Anime

My Hero Academia Creator Returns With New Art For Hilariously Special Award

Kohei Horikoshi returns to celebrate a rather unique award in Japan.

Studio BONES

Kohei Horikoshi has a lot of time on his hands now that My Hero Academia’s manga has ended. The final chapter of the superhero shonen series arrived earlier this year, with Studio BONES confirming that the eighth and final season would arrive next year in 2025. Thanks to the manga artist’s docket being cleared, Horikoshi himself has time to share new art with fans now that Deku and his UA Academy classmates’ story has ended. In a hilarious new piece of art, one of the anime’s biggest professional heroes gets to shine to help celebrate a rather surprising award victory.

If you’re a fan of My Hero Academia, you’ve seen Best Jeanist in action. The professional hero has a Quirk that allows him to control any threads that are in his vicinity, appropriately dubbed “Fiber Master”. On its face, controlling threads might not seem like a power that can make someone become one of the best heroes in the game, but Tsunagu Hakamada has put this Quirk to good use in his crime fighting career. As witnessed in My Hero Academia’s seventh season, Best Jeanist has used his power in an effort to keep Shigaraki under wraps but is now struggling as one of his best students, Bakugo, clings to life.

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Studio BONES

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The Best Jeanist Award

You might be surprised to learn that Best Jeanist received his name thanks to an award in Japan titled the “Best Jeanist Award.” The award in question has been running for decades in Japan, created by the “Japan Jeans Assocation.” The ceremony itself has been designed to both promote “jeans consumption” and award those celebrities who look the best in jeans. Needless to see, this ceremony is where the shonen superhero received his name.

While Best Jeanist didn’t win the award of his same name this year, there was still plenty to celebrate. The anime superhero won a “Special Contribution Award” following My Hero Academia’s finale and was given their moment in the sun in the real world. To help in celebrating this wild ocassion, Kohei Horikoshi has created new art to highlight Bakugo’s mentor.

Best Jeanist’s Future

My Hero Academia’s manga finale presents a future for Class 1-A that took many by surprise. Without diving into spoiler territory, the eighth and final season will have some big moments for the anime world. As of the writing of this article, Horikoshi hasn’t stated if he plans to continue telling stories in UA Academy’s universe, though it would be a welcome come back for those following the series throughout the years.

Luckily, should the anime wish to continue past season eight, there are a few options that the superhero shonen series might have down the line. The fourth movie of the franchise, My Hero Academia: You’re Next, wasn’t billed as the series’ last, meaning that anime fans might see more films in the future from Class 1-A. On top of this, there remains a major spin-off that has yet to be brought to the screen.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes explored a different side of the equation in the shonen universe, aka those who operated outside of the law to fight crime. Should this manga receive an anime adaptation, it could potentially warrant several seasons thanks to the original story having quite a few chapters to its name. Alongside introducing new heroes, the spin-off also explored the early lives of UA teachers including Present Mic, Eraserhead, Midnight, and Oboro.

Want to stay updated on Class 1-A post My Hero Academia’s finale? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on UA Academy and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.