My Hero Academia’s Mirko Was Inspired by a Well-Known MMA Fighter

When My Hero Academia first introduced the Rabbit Hero Mirko during the series’ Pro Hero arc fans were quickly drawn to her essentially on sight alone. As the fifth ranked hero in the top ten, the pro instantly became a favorite that fans had wanted to see more of. But there was a bit of a debate over her name. Much like the central debate over the title of the series as some fans prefer to call it “Boku no Hero Academia” rather than the official My Hero Academia English translation, there were many fans who felt her name was translated to “Miruko.”

The official English language translation release of the series features her name as Mirko, and that’s because the pro hero’s name is actually inspired by a real life mixed martial arts fighter, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. As pointed out by the official translator for Viz Media’s release of the manga, series creator Kohei Horikoshi confirmed this factoid in one of the physical volume releases.

As Horikoshi noted in Volume 20 of the series where he detailed Mirko’s character, “Her hero name is a reference to a certain MMA fighter.” and is officially spelled out as “Mirko” as a reflection of this inspiration in a data book for the franchise released in Japan. Now the debate could be put to rest as Mirko gets into more action in the manga’s latest chapters.

Hilariously enough, alongside revealing the inspiration behind Rumi Usagiyama’s hero name Horikoshi admitted that he character design is an “amalgamation of [his] likes and preferences.” This is becoming increasingly clear with the most recent chapters of the series as he seems to be going all out with the hero now that she’s been in the thick of things. So at least all of this waiting for both Horikoshi and fans seems to have been worth it!

How do you feel about this inspiration for the Rabbit Hero Mirko? Are you enjoying seeing more of her in the manga at last? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!