Disney Welcomes the New Year With Help From My Hero Academia
The new year is here, and yes – that means the anime industry is celebrating in style. 2022 did the medium well as a ton of top-tier titles went live, and some of them will be continuing into 2023. Disney is bracing for that as the streaming service is going all in on anime this year. So to celebrate the arrival of 2023, how else was the company going to celebrate than with help from My Hero Academia?
As you can see below, the official Twitter for Disney+ in Japan got the ball rolling with a special post. To celebrate the new year, the account decided to lean into 2023 and its status as Year of the Rabbit. Disney+ posted a little GIF to figure out which rabbit you are from its service... and Mirko is most definitely an option.
㊗️あけましておめでとうございます🎍
— ディズニープラス公式 (@DisneyPlusJP) December 31, 2022
2023年は卯年🐰
縁起が良く、運気がUPするとされている“うさぎ“#ディズニープラス には
色々な“うさぎ“が勢ぞろい✨#ラッキーうさぎキャンペーン 🎉
フォロー&RTで、あなたの今年の≪ラッキーうさぎ≫と開運メッセージがリプで届く📩
30名様に豪華🎁も❗ pic.twitter.com/4tbwPeHwuc
So, there you have it. You can rank Mirko up there with Thumper from Bambi. Don't even question it.
The post features a number of rabbits from Disney's catalog, and fans will be able to recognize them all at a glance. Everything from Zootopia to Alice in Wonderland is referenced here. We even have nods to shorts like Star Wars Visions and Burrow to round things out! And while Disney+ stateside does not stream My Hero Academia, Mirko is still representing the service over in Japan.
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After all, Disney+ has become a powerhouse in Japan, and it has a number of top-tier anime overseas similar to Netflix. In fact, anime's popularity has lead the service to pursue licenses globally, and Disney's success with anime in Japan has only emboldened them. Not long ago, the platform made its biggest acquisition yet when Disney+ scored the exclusive streaming rights to Bleach and its recent sequel. So if Mirko's presence in this tribute tells us one thing, it is that anime is most definitely on Disney's mind in 2023.
Where does Mirko rank on your list of top pros in My Hero Academia? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.