My Hero Academia might have released the final chapter of its manga but that hasn’t stopped creator Kohei Horikoshi from continuing to dive into his beloved superhero shonen. On the regular, the mangaka will share new, original artwork of his heroes and villains, even while the end approaches for the anime adaptation as well. With the shonen franchise making some major announcements at this year’s Jump Festa to cap off 2024, Horikoshi still took the opportunity to portray some of his biggest crime fighters getting into the holiday spirit. In this new original art, Deku, Bakugo, and Mirko are giving Santa Claus a break for this year and bouncing their way across the rooftops.
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If you want to celebrate the holidays with Class 1-A outside of this original art, we have good news for you. In the fifth season of the series, “Have A Merry Christmas” sees UA Academy’s finest all throwing on their Santa gear to have a merry holiday before they take on the likes of Shigaraki and All For One in the upcoming wars. While most of the class is more than willing to throw on Santa gear to ring in the holiday season, Bakugo holds onto his usual attitude and decides to wear his usual attire. The installment made for a nice respite before returning ot the brutal battles that made the series a hit amongst anime fans.
[RELATED: My Hero Academia Creator Brings Back Dark Deku With New Sketch]
Santa Deku, Santa Bakugo, And Santa Mirko
Arguably, Deku, Bakugo, and Mirko are three of the most popular characters to ever spring from the mind of mangaka Kohei Horikoshi. While All Might might be regularly thought of as the Symbol of Peace, the Rabbit Hero Mirko might have gained a far more passionate fanbase thanks to her personality and ability to get down and dirty on the battlefield. Considering the Quirks of this trio, sending them out to take over Santa Claus’ duties on Christmas certainly makes sense and Horikoshi himself shared a special message to fans alongside the new art.
“Thank you for your support this year! Thank you very much! Merry Christmas!”
The Vigilantes Are Coming
While fans prepare to say goodbye to the main heroes of the shonen universe via next year’s eighth and final season of My Hero Academia’s universe, that upcoming batch of episodes isn’t the only surprise that the superhero story has in store. At this year’s Jump Festa, Studio BONES confirmed that they would begin to adapt the spin-off series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, to the small screen as well. Considering how long this side story went in its original manga, we could potentially see several seasons that follow the likes of Crawler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster.
Aside from following the heroes that operate outside of the law, Vigilantes also follows the earlier days of major crime fighters in the series. Past stories revolving around the likes of Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight, Mirko, Fat Gum, All Might, and more make up the spin-off and are sure to take many by surprise in the upcoming anime adaptation. Even though My Hero Academia’s manga is at an end, there’s plenty to look forward to if you are a fan of all things UA Academy.
Want to follow all the anime holiday goodies that are coming your way at year’s end? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest updates on the anime holiday season and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
