'My Hero Academia' One-Shot Explains Why All Might Went to America

My Hero Academia's first movie, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, is expanding the franchise mythos in a big way - and that expansion also includes the Two Heroes movie special manga, which contains a one-shot story that reveals a major piece of All Might's origin!

AitaiKimochii has posted some scans form the one-shot book, which reveals the truly emotional and tragic story of how Toshinori Yagi became All Might - and why he decided to leave Japan and train in the U.S., which is exactly where his backstory picks up, during the flashback sequences of My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.

The story picks up with a flashback to All Might's mentor and predecessor, Nana Shimura, in her final battle with All For One. Nana falls in battle, but not before getting 18-year-old Toshinori out of harm's way, and into the arms of Sorahiko/Gran Torino, who escapes with All Might so that they might fight another day.

With Nana gone, Sorahiko begins training Toshinori in the proper use of One For All, while trying to quell the young hero's frustration and rage, at not being able to do more to stop All For One. Sorahiko explains to All Might that All For One has eyes and ears everywhere, and that no matter what Toshinori feels, he can't yet defeat All For One, who has been alive for a century, amassing more power than All Might can possibly handle. knowing how big of a target All Might has on his back as the inheritor of One For All, Sorahiko comes up with a plan: while Toshinori finishes his studies at U.A., Sorahiko will train him on the side in secret, to prepare him for his inevitable showdown with All For One. However, when Toshinori graduates, Sorahiko plots for him to be sent to America, where he can grow and develop his powers far away from the threat of All For One. Toshinori reluctantly agrees and leaves his homeland, motivated by a mission to fulfill his mentor's wish, that he rise as the Symbol of Peace and do what she could not. Even though Toshinori was terrified of heading off into the unknown, he learns to keep that signature smile on his face, as "Those who have a smile on their faces are the strongest after all."

With every new brushstroke of backstory, All Might / Toshinori's charater continues to become one of the more layered and interesting hero characters in superhero storytelling. Whereas his permanent smile and heroic passion once seemed like something of a Superman satire, this one-shot reveals that these components of the character are rooted in some powerful emotional drama. The one-shot not only gives us much needed new dimensions of Toshinori's character, it also helps to better establish why Nan Shimura and Gran Torino were such esteemed heroic figures, and important influences on All Might's life and career. That not only helps strengthen ties to the Two Heroes movie about All Might's time in America, but also the major character arc of season 3 of the anime, which now sees All Might in a similar position that his mentor was once in.

In other words: the series mythos is only getting better, as it gets bigger.

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 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.