the battlefield. Meanwhile, at 20.6 meters, Mt. Lady is a Pro Hero whose Gigantification quirk transforms her into a city-crushing giant. She’s all about raw power, using her massive size and weight to dominate foes. These giants rule their worlds, but their strengths – Annie’s agility versus Mt. Lady’s brute force – set the stage for an epic showdown raising just one question: can skill outmatch size?

[RELATED – My Hero Academia Reveals Shigaraki’s Original Quirk (& It’s Heartbreaking)]

Both Giants’ Greatest Feats

Annie’s Female Titan is a force of nature in the Attack on Titan universe. She’s not just big – she’s terrifyingly skilled. After years of Marleyan training, she’s a martial arts master in both her human and titan form. During Attack on Titan Season 1, the Female Titan single-handedly massacred seasoned soldiers during the 57th Expedition, shrugging off cannon fire and using her hardening to protect her nape, which is every titan’s weak point. Her ability to crystallize specific body parts, like her fists and shins, also lets her deliver devastating blows and block attacks that would obliterate normal titans. She’s also incredibly agile despite her 14-meter size, as seen when she was easily able to climb Wall Maria.

On the other hand, Mt. Lady’s Gigantification allows her to grow from a normal human to a 20.6-meter giant in seconds. She’s a Pro Hero, which means that while she might not be a master martial artist like Annie, she is well-trained to handle villains and protect civilians, often in urban environments. In My Hero Academia’s Paranormal Liberation War Arc, she held back the monstrously powerful Gigantomachia. And in the manga, she’s even survived direct attacks from All For One, proving she’s not all talk.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Female Titan’s strengths lie in her versatility. Annie’s combat training makes her a tactical fighter, able to outmaneuver opponents bigger and stronger than her with precise strikes. Annie also has a trump card: the ability to mimic other Titans’ abilities. This includes her scream which summons nearby Pure Titans to her aid, potentially turning a one-on-one fight into a chaotic mob, and her hardening and crystallizing abilities. Her stamina is notable too, but her strengths come with two big weaknesses. 

To start, like any other Titan, the Female Titan’s nape is its glaring weakness; damage there can incapacitate or kill Annie. Titans are also surprisingly light for their size, with the Female Titan estimated to weigh around 9 tons. Her lightweight frame, while agile, means she’s not built for grappling heavier opponents. Unlike Annie, who’s limited by titan physiology, Mt. Lady’s body is essentially a scaled-up human, weighing an estimated 50-60 tons based on her proportions with a massive reach advantage.

Mt. Lady’s size and weight give her a brute-force edge, letting her overpower foes through sheer mass. She’s durable and can tank hits from villains far stronger than the average human. Her Pro Hero training means she’s quick to assess situations and exploit weaknesses. However, her Quirk has its limits: she can only gigantify to 20.6 meters, with no in-between sizes, and maintaining her giant form burns energy fast. She’s also less agile than the Female Titan, and her massive frame makes her a bigger target. Mt. Lady also has no other special abilities, relying entirely on physicality.

The Inevitable Showdown: Which Giantess Wins?

In Attack on Titan’s grim universe, Annie is a predator. In My Hero Academia’s heroic landscape, Mt. Lady is a protector. If Mt. Lady suddenly materializes in front of Attack on Titan’s Female Titan via some secret dimension-travel Quirk, Annie doesn’t see a hero; she sees a bizarre, oversized titan that’s a potential threat to her mission.

Without hesitation, the Female Titan charges, her eyes locked on Mt. Lady’s nape, assuming it’s the key to victory. Annie’s usual tactics – swift kicks and hardened punches – come fast and fierce. She lands a spinning kick to Mt. Lady’s leg, expecting to topple her. But Mt. Lady, weighing nearly 20 times more, barely budges. The Female Titan’s lightweight frame, designed for speed, can’t match Mt. Lady’s sheer mass. 

Annie tries a hard punch to Mt. Lady’s torso, but the Hero braces herself, absorbing the blow with a grunt. Mt. Lady then counters with a massive hand, swatting Annie back like a fly. The Female Titan skids across the ground, stunned by the force. Mt. Lady, unfazed, closes the distance, her footsteps shaking the earth. She grabs the Female Titan by the arm, using her weight to pin Annie’s 14-meter form to the ground. Annie struggles, but Mt. Lady’s tonnage is overwhelming – she’s like a mountain holding down a feather. In desperation, Annie exits her titan body, scaling Mt. Lady’s back to reach her nape. She slices with her blade, expecting to end the fight. 

But Mt. Lady isn’t a titan – there’s no human piloting from the nape and no weak point. The blade scratches her skin, drawing blood, but it’s superficial. Annoyed, Mt. Lady reaches back, plucking Annie off like a bug. Holding the tiny human in her palm, Mt. Lady could crush her, but she hesitates as her Hero instincts kick in. Instead, she flicks Annie away, sending her tumbling unconscious into the grass as Mt. Lady stands victorious.

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My Hero Academia might have come to an end last year, but the creator behind it all has dropped some special new art for the Big Three with some special new art. My Hero Academia ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, but the last year has seen the creator return to the series with all sorts of special new releases. These have included not only full epilogue chapters exploring more of My Hero Academia after it came to an end, and tons of special art for the creator’s characters showing them off in a whole new art.

My Hero Academia is being celebrated in Japan with a special new exhibition dropping a much closer look at the series’ art over the years. This also includes some brand new sketches never seen before that either series creator Kohei Horikoshi had on the side or developed for the exhibition itself. One of these new pieces includes a special new look at the members of the Big 3 at U.A. Academy, Mirio Togata, Nejire Hado, and Tamaki Amajiki. You can check out the special new sketch below as spotted by @aitaikimochi on X.

Who Are My Hero Academia’s Big Three?

Mirio, Nejire and Tamaki were introduced as the top three students of U.A. Academy heading into the Shie Hassaikai arc. As Deku and the other members of Class 1-A kicked off their work study in the pro hero field, they were also introduced to some of the top students who had already started making a name for themselves through their own starter pro hero work. It was from that point on that things started to get much more serious for Deku and the others as not only did they start to take on tougher foes, but the stakes were raised in ways that carried all the way through to the finale.

The Big Three themselves might not have fought alongside one another in full until the events of the final war between the heroes and villains, but they were still some major characters within My Hero Academia itself. Mirio especially held a pretty close role with Deku as it was teased that he might have gotten One For All instead of Deku, and ended up being taken out of action for a while too. It’s safe to say that these three really changed the trajectory of the series’ second half.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Creator Reveals Touching Reason For One Hero’s Adult Makeover

What’s Next for My Hero Academia’s Big Three?

The last time we had seen the Big Three in action, they were fighting against Tomura Shigaraki in the My Hero Academia anime. We’ll be seeing the next step in this final battle against the villains soon enough as the eighth and final season of the My Hero Academia TV anime will be airing some time this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule. The new episodes will be streaming exclusively with Crunchyroll alongside their premieres in Japan, and you can catch up with the first seven seasons of the anime there in the meantime.

As for what to expect from the final batch of episodes, My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON will be directed by Naomi Nakayama for studio Bones. Yosuke Kuroda will be returning to handle the series’ scripts, with Kenji Nagasaki as chief director, Yoshihiko Umakoshi and Hitomi Odashima providing the character designs, and Yuki Hayashi composing the music. It will be ending its adaptation of Kohei Horikoshi’s original My Hero Academia manga, so it’s time to get ready for its grand finale.

The post My Hero Academia Creator Highlights The Big 3 After the Finale With New Art appeared first on ComicBook.com.

From muscular bunny girls like Mirko to laidback charmers like Hawks, My Hero Academia’s pro-heroes definitely have some of the best designs in the series that cater to nearly every audience. It’s easy to see why the pro-heroes, even the quirkiest of them, like Best Jeanist, are so popular among fans. Having said that, if there’s one underrated favorite in the series, it would have to be Shoto Aizawa, Class 1-A’s ever-tired homeroom teacher, formally also known as Eraserhead, and My Hero Academia’s latest release just gave him a whole new look, making him more attractive than ever.

Besides the epilogue in Chapter 430, My Hero Academia also released a whole new extended epilogue branded as Chapter 431 in its final volume. This final chapter debuts the adult versions of many beloved My Hero Academia characters, including the post-timeskip version of Aizawa, who is surprisingly featured with short hair for the first time in the entire series. Furthermore, in My Hero Academia’s recently released final fanbook, Ultra Age, Horikoshi was asked if there was any particular reason for Aizawa’s short hair in Chapter 431. In response, Horikoshi revealed that Aizawa only gets his hair cut once every few years, and this appearance in the final chapter just so happened to be one of the instances when he’d recently gotten it trimmed. Horikoshi’s response reads, “Aizawa thinks cutting hair is a waste of time, so he just grows it out. He only cuts his hair once every few years. Coincidentally, that just happened to be one of those times.”

[RELATED: My Hero Academia’s Creator Answers the Big Deku x Ochaco Question]

My Hero Academia’s Epilogue Gives Aizawa a Whole New Look

As far as Aizawa’s design goes, his long hair, under-eye bags, and his long cloth scarf have become quite synonymous with him over the years and easily make up his most iconic look. Having said that, the latter half of My Hero Academia also saw Aizawa don an eye patch after losing his eye to Shigaraki. While he essentially lost use of his quirk, the eye patch did make him look infinitely cooler, though his new short-haired design may have just beaten the competition for Aizawa’s hottest look yet.

As seen in Chapter 431, Aizawa’s short hair still manages to cover his missing eye, and the pro-hero, for the most part, still looks largely the same eight years later, still donning his iconic cloth scarf and dark undereye circles, albeit with a bit more stubble. Though Aizawa has had his long, shaggy hair since he was a student at U.A. himself, there’s no denying the new look is quite refreshing.

In fact, given that Aizawa’s hair floating up used to be one of the biggest tells of his quirk being active, fans have questioned for years why he didn’t simply trim his hair short. Well, thanks to the latest My Hero Academia fanbook, fans finally have their answers, and the explanation could not be more characteristically accurate. As for the Aizawa simps, the only hope is that My Hero Academia’s anime also adapts the entire epilogue for the final season, including this version of Aizawa.

Source: @aitaikimochi on X.

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One of the things that My Hero Academia is best known for is its student-mentor relationships, the best example being Deku and All Might, whose bond was carefully fleshed out over the course of the entire series. That said, besides Deku and All Might, My Hero Academia also has one other touching mentor relationship, this being Aizawa and Hitoshi Shinso. The bond between these two especially shines in the series’ epilogue through a subtle yet touching detail of Shinso’s adult makeover, and the series’ creator just confirmed as much.

In the recently released fanbook titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Age, Kohei Horikoshi was asked whether the reason for Shinso’s longer hair in Chapter 431 was related to Aizawa. Horikoshi confirmed that Shinso did indeed grow out his hair because he looks up to Aizawa, with his response in the fanbook reading, “Yes, it’s out of respect for Aizawa.” Interestingly, in his response, Horikoshi also adds that he intended to have long-haired Shinso make his debut much earlier in My Hero Academia during the U.A. Traitor Arc. The exact moment Horikoshi is referring to is at the end of Chapter 340, where Shinso’s hair does seem a bit longer than usual, but as Horikoshi claimed, due to Shinso being featured upside down, it wasn’t all too clear at the time. Horikoshi said in the fanbook, “Actually, in Volume 34, I wanted to show his long hair already, but the pose I drew had him upside down, so it was unclear.”

[RELATED: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Preview Teases More of Its Deadly New Anti-Hero]

Aizawa and Shinso Are Still My Hero Academia’s Second-Best Student-Mentor Duo

When first introduced in My Hero Academia, Shinso certainly grabbed a lot of eyeballs, mostly due to his very interesting quirk, Brainwashing. Though Shinso did not win any accolades at the time of the Sports Festival, he definitely did leave his mark on fans as well as those around him within the series, proving that he possessed much more potential. Aizawa in particular quickly became a mentor figure to Shinso, teaching him how to make the most of his quirk in battle and how to use it to best support his fellow teammates. The fact that Shinso’s quirk was not well suited for battle was something that Aizawa and Shinso would only bond over even further, with Shinso echoing many of young Aizawa’s own anxieties about becoming a pro-hero.

It’s safe to say that Aizawa has had quite a strong influence over Shinso since then, with the effects of his mentorship most clearly showing up in Shinso’s combat abilities and his similar use of a long cloth scarf as a capturing weapon, just like Aizawa. Now with the longer hair as seen in Chapter 431 of My Hero Academia, Shinso has all but become Aizawa’s successor and the spitting image of him, complete with the long hair and the bags under his eyes. More than anything, it’s really sweet that Shinso came to respect Aizawa so greatly to the point of emulating him down to his long hair. As far as role models go in My Hero Academia, All Might is a fine choice, but Shoto Aizawa isn’t a bad pick either.

HT: @aitaikimochi on X.

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My Hero Academia has revealed one final one-shot taking place after the final chapter of the original series, and with it has unfortunately shut down any hopes of Shota Aizawa adopting Eri in the future. My Hero Academia had quite a few character threads that were being developed throughout the series’ tenure, and one of the biggest surrounded Aizawa. Although he was originally introduced as Deku’s prickly pro hero teacher at U.A. Academy, it was soon made clear that he actually cared for his students more than anyone realized. Even to the point of putting himself in some very real danger to protect them all.

Aizawa also steadily revealed more about his own private life as the series continued, and it was also made clear that he was a clear father and mentor figure to other students besides Deku himself. There was one kid that fans loved seeing Aizawa with especially, Eri, and had even hoped that Aizawa would go on to fully adopt Eri at some point in the future thanks to the connection the two seemed to share. Unfortunately, that doesn’t turn out to be the case.

My Hero Academia Splits Up Aizawa and Eri

As explained in the recently released Ultra Age book for My Hero Academia detailing more of its hero world following the end of the series (as spotted by @Color_Division on X), it was explained that Eri was freed by the Shie Hassaikai officially following the end of the war between the heroes and villains. It was Mandalay of the Pussycats who ends up taking in Eri in the future, and following her adoption of Kota, it seems like the two ended up becoming makeshift siblings in the future. So it might seem like a bummer for those who hoped Eri would end up as Aizawa’s future daughter, but not all hope is lost there.

Eri and Aizawa have far from lost their connection in the future though. In a special one-shot included with Ultra Age that showcases one final look at My Hero Academia‘s future, a now high school aged Eri is seen visiting U.A. Academy. She goes to a different school, but she came to drop by a gift from Mandalay to thank Aizawa for looking after Kota in U.A. It’s clear that the two still have a close connection after all this time, but it’s not really the father and daughter one that many fans would have wanted instead.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Explains How Deku’s Pro Hero Armor Restores His Quirks

Aizawa Still Has a Bright Future

Although Aizawa doesn’t become an adoptive father in the future, it’s still very much bright. He might no longer be involved in pro hero work due to all of the injuries he had sustained during the final war, but he still kept up with his work at U.A. Academy. Much like how the series teased that his primary focus was on protecting the next generation of young heroes, his future teased that this would continue even further as he inspires the next generation to come.

He’s been watching over Kota and the others who have enrolled in U.A. Academy after being inspired by Deku and the others during the war, and it’s clear that he’s still a “father” in this way. It might not have gone in a more concrete direction as fans might have hoped for given his connection with Eri, but it’s also a connection he has with all the young heroes. Aizawa carries about everyone, and uses his talents to nurture the future of Japan as a whole instead.

The post My Hero Academia Timeskip Dashes Hopes for One Pro Hero’s Daddy Future appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia has released a special new Ultra Age book on shelves in Japan revealing tons of new information about the series after it came to an end, and one of the updates has explained how Izuku Midoriya’s future pro hero armor suit helps him to fight as a hero again. As My Hero Academia worked through its final battle between the heroes and villains, it was immediately made clear to Deku and the audience that his days using One For All were numbered. When the fight against All For One came to its conclusion, this indeed turned out to be the case.

With Deku giving up the final embers of One For All’s power during the war, it led to a ten year time skip revealing that he chose to become a teacher at U.A. Academy. But as a final reveal taking things into the future, Bakugo and the other former Class 1-A heroes have been spending their time as pro heroes saving up the money to put together a special suit of armor to help Deku fight as a pro hero. Now the creator behind it all has revealed how this special suit actually works.

How Deku’s Pro Hero Armor Works

In the final chapter of My Hero Academia, it’s explained that Mei Hatsume has been working together with Bakugo and the others for the past few years to put together an experimental new armor suit that would allow Deku to be a pro hero. It’s here that Deku heads into the future with the rest of his former class, and series creator Kohei Horikoshi explained in the Ultra Age book (as noted by @aitakimochi on X) that this suit indeed does its best to replicate One For All’s abilities and mix them together much like how Deku used the original version of the ability. It’s a prototype in doing so, but it seems to be working well.

In the epilogue to My Hero Academia released together with the final volume of the series, an additional chapter exploring more of the time skip period explained that Deku himself would still be focusing more on his work as a teacher rather than returning to be a hero full time. He was happy to have this power suit to help fight alongside everyone else once more, but saw a future in teaching instead. That’s changed with yet another new one-shot chapter after that grand finale too which sees Deku truly living out his pro hero dreams either way.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals America’s New Number One Hero After Star and Stripe

My Hero Academia Gives Deku His Pro Hero Dreams

In the one-shot chapter released together with My Hero Academia’s Ultra Age fanbook (where this new bit of information also comes from) it’s further revealed that Deku indeed has been doing a lot of work now that he has this power suit. He balances his work life together with his hero career, and has inspired people all over Japan thanks to everything he did during the fight against All For One. But in the short time since he started his pro hero career in full, he’s already risen to Rank 4 on the hero charts.

This also hilariously sparked Bakugo to rise through the rankings himself as he jumped ten places up in the rankings to keep up with his rival, and it’s clear that heading into the future Deku is going to have the career he’s always dreamed up. So while he might have had to sacrifice everything during the war, at the end of it all Deku has become humanity’s number one in the future.

The post My Hero Academia Explains How Deku’s Pro Hero Armor Restores His Quirks appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia might have only briefly showcased the United States of America’s own heroes before it came to an end, but it turns out that America has crowned a new number one hero after Star and Stripe met her ultimate fate. As Japan’s heroes were getting ready for the final battle against All For One and Tomura Shigaraki, Star and Stripe made her shocking debut in Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series. As America’s number one hero, she had modeled herself after All Might thanks to the fact that he saved her as a young child. And like All Might, Star and Stripe didn’t hold back.

This was also unfortunately what lead to Star and Stripe’s fairly short run through My Hero Academia overall. She fully launched herself at Shigaraki as she felt like her power was enough to overcome the villain, and soon discovered that her new foe was a lot more deadly than she realized. While her own power was enough to damage Shigaraki enough heading into the final war, she herself didn’t make it. And years later American has crowned a new number one hero named Agate Minou.

America’s New Number One Hero in My Hero Academia

As spotted by @aitakimochi on X, My Hero Academia’s new Ultra Age book recently released in Japan answers a lot of questions that fans still had about the series itself. One fan had asked about whether or not the United States replaced Star and Stripe following the hero’s loss to Shigaraki, and series creator Kohei Horikoshi explained that they have indeed crowned a new number one hero named Agate Minou, “A new Number 1 Hero has emerged in the U.S., and her name is Agate Minou.” While her hero name has not been revealed, she’s been inspired by Star and Stripe.

Much like how All Might inspired Star, it seems Star’s heroic sacrifice has gone on to inspire America’s next top hero, as Horikoshi also stated, “She was inspired by Star and Stripe and breaks various barriers to inspire people.” As her for own abilities, it was explained that Minou’s quirk is known as “Fault Line,” but it was not explained what this ability is. The name of it seems to tease an earthquake like ability, and that would be quite a power to be wielded by a country’s top hero.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Shigaraki’s Original Quirk (& It’s Heartbreaking)

Star and Stripe Made a Big Impact in My Hero Academia

Star and Stripe might not have been in My Hero Academia for long, but she still made a huge impact on how the final war between the heroes and villains played out. Her early entry and defeat in the series might have come as a shock, but it also cemented some factors for that grand finale. It confirmed that no other heroes in the world would be stepping up to help Japan (and thus wrapped up that question fans might have had the entire time), and actually weakened Shigaraki and All For One to make them beatable.

It might have been a loss for Star and Stripe, but ended up leading to a big victory. Her New Order quirk ended up wiping out many of the other quirks All For One had under his control, and who knows what it would have looked like had he or Shigaraki fought Deku and the others at full power. Star and Stripe played a crucial role in the war, and now it seems like that’s inspired the next major top hero in America as a result of her efforts.

HT – @aitaikimochi on X

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My Hero Academia has been revealing all sorts of new information about its characters now that its manga has officially ended, and it turns out that Tomura Shigaraki’s real quirk has a heartbreaking connection to his grandmother, Nana Shimura. The final arc of My Hero Academia came with several major revelations about Shigaraki and his connection with All For One. Because while it had seemed like All For One was raising Nana Shimura’s grandson to be his successor in the future, he was truly only raising the young Shimura to be his new body when he took over as a Demon Lord.

It was explained during the final arc that All For One’s desire for a new body had led him to experimenting on many children like Dabi and others as he searched for a suitable vessel. This even went as far as manipulating the quirks of some of these children, and that was the case for Tenko Shimura. Before this young Shimura became the Decay spreading villain, it turns out that the original quirk that he was born with was a lot closer to Nana Shimura’s own float. In fact, it’s even seen a little bit in action through All For One.

My Hero Academia Reveals Shigaraki’s Original Quirk

When asked by a fan what Tenko Shimura’s original quirk was before it was taken by All For One, My Hero Academia series creator Kohei Horikoshi revealed in the new Ultra Age book (as spotted by @aitaikimochi on X) that Tenko’s original quirk was similar to his grandmother’s own, “The circular thing AFO had around him while floating was actually the basis of Tenko’s quirk. However, since AFO beefed it up with various other quirks, the original one wasn’t that strong.” So the young Tenko could have a much less tragic life without All For One’s influence and interference.

All For One had it so out for Nana Shimura that he manipulated her family into having a new son, and stole that young baby’s quirk to replace it with the much more destructive Decay quirk. This is what ultimately turned Tenko away from the rest of the world following what he did to his family as a result of his quirk going wild, and it really paints a much harsher picture of the kind of hopeless life that this villain really had. He was literally bred into this kind of future, and Tenko Shimura fully transformed into Tomura Shigaraki.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Bakugo’s Pro Hero Future

What Does This Mean for Shigaraki?

All For One manipulated all aspects of his life (including the name he had originally gone by), and this had impacted many different lives. Tenko’s was altered in some very significant ways as All For One was only seeking to use the young boy as his future body. It’s why when Shigaraki starts to take full control of All For One’s power, he tries his best to keep his former master out of his body. It’s a push and pull that paints a much tragic picture.

Little did Shigaraki know, All For One was also dangling his original quirk over him. That small ring boost in the air was amped up by the villain’s other stolen quirks, but it originally came from the young Tenko. There’s a parallel world out there that had Tenko be born with this quirk, and even potentially pursued a hero career like his grandmother. At the very least, he’d still have his family around if he was able to keep that first quirk.

HT – @aitaikimochi on X

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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has kicked off its first real arc with a deadly new anti-hero making their debut, and the first look at the next episode is teasing a bloody encounter ahead for Koichi Haimawari and the others. The new anime series has been exploring a darker side of the hero world since in the main My Hero Academia, and with it has showcased pieces of Japan that the heroes were not as able to help out with years before Izuku Midoriya and the others enrolled in U.A. Academy. It’s come with its fair share of cool cameos from that main series too.

With Koichi and the others now taking up vigilante work within their neighborhood because the heroes haven’t been readily available, Koichi has found himself at the receiving end of some dangerous work as things are quickly evolving in a much more aggressive direction. This seems to have gone to a whole new level as while Knuckleduster was only knocking out these villains so they could be caught, a new vigilante has entered the fray after outright murdering one of these villains.

How to Watch My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 6

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 6 is titled “Crossing Lines” and will be making its debut on Monday, May 12th in Japan and will be exclusively streaming with Crunchyroll in other territories when it hits. The synopsis for the episode teases it as such, “Stendhal saved Koichi and sympathized with his aspirations. However, he had a twisted belief that he would kill people he considered evil, calling it ‘judgment.” Due to Hachisuka’s plot, Stendhal’s next target is Soga and the other three. Soga tries to fight alone to protect his friends, but…”

The preview for the new episode (which you can see in the video above) teases more of this mysterious new vigilante, Stendhal, who briefly appeared in the latest episode. This fighter used a sword to kill a villain right in front of Koichi, and there are some tragic layers to this as fans know this runaway villain was a drug user who had grown too hooked on the Trigger drug that Kuin Hachisuka was all too happy to dole out. But now that the villain has been killed, this vigilante might be posing a bigger problem.

RELATED: My Hero Academia’s Creator Answers the Big Deku x Ochaco Question

What’s Next for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes?

When the idea of vigilante heroes was first introduced during My Hero Academia, it was through a much darker and more villainous lens. Hero Killer Stain had started to kill heroes because he felt like he was taking matters into his own hands, and thus ended up becoming a villain due to his obtuse nature of his vision of heroism itself. It’s why there was already a dark cloud hanging over the term with the debut of this new anime series, and it’s vigilantes like this one that take things even further in that violent direction.

Stendhal seems to be a prototype version of Hero Killer Stain, and given that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place years before the events of the main series, we could be seeing the formation of that mentality here. It’s yet to be fully confirmed if the two share some kind of connection, but given that we’ve also seen Ingenium making a return in this series too, it could make for a rather tragic look into the future the more we see this vigilante assassin in motion. But Koichi’s going to need to tread lightly for what’s to come.

The post My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Preview Teases More of Its Deadly New Anti-Hero appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Despite being a shonen series and thus largely devoid of romance, My Hero Academia is hardly immune to fan shipping, with Deku and Ochaco being one of the most popular ships of the series. This is largely because Horikoshi himself has endlessly teased the potential romance between the two ever since the start of the series. Over the course of the 431 chapters that make up My Hero Academia’s ten-year-long run in Shonen Jump, Deku and Ochaco have very much become the will-they-won’t-they couple of the series ,with even the epilogue being very subtle about their ending. Having said that, it seems Horikoshi has finally put the matter to rest, that too in the funniest way possible.

In the recently released fanbook titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Age, Horikoshi was yet again asked to clarify whether Ochaco finally confessed her feelings for Deku in the end, essentially asking whether Deku and Ochaco did indeed end up together. However, Horikoshi, who is seemingly sick of spelling it out for fans any further, had the funniest and sassiest response ever, saying, “Please read Volume 42 of the manga and use your own imagination for that answer,” referencing the additional epilogue included in the final volume of My Hero Academia.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Ochaco’s Pro Hero Future]

My Hero Academia’s Creator Clears the Air About Deku and Ochaco’s Relationship

While Chapter 430 left fans hanging about where exactly Deku and Ochaco stood following the final war, Volume 42, the final volume of the series, surprised fans with an additional epilogue chapter set eight years later, wherein Horikoshi finally gave fans more clarity. Admittedly, Horikoshi was still very subtle with the confession scene, cutting out Deku’s exact words, though it is heavily implied that Deku and Ochaco started dating at the end.

Essentially, in Chapter 431, which serves as the continued epilogue, Class 1-A has a reunion of sorts after which, as they prepare to head their separate ways, Ochaco thinks about how she wanted to talk to Deku more, but they were seated too far away from each other throughout. Right then, Deku calls out to Ochaco and also admits to wanting to talk to her more, not just on that day but every day from there on out. Somewhere between stumbling over his words, Deku manages to ask Ochaco out, with her agreeing and admitting she was thinking the same thing.

Though the chapter and essentially the series ends with Deku and Ochaco innocently holding hands, the epilogue more than implies that they confessed to each other at that moment and started dating from there on out. While fans may have wanted a more obvious answer, it seems this is the best they’re going to get, and Horikoshi’s response in My Hero Academia’s final fan book makes it clear he’s done answering any more questions about Deku and Ochaco, at least for the time being.

My Hero Academia is available on Manga Plus and Viz Media.

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My Hero Academia has been revealing all sorts of new information following the end of its original manga series, and with it has also revealed a surprising twist on Ochaco Uraraka’s own goals as a pro hero. My Hero Academia might have been largely focused on how Izuku Midoriya was working to become the new number one hero, but it was slowly revealed throughout the series that the rest of the members of Class 1-A would also be growing in their own ways to become pro heroes in the future in their own right. This naturally includes Ochaco in it all as well.

The final chapter of My Hero Academia jumps forward in time to reveal that Class 1-A’s former students had all become pro heroes to varying degrees of success. Ochaco was one such hero who not only went on to have a successful career, but finally made the money that she was hoping to make when she first started on her journey to become one in the first place. But in a recent update about this future, it turns out that Ochaco’s parents haven’t touched any of the money she’s sent them.

Ochaco’s Parents Haven’t Touched Her Pro Hero Money

The final chapter of My Hero Academia revealed that in the future, Ochaco had gone on to start a new initiative to help those with quirks that don’t exactly fit in the usual hero society. It was then revealed in the special epilogue released after the final chapter that Ochaco has done very well for herself financially, and even works in a fancy office in the future. It was her dream to one day make enough money to support her parents so that they wouldn’t need to work any more, but her parents haven’t touched any of that money she’s sent their way.

As revealed through My Hero Academia‘s new Ultra Age fan book now hitting shelves in Japan (as spotted by @aitakimochi on X), it seems Ochaco’s goal is still a bit of out reach as they haven’t used any of that money. It’s good to see in the meantime that they never need that help, but it’s also a reflection of how much Ochaco had changed through the series as whole. Because while she originally wanted to be a hero for the money, it’s now just one of the many reasons she puts in the work.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Shuts Down Hopes for One Class 1-A Future Romance

What’s Ochaco’s Future in My Hero Academia?

But while there was this twist to Ochaco’s pro hero career, the rest of her future was revealed to be quite the promising one within My Hero Academia. In the special epilogue released after the final chapter of the series, there was a greater focus on Ochaco and how she has recovered following the end of the war. While she still carries the ghost of Himiko Toga within her and it influences her decisions in the future, Ochaco also is looking ahead to what’s to come.

My Hero Academia’s real grand finale made sure to commit to one final romance as Deku and Ochaco seemingly confess to one another and will spend a lot more time together in the future. It had taken a decade since the events of the original series, but it seems like the two of them are going to have a much brighter future than they ever would have expected when they first started their respective journeys. And in that case, it’s the best twist in her future that any pro hero could ask for.

The post My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Ochaco’s Pro Hero Future appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia made a major shift when Katsuki Bakugo met his fate at the hands of Tomura Shigaraki in the final war between the heroes and villains, and it turns out the creator behind it all always planned to kill off Bakugo and bring him back later. My Hero Academia might have ended its run last Summer, but the series has been continuing with a series of brand new entries continuing the story. Now that’s reached a whole new level with the launch of a new Ultra Age book featuring tons of new information about the characters from the creator himself.

My Hero Academia series creator Kohei Horikoshi has been revealing all sorts of new information about the characters not revealed during the series’ run, and even more about his process behind the scenes of some of its biggest moments. This includes new insights into Bakugo’s death at the hands of Shigaraki in the final war, and it turns out that the creator had always planned to kill off the hero to show off just how much of a threat that Shigaraki truly was. At the same time, he had always planned to bring him back in a rather surprising way as well.

My Hero Academia Creator Wanted to Kill and Revive Bakugo

As detailed by @aitaikimochi on X, My Hero Academia series creator Kohei Horikoshi had planned from the start to kill Bakugo and revive him later to show how strong Shigaraki had become in the final war. Horikoshi even went as far as asking the series’ editor whether or not this would be okay to do, and noted how it would take about a year in real world time before the young hero would make his full return to the series. His editor was even wondering whether or not that fans would be alright with such a move despite the fact that he was giving it his okay.

It turns out that Horikoshi had also consulted with emergency response teams as to how someone could be revived after their heart burst, and learned that it would need to be stitched back up immediately. With this in mind, it’s why Horikoshi tried to make Edgeshot repairing Bakugo’s heart as realistically as he could. Given the response to fans from everything that went down from this moment, it certainly made an impact as that entire year fans had been hoping to see Bakugo come back to life. It was a tough wait.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Bakugo’s Pro Hero Future

Why Was Bakugo Killed in Hero Academia?

With Horikoshi revealing that Bakugo was killed in order to prove how strong Shigaraki was, it does ultimately serve its purpose within My Hero Academia’s final arc. At that moment, the heroes had not been taking as significant of losses as the villain side of things. It really seemed to be a one-way fight, and despite some of the injuries that would take them out of commission, it was still going a bit too well for the heroes before Deku was able to get in the fight in full.

But Bakugo’s death properly upped the ante for the final fights. It truly made Shigaraki a fearsome presence, and teased that no character was truly safe in My Hero Academia. It meant that even Deku could lose his life at any time, so it was an even bigger relief to see Bakugo return to the fight soon after. It was only a few minutes within the scope of the final fight itself, but fans really waited over a year’s worth of chapters to find out Bakugo’s true fate. That made each chapter all the more compelling, so Horikoshi really made the right move here.

HT – @aitaikimochi on X

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With My Hero Academia’s manga having long been wrapped up at this point, not many may remember the chokehold that the U.A. traitor theory had on fans for years during its serialisation. Kohei Horikoshi had fans pointing fingers at nearly every character from Principal Nezu to Class 1-A students like Kaminari, Hagakure, and even Tokoyami. But of course, the Final Act Saga of My Hero Academia inevitably revealed that the traitor was, in fact, Yugo Aoyama, who then went on to play a major role in the Final War and defeating All For One. Despite his betrayal, neither fans of the series nor Aoyama’s fellow classmates could ever bring themselves to resent him, and My Hero Academia’s newest release finally gave him the happy ending he deserves.

Following the conclusion of the Final War, Aoyama was seen leaving U.A. in Chapter 425 to make amends, making way for Shinso to join Class 1-A in his stead. Chapter 427 further saw Class 1-A throw Aoyama a farewell party, and though he was later seen accompanying Deku and the rest of the class in the final double spread in Chapter 430, at this point, it was still unclear if and how he became a pro-hero. Interestingly enough, the additional epilogue chapter included within Volume 42 confirmed that Aoyama had become a sidekick at Hagakure’s agency, and now My Hero Academia’s new fanbook reveals how he came to be a pro-hero after all.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Finally Reveals All For One’s Real Name]

My Hero Academia Reveals Aoyama Rejoined U.A.

My Hero Academia recently released the series’ final fanbook, titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book, wherein Kohei Horikoshi finally expands on Aoyama’s fate following his departure from U.A. in the final few chapters of the series. In a snippet of the fan book that was translated and posted on X by @aitaikimochi, Horikoshi was asked whether Aoyama ended up switching schools after he dropped out of U.A. However, Horikoshi reveals that after Aoyama turned himself in to the authorities for aiding All For One, he ended up re-enrolling in U.A.

It makes sense that Aoyama was allowed to eventually rejoin U.A., as in Chapter 425, Aoyama did mention that both Tsukauchi and Aizawa told him that he could stay. However, Aoyama wanted to make amends, which is why he decided to leave in the end. While Horikoshi’s response doesn’t mention so, it is likely that Aoyama served some kind of sentence, perhaps in the form of social work, to make up for his betrayal.

Although many fans are still divided on whether the entire U.A. traitor plot line was handled well, there’s not a single fan who would disagree about Aoyama still getting to be a hero at the end of it all. While many expected the traitor reveal to be vicious, in the end, it was hard not to have anything but sympathy for Aoyama. The revelation that Aoyama was initially quirkless painted him as a tragic version of Deku, and admittedly, Deku could have very well gone down the same dark path had he encountered All For One instead of All Might. All this goes to say that it’s nice to see that My Hero Academia gave Aoyama a happy ending after all, allowing Class 1-A to all be heroes together in the end.

My Hero Academia is available to read on Manga Plus and Viz Media.

Source: @aitaikimochi on X.

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My Hero Academia has been revealing new information about its characters ahead of the anime’s return for its final season through a special new book hitting shelves in Japan, and with it has fully revealed All For One’s real name in the process. My Hero Academia might have come to an end last year with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but series creator Kohei Horikoshi has been returning to the franchise in the time since to reveal all sorts of new information about the series that didn’t make it into the manga. This includes more key details about its biggest villains as well.

My Hero Academia hit shelves in Japan with a new Ultra Age book that comes with all sorts of new information about its characters that weren’t revealed before, and that includes even more insight into its greatest villain. Because while fans had learned that All For One was related to the first One For All user, we had only known about the villain’s codename through the power he granted himself. But now we’ve gotten to see the villain’s real name with this book, Zen Shigaraki.

My Hero Academia’s All For One Real Name Revealed

My Hero Academia has revealed that All For One’s real name is Zen Shigaraki, and that goes a long way towards expanding on more about the series’ greatest villain. It further explains why Tomura Shigaraki was named as such, and further ties him into his brother Yoichi Shigaraki. But with all of the other secrets that All For One had surrounded himself with, and other code names he’s given over the years, it almost as if Zen Shigaraki is also a codename he’s given himself as well. It’s almost too perfect of a name for the villain as it reflects just how hollow and empty he could feel at time.

When you think of the traditional definition of “zen” it usually refers to a sense of peace that one finds within some kind of isolation or meditation, and that was the kind of affront that the villain had put on in front of others. It was the show that he wanted to reveal to the rest of the world, and that includes maybe even tricking himself. He wanted to be a Demon Lord after all, and the first thing he cast aside was his real name in order to do so. While trying to seem bigger, he ended up just being as empty as his name suggests.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Shuts Down Hopes for One Class 1-A Future Romance

All For One’s Story Continues in My Hero Academia’s Final Season

My Hero Academia might have come to an end last Summer, but the franchise is continuing with even more. Not only is the franchise continuing with new entries beyond its ending with new chapters (even released with the new Ultra Age book), but the anime is about to bring it all to an end in a completely different kind of way too. My Hero Academia‘s final season is now working through the final battles against All For One and Tomura Shigaraki, so it’s time to see how it’s all adapted.

My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON is currently scheduled to premiere sometime this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule, and will also be streaming its new episodes with Crunchyroll alongside their initial release in Japan. The voice cast and staff from the previous seasons will be returning for the final wave of episodes, and you can currently catch up with the first seven seasons now streaming with the likes of Crunchyroll, Hulu and more in the meantime.

The post My Hero Academia Finally Reveals All For One’s Real Name appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia has shared a new one-shot set after its time skip grand finale, and with it has given All Might a promotion he definitely deserves. My Hero Academia might be the story of how Izuku Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A usher in a whole new era of heroes, but it’s also just as much of a story about how All Might had ended the previous era of heroism. Because while fans saw Deku grow into the hero he always believed he could be, fans also saw how All Might shifted over his role to being a mentor to that next generation.

One of the biggest shifts for All Might came after he used his final embers of One For All, and lost access to the power completely. It meant that for the first real time he’d be out of the action, and thus threw himself into his work with U.A. Academy and helped the students get ready for what’s next. So it only makes sense that after all these years, All Might’s time with the school has gone so well that he’s since become the Vice Principal of the academy.

All Might Gets a Big Promotion in My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia has released a special Ultra Age book on shelves in Japan complete with new information about the characters that weren’t revealed during the original run of the series, and series creator Kohei Horikoshi also included a special one-shot that takes place not only after the final chapter of the original series, but even after the special extra epilogue chapter released together with the final volume of the series. This fleshes out its ten year time skip even more, and now we’ve gotten a better glimpse at All Might’s future together with an also much older Eri.

She’s visiting Aizawa at U.A. Academy to drop off a thank you gift from Mandalay to thank him for looking after Kota at school, and fans get to see All Might one final time. It’s revealed that he’s since become the Vice Principal of the school, and he and the others look at a news report happening at the same time. It’s revealed that since Deku has returned to pro hero work after being gifted a suit of power armor from the rest of his former class, he’s reached the Number 4 rank on the charts. So All Might gets to see Deku soar one final time now that it’s all coming to an end.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Bakugo’s Pro Hero Future

It’s a Fitting Ending for All Might

My Hero Academia is just as much of All Might’s story as it is Deku’s, so this is a fitting ending for the former number one hero. He had passed on his power to Deku, and thus passed on the pressure of being a hero to save the world. While he fought in the final battle against All For One, All Might was meant to stand on the sidelines and watch as Deku fought to save everyone. But even without power, Deku inspired All Might to go Plus Ultra in a whole new kind of way and the two made one another better.

All Might’s struggle was with the fact that he needed to shift his mentality towards becoming a teacher despite the fact he was a hero that worked mainly on his own before. It was that conflict that made him change his ways, and it seems like it was such a success that it ultimately led him to having a much better position within the school overall a decade after it was all over.

The post My Hero Academia Timeskip Gives All Might a Much Deserved Promotion appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia might have come to an end last year, but a new update to the grand finale has introduced a final surprising twist to Katsuki Bakugo’s pro hero career in the future. My Hero Academia ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last year, and series creator Kohei Horikoshi introduced a decade long time skip following the end of the final war against All For One and Tomura Shigaraki. This final chapter of the manga series then revealed how Deku and the others moved on into the future, and Bakugo’s role in it was a bit upsetting considering his journey through the series.

My Hero Academia explained that due to Bakugo’s prickly nature with the public, he was nowhere near the top spot in the rankings despite the fact that he had been fighting for the top spot his entire time through the series. Even more of a bummer was the fact that he was eventually revealed to be ranked 15th in a special chapter released after the grand finale as an expanded epilogue. But with one final update to the series, there’s also a final twist to Bakugo’s career as he quickly jumps up to fifth place once Deku gets back into the action.

Bakugo Has a Promising Pro Hero Career After All

When My Hero Academia first came to an end, its decade long time skip revealed a new hero at the top of the ranks and detailed that while some of Class 1-A’s heroes like Shoto Todoroki managed to make their mark, Bakugo was nowhere near that top spot. In a special epilogue released with the final volume of the manga series later that year, Horikoshi included an extra final chapter that saw Bakugo even saying goodbye to Deku as the two of them were going to go their separate ways. Because while Deku got a specialized suit to resume his hero work, Deku was more interested in staying a teacher.

With the release of My Hero Academia’s new Ultra Age book in Japan, Horikoshi included a few more extra pages of the manga taking place even after that final epilogue and they detail some more changes following that extra finale. Thanks to the super armor given to him by Bakugo and the others, Deku is a hero in his spare time and has quickly risen to fourth place in the hero rankings. And funny enough, Bakugo is so inspired to see that Deku’s back in action that he’s also risen to fifth place in the meantime. So his rival pushed him to try again.

Bakugo and Deku Are Eternal Rivals

Although My Hero Academia fans might not have gotten the full romance between Bakugo and Deku as many might have wanted, it’s clear through this twist for Bakugo that the two of them still have a very close connection after all this time. It hilariously seems like it’s very one sided, however, as Deku was revealed to be just fine moving on to his teaching career after it was clear that he was never going to have a pro hero career in the future. But Bakugo was never really able to let it go.

Bakugo’s rivalry with Deku goes so deep that when Deku wasn’t around, Bakugo’s own hero career faltered. Whether he was unmotivated to actually do well without Deku around to compare himself to, or whether he was just biding his time until Deku came back, Bakugo worked for years to help his rival and closest friend. And it wasn’t until Deku returned to action that Bakugo was truly happiest. So at least this final, final ending has a better future for Bakugo in mind than My Hero Academia did initially.

The post My Hero Academia Reveals Surprising Twist to Bakugo’s Pro Hero Future appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia has returned with a new book detailing tons of more information about characters that weren’t revealed during the original run of the series, and one of these updates has finally revealed the name of All Might’s mother. My Hero Academia ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, and has been preparing to bring the franchise to an even more complete finale with the final season of the TV anime series later this year. But before it goes, My Hero Academia has started to reveal all sorts of new information about its many characters never seen before.

My Hero Academia has dropped a new Ultra Age book for fans on shelves in Japan that has revealed all sorts of new information about its characters that Horikoshi never got to include in the manga’s original run, and that includes some new details about All Might’s mother as well. While not much is revealed about her, it’s been confirmed (as spotted by @Color_Division on X) that her name is Toshie Yagi. Which helps to further flesh out more of his mysterious past overall.

Who Is All Might’s Mother?

All Might has been one of the more mysterious heroes fans have gotten to see explored through the course of My Hero Academia. Through his passing on of One For All to Izuku Midoriya, fans got to learn all about the former number one hero. While it was revealed that he had connections with one of One For All’s previous users (and thus his master), Nana Shimura, and led a lot of his hero life as a result of those teachings, his actual past beyond that had yet to be explored. Outside of the fact that he grew up quirkless but wanted to be a hero anyway, fans didn’t get to see much of young All Might.

That wasn’t until the final arc of the series itself that saw All Might pushing himself truly beyond plus ultra. As he donned his armored power suit and fought against All For One, All Might thought back about how he got to this point in his life. This flashback revealed a shot of a young Toshinori together with his mother as the two of them enjoyed reading a hero storybook of some kind. But unfortunately, that’s as much as we’ve gotten to see from All Might’s mother at the time.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Shuts Down Hopes for One Class 1-A Future Romance

What Does This Mean for All Might?

Now that her name’s been revealed to be Toshie Yagi, this is a final piece of information that helps to further flesh out the hero’s past overall. My Hero Academia has yet to reveal any more of All Might’s past despite fans wanting to see much more of it, and it’s not likely that there will be much more revealed soon given that the series has come to an end. While My Hero Academia‘s creator has returned with new stories after it originally ended, this is far from exploring any of the other characters in a deeper way.

Much like how My Hero Academia was able to humanize the number one hero after everything he had gone through after passing on One For All’s power to Deku, learning more about his mother gives fans a more three dimensional look at Toshinori after all this time. It’s only just the reveal of her name, but it goes a long way to showcasing more of the side of the hero that we never got to see. And a little goes a long way in cases like this.

The post My Hero Academia Reveals All Might’s Mother’s Name at Last appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia has dropped a new book in Japan detailing all sorts of new information about its characters following the end of the manga series, and one of these updates also unfortunately tears down hopes fans might have had for a future romance between two of Class 1-A’s heroes. My Hero Academia officially came to an end with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last year, but it was far from the end of creator Kohei Horikoshi’s time with the series and its characters. Not only did the creator eventually return for a new epilogue set after its final chapter, but Horikoshi has also returned with even more never before revealed details.

My Hero Academia‘s new Ultra Age book has now hit shelves in Japan, and it has revealed all sorts of new information about each of the characters that didn’t make the pages of the series itself. This includes more details about each of the Class 1-A heroes’ pro hero futures as seen through the time skip in the final chapter of the series, and one of these updates also unfortunately shuts down any hopes fans have had for a future romance between Eijiro Kirishima and Mina Ashido.

My Hero Academia Shuts Down Kirishima and Ashido Romance

My Hero Academia had showcased a deeper connection between Kirishima and Ashido through the series as the two of them not only played a role in each other’s lives before even getting to U.A. Academy, but used each other as inspiration to take their own abilities to the next level (and got some standout moments during the final war against the villains as a result). But while there was a teased connection between two, it’s never gone further than just the two of them being friends despite the hopes fans had for the potential couple. And it never does in the future either.

According to one of the Ultra Age updates about Ashido’s life as a pro hero (as detailed by @aitaikimochi on X), and when it mentions Kirishima he’s listed as just “friends from middle school” and that she maintains a “friendly rivalry” with Kirishima even into the future. As for their connection, it remained platonic even as they became adults, “They are influenced by each other and share a firm friendship based on the courage to save others. Their mutual respect for each other’s quirks is one example of this…”

RELATED: Another My Hero Academia Series Ends With First Look at Final Cover

My Hero Academia Just Isn’t Interested in Romance

My Hero Academia just isn’t interested in romance, so this is another example of that fact. My Hero Academia only had a couple of romances in development for the series, and those that ended up being fleshed out into full marriages in the future were characters largely on the sidelines. So for those students in Class 1-A that fans wanted to see couple up never really did. That’s even the case for characters like Deku and Ochaco, whose “will they/won’t they” even continues through to beyond the final chapter and into its epilogue.

My Hero Academia‘s story was all about its heroes, and their connections to one another were more focused on lifting each other up in the face of the villain they had to fight against. The focus on the war meant their love lives couldn’t really develop in any real way, and it turns out that even after all of that they never really had any real romantic developments either. It’s a shame for all those fans who had been hoping for a different result though.

The post My Hero Academia Shuts Down Hopes for One Class 1-A Future Romance appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been powering through its debut season as part of the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and the first look at the anime’s next episode is setting up for the debut of a deadly new vigilante joining the fray. The first few episodes of this special spinoff anime series have started out small as fans were introduced to Koichi Haimawari, a college student who starts by helping out people in his town before being wrapped up in the wild world of being a full unlicensed vigilante hero. Now things are started to get more intense as the threats ramp up.

The previous episodes of the new anime series have not only established that there’s a deadly drug out there boosting criminals quirks to make them instant villains, and also revealed the first major villain that Koichi and the others will be facing off against in the investigation of this drug. But it seems like things are about to get a lot bloodier as the preview for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 5 teases a deadly new fighter. Check it out in the video above.

How to Watch My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 5

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 5 is titled “Judgment” and will be making its debut on Monday, May 5th in Japan and will be exclusively streaming with Crunchyroll in other territories when it hits. The synopsis for the episode teases it as such, “Pop is always assertive and can’t be honest with Koichi. In fact, there was an incident in Pop’s past that she hasn’t told Koichi about yet. Meanwhile, Iwako, who Koichi and his friends had captured before, reappears in the city. With a stronger ‘trigger,’ Iwako goes berserk and overwhelms Koichi, but then suddenly, someone appears…”

As for who this new “someone” actually is, the preview for the episode teases that it’s a rather bloody fighter that instantly takes out a villainous threat that Koichi and the others would be struggling with. It’s already a shaky situation to see vigilantes working at all as the pro heroes Koichi and the others have seen so far have let them do their thing, but it’s because they weren’t actively causing any harm. It’s a completely different situation to see one of these vigilantes actually killing a criminal.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Hilarious New Side to Knuckleduster

What’s Next for Koichi?

Koichi has even been able to make some friends with pro heroes who have popped up in the anime thus far, but it’s sort of an unspoken thing that they would stay out of one another’s way. But with this new vigilante taking matters into his own hands when it comes to also dealing punishment to the villains themselves (especially when one of them is quirkless in the first place and likely won’t be too much trouble), it’s going to make things even more complicated for Koichi moving forward. It might even bring more trouble to the idea of vigilantes operating in the neighborhood overall.

My Hero Academia has dealt with this kind of killer vigilante before in the main series, and he was actually one of the major villains that Deku and the others faced off against during its run. It’s unclear if this new vigilante has any ties to Hero Killer Stain or his methodology, but with this series taking place years before the main series, we might be getting a totally new look into the bloody anti-hero through the eyes of Koichi and the other vigilantes.

How are you liking My Hero Academia: Vigilantes so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

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My Hero Academia’s manga has ended but the anime adaptation still has one major season left before it does the same. The eighth and final season of the anime from Studio BONES will arrive this fall, along with the current spin-off series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, exploring a new side of UA Academy’s world. To help celebrate the superhero shonen series, Japan has released a new fan book titled “My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book,” which not only housed new material but shocking commentary from creator Koehi Horikoshi. Said commentary reveals plenty, with one of the biggest shocks being the original fate of Toga.

Warning. If you don’t want My Hero Academia’s final chapter spoiled, be forewarned that we’ll be diving into spoiler territory with this one. As fans witnessed in the anime’s seventh season, Himiko Toga ended her fight against Ochaco and the heroes as she realized that she wasn’t that different from the crime fighters she was battling. Thanks to her fight against Uravity, the gravity-manipulating hero was struggling to live as the battle caused her to nearly bleed out. In a shocking twist, Toga decided to give Ochaco a blood transfusion which was able to save the Class 1-A student’s life but in doing so, the League of Villains member lost her own. Thanks to the fan book, Kohei Horikoshi seemingly had a different plan in mind.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Shares First Grown-Up Look at One Fan Favorite Character]

The World Where Toga Lived

According to Kohei Horikoshi’s editor, Imamura, Toga was meant to survive the final war but would eventually change his mind. The initial idea saw the blood-drinking villain living in prison following the fight against Shigaraki and All For One, finding a new lease on life within confinement. Another idea that Horikoshi had was to leave her status ambiguous, not revealing whether she had lived or died as Ochaco would leave a syringe of blood waiting, only for it to go missing so as to let fans decide whether Toga had lived or not.

Horikoshi, according to the final fan book, ultimately decided to kill Toga to make sure that someone would be held responsible for the big series-ending battle. Of course, editor Imamura was more than happy with Toga’s death especially, as he notes, said installment pulled in some great ratings for the series. The shapeshifting blood drinker became one of the series’ biggest villains and even with her gone, her legacy with the anime world remains.

My Hero Academia in 2025

Unfortunately, creator Kohei Horikoshi hasn’t hinted at the superhero universe making a comeback in the future. No sequels and/or spin-offs have been announced since Deku and Class 1-A finished their fight against Shigaraki, though the mangaka hasn’t been shy about creating new art for UA Academy since. My Hero Academia will easily go down as one of the biggest superhero anime franchises and nothing can take that fact away from Horikoshi himself.

Want to see what other surprising developments arrive for Class 1-A post the shonen’s finale? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on My Hero Academia and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via X

The post My Hero Academia Creator Reveals Toga’s Fate Was Originally Very Different appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Kohei Horikoshi’s iconic My Hero Academia’s flagship series has concluded, but that hasn’t stopped him from unveiling new tidbits about the series. The My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book has finally been released in Japan, containing new Q&A from Horikoshi and other information on the franchise. The Ultra Age serves as the final data book for the manga, celebrating the franchise’s achievements. Horikoshi reveals more facts about the cast after the epilogue, including Deku’s new hero ranking. X user, ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi), has translated several key pieces of information from the novel. Audrey is the CEO of Aitai Japan Inc. and helps run the Aitai Kuji store to bring Japanese merchandise to fans overseas.

Audrey often shares translated information on social media, but it should be noted that their translation is not the official licensed translation. They revealed that My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book contains a new epilogue manga starring Eri, the little girl with the one horn that Deku saved in the Overhaul Arc. The manga takes place years after the defeat of All For One, finally giving fans a good look at Eri’s teenage design. The new epilogue highlights how much the character has grown and how Deku continues to influence her.

[RELATED – My Hero Academia Introduces Deku’s Dangerous New Battlefield]

Eri Has Finally Grown Up in My Hero Academia

In the manga, Eri had a notoriously troubled life. She was abandoned by her family and forcibly kept in the care of the villainous Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai. The villains took advantage of Eri’s Rewind quirk that allowed her to reverse a living body back to a previous point. She can age people backward, heal injuries, and undo body modifications. Overhaul used her abilities to create bullets that negate other people’s quirks. She suffered from constant experimentation before being rescued by Pro Heroes and Deku during the raid of Shie Hassaikai.

She remained a recurring character in the My Hero Academia series, now under the care of Shota Aizawa. She would have a vital role in the Final Battle arc, gifting Deku her horn so that he could heal his gravely injured arms. The series flash-forwards several years into the future after the end of the Final Battle, featuring the main characters as adults. Horikoshi would even release an epilogue chapter going into further details about the characters’ adult lives. Eri had a brief cameo, but her appearance in My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book epilogue manga gives readers her new older design.

What Happens to Eri After the End of My Hero Academia?

Based on Audrey’s unofficial fan translations, the final epilogue focuses on a teenage Eri attending UA High and meeting several teachers. Her horn has grown back after handing it to Deku years prior. She meets with several faculty members in the school, including Aizawa, Present Mic, and All Might. They watch Deku on the news, becoming a Pro Hero again after being rewarded a new power suit. The group watches Deku with admiration, with Eri vowing to do her best after witnessing Deku achieving so much as a hero again.

H/T: ☆オードリーAudrey☆ on X (formerly Twitter)

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My Hero Academia may be over, but author Kohei Horikoshi continues sharing new facts about the characters. The manga tragically ended with Izuku Midoriya, AKA Deku, burning out One For All and losing his powers. He ended the series as he started, quirkless. Despite losing his powers, Deku remained content with his life, becoming a teacher at UA High as he grew up. Fortunately, he would be gifted a new power suit courtesy of All Might and his friends. The suit replicates the superstrength powers he had with One For All, allowing him to go out in the world as a Pro Hero.

The ending and epilogue left Deku’s future up to the reader’s interpretation. The finale gave Deku a very optimistic outlook, with the epilogue further revealing that he finally gets together with his longtime love interest, Ochaco Uraraka. The My Hero Academia: Ultra Age: The Final Fan Book is a data book that was finally released in Japan. The databook contains a new epilogue manga that finally gives readers more concrete information about Deku’s life as a Pro Hero. X user, ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi), has translated several key pieces of information from the epilogue. Audrey is the CEO of Aitai Japan Inc. and helps run the Aitai Kuji store to bring Japanese merchandise to fans overseas.

[RELATED – My Hero Academia Breaks Bakugo’s Heart in New Episode]

Deku’s Pro Hero Ranking in My Hero Academia

The Hero Billboard Chart would rank every Pro Hero in Japan. All Might notoriously kept the top spot for most of his career, making him a beloved hero in the community. Deku was always obsessed with knowing about the top ten heroes, but his loss of powers at the end of the series made it seem his prospects of making it to the top ten seemed impossible. However, the new epilogue reveals that Deku not only made it to the top ten but was even in the upper half of the top ten.

Based on Audrey’s unofficial fan translations, the final epilogue focuses on a now-teenage Eri, the little girl Deku saved in the Overhaul Arc. Eri watches Deku on the news with some of the faculty at UA High, including Aizawa and All-Might. The broadcast revealed that Deku is now ranked 4th in the Pro Heroes chart. Meanwhile, Bakugo, Deku’s rival and friend, is now ranked 5th, rising in the ranks after initially dropping from the top ten in the original My Hero Academia epilogue. Deku’s and Bakugo’s new Pro Hero rankings highlight how far both characters have come since the Final Battle.

What Are the New Pro Hero Rankings?

Audrey doesn’t provide information on the new top ten in their translations. With Deku and Bakugo now making it to the top ten, it’s likely they pushed out the bottom two heroes from the top ten. That means Tentacole and Phantom Thief are no longer in the Billboard’s top ten, unless the top ten received an overhaul where multiple heroes rose and fell.

The last known top ten heroes on the Hero Billboard Chart were the following:

1. Lemillion (Mirio Togata)
2. Shoto Todoroki
3. Mt. Lady
4. Kamui Woods
5. Best Jeanist
6. Mirko
7. Nejire Chan
8. Wash
9. Tentacole (Mezo Shoji)
10. Phantom Thief (Neito Monoma)

Bakugo was in the top ten previously but fell out because of his unpopular public image. The new epilogue suggests that Bakugo has fixed his reputation somewhat to make it back to the top five, ranking directly underneath Deku.

H/T: ☆オードリーAudrey☆ on X (formerly Twitter)

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Written by Hideyuki and illustrated by Court Betten, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes debuted its anime adaptation as part of the Spring 2025 anime lineup. The story takes place five years before the events of the original manga by Kohei Horikoshi. After quirks became common in society, more and more people started to use their powers for evil. Heroes are those who have powerful quirks and use their abilities to fight against villains. They are licensed by the government and are allowed to freely use their quirks as much as possible if they are using them to defeat the villains. They are admired by the people for their efforts in keeping the society safe.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes centers around Koichi Haimawari, a college student with an ordinary Slide and Glide quirk, who wasn’t able to become a Pro Hero. However, just like others, he always looked up to All Might, the greatest hero in Japan. He decided to use his quirk to perform simple tasks and help the locals. However, his life turns upside down when he meets Knuckleduster, a vigilante who fights villains from the shadows while the Pros get all the limelight. Together with Kazuho, Koichi, and Knuckleduster, try to uncover a major scheme happening in the city.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Hilarious New Side to Knuckleduster]

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Might Introduce All For One

Currently, Koichi and his friends are investigating the source of the booster drug, known as Trigger. Several villains are using it to temporarily enhance their abilities and wreak havoc in the streets. However, the users lose self-control and turn violent as a side effect. Kuin Kachisuka, an ordinary-looking high school student, is secretly distributing those drugs while working with a mysterious figure. In Episode 4, she’s on a call with a man who is calmly criticizing her for creating a disturbance.

Kuin was introduced in Episode 3 as Kazuho’s fan, but she later turns out to be a villain. She uses her quirk to inject Trigger into the citizens, thereby wreaking havoc in the city. The man, upset by her actions, also tells her that while she’s permitted to use and distribute Trigger as she sees fit, it’s too valuable to be used recklessly like that.

However, Kuin is unable to understand the problem since the man wanted data on the drug users. They need people with powerful quirks to use the drug. Several villains are involved in the scheme, all working for the mysterious man. Not only that, but his voice sounds a lot like All For One, the main antagonist of the real show. Since Vigilantes is a prequel, All For One is still alive and working from the shadows. He should still be in the shadows, scheming something evil as always.

Not only that but the scale at which they are producing and selling Trigger couldn’t be done by an ordinary mastermind. Since the series introduces several characters from the original show, such as Shota Aizawa and Tensei Ida, it wouldn’t be surprising if it introduces the main antagonist as well.

The post Did My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Just Sneak in All For One? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been on a tear recently by exploring a side of UA Academy’s world that is rarely seen in this superhero world. Crawler, Knuckleduster, and Pop Step might not be fighting against the machinations of All For One and Shigaraki, but the trio is making a name for themselves in the anime universe’s past. Unfortunately, the latest episode has made a big change from the original manga, cutting down a scene that was seemingly a bit too spicy for the screen. If you watched episode four of the superhero spin-off, you might have a good idea as to what this scene is.

The fourth episode of the anime kicked off with a villainous trio known as the “Three Sutrn und Drang Brothers.” The gliding antagonists find themselves weaving their way through the city streets, groping women and attempting to steal their underwear. In the anime adaptation, the siblings are quickly brought down thanks to Knuckleduster, but in the original manga, they get far more time to explain what they are doing with their perverted tactics. Swiping the underwear and wearing it themselves, Koichi attempts to talk them down, asking why they don’t simply purchase underwear at stores. Shooting down Crawler’s idea, this chat is cut short thanks to Knuckleduster beating them down, ending their reign of terror. You can check out the comparison between the two scenes below.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals Hilarious New Side to Knuckleduster]

Vigilantes’ Censorship History

One of the biggest examples of the My Hero Academia spin-off’s censorship was with Pop Step. The superhero/singing idol had her costume tweaked for the anime as the original manga iteration was far more revealing than what anime-only fans would come to know. While the source material is far from an “R-rated” story, it’s interesting to see the ways that Studio Bones has been making some changes for a new audience that might not have read the original story.

Speaking of Studio Bones, the production house has a big year in 2025. On top of focusing on Crawler, Knuckleduster, and Pop Step, the studio will be making a comeback to Deku and his classmates’ fight against the villainous Shigaraki and All For One this fall with the eighth and final season of My Hero Academia. On top of the UA Academy universe, Bones is also working on a new anime arrival this summer in Gachiakuta. Unlike the My Hero Academia stories, Gachiakuta is a far different story that focuses on a garbage-strewn world which could use a few heroes patrolling its streets. As of the writing of this article, Vigilantes has yet to confirm if it will receive a second season, though there is plenty of source material to adapt if Bones wants to move forward.

Want to stay updated on the vigilante activities of Crawler and company? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on My Hero Academia and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is showing off a whole new side of the hero world seen in My Hero Academia, and the newest episode of the anime is showing off what the first Ingenium was like in his pro hero prime. One of the benefits of the now airing spinoff series releasing new episodes this Spring is that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is set years before the events of the main series. That means fans get to see a side of the hero world years before Deku and the other Class 1-A students enroll in U.A. Academy and begin their hero journeys.

Because it’s set years before the events of the main My Hero Academia anime, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is also showing off more of the pro heroes before they become teachers and allies in the school. This also means a better look at some of the heroes whose careers had ended early within the series as well, and that includes the original Ingenium, Tensei Iida. And with his debut in the new anime series, fans are finally getting to see Tenya’s older brother in his hero prime after all these years.

Ingenium Debuts in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 4 officially reintroduces Ingenium to the official anime series, and it’s the original version of the hero before his younger brother took over. Due to an unfortunate incident in the original series, Tensei was taken out of action before fans got to see what the hero was actually capable of. Though his younger brother took on the Ingenium mantle and became a capable pro hero in his own right, it wasn’t until this new prequel anime series that we’re actually getting to see Tensei as a fully fleshed out character who fights villains around the town.

The Tensei seen here is not only much more fully seen in action than the original series, but also has a run in with Koichi Haimawari himself. It’s here that Tensei actually provides Koichi with some sound advice as to how to better use his quirk. Not only does he help Koichi find a way to stop on a dime compared to the trouble he had before, but Tensei even tried to recruit Koichi to his hero team before he found out that he was already a vigilante. But it’s far from the end of their time together.

RELATED: My Hero Academia’s New Drug Is Actually Major Tie to Original Series 

What’s Next for Ingenium?

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is only getting started with its introductions to Koichi and the rest of his growing vigilante world, and the end of the newest episode teased that Koichi’s already gotten the approval of his work in the neighborhood. Although it’s clear that the pro hero doesn’t completely condone of his methods (it’s why he takes away his job recruitment offer), there’s the tease of a connection between the two of them as the series continues. And that’s going to be the case.

Koichi has had run in with a few pro heroes in the new anime series thus far, but it’s far from the only ones we’ll see as the vigilante trio is ready to take on even bigger threats in the episodes to come. Ingenium is just one of the heroes who helps Koichi to grow on his path to becoming stronger, and it’s now just a matter of time before all of the chaos breaks out in the coming episodes.

What did you think of seeing Ingenium returning to the My Hero Academia anime? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

The post My Hero Academia Shows Off Ingenium In His Pro Hero Prime appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia’s main anime is ending this fall but luckily, we have plenty of Vigilante-action before we need to wave goodbye to Deku and the rest of Class 1-A. While Crawler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster might not be fighting for the fate of the world, their street-level exploits have found the right way to show off how the “little guy” in the hero world. Despite some big victories in recent episodes, Knuckleduster has been having a bit of a morose period, something that Crawler takes notice of. Luckily for Koichi, this new side to Knuckleduster is one with a hilarious solution.

Warning. If you have yet to watch the fourth episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, be forewarned that we’ll be diving into spoiler territory. One of the most surprising aspects of Knuckleduster has been his powerset or rather, lack thereof. Rather than having a debilitating Quirk that makes him a force to be reckoned with, the vigilante instead simply has a punch with some weight behind it and the guts to not care if he loses his life during any of his battles. Unfortunately, regardless of his daredevil attitude, Knuckleduster can still get a case of the blues.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Reveals One Hero Is Surprisingly Quirkless]

Knuckleduster’s Crisis

During the early parts of the spin-off’s fourth episode, Knuckleduster is seemingly struggling with a funk, as Crawler notices. However, the dark vigilante is able to turn this around when he is given a big new villain to fight, as Queen Bee keeps infecting random people with her Quirk-strengthening drug. In fighting this nameless drug addict, Knuckleduster springs back to his senses and is back to his normal self, as fighting major villains is the thing that he routinely needs to maintain his mental health.

Knuckleduster is a character that we haven’t seen much of in the superhero shonen series, and that’s not just thanks to his Quirk-less crime fighting. He has a clear love of fighting crime but does not want the notoriety of being a ranked hero and/or starting his own hero agency. Even without the power of One For All flowing through his veins, Knuckleduster also does a fantastic job of fighting villains who have major superpowers of their own. As Vigilantes continues, expect the hard-hitting crime fighter to get more of the spotlight.

What’s Next For Vigilantes?

On top of focusing on the present, Vigilantes will also start exploring the past if it follows the source material. Crawler’s story is one half of this wild ride as the My Hero Academia spin-off will tell the early year stories of Midnight, Present Mic, Eraserhead, All Might, Mirko, Fat Gum, and more. Of course, familiar heroes won’t be the only ones taking the stage as one villain in particular will have a big part to play.

Want to see what is lying in wait for the Vigilantes? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on UA Academy and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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My Hero Academia is readying to end yet another major series with the final cover of its manga revealed for a release in the near future. My Hero Academia has been coming to an end as a franchise since Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer. While other My Hero Academia spinoff projects like My Hero Academia: Vigilantes had ended their stories before, it was different when the main series itself ended as fans started to see many of its other side projects steadily reach their grand finales in the coming months.

One such project was My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions, which was a special spinoff series that showcased smaller team ups between the Class 1-A students and various pro heroes that the main series didn’t have time for. It got to run just a little after My Hero Academia‘s main series came to an end, and then settled its own grand finale after five years of serialization. Now that the final volume of My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions is getting ready to hit shelves in Japan, the first look at the cover art for the grand finale can be seen below.

How Does My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions End?

Unlike My Hero Academia and My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions didn’t have a grand story to tell of its own. It takes place during the events of the main My Hero Academia series, and is used to showcase new dynamics between different hero pairings that aren’t seen in the main series. Written and illustrated by Yoko Akiyama, the series first made its debut back in 2019 and released its chapters on a weekly basis. This meant that there really wasn’t much story shared overall, with only eight volumes to encompass its run as it all ends.

Because it was a spinoff series that couldn’t quite have any huge adventures without impacting the canon of the main series, the spinoff series ends with Deku and the rest of Class 1-A attempting to still become pro heroes in the future. Which means that its true ending ties back into My Hero Academia itself, and the main series has its own kind of grand finale that reveals what Deku and the hero world of Japan look in the future after the fights against Tomura Shigaraki and All For One.

RELATED: The My Hero Academia Movies: What Works And What Doesn’t

What’s Next for My Hero Academia?

It’s really getting to the end of My Hero Academia now as now that this spinoff has come to an end, it’s starting to cement that this is truly the end of an era that began ten years ago with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. With all of these series ending their runs, the anime adaptations are still keeping the wider franchise alive. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is now airing new episodes as part of the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and you can find them streaming with Crunchyroll.

But the main series will be returning in full later this Fall with its eighth and final season. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON is currently scheduled to premiere sometime this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule, and will also be streaming its new episodes with Crunchyroll alongside their initial release in Japan. This final season of the anime will be showing off the final battles against All For One and Shigaraki, and it will showcase how Deku and the rest of Class 1-A potentially kick off a whole new era of heroes.

The post Another My Hero Academia Series Ends With First Look at Final Cover appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia might have come to an end with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, but now fans in the United States will finally be able to nab the final volume of the manga themselves later this year. Kohei Horikoshi brought My Hero Academia to an end last Summer ten years after the series first began its serialization with Shueisha’s most famous magazine. The series’ ending was so huge that when the final volume of its manga hit shelves last December, it actually included some brand new materials that weren’t seen in the original version of the manga’s ending.

My Hero Academia Volume 42 serves as the final volume of Kohei Horikoshi’s manga series, and hit shelves in Japan last year. Now fans in the United States won’t have to wait too much longer to get their hands on this final volume themselves as Viz Media has shared a big update for the grand finale. Not only revealing the cover art for the final volume’s United States release, Viz Media has also confirmed that My Hero Academia Volume 42 will be launching in the United States on October 21st. Check out the announcement below.

What to Know for My Hero Academia’s Final Volume

My Hero Academia Volume 42 will be hitting shelves in the United States on October 21st, and will be collecting Chapters 423 through 430 of the original series. There is an extra chapter released following the end of the original series, however, with Chapter 431 serving as a special epilogue to everything that happened in the final chapter. It explores more of the Deku revealed in that grand finale, and gives the series and much more full ending than expected as Deku and the others get a much clearer path into the future thanks to the new story.

Viz Media teases the final volume of My Hero Academia as such, “For a time, the fate of the world was balanced on a knife’s edge between salvation and doom, held in the palm of Izuku Midoriya’s hand. Everything was riding on the outcome of the Quirk-based war to end all wars. What became of the students and staff of U.A. High? How did they rebuild their lives after the epic conflict? Did superpowered society come away with the lessons it needed to learn? Find out in the final volume of My Hero Academia!”

RELATED: The My Hero Academia Movies: What Works And What Doesn’t

What’s Next for My Hero Academia?

Now that the final volume of My Hero Academia will be releasing in the United States later this Fall, the manga franchise will be officially coming to an end as well. Thankfully, while the series’ manga will be wrapping its releases this October, the grand finale for the TV anime series will only just be getting started. My Hero Academia‘s TV anime will be ending with its eighth and final season of the series, and is currently scheduled to make its debut in Japan sometime in October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule.

A concrete release date has not been announced for the My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON as of the time of this publication, but it has been confirmed to feature a returning staff and voice cast from the previous seasons. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON will be directed by a returning Naomi Nakayama for studio Bones with Yosuke Kuroda returning to handle the series’ scripts, Kenji Nagasaki serving as chief director, Yoshihiko Umakoshi and Hitomi Odashima providing the character designs, and Yuki Hayashi composing the music. 

You can also check out the official spinoff anime, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, now airing new episodes this Spring.

The post My Hero Academia’s Final Volume Sets U.S. Release Date at Last appeared first on ComicBook.com.

At this point, if an anime franchise gains enough popularity, the anime adaptation of the series will make its way to the movies. Franchises such as Dragon Ball, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and One Piece are only a few series that have struck gold in theaters, releasing original and compilation films to big success. My Hero Academia has four original films that have hit the silver screen in the future, with each entry presenting a unique story that took place within the shonen superhero universe. While there is plenty to praise for these films, there are also some cracks in the foundation that need to be explored.

Before we get to the pros and cons of the shonen franchise’s films, let’s take a walk down memory lane when it comes to My Hero Academia’s theatrical offerings. The films began in 2018 with My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, followed by My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, and most recently, My Hero Academia: You’re Next. Each film takes place within the timeline of Deku and Class 1-A, meaning that the characters introduced and the events that transpire are considered canon. While the villains of these films don’t make appearances in the main series, they did put Midoriya and company into some of their biggest battles.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Unveils New Look for Upcoming Spring Release]

My Hero Academia: What The Movies Do Right

Perhaps the strongest part of the films is the stellar animation which Studio BONES employs in bringing these side stories to life. Whether Deku was fighting the likes of Wolfram, Nine, Flect, or Dark Might, the production house gave its all in bringing these fights to life. The choreography and the flow of the animation make these battles some of the best of the franchise, with the collateral damage almost looking like a fireworks display. Especially, the final fights of each film see BONES at its absolute best, producing eye-popping results.

When it comes to fan service, the films are able to introduce some interesting concepts. Seeing Midoriya “share” the power of One For All with Bakugo to take down Nine or witnessing the birth of an “Evil All Might” were moments that otherwise might not have made the cut in the main storyline, making for some solid reasons for the movies to exist. On top of these moments, the movies introduced plenty of interesting supporting characters such as Giulio Gandini, Anna Scervino, Rody Soul, and Melissa Shield. Luckily, the film also does a good job of shining the spotlight on its main cast, allowing for not only Deku, Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki take on the spotlight but allow the UA students and the top ranked heroes get their own moments in the sun.

My Hero Academia: What The Movies Do Wrong

One of the biggest problems for the films comes in their length, more specifically, their inability to really dive into some of the lofty ideas that they present. Two perfect examples come in the forms of Humarise and Dark Might. The villainous organization of My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission comes into the spotlight with an interesting end goal, believing that Quirks are sinful and the superpowers need to be eliminated from the world at large. Unfortunately, we don’t get nearly enough time to explore this concept and the movie even adds more in terms of framing Deku for murder, an aspect that also falls to the wayside in the third movie’s runtime.

On the Dark Might front, the idea of an Italian mob boss being warped by All Might’s message is a strong one, but much like Humarise, shonen fans don’t get the chance to sink their teeth into the character and his aspirations. The idea of fighting an evil All Might is one worth exploring, especially when it comes to Deku and the passion he has for his mentor. Unfortunately, in service of getting to the big fight scenes and wrapping the story, My Hero Academia: You’re Next isn’t able to do much more than give this lip service.

My Hero Academia has yet to confirm a fifth film for its franchise and with the eighth season acting as the anime’s last, it will be interesting to see if UA Academy will continue on the silver screen past its small screen finale.

The post The My Hero Academia Movies: What Works And What Doesn’t appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is now kicking things into high gear as the spinoff anime has started to introduce its first real villains, and the first look at the next episode of the series is raising the stakes even more wiht one pro hero’s big return from the main series. One of the biggest draws of this new spinoff series is the fact that since it takes place years before the events of My Hero Academia, it means we get to see many of the series’ characters before they make their full debuts years later. It also means seeing these heroes in action in ways that we didn’t get to see in full with the main series either.

Previous episodes of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes have already born fruits of this idea by showcasing more of Shota Aizawa as an actual pro hero in the field rather than just a teacher at U.A. Academy, and the preview for Episode 4 of the series is setting up the best use of this idea yet as it teases a return from Ingenium. But rather than it being Tenya Iida as seen years later, the Ingenium here is actually the original one to don the name, Tenya’s older brother Tensei Iida.

When Does My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 4 Come Out?

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 4 is titled “Frontrunner” and will be premiering in Japan on Monday, April 28th, and will be streaming exclusively with Crunchyroll alongside its debut in Japan (with an English dub even being available later that same day). The synopsis for the episode teases it as such, “While training for his Quirk ‘Slide and Glide,’ Koichi meets the ‘turbo hero’ Ingenium. Ingenium, who values ​​speed and teamwork, notices Koichi’s quirk and scouts him for his agency. Meanwhile, a racer appears in Naruhata who repeatedly causes accidents by driving dangerously. As Ingenium’s ‘life-risking contest’ takes place, Koichi…”

As teased by the preview and synopsis, Tensei Iida is going to be making a big stamp on My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Not only will Masamichi Kitada be returning from the My Hero Academia anime to voice the character for the preview series once more, but it’s going to be a much fuller look at the character than seen before. By the time he’s seen in the main series, an unfortunate incident forces him to retire from hero work at an early age. But because this takes place many years in the past, fans will get to see him at his best as a hero fighting villains.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Might Be Ending, But Its Successor Has Just Begun

What’s Next for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes?

That’s part of the overall appeal for My Hero Academia fans that’s really going to start kicking in with these coming episodes. Koichi and the others have already crossed paths with a few notable characters from the main series, but fans are getting to see them through a whole new lens thanks to the fact it takes place years before Tomura Shigaraki and All For One start making their big moves. And it’s only going to get bigger from here on out with more heroes and characters.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is going to be running its episodes through the Spring, and will then lead into the premiere of My Hero Academia’s final season later this Fall. Premiering some time this October as part of the Fall 2025 anime schedule, My Hero Academia‘s eighth and final season will be bringing the fight between heroes and villains to an end once and for all.

The post My Hero Academia Preview Teases One Pro Hero’s Big Return appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While My Hero Academia‘s anime adaptation is barreling toward its finale, the franchise has been preparing for the ending with some incredible new merchandise, including a brand-new art book slated to release during June 2025. The cover is absolutely stunning, featuring a full color illustration of Deku split between his normal design and his costume from the Vigilante arc from the anime and manga. The typesetting for the book’s title also features a collage of illustrations by Horikoshi that showcase his growth as an artist over the course of the series’ run.

While it’s unclear when the art book will be releasing in English, it will officially hit Japanese bookstore shelves beginning on June 4th. The release is timed perfectly, as the official guidebook for My Hero Academia Season 7, as well as Part 1 of Season 7’s Blu-ray collection will be releasing throughout the month of May. Plus, there’s no better time to be hyping up the grand finale of the main series’ finale now that My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has begun to pick up steam among anime fans during the Spring 2025 anime season – and with Season 8 set to air in October.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Readies for the End With New Season 8 Promo]

My Hero Academia Has Solidified Its Place as One of the Greats

My Hero Academia has, without a doubt, become one of Shonen Jump magazine’s greatest flagship titles in years, smashing global sales records with well over 100 million copies in circulation. Aside from its impressive sales, the franchise has been a hit with critics, too. Honya Club, an online bookstore in Japan, held their annual Nationwide Bookstore Employees’ Recommended Comics in 2015, with My Hero Academia ultimately ranking second. Additionally, the manga has consistently ranked in Media Factory’s Book of the Year poll held through their Da Vinci Magazine imprint. The praise doesn’t end with Japanese fandoms, though, as My Hero Academia has become a phenomenon among Western anime fans as well. In the United States, the franchise has consistently appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers list for manga, and has had several volumes pop up on Publisher’s Weekly.

It makes sense why My Hero Academia has hit so well with audiences. Even taking away all the flashy, colorful shonen action that the series is known for, My Hero Academia tells an inspiring zero to hero story that’s hard not to love. Deku, the series’ protagonist, is initially introduced as a fanboy who observes and admires heroes from the sidelines, and depsite not being born with a Quirk, is still ready to jump in at a moment’s notice to try and save someone who, at that point in time, doesn’t even treat him as a friend. While he is inevitably rewarded by getting his own Quirk from his idol, Deku never once behaves as though he’s better than anyone else, and even if he gets teased for having a tender heart, is always ready and willing to connect with those around him – villains included. While some of its themes can be on the nose, a story that focuses on delivering a truly passionate, pure take on the superhero genre is extremely commendable.

Source: Shonen Jump News on X (Formerly Twitter)

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Bones Film released a prequel spin-off of My Hero Academia this Spring 2025 anime season. Written by Hideyuki and illustrated by Court Betten, the story of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place five years before the main events of the original series. Crime is almost an everyday occurrence in a superhuman society. Heroes work day and night to keep the citizens safe, but even that’s not enough. The alleyways, the streets, and every place you could think of are hiding some sort of dark secret. The story follows Kouichi Haimawari, a college student with an ordinary Slide and Glide quirk that wasn’t good enough for him to become a hero.

Despite that, he finds solace in performing good deeds and helping out the local people. His life turns upside down when he and Kazuko Haneyama, a famous pop idol, get rescued by an unlicensed hero, Knuckleduster. Seeing Kouichi’s potential, Knuckleduster convinces him to join his side and uncover the source of a dangerous drug known as Trigger, which boosts a user’s quirk but also makes them lose their rationale and resort to violence. Although what Knuckleduster is doing couldn’t be considered legal, his intentions are pure. The society only gives limelight to the Pro Heroes, while the Vigilantes work in the shadows for the good of the people. However, there’s a tragic reason why Knuckleduster isn’t working as a licensed hero.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Season 8 Shares New Trailer, Poster for Final Season]

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Confirms Knuckleduster is Quirkless

Knuckleduster is a middle-aged man who initially appeared to have a powerful endurance-type quirk. He’s tall and buff, and his punches have a lot of power behind them. In a way, he’s somewhat similar to All Might, including the grin he has most of the time. His brute strength is enough to easily overpower even villains who use special boosts to enhance their quirks. However, in Episode 2, he has a brief clash with pro-hero Eraserhead, Shoto Aizawa. Aizawa is, of course, a famous character from the original series who happens to stumble across Knuckleduster and his team.

Believing they are villains and causing havoc using their quirks, he tries to apprehend them. However, he soon realizes that using his quirk on Knuckleduster has no effect, which can only mean that his target is quirkless. Although Aizawa is shocked by the immense power Knuckledusters possesses, fighting quirkless people isn’t part of his duty. Heroes are only responsible for stopping people from misusing their quirks.

If someone who is powerless causes a scene, it’s the job of the local police to deal with him. However, despite the earlier chaos, Knuckleduster still helps out the heroes by capturing the villains who are using the boost drug. The source of the drug still hasn’t been revealed yet, but the heroes won’t back down unless the threat has been dealt with. Meanwhile, we will also learn more about Knuckleduster and his past, including why he insists on working a thankless job despite not having a quirk.

The post My Hero Academia Reveals One Hero Is Surprisingly Quirkless appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is about to kick things into high gear with the debut of the anime’s first major villain, and she’s gotten the spotlight with a cool new poster showing off Kuin Hachisuka. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been spending its first few episodes introducing fans to a core trio of vigilantes who are now taking fighting crime into their own hands. Taking place years before the events of the main My Hero Academia series, there just aren’t that many heroes in action as seen with Deku and the others later. So it means that there are many criminals and villains who fall through the cracks.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is about to turn the dial on Koichi Haimawari and the others as while they have been chasing around criminals using the Trigger drug to turn into surprise villains before, they are now going to be facing off against their first major villain threat in the series. The latest episode fully introduced Kuin Hachisuka to the anime as she spreads toxins all over town, and now the anime is celebrating her debut with a special poster that you can check out below.

Who Is Kuin Hachisuka?

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Episode 3 fully introduces Kuin to the anime. She’s revealed to be a high school student working as a villain part time, and her Quirk is Queen Bee. It’s revealed that she’s able to summon bees from her eye and each of them has a mysterious toxin. When she sends them out into the town, it ends up being revealed that these bees are filled with the Trigger drug that quickly (and forcibly) activates the people’s quirks and has them going berserk around town like villains. She’s not only the source of this problem, but it seems she’s tied to something bigger as well.

At the end of the episode, she ends up leading the young Pop Step fan to a dark alley and disappears with him. It’s teased by Koichi’s narration that something big and dark is about to go down, and this will all begin with the coming episodes. Now that the series has gotten its first big villain, this is also the first true threat that Koichi and the others will face. But it’s also no surprise to see that Knuckleduster has already caught on to the fact that the bees seem to be the source of the trouble.

RELATED: My Hero Academia Might Be Ending, But Its Successor Has Just Begun

What Does This Mean for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes?

Kuin being introduced to the anime also means there will be fewer of the wacky villain fighting moments as seen through the first episodes. The series has been spending its time setting up the town and showing off what Japan’s hero world looks like at this point in its past, but it also means that villains aren’t really as rampant as seen later either because the heroes are on top of whatever seems to pop up.

This is only going to lead to more trouble, however. Because while Koichi has been able to handle things for now, and has the potential to get much stronger, he’s going to need to train himself as more threats begin to pop up. It’s part of being a hero as more villains will appear to stand in your way, and Koichi’s about to face all of that head on as Kuin starts a new line of threats that will be making themselves known in the episodes to come.

How are you liking My Hero Academia: Vigilantes so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!

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Set five years before the original anime, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes follows protagonist Koichi Haimawari, a college student who works part-time at a convenience store and takes to the streets at night as “Nice Guy.” Of course at this point Koichi isn’t a vigilante and instead uses his Quirk Slide and Glide to help civilians with minor problems like returning dropped packages and giving directions. But as he runs into the vigilante Knuckeduster, he is pulled into something much bigger with the Quirk enhancing drug trigger at the center of it all.

In the first episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, viewers are introduced to the illegal Quirk enhancing drug Trigger. Originally developed to enhance the power and potency of weak Quirks, the drug’s use for criminal activities led to it being banned throughout Japan. Now manufactured and sold by various criminal organizations, the drug is generally distributed as pre-filled syringes that need to be injected through the neck. Once that happens, the drug boosts the user’s Quirk for a limited time with the side effect of weakening their sense of reason. 

[RELATED – My Hero Academia Explains Why Its Hero World Actually Needs Vigilantes]

How Trigger Ties In to the Original Series 

Vigilantes centers around a specific variant of this drug called Ideo Trigger. This is a more powerful but also more dangerous form of Trigger that not only enhances Quirks but also results in a significant physical transformation, sending the user into an uncontrollable rampage, creating Instant Villains. Luckily, there is one quick sign heroes (and vigilantes) can look for to identify Ideo Trigger addicts. As this drug damages the user’s blood flow, it can change an addict’s tongue color from pink to black which tends to be a dead giveaway anytime a Trigger user goes on a rampage.

But the MHA spin-off isn’t the first time fans have seen this drug or its variants. In the original My Hero Academia series, fans are first introduced to this drug during the Shie Hassaikai Arc. Despite his hatred for Quirks, Overhaul engages in trafficking Trigger to raise funds for his Quirk-Destroying Bullet experiments. This establishes Trigger as a sort of foundation drug that indirectly contributes to all the Quirk related drugs made after it and the broader events of the series.

Trigger’s Role in MHA Vigilantes So Far

Near the end of the first episode of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes a mysterious man with a ponytail and bold facial scar offers three thugs who had previously harassed Koichi vials of Trigger. Then as Knuckeduster, Pop Step, and Koichi take to the streets to keep an eye out for suspicious activity, they run into a seemingly innocent salaryman named Mario. But in the second episode of the series, Mario is revealed to have been carrying Trigger and uses it to enhance his Quirk, Playtime. 

As a result, just by the start of the series’ second episode, the Vigilantes crew has had to face four Trigger enhanced Instant Villains. They run into two more Instant Villains by the series’ third episode and around this time, viewers also get their first confirmed hint of these not being isolated incidents. The same, unknown man has been distributing the drug for free and while detective Naomasa initially theorizes the man’s goal is to get users addicted and then overcharge them later, there may actually be something far more sinister afoot.

Since the drug can create instant Instant Villains, someone might be intentionally trying to spread it and create chaos for personal gain. And when we talk about controlling things from the shadows many MHA fans can’t help but think of All For One. The villain has been involved with Trigger before although it’s currently unknown if he’ll play a bigger role in Vigilantes.

The post My Hero Academia’s New Drug Is Actually Major Tie to Original Series  appeared first on ComicBook.com.

My Hero Academia’s anime adaptation is releasing its final season this year, bringing to a close not only the fight between All For One and One For All, but the story of the young heroes of UA Academy. With Kohei Horikoshi’s manga ending last year, the mangaka hasn’t hinted at the idea of Deku’s tale continuing, meaning there is about to be a major shonen-sized hole in the anime medium. Luckily, a new anime series has been gaining a lot of traction which also focuses on superheroes and a society obsessed with super powers. To Be Hero X might only have just begun but the series already has the chops it might need to be the true spiritual successor to My Hero Academia.

To Be Hero X might involve superheroes but it is a story that is far different from that of My Hero Academia in several exciting ways. To start, protagonist Lin Ling had no aspirations of being a hero like Deku, throwing a major curveball into the proceedings. Hitting the anime as a lowly advertising employee, Lin is working for the very heroes that are patrolling the streets and in doing so, adds to their overall power levels. In a freak encounter, Ling meets up with one of the biggest new heroes on the block Nice, after which things take a drastic turn and the anime picks up steam fast.

[RELATED: My Hero Academia Drops Cool New Look at Deku Ahead of Final Season]

To Be Hero Academia

Lin Ling’s story immediately starts in a similar vein to Deku’s, wherein To Be Hero X’s star meets with one of the top heroes. Unlike My Hero Academia, Ling witnesses the demise of Nice firsthand, with the white-haired crime fighter seemingly jumping off a building of his own accord. With Ling having a similar appearance to Nice, the hero’s agency quickly transforms Lin into the superhero as he takes on the powers and aesthetic of the crime fighter. It’s here that we see how this world differs from that of Kohei Horikoshi’s shonen franchise, and said elements work well.

Nice’s story places Lin Ling into a “fish out of water” scenario, where he fights villains with powers that he is still getting a handle on. On top of simply training to become better acclimated to his abilities, Lin also needs to contend with public perception of himself and those around him. When peeling back the layers of this world, the way the public perceives heroes and villains is one of the most, if not the most, important part of this world.

To Be Hero X’s Unique Take on Powers

My Hero Academia focused on “Quirks,” super powers that were given to the vast majority of the population that routinely needed to be trained with to make the best crime fighters, or villains. In To Be Hero X, the more that the public believes in a hero and places their faith into them, the stronger they become. Much like how Quirks can have drawbacks, the abilities in To Be Hero X have some wild downsides. Based on that same perception, heroes might find themselves trapped in one place or forced to do one thing if the public demands it. Nice’s “girlfriend” Moon was unable to use her teleportation powers, for example, unless they were to bring her closer to her boyfriend. On the villain side of the equation however…

The villains of To Be Hero X are powered through fear, almost playing into the same aspect as the bloody shonen series Chainsaw Man. The more that a villain terrifies the general public, the more powerful they become. While we have seen some antagonists in To Be Hero X’s initial episodes, we have to imagine that we will see big-time villains who send shivers down the spines of the populace.

To Be Hero X’s Stellar Animation

Studio BONES is no slouch when it comes to animating the adventures of Class 1-A but To Be Hero X is taking a far more experimental route. Most of the time, the anime series focuses on a CG-style similar to that of Netflix’s Arcane, using dynamic tactics to bring Nice’s story to life. Other times, To Be Hero X will slip into other animation styles that feel like more traditional anime, mixing it up in a way that many other franchises never do. While the story might be one treading familiar ground in following superheroes, the animation is anything but and makes for a big reason why this show can stand out amongst the crowd.

Want to stay in the loop when it comes to the superheroes of all anime worlds? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on My Hero Academia and To Be Hero X and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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