My Hero Academia Fans Spot Clever One Piece Homage

My Hero Academia is no stranger to superpowers. Ever since the shonen went live, fans were introduced to all sorts of quirks, but it turns out one person shown carries a familiar power. You know, since it seems Monkey D. Luffy had a bit of a cameo in the spinoff of My Hero Academia.

Recently, a fan on social media pointed out the quick reference. For those who have read My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, the canonical spinoff takes place before the original series starts. Its first chapter introduces Crawler, a student-turned-vigilante, and his reverie on quirks leads to a cute One Piece nod a couple chapters later.

As you can see above, the reference comes when quirks are being described for the first time. A few people are shown demonstrating their quirks, and one to the left is seen showing off some rubbery powers.

The man’s arms are stretched long just like Luffy, and that is not all. The unnamed character is seen wearing jeans with a loose shirt. The look is complete with a mustache, and yes, there is a straw hat too.

The quick reference alludes to Luffy’s status in Japan as a superhero all star, and his Devil Fruit gifts could equate to a quirk in the world of My Hero Academia. Now that fans have noticed the nod, they are eager to see if Izuku Midoriya might show up on the Grand Line some day, but some say Froppy would fit in better. Her frog-like powers would make Froppy a massive Straw Hat ally, and fans know she’d be perfect for fishing Luffy out of the sea since he falls in a bit too often.

Did you catch this reference when it first popped up? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

My Hero Academia 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 powers, even though 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 licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

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