My Hero Academia Inspires Touching Anti-Bullying Campaign Overseas

"If there aren't any heroes to save you, become your own hero! No more bullying."

My Hero Academia has a strong protagonist in the form of Izuku Midoriya, aka Deku. What makes Midoriya so endearing isn't just his struggle to become the world's greatest hero while struggling with learning the powers behind One For All, but also Izuku's climb from a regular student with no quirk of his own to a professional hero. Originally, Midoriya was relentlessly picked on for having no powers to speak of, tormented in fact by Bakugo, his future classmate and rival at UA Academy that he had always looked up to. Now, the franchise has begun an "anti-bullying campaign", using Midoriya as the center piece.

Reddit User Gatlindragon shared a pamphlet/material that a school was handing out, using Midoriya and Bakugo from My Hero Academia to help inform students that even though they may not always have someone to help them, they can be heroes themselves to assist in stopping bullying:

This school used My Hero Academia to stop the bullying. from r/BokuNoHeroAcademia

Midoriya has certainly had a rough go of things since he first inherited the power of All Might and his quirk of One For All in the early episodes of My Hero Academia. Taking on villains, and bullies, like Stain, Shigaraki, and Muscular, the aspiring "Symbol Of Peace" manages to be the perfect spokesman for an anti-bullying campaign, as young Deku has managed to take the power inside of himself and strive to use it to make the world a better place with each passing day. Following his mentor, Midoriya is attempting to save everyone "with a smile", and hopefully stop bullying as All Might had done with a good percentage of villainy when he first appeared.

With My Hero Academia's fourth season having just returned, Midoriya is going to face off against a brand new bully in the form of the powerful member and leader of the Yakuza: Overhaul.

What do you think of this My Hero Academia Anti-Bullying campaign? What was your favorite fight where Midoriya brought down a bully? 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 will also be launching its second big movie, Heroes Rising, in Japan this December.