My Hero Academia's Justin Briner Reveals How Season 4 Grows With Izuku

My Hero Academia is promising a much darker season with its upcoming story arc, "Overhaul", this fall with the fourth outing for the students of UA Academy. Midoriya and his friends are growing up, and while they've had to struggle with some life and death scenarios in the past, the upcoming arc is promising to ratchet up the stakes and the tension with a new villain that works firmly within the rules of the Yakuza crime syndicate, Overhaul. Justin Briner, the current English voice actor for the main protagonist Midoriya, aka Deku, chatted with us about how he feels both his character and his own voice change based on the darker situations:

Justin Briner: But you know what, it's a growing experience for Deku. And I'm serious, I was talking with Ricco Fajardo, the voice of Miro Togata, and we both agree that in a sense, season four is sort of the, it's like jarring the anime into growing up a little bit more. You can hear it in your voice actually. I don't know if this was intentional, but it's a little lower than it has been, and I think we're all growing up with Deku. The show's growing up with Deku, so it's exploring tones that are maybe a bit more grown up, and I feel like a villain with my drive is sort of the person to bring it there.

When last we left Midoriya at the end of season three, he was continuing to train at UA Academy with the recently introduced "Big Three", three heroes who are the most popular students to be found at the academy. The next season is going to present Deku with a brand new set of problems, not just from Overhaul, but from a brand new internship that promises to work Midoriya through the ringer.

Are you excited for the upcoming fourth season of My Hero Academia that focuses on the villainous Overhaul? Where do you see Midoriya heading as he continues his heroic career? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and UA Academy!

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. My Hero Academia is gearing up for an even bigger end of 2019 with a new film in theaters later this year too.