My Hero Academia Creator Reflects on the Anime’s Legacy (Exclusive)

My Hero Academia: You’re Next is ready to bring the anime to new heights. Marking Deku’s latest move to theaters, the new movie follows our heroes-in-training as they face a shocking threat. Dark Might makes their debut in this fourth film, forcing our faves from My Hero Academia to take down the villain and reclaim All Might’s legacy. The movie is packed from start to finish, and in an exclusive new interview, series creator Kohei Horikoshi unpacks his view of My Hero Academia as a whole.

The interview, as you can read below, was done in support of Toho International’s release of My Hero Academia: You’re Next. Horikoshi took time to reflect on the franchise as a whole given its recent highs. From the manga’s ending to the climax of season seven, My Hero Academia has a lot going on. But even with all this success backing him, Horikoshi remains as humble as ever.

Exclusive Interview with Kohei Horikoshi

ComicBook: My Hero Academia is one of the most recognized and loved series by anime fans overseas, and is often the series recommended to anime beginners. How do you feel about My Hero Academia being so beloved worldwide? And what do you think are the reasons?

Kohei Horikoshi: I have heard about the popularity of this work overseas, but it doesn’t quite feel real to me. When I started drawing this manga, I didn’t necessarily have the readers abroad in mind and my attitude was rather “as long as I’m having fun drawing, that’s all that matters.” So once the manga was serialized, it was already surprising to me that so many people in Japan supported it. To me, it’s just remarkable how people from different cultures are enjoying my work now. So I can’t tell you the reasons behind the series’ popularity myself. Also in a way, I try not to pay attention to it. I feel that if I become conscious of the fact that my manga is widely read abroad, it might change my writing completely. I am grateful, but I don’t dare to analyze it.

In My Hero Academia, it is said that the spirit of a hero is “to save without being asked” and “to make someone smile even in hard times.” Are there any heroes in the real world or in the fictional world that have influenced you?

This may be slightly different from the purpose of your question, but there is a scene in Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey Maguire, in which Spider-Man stops a runaway train. There, ordinary passengers see Spider-Man’s true face. But then a child hands him the mask he found and says, “I won’t tell anyone.” I think that scene depicts the answer to the question, “What is a hero?” A hero is a person who helps ordinary people, and ordinary people who help them in turn. I think this is the answer to the question, and there is nothing more to it than that.

Endeavor tries to be a good person while struggling with his past actions. There are many characters in My Hero Academia who grow with their pains and flaws. In a world full of heroes, why do you think it is important to highlight the characters’ flaws?

I don’t want to sound self-pitying, so I don’t want to say too much, but when my second serialization was canceled, I thought, “I’ll never be able to draw manga again.” I drew My Hero Academia thinking that if this didn’t work out, I would quit drawing manga. That is why I have drawn My Hero Academia with the intention of making it a story, which will encourage people who had mistakes in the past or had their hearts broken will want to try again. The story ended up in that direction based on my experiences, but I’m sure everyone’s been through a situation they regret. It could be that my theme was relatable for many readers, but I was really developing the story based on my feelings without forcing anything, so I wasn’t deliberately choosing to depict the characters’ flaws either.

Finally, could you give a message to the U.S. and Canadian fans who are looking forward to this theatrical version?

I think this theatrical feature is on a larger scale than the previous films, and I personally like the fact that many characters outside of Class A also got to shine and play important roles in the story. My favorite is Mirio’s performance. I hope you will enjoy this film, also discovering your own favorite parts about the movie.

My Hero Academia: You’re Next will hit theaters in U.S. and Canada on October 11th thanks to Toho International. As for its manga, you can read the series from start to finish on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump app. Plus, the hit My Hero Academia anime can be streamed everywhere from Crunchyroll to Hulu. 

What do you think about this latest My Hero Academia movie? Are you excited to check the movie out? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!