Black Clover Creator Congratulates My Hero Academia on Anniversary Exhibit

Black Clover’s creator congratulated My Hero Academia‘s creator on the opening of a special art exhibition celebrating the fifth anniversary of the anime series! My Hero Academia has kicked off its fifth year in anime as part of the Spring 2021 schedule, and it’s a big year for the franchise in a number of ways. Not only is it continuing with a new anime season, but it will be releasing its third feature film this Summer in Japan as well. On top of this, the series opened a special art exhibition in Japan to celebrate this big anniversary.

This new exhibition not only features special new art from series creator Kohei Horikoshi himself, but as @aitaikimochi on Twitter pointed out (and translated), the exhibition also includes a pamphlet featuring congratulations and words of encouragement from fellow Weekly Shonen Jump manga creators such as Black Clover series creator Yuki Tabata.

Tabata’s statement is quite open and emotional as the creator thanks “Horipi” for his influence on his own life’s work. The statement begins as such, “Horikoshi-sensei…I think the first time I met Horipi was through an acquaintance when he came and helped me out with my one-shot that was published in Jump. At that time, Horipi was already well versed in Jump’s serialization scene, and I knew about him too. Even though he was younger than me, he had extraordinary talent with drawing that made me tremble.”

Tabata’s statement continues as such, “Both of our series are being serialized in Jump right now, but his drawings still make me shiver with excitement each week. During serialization, there was a time when he and I lived near each other, and we tried to grab a meal together. However, since both of our publication schedules were super crazy, we ended up not being able to do so.”

Tabata ends the emotional congratulatory message as such, “When times were rough with publication, I would think, ‘well, Horpi is also experiencing the same hardships and excitement as me,’ and that thought really motivated me. Horipi even called me directly when I messaged him on LINE that my wife gave birth. He’s such a nice guy, so I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate him on the opening of the [My Hero Academia] Exhibition!”

What did you think of Black Clover creator’s congratulatory message? Are you enjoying both Black Clover and My Hero Academia in Shonen Jump each week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!