‘My Hero Academia’ Stars Talk Season 3, Izuku’s Big-Screen Debut, and Their Live-Action Hopes

My Hero Academia stands as one of the most popular superhero series out there. In a world filled with Marvel and DC banter, creator Kohei Horikoshi has put a refreshing take on the genre. The fan-favorite series focuses on the things inside each hero which make them so super, so the cast behind the show have to bring their game each time they step into the booth.

Luckily, both the English and Japanese cast deliver when it comes to their Plus Ultra roles, and ComicBook got the chance to speak with several of those stars recently. Not long ago, Funimation and Toho brought Justin Briner (Izuku Midoriya, EN), Colleen Clinkenbeard (ADR Director EN, Momo Yaoyorozu, EN), and Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya, JP) to Los Angeles for Anime Expo 2018. The trio were able to catch the world premiere of My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, and they stopped by to chat with ComicBook.com right after the sold-out screening.

Below, you can read up on what the stars had to say about their tenure with My Hero Academia. The voice actors touched upon everything from the series’ stellar reputation to its comic book roots. And, if you’ve ever wondered how a live-action take on My Hero Academia would go down, these stars have a few things they’d like such a project to keep in mind!

For those unfamiliar with the My Hero Academia juggernaut, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

Have any questions about the Plus Ultra trio? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB for all the details about the exclusive interview!

Living on That Movie Hype!

First impressions and what did you think having the reaction of the fans? What is your general feeling about this movie right now?

Colleen Clinkenbeard: There is nothing like that. There is nothing like watching something that you have been anticipating with an entire room full of people who have been anticipating it just as much.

Justin Briner: The whole energy in there was completely electric, right from the beginning. Coming from a standpoint of I really didn’t know much about the moving coming in, I knew a couple characters were being introduced, but other than that, I came in just as blind as everyone else. That was super exciting.

The Adventures of Playing Izuku Midoriya

How is it been for you Justin in the booth recording for this? We see some of these things that Izuku goes through and he goes through a lot, so has it been doing such an emotionally charged arc for him?

Briner: Luckily, Deku is no stranger to a bit of abuse through his journey. I guess, trying to be honest about it, he feels like a very real child. When you take that into account, viewers should be able to resonate with that.

The Secret to Dubbing Success

So, this is more of a dub-centric question. Colleen, I know you do ADR direction on this project and for many it’s one of the best English dubs that are out there. A lot of people compare it to Fullmetal Alchemist which you also worked on. What is it for you that’s the secret to success when it comes to doing dubs, which can be controversial in the fandom.

Clinkenbeard: It’s two fold, and neither of the folds relies on me. Casting. I cast really good actors.

Briner is the only person who could have played Izuku in English as well as he did and match those beautiful, amazing voice acting in Japan. The other thing is the dub scripts are massively important. Getting that perfect mix of translation and adaptation. Close enough to the translation that we’re getting absolutely all of the intention that was there in the original source material and close enough to what an American ear expects to hear that we believe what they’re saying.

The Differences With Japanese and American Fans

So, for you Yamashita-san, what was it like seeing the reaction from the fans for this?

Daiki Yamashita: It’s very different from reactions given by Japanese audiences. Expressing 100% of the emotion while they watched was very, very refreshing.

Drawing From the Comic Book Pantheon

My Hero Academia has gotten such a big following in the US as superheroes and comic books are very popular here. In the story, Kohei Horikoshi, he includes Easter eggs about Marvel or DC heroes. When you approach playing Deku, do you ever look to any of these iconic heroes for inspiration? Or do you try to create an original performance?

Yamashita: I believe that Korikoshi-san also loved American comic books and I do like it myself. I like those characters and movies as well. However, to Deku, his hero is All Might, so that’s what I look for when I play Deku. That is the ultimate hero to Deku. My inspiration for playing Deku, when I look for heroes is All Might.

Clinkenbeard: To me, that draws the different between the student heroes that we meet and the pro heroes is that the pro heroes are more similar to those Marvel and DC universe heroes who have got the hero-ing down so well that now they can do wise-cracks as they go.

With the students, we get to see how that comes to be and their reactions to things are a lot more honest. I think the heroes, the professional heroes have learned how to mask some of their feelings so that the populace feels safe. Through the student heroes, fans get to see what might have been the beginning of those heroes. Their origin stories played out without having to see the origin story. It’s kind of fun that you get to see the reality and the comic book version of that.

Briner: I think that’s precisely it. The heroes, or the students that we follow mostly in the manga are still learning and growing as people. I feel like maybe we resonate more with the comic book fan than the super hero as someone who is rooting for themselves and trying to really believe in something that’s much greater and bigger than they are and we get to sit there and root for them on their journey towards that. Which I think that’s really cool. You don’t get to sit there and root there for Batman, like I know you can do it, Batman! Because he’s already doing it.

 

Why My Hero Academia Differs From Marvel, DC Giants

So, given the popularity of superheroes as a trope, what is it about My Hero Academia that separates it from what Marvel is doing, what DC is doing with superheroes?

Yamashita: It’s unlike other hero stories because it is really about raising heroes, like how to become a hero. These kids are still learning, so the story is focused on how to be a hero.

Clinkenbeard: My answer is similar. With the typical comic book hero or the superhero character, usually they have that trope that the hero is somebody who suddenly has a power and is maybe a little too cocky about it and gets in over their heads. They’re the nerd and there’s a popular kid who picks on them and it’s an underdog story.

With this, Izuku comes upon the power not just by accident but by virtue of already being a hero inside. We’re already set up to know that he’s a different kind of hero than that. He’s not struggling with that internal ‘How do I be a hero?’ He’s struggling with the physical ‘How do I make my hero self match my internal hero,’ which is something that is much more relatable to us because we’re not ever going to get bitten by that radioactive spider, but it shows you that you can be a hero with or without the powers.

Briner: I think it cleverly toes the line between the sensibilities of the international audiences and it takes hero troupes that we know and have grown up with and subverts them very cleverly. All Might is your Super Man, your Captain America, your Defense Against the Dark, but he’s broken when we first meet him. I just think it’s interesting to explore characters in a way that feels so over the top in a superhuman society but everyone still feels very human.

The Good and Bad of a Great Reputation

For many fans, it feels like My Hero Academia is on the way to becoming one of, if not already, the top shonen title as it’s being compared to series such as Naruto. How does that status make you feel working so closely on the title and being the faces for it both respectively in Japan and in the US?

Yamashita: I believe so too. I believe that My Hero [Academia] is going to be as big as Naruto. Before I even started working on this, when I was reading the manga I felt that if it was made into anime it was going to be a big hit.

The character is very unique and very attractive and there are relationships that are in action and that story is very, very interesting. Each character has the element of being able to become a hero of their own, a major hero of their own. It’s interesting in that sense.

Clinkenbeard: I mean my answer is so cliche. It’s exactly what you’d expect; It makes you nervous and it makes you excited. It makes you nervous because what if everybody is looking forward to this one fight and you don’t make it as good as it could be. It makes you excited because everybody is looking forward to this one fight with you.

Briner: I definitely feel nervous. Especially as the show has progressed to finding its audience more, but yeah at the same time sitting in a theater full of like-minded fans watching this amazing event only proves to me how just electric and palpable the energy of the fans really is. I just try to tap into that and I really enjoy the work that I do. It’s a joy to work on, so that helps to get me to 100%.

A Low-Down on Season 3’s New Arc

Shifting into season three, which is currently airing. the show is about to enter a new arc. How are you feeling about this story with All Might is retired and Deku preparing for his big hero exam?

Yamashita: After All Might told Deku that ‘It’s you next,’ the weight of the world is on his shoulders. At the same time, everybody realized that weight is what All Might was carrying on his shoulders, on his back all of these years. And now that’s on him. Not just Deku, but all the students that witnessed that scene and what went down between All Might and All For One. I believe that after witnessing that they’re going to become great heroes and put put 100% into next step of taking this exam.

Clinkenbeard: I’m ready. I’m ready to get back to the students. My Hero Academia has done such a good job of alternating half-seasons where you get a good glimpse of what the students are doing and then you see the villains and what they’re doing. And then you see the students, how they’ve grown, how they’ve assimilated what they’ve learned and gotten better. And then you see the villains and how they’ve grown and they’ve got new plans.

We just saw some really amazing new villains that were so much fun, but I’m ready to get back. I’m ready to get back and see how the students learned. What they learned, what new students are there that we need to know about. All of that is really exciting. I’m a little nervous about casting him. I’m running… not low. There’s still some left, but I can see an end.

Briner: The show has done a really wonderful job of alternating between universe building and we learn more about where the show takes place and then character and emotional beings. I think we’re headed back into a sort of world building situation where we get to learn more about how the students actually learn and how they progress through their educational track. We’re gonna probably meet students from other walks, other schools, etc. So I think that’s going to be a lot of fun. Just how the Sports Festival sort of let us know what was going on within U.A. I think this is going to be a good glimpse into what’s going on an even broader sense after what went down with All Might.

Could My Hero Academia Work In Live-Action?

With such superhero potential, do you think My Hero Academia could go down a road like DC or Marvel one day in terms of live-action film? How could such a project truly honor the spirit of the series?

Yamashita: I would really like them to honor the world of the manga and the anime the workers all built, so that would be my first request. I’d them to protect that.

Clinkenbeard: I think that Hollywood and the movie-making industry in general has gotten so good at knowing fans and probably because we’re starting to hire fans. You get people like Joss Whedon in place and he honors it. He is a true, deeply bred fan. You can expect that to follow more faithfully and expect it to be something that fans are gonna actually respect and enjoy. I say now is the time. I’m glad it’s later rather than earlier.

Briner: Yeah. I mean, treat the material with the respect it deserves, and I feel like you’ll end up with a product that is deserving of the acclaim. It’s such a special piece of media on its own and you can that tell as the fans gravitate to it that, almost instantly, you wouldn’t want to mess with that much. You don’t want to reboot or change the tone of the show at all because what it is now is so personal and beautiful that I think that would translate just fine.

Pitching My Hero Academia to Comic Lovers Everywhere

For my final question, as we’re moving through season three and this movie prepares to come out worldwide, My Hero Academia is about to get even more popular. What do you have to say to people who might not be interested in anime as a medium but really like superheroes and comics? What would you say to pitch this series?

Yamashita: Every single creator that’s involved in this project, they’re all hero lovers. It’s made by the hero lovers. That’s probably the simplest way to tell them.

Clinkenbeard: If you’re tired of the hero trope and you loved the hero trope, then taking it from a culture that is not your own is going to freshen it up for you. Taking a story from a culture that you might not know everything about is going to add their tropes into the mix so that you get a fresh perspective on the heroes.

It lacks the cynicism that a lot of Americans don’t do and I think that the superhero genre has a lot of cynicism now. We’re even making fun of our own fandoms and our own comic books and this show doesn’t do that. It’s just genuine, earnest people.

Briner: You can just tell the whole universe of the show is a love letter to the superhero genre. It’s if you went to school and your homeroom teachers were The Avengers. It’s that sort of feeling of ‘Oh my gosh! I’m part of something so huge and so great in scope that I really want to try my best to catch up to them.’ Just to take it at base level, it does such a wonderful job of taking the hero troupes that we know, subverting them so cleverly and it really makes it so watchable and you can’t stop.

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Want to check out the series for yourself? Currently, Toonami airs new episodes of My Hero Academia every Saturday dubbed. You can also keep up with season three via Funimation Now and Crunchyroll!