My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia
Cover of the first volume of My Hero Academia, featuring Izuku Midoriya and All Might
僕のヒーローアカデミア (Boku no Hīrō Akademia)
Genre	Superhero, Action, Adventure, Comedy-drama, Science fantasy, Supernatural, Martial Arts
Manga
Written by	Kōhei Horikoshi
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine	NA Weekly Shonen Jump
Original run	July 7, 2014 – ongoing
Volumes	7
Manga
My Hero Academia Smash!!
Written by	Hirofumi Neda, Kohei Horikoshi
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Shōnen Jump +
English magazine	NA Weekly Shonen Jump
Original run	November 9, 2015 – ongoing
Anime television series
Directed by	Kenji Nagasaki
Written by	Yōsuke Kuroda
Studio	Bones
Network	JNN (MBS)
Original run	April 3, 2016 – scheduled

My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア, Boku no Hīrō Akademia) is an ongoing Japanese super hero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014, and 6 volumes have been collected in tankōbon format. The series has been licensed for English language release by Viz Media, and began serialization in their weekly digital manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump on February 9, 2015. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a world where they are the norm, but who still dreams of becoming a superhero himself. The manga will be adapted into an anime television series.

Plot

Izuku Midoriya was just a regular middle school student in a world where people with superpowers known as "Quirks" (個性, Kosei) are the norm. However, he dreams of one day becoming a Hero (ヒーロー, Hīrō), despite being bullied by his classmates for not having a Quirk. After being the only one to try and save his childhood bully, Katsuki, from a Villain (敵（ヴィラン）, Viran), All Might, the world's greatest Hero, bestows upon him his own quirk, "One For All". The story follows Izuku's entrance into U.A. High School (雄英高校, Yūei Kōkō), a school that cultivates the next generation of Heroes.

Characters

Main characters

Izuku Midoriya (緑谷 出久, Midoriya Izuku)

Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (VOMIC and Anime)

Nicknamed Deku (デク), he is a boy who is extremely knowledgeable about heroes and dreams to be one himself, despite lacking a Quirk due to the trait being too diluted to be passed on in his family. However, when he steps up to save his childhood acquaintance from an evil Villain, All Might bestows upon him his Quirk One For All (ワン・フォー・オール, Wan Fō Ōru), a Quirk that becomes more powerful the more people it is given to, and results in the user being able to call upon a great physical strength. Izuku is the first Quirkless (無個性, Mukosei) Hero (beside his predecessor, All Might), and joins other students in Yūei High School's Class 1-A. He initially dislikes his nickname, but starts to like it once Ochako comments that his nickname gives him a vibe of never giving up. Because of this, he decided to use "Deku" as his Hero name.

Katsuki Bakugō (爆豪 勝己, Bakugō Katsuki)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Anime), Yūichirō Umehara (Vomic)

Katsuki is one of Izuku's childhood acquaintances and classmates in class 1-A, whom Izuku calls Kacchan (かっちゃん). He possesses the Quirk Explosion (爆破, Bakuha), which allows his palm sweat to become nitroglycerin and explode. He has made fun of Izuku for lacking a Quirk since childhood, and also the one who gave him his nickname as an insult. Growing up being praised by people around him for his Quirk and achievements in comparison to Izuku, Katsuki became arrogant and thought that others, particularly Izuku, are below him. In the beginning of the series, he is a bully who often mocks those that he considers weak as he thinks that he is the strongest. He stops picking on Izuku after the latter's attempt to save him from a villain, though he truly starts reflecting on himself only after Izuku defeated him in their battle training and seeing that there many students possess greater and better quirks than him.

Ochako Uraraka (麗日 お茶子, Uraraka Ochako)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura

Ochako is a classmate of Izuku and Katsuki's at Yūei High School. Her Quirk is Zero Gravity (無重力（ゼログラビティ）, Zero Gurabiti), which allows her to make any object she touches with her fingertips float, although she will become nauseous if she uses the ability too much. Aside from Katsuki, she also refers Izuku as "Deku" but unlike the former, she calls him with his nickname out of affection, commenting that "Deku" gives the vibe of never giving up, and eventually switches to Deku-kun (デクくん). She comes from a family of construction workers, and because there is not much of a market for them, they are poor. Due to this, Ochako aspires to become a hero for money so she can give her parents an easy life. Her Hero name is "Uravity".

Tenya Iida (飯田 天哉, Iida Ten'ya)

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa

The president of class 1-A, a very studious boy who seems serious and scary at first glance, although he is just being honest and strict regarding qualifications to become a hero. He quickly becomes one of Izuku's first close friends. Tenya's Quirk is Engine (エンジン, Enjin), which gives him super-speed via jet engines in his legs. He comes from a well-known family, who have been professional heroes for generations. His older brother in particular, Turbo Hero Ingenium, inspired him to become a hero that will make his family proud. His Hero name is initially "Tenya", although he renames himself "Ingenium" after his brother is crippled by a villain.

Shōto Todoroki (轟 焦凍, Todoroki Shōto)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

A student in class 1-A. His Quirk is Fire and Ice (半冷半燃, Hanrei Hannen), which makes the left side of his body control fire and the right side ice. He is considered as the strongest student in the class. He is the son of Endeavor, who was said to be the second top hero after All Might. However, his father only married his mother for her Quirk, in the hopes that he could sire a child who could exceed All Might, leading to an abuse-ridden childhood. Shōto's mother soon became afraid that Shōto would become like his father, leading to her burning his not yet active fire side with scalding water in hopes of making his father uninterested in him. Because she was later institutionalized in a mental hospital for her actions, Shōto intends to become a top hero using only his mother's Quirk instead of his father's as his way to disavow the latter. During his fight with Izuku, Shōto finally started to try accepting his Fire Quirk as his own instead of his father's. Afterward, he decided to overcome his inner struggle by meeting his mother, in the hope that they can get through their past together. His Hero name is "Shōto".

All Might (オールマイト, Ōru Maito)

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Anime), Tesshō Genda (Vomic)

The world's greatest Hero, All Might's real Quirk is unknown to the public and most people concludes that he has some strength-enhancing Quirk. He passes his quirk on to Izuku after seeing the boy's bravery. He is a teacher at Yūei High School, doing his best to allow Izuku follow in his foot steps. His One For All Quirk enables him to pass on his powers to another, which he plans on doing as five years prior a fight with a Villain left All Might terribly injured to where he can only use his Quirk for three hours a day. This time limit later decreased to fifty minutes a day. The nature of his Quirk is only known by Izuku, the school principal, and Recovery Girl, and must not be revealed at any cost in order not to destroy people's symbol of peace. He is drawn in the style of American comic book superheroes rather than in the Japanese manga style of other characters, though the style changes to a more traditional manga form when he returns to his "true form".

Class 1-A students

Yūga Aoyama (青山 優雅, Aoyama Yūga)

Yūga is another boy in class 1-A. He is always seen smiling and is very prideful of himself. His Quirk is Navel Laser (ネビルレーザー, Nebiru Rēzā), which allows him to fire a laser blast from his belly button.

Tsuyu Asui (蛙吹 梅雨, Asui Tsuyu)

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki

A girl in class 1-A. Her Quirk Frog (蛙, Kaeru) gives her a frog-like appearance and abilities such as superior swimming, a tongue that can stretch 20 meters, sticking to and climbing vertical walls, superhuman leaping, and numbing venom. She seems to have a gloomy personality, but she is insightful, intelligent, and ready to protect the innocent. She is also sharp, being the first one in the class to notice the similarity between Izuku and All Might's Quirk, which briefly panicked Izuku. Her Hero name is "Froppie".

Momo Yaoyorozu (八百万 百, Yaoyorozu Momo)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue

The vice class president of class 1-A. Her Quirk is Creation (創造, Sōzō), possessing the ability to create any inorganic objects of her choosing so long as she knows their molecular structures. She is one of the top students in the class, having entered Yūei through a scholarship, although she has a self-esteem issue due to never being able to prove her own worth. Her Hero name is "Creatie".

Mezō Shōji (障子 目蔵, Shōji Mezō)

One of the tallest students in class 1-A. Shoji has four extra, webbed arms growing from his shoulders. His Quirk Arm Replication (複製腕, Fukusei Ude) allows him to grow individual body organs at the tips of these four limbs (he has so far shown to grow eyes, ears and hands). His Hero name is "Tentacle".

Eijiro Kirishima (切島 鋭児郎, Kirishima Eijirō)

Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda

A student in class 1-A whose Quirk Hardening (硬化, Kōka) allows him to harden his body to become nearly invulnerable. His Hero name is "Red Riot", inspired by another hero, Crimson Riot, whom he admires.

Mina Ashido (芦戸 三奈, Ashido Mina)

A student in class 1-A with pink hair and lilac skin. Her Quirk is "Acid": being able to excrete an acidic fluid from her body, as well as controlling its corrosive strength and stickiness. Her Hero name is "Pinky".

Tōru Hagakure (葉隠 透, Hagakure Tōru)

A student in class 1-A with an unnamed Quirk that makes her invisible. She walks around nude to fully utilize her Quirk, but keeps on a pair of gloves and a pair of boots so people can know she is there. Her Hero name is "Invisible Girl".

Kyōka Jirō (耳郎 響香, Jirō Kyōka)

A girl in class 1-A who has extremely long earlobes due to her Quirk Headphone Jack (イヤホンジャック, Iyahon Jakku), which allows her to plug her earlobes into headphone jacks to listen to or transmit sound that she controls.

Minoru Mineta (峰田実, Mineta Minoru)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi

A lecherous student in class 1-A who frequently makes lewd remarks and colored jokes. Mineta possess "Super Sticky", a Quirk that grows strongly-adhesive and detachable hairballs from his head. Mineta himself is immune to their adhesive effects and able to trampoline on them as they are also extremely elastic. His Hero name is "Grape Juice".

Denki Kaminari (上鳴 電気, Kaminari Denki)

Voiced by: Tasuku Hatanaka

A student in class 1-A whose Quirk Charge (帯電, Taiden) allows him to absorb and emit electricity. While this quirk is powerful in its nature, overuse causes his brain to short circuit, causing him to become temporarily intellectually disabled. His hero name is "Chargezuma" (charge + inazuma[lightning]).

Fumikage Tokoyami (常闇 踏陰, Tokoyami Fumikage)

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya

A very serious-minded student in 1-A whose head resembles that of a crow's. His Quirk, "Dark Shadow", gives him control of a sentient shadow that has a variety of uses, from attacking to defense to support. His hero name is "Tsukuyomi".

Mashirao Ojiro (尾白 猿夫, Ojiro Mashirao)

A mild-mannered student whose most defining trait is his Quirk "Tail", a strong yet sturdy part of his body which he can combine with martial arts in battle. His hero name is "Tailman".

Hanta Sero (瀬呂 繁太, Sero Hanta)

Another student in 1-A whose Quirk, "Tape", allows him to shoot cellophane tape from dispensers in his elbows. His hero name is "Cellophane".

Kouji Kouda (口田 甲司, Kōda Kōji)

An extremely shy student whose body resembles a rock. His unnamed Quirk allows him to communicate with animals, and because of this his hero name is "Anima".

Rididou Satou (砂藤力道, Satou Rikidou)

A very muscular person with large mouth and black, spiky hair. His Quirk, Sugar Rush gives him 5 times his normal strength using 10g of sugar, but at the same time his brain functions gradually degrades. His hero name is Sugarman.

Yūei High School teachers

Shōta Aizawa (相澤 消太, Aizawa Shōta)

The homeroom teacher for class 1-A. He always looks extremely tired but hates to waste time. He is a Hero formerly known as Eraser Head (イレイザー・ヘッド, Ireizā Heddo) whose Quirk Erasure (抹消, Masshō) is to nullify others' Quirks so long as they remain in his eyesight. If he blinks, his Quirk deactivates, so he often wears goggles to ensure that he need not blink. Continued use of his Quirk gives him dry eye, which makes him unable to use it for some time after.

Present Mic (プレゼント・マイク, Purezento Maiku)

The school's English teacher, whose Quirk "Voice" amplifies his voice. He appears at the entrance ceremony to introduce the new students to the school.

Recovery Girl (リカバリーガール, Rikabarī Gāru)

The school's nurse and nursing teacher, who is now a petite old woman. She gives students candy to get better. Her Quirk is a Healing Factor (治癒力の超活性化, Chiyuryoku no Chōkasseika), allowing her to heal others' injuries by kissing them. However, if she becomes too exhausted, it overrides her ability to prevent her own death.

Lunch Rush (ランチラッシュ, Ranchi Rasshu)

A cook hero who works in the school cafeteria. He is able to produce first class meals for a very low price, and is always seen giving the thumbs up.

Other Heroes

Shinrinkamui (シンリンカムイ)

Voiced by: Kōtarō Nishiyama (vomic)

A Hero who appears in the first chapter who possesses the ability to control tree limbs and is partnered with Mt. Lady. He is rising in popularity in the world, and even has his own Pez dispenser.

Mt. Lady (Mt.レディ, Maunto Redi)

Voiced by: Yuki Minami (vomic)

A Heroine whose Quirk Giantism (巨大化, Kyodaika) allows her to grow from her height of 162 centimeters (5 ft 4 in) to 2,062 centimeters (67 ft 8 in), but her fights with Villains often cause a lot of collateral damage.

Mt. Lady was originally conceived by Kōhei Horikoshi to be the female lead.

Endeavor (エンデヴァー, Endevā)

A Hero with immense flame powers who is a legend at Yūei High School. His crime stopping record has never been surpassed, but despite that, he is considered only the second among all heroes, the first being All Might. He raised his son, Shōto Todoroki with the sole purpose of making of him a hero to surpass all others, to the point of choosing to marry Shōto's mother only because of her Quirk, in order to have his child inherit her powers as well. He constantly pushed his son to train to become stronger ever since he was 5 years old and even sent his own wife to a mental hospital after she injured Shōto out of fear of Endeavor's influence, leading Shōto to hate him.

Villains

The League of Villains

A organization of Villains whose sole purpose is to kill the Symbol of Peace, All Might, and are the main antagonists of the series.

"Sensei"/"All For One"

The true mastermind behind the Villains Alliance, he is a criminal mastermind who used the initial spread of Quirks to create an empire. He was the one who first created "One For All", infusing it into his brother, whose Quirk allowed him to share his Quirk with others. He is a sinister man who, due to a prior confrontation with All Might, has a massive scar covering most of his face above his lower lip. His true name is unknown and is only known by his Quirk, All For One (オール・フォー・ワン, Ōru Fō Wan), the sister Quirk to "One For All", which allows him to take others' Quirks and transfer them to himself or anyone else he designates. While his transferring of Quirks allowed him to lengthen his lifespan, due to his battle with All Might he lies in a hospital in a critical condition, while he looks for a successor.

Tomura Shigaraki (死柄木弔, Shigaraki Tomura)

The acting leader of the alliance, groomed by All For One to be his successor. He is a demented skinny pale man with disembodied hands on his head, face, and arms. Behind his hand-mask, Shigaraki has a heavily aged and weathered face despite his youth. His behavior is of both a criminal genius and a very arrogant child. His Quirk is "Disintegration". He doesn't like Stain and believes they'll never get along, despite the Alliance's desire to have him join ranks. He eventually becomes obsessed with Izuku, believing that the two of them are polar opposites and that to truly break Izuku and the society he represents, he must kill All Might.

Kurogiri ( 黒霧, lit. "Black Mist")

Tomura's Right-hand. A shadow-like entity that wears a elegant outfit with metal plates around his collar bone. Despite his gentlemanly manners, he is also sinister. His quirk is "Warp", teleporting others as well as himself to different locations.

Noumu ( 脳無, Nōmu, lit. "Brainless")

A muscular monstrosity, Noumus are regular people who are infused with multiple Quirks by All For One. While the end result is a potential army of superhumans, the multiple Quirks put a strain on the Noumus' sanity and ultimately make them into mindless berserkers.

Vanguard Action Squad

A team made up of ten members who are the new recruits from the Villain Alliance.

Dabi (荼毘)

A young man with multiple stitchings/piercings who lacks manner and has committed several petty crimes that don't stand out. Wanders if the Villains Alliance follows a cause and decides to be called Dabi (meaning cremation), only revealing his true name later when he sees fit. Desires to fulfill Stain's ideals and motives, leading him to join the Villains Alliance.

Himiko Toga (トガヒミコ, Toga Himeko)

A demented young girl that has a warrant for her arrest having caused multiple death incidents due to blood loss. She wants to join the Villain-alliance so that she can be like Stain and kill him.

Other Villains

Stain, The Hero Killer (ヒーロー殺し ステイン, Hīrō Goroshi Sutein)

A demonic ninja. Originally an aspiring hero student named Chizome Akaguro (赤黒血染, Akaguro Chizome), Stain fell into despair after realizing that more students were becoming heroes for money and fame, rather than doing good for the sake of doing good and dropped out to become a street speaker pushing for reform of the Hero system. He eventually became a professional hero killer, sparing only those he considered "true heroes", a list which currently consists solely of All Might and Izuku. After his arrest, Izuku admits that on some level he admires and understands Stain's passion and idealism, but disapproves of his method. His Quirk is "Bloodcurdle": the ability to paralyze his opponent by licking their blood from his blade, even from scratches. The weakness to his Quirk is that there are time limits by blood types (Type B is 8 minutes, others are shorter ranging from Types BA, A, and O).

Others

Izuku's mother (出久母, Izukuhaha)

Voiced by: Yuki Minami (vomic)

Izuku's mother is proud and somewhat overprotective of her son. When he began attending Yūei High School and had seemed to develop a Quirk all his own, she was ecstatic and gave him a Hero's jumpsuit based on All Might's as a gift. Her "Quirk" is the abiltity to attract small objects.

Izuku's father

Not much is known about him, but it is known that he has the quirk Fire Breather (火休み, Hi Yasumi), which allows the user to blow fire out of their mouth.

Media

Manga

Main article: List of My Hero Academia chapters

My Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It began its serialization in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 7, 2014. Its individual chapters have been collected into six tankōbon volumes, the first released on November 4, 2014. The story is set in a world where super humans are the norm. The main character Izuku Midoriya doesn't have powers, but soon gets powers from a famous hero known as All Might.

The series is licensed for English language release in North America by Viz Media, who published the first volume on August 4, 2015. As the series is published in Japan, it is also released simultaneously in English digitally by Viz Media's Weekly Shounen Jump.

Anime

On October 29, 2015, Anime News Network announced that My Hero Academia would receive an anime adaption produced by Studio Bones. A few days before, Kohei Horikoshi had leaked an image of the announcement on his Twitter account, but the post was quickly deleted.

With the anime announced, TOHO Group registered domain name "heroaca.com" as the anime website. The anime will be directed by Kenji Nagasaki, written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and feature character designs by Yoshikiko Umakoshi. The anime is set to premiere on MBS and other Japan News Network stations in 'Nichigo' timeslot at 5pm on Sundays in Japan.

Video Game

A video game based on the anime was announced in November 2015 for release on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2016. It is being developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Reception

It is nominated for the 8th Manga Taishō.

Volume 1 reached the 7th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart with 71,575 copies sold. It sold out almost immediately on its first printing. Volume 2 reached the 6th place, with 167,531 copies and, by January 18, 2015, had sold 205,179 copies.

The story has been noted to take inspiration from elements in American superhero comics, such as the aesthetics of its characters.

External links

• Official anime website (Japanese)
• Official page at Weekly Shōnen Jump (Japanese)
• My Hero Academia (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia