‘My Hero Academia’ Borrows From ‘X-Men’ With New Arc

My Hero Academia is ready to embark on a brand-new chapter. After diving into an arc all about One For All, a new story is on the horizon featuring a very different threat, but fans of the X-Men will be more familiar with the conflict than they might expect.

Recently, My Hero Academia kicked off its new arc, and the story got off to an explosive beginning. Not only did it see the rest of Class 1-A nab their Provisional Hero License, but a new villain group was brought to light. As it turns out, their leader and goals have lots in common with X-Men, and comic fans were quick to break down the homages online.

So, if you see a bit of Magneto in the CEO of Detnerat, then know you aren’t alone.

For those not caught up with the arc, My Hero Academia is following the yet-named leader of Detnerat, a powerful company in Japan looking to enter the Hero Sector. The man subscribes to the ideals of Destro, an iconic villain who wrote a manifesto titled The Meta Liberation War. However, to outsiders, the book is little more than inflammatory rhetoric written by a terrorist.

“All those acts of terrorism, getting people caught up in who knows what yet he tries to dress it up with fancy writing, talking about ‘liberation this’ and ‘liberation that,’” a Detnerat assistant is heard telling the CEO unawares. The admission leads the the company’s leader to murder his innocent worker, but these harsh deeds go on to prove a point.

Much like Destro wrote, the leader of Detnerat and his gang want to take back quirk control from the government. They all believe it is a human right to use their quirks freely. The rules placed upon quirk usage by the government has become an assault to them on their freedom, and they credit Destro’s teaching as their enlightenment.

Of course, X-Men fans will be able to pull parallels from this story. Not only does the comic delve into the dangers of government oversight in all things involving mutants, but it has its own liberation team. The character Magneto is a champion for mutant liberation in all senses, and his vocal manifesto inspired those persecuted by the government to join his Brotherhood of Mutants.

So, how do you think these series parallel one another? 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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