My Hero Academia Creator Addresses the Manga's Hagakure Scandal

My Hero Academia introduced the world to its heroes some years ago, and the kids of Class 1-A still top our list of favorites. From Izuku to Tsuyu and beyond, the group has its own supporters, and even the class' second-string stars are major players in the series. That includes characters like Hagakure, and at last, the creator of My Hero Academia is addressing the scandal sparked by the heroine last year.

If you will remember, a certain piece of cover art left the fandom stunned last year, and we had Hagakure to thank. After the heroine's character design was shown at last, creator Kohei Horikoshi was asked to gift the girl her own cover. This art would show off Hagakure without her invisibility getting in the way which fans wanted. But when the art dropped, netizens were stunned by the high school student's NSFW cover.

Now, Horikoshi said the art used was never meant to be seen by the public. The cover art was selected out of necessity as the artist ran out of time to ink new work for Hagakure.

"This color page has nothing to do with the plot, right? That's because it was like a reference sheet to test Hagakure's color scheme that I drew years ago and didn't intend to publish anywhere. But then I ran out of time to draw a new piece and was asked, "Don't you have any color drawings you can use?!". Well, I usually don't care if the color page has to do with the chapter, but in this case, it was quite baffling," Horikoshi revealed in the latest volume of My Hero Academia to hit Japan (via RukasuMHA).

So, there you have it. The artwork that sparked the scandal was originally done for reference purposes. It was only selected and approved for publication due to schedule constraints. Of course, that reasoning won't be enough to appease everyone, but fans can at least rest easy knowing Hagakure's provocative cover was not inked intentionally. And hopefully, the character will get a better cover down the line...!

Did you think Hagakure's cover art was inappropriate when it launched...? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.