How My Hero Academia gave me back my love for superhero stories

With the recent announcement, My Hero Academia is coming to an end in the next few weeks, like many of its fans, I felt a deep sadness. Although I have known since 2022 that the iconic manga will be discontinued sometime in the next few years, it is still disheartening to finally know the exact date of the last chapter.

There are countless reasons why a fan might be sad about My Hero AcademiaOne of the most common disappointments is the ending of The 40 Fingers, which results from the emotional effort fans have made for nearly a decade to follow the story, learn more about the characters and their backgrounds, and grow along with the heroes – and villains.

The more personal reason for me, however, is the effects that My Hero Academia helped rekindle my childhood interest in superheroes.

My Hero Academia is a superhero story with manga character

In My Hero Academia, teenagers save the world

My Hero Academia is first and foremost a hero’s journey focused on Izuku (Deku) Midoriya’s transformation from a powerless schoolchild to one of the most powerful beings on Earth. Unlike the traditional hero’s journey, Deku’s story takes place in a superhero milieu. It was My Hero AcademiaThe focus on superheroes and creator Kohei Horikoshi’s great portrayal of a rich and diverse superhero community helped me find what I was missing in the superhero stories I loved as a child. After immersing myself in My Hero Academia For a few months now, I’ve felt the urge to explore more superhero stories again.

Before reading My Hero Academia, I hadn’t read a superhero comic in years. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the genre, though. I’ve been into comics my whole life. My first memory of holding a comic book is when, as an elementary school student, I borrowed a friend’s copy of this 1978 Marvel classic – Son of the OriginsThis sparked his interest in superheroes and led to a collection of over 5,000 comic books – almost all of them superhero stories.

Always looking for great content, I eventually expanded my interest to Japanese manga. This was largely the result of the many hours I spent watching anime when I wasn’t reading comics. Of course, the manga I followed with the most devotion were the series with the most superhero atmosphere, including the original Super Sentai And Kamen Rider Manga series. If the manga didn’t have the typical superhero narrative, I would be more interested in the manga than I initially was.

The reboots at Marvel and DC Comics have made me more interested in manga

Too many resets make it difficult to follow storylines

However, my interest in superheroes rapidly declined when Marvel and DC – the comic book publishers I follow the most – began systematically rebooting or reimagining their universes. I understand that reboots are Marvel and DC’s way of attracting new generations of fans and followers by regularly updating their storylines and reimagining their “old” heroes. But I also believe that constant reboots unnecessarily complicated the storylines of my favorite heroes. In fact, it wasn’t long before it all became too confusing for me.

Consequently, I stopped reading and collecting superhero comics. But instead of giving up comics altogether, I turned to manga. Although manga has never been a major medium for superhero stories, the variety of themes is truly unparalleled. Accordingly, I have been able to explore a number of genres, from isekai to slice-of-life, from sports to the supernatural, that I would never have thought of when I was focusing solely on superhero stories. In fact, some of my favorite manga titles, such as Tokyo Ghoul, Mobile Suit GundamAnd attack on Titanhad little connection to the superhero genre.

Still, manga never completely eradicated my interest in superhero stories, so I’ve occasionally looked back into the Marvel and DC multiverses in hopes of finding some “old superhero magic.” However, all I’ve found is more of the same. Reinventions by Marvel and DC have become a cliché. The more I looked into it, the more frustrated I became with the banality of rebooting the modern superhero story. No one described this situation better than Galactus’ mother Taaia in Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez’ Defenders beyond #4:

Reboot after reboot, you said!! And each one faster than the last – always searching for the perfect solution – until even we don’t know if we’re the real story or your latest maybe-verse.

My Hero Academia reboots classic superhero storytelling

But then I came across My Hero Academia. When I first understood the superhero manga scene, I didn’t have great expectations. But the more I read, the more I realized how well My Hero Academia is really like a manga in generaland particularly as a superhero story. It is undoubtedly the quintessential classic superhero story. It reflects the superhero stories that originally sparked my interest in comics.

First, My Hero Academia has compelling, interesting, and memorable characters on both sides of the divide between good and evil. The characters capture readers’ attention and then convince them to come back to see how they progress further in the narrative. No one embodies this trait better than Deku. His struggles, motivations, and drive keep readers interested and invested in his journey. Readers want him to succeed and fear his defeat.

In contrast, All For One is the classic evil villain that is an integral part of any great superhero story. Fans can’t get enough of hating him and eagerly await his just punishment. Certainly, All For One – and later Shigaraki – represents the perfect existential threat that drives the hero to be the best he can be. For a superhero story, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Second, there is Horikoshi’s stunning artwork. Although I have criticized Horikoshi’s art style as being chaotic at times and this can be detrimental to the story, I believe his detail, dynamism and expression are outstanding, even if he seems to lose the moment at times. No other scene illustrates Horikoshi’s stunning art style better than the fight between All Might and One For All in My Hero Academia Chapters 92-94. I can’t stress enough how much the art impacts the mood, feel, and presentation of this particular subplot – it has a magical effect that just swept me away.

And finally, as in all great superhero stories, My Hero Academia is a gripping story. On one hand, there is Deku’s struggle to deal with the quirk of One For All – a power that is both physically and mentally exhausting. On the other hand, there is All For One’s ambition to rule the world – a endeavor that becomes even more complicated when his student Shigaraki takes over. This perfect blend of drama, action, and emotion drew me in and made me spend my time building a connection with the characters and caring about the outcome of their lives.

Thanks to My Hero Academia, I make superhero stories fun again

All the fun I had My Hero Academia convinced me that there are great superhero stories out there if I take the time to find them. Fortunately, the success of My Hero Academia has sparked a revolution in superhero content, not only in manga, but also in Korean manhwa and Chinese manhua. The American superhero universe has also become more diverse and extends beyond Marvel and DC, so there are plenty of superhero stories to discover. Thanks to My Hero AcademiaI am now fully involved in this venture again.

My Hero Academia (2016)

In My Hero Academia, some people have superpowers called Quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and has wanted to be a hero since he was a child. Not having a Quirk has always held him back, however, but a chance encounter with All Might after spotting a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers on Deku and a class of heroes in training at UA. This school molds young Quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-education tasks. As young Deku inherits the “One for All” Quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while fighting back against dastardly supervillains.

Release date

3 April 2016

franchise

My Hero Academia

Production company

Bones