My Hero Academia

Synopsis

Setting

My Hero Academia is set in a world where about 80% of the human population has gained superpowers called "Quirks" (個性, Kosei) as a result of recent human evolution. Quirks vary widely and have the possibility of being genetically inherited. Quirks range from being small in scale to being god-like abilities. Most Quirks have some drawback when using it, such as a usage limit or self-injury, or manifest as permanent physical mutations to a person's body. Quirks will generally manifest in an individual just after their toddler years. As Quirks became dominant among the population, society melded around their existence and largely commodified around them.

Among the Quirk-…

Production

Development

Writer Kōhei Horikoshi stated that after his previous series Barrage was canceled after just two volumes, he was depressed and out of ideas. To formulate more ideas, he revisited a one-shot he previously published in Akamaru Jump, titled My Hero (僕のヒーロー, Boku no Hīrō). This would end up being the basis for My Hero Academia. Horikoshi was also an avid fan of American films and comics, such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Star Wars, and X-Men, which he used for inspiration. Horikoshi cites Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto manga series as being the main influence for his art, specifically stating it gave him a love for drawing hands. Horikoshi has also cited Dragon Bal…

Themes and analysis

Horikoshi has stated that the main theme he focuses on is "what makes a hero". He also stated that he likes stories with bad endings, as well as horror stories. However, he finds these difficult to draw since the mood in his stories is based on his own current mood. To combat this, he adds in more silly-looking characters such as Fat Gum, in order to keep the mood up.

The series explores themes such as the nature of heroism, the importance of perseverance and determination, and the power of friendship and teamwork. Horikoshi said that he was inspired by the idea of creating a world where anyone, regardless of their background or abilities, could become a hero. He wa…

Manga

Written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi, My Hero Academia began its serialization in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 7, 2014. The series ended after a ten-year run on August 5, 2024. Its chapters were collected and published by Shueisha into 42 individual tankōbon volumes, released from November 4, 2014, to December 4, 2024; the final volume includes 38 pages of new content that take place after the original ending.

The series is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which published the first volume on August 4, 2015. As the series was published in Japan, it was also released simultaneously in English digitally by Viz …

Anime

Television series

An anime television series adaptation of the manga was produced by Bones. It was directed by Kenji Nagasaki, written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and featured character designs by Yoshihiko Umakoshi. The series's first season aired from April 3 to June 26, 2016. A second season aired from April 1 to September 30, 2017. A third season aired from April 7 to September 29, 2018. A fourth season aired from October 12, 2019, to April 4, 2020. A fifth season aired from March 27 to September 25, 2021. A sixth season aired from October 1, 2022, to March 25, 2023. A seventh season aired from May 4 to October 12, 2024, with four "Memories" recap specials having aired in the preceding…

Theatrical films

Anime

An animated film, titled My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, had its world premiere at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on July 5, 2018, before a Japanese theatrical release on August 3, 2018. A second film, titled My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, released in Japan on December 20, 2019, with a North American release following on February 26, 2020. A third film, titled My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, was released in Japan on August 6, 2021, and premiered in North America on October 29, 2021. A fourth film, titled My Hero Academia: You're Next, was released in Japan on August 2, 2024, and began screening in the United States on October 11, 2024.

Live action

In Octobe…

Light novels

A light novel series, titled My Hero Academia: School Briefs (僕のヒーローアカデミア 雄英白書, Boku no Hīrō Akademia: Yūei Hakusho), written by Anri Yoshi, was released by Shueisha under its Jump J-Books imprint. It centers on Izuku Midoriya and his classmates of U.A. High in everyday school lives. The first volume was released on April 4, 2016. As of October 4, 2021,[update] six volumes have been published. In North America, it has been licensed in English by Viz Media.

Light novels based on the four anime films were released on August 3, 2018, December 20, 2019, August 6, 2021, and August 2, 2024, also written by Anri Yoshi.

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Video games

Console games

A video game based on the anime, My Hero Academia: Battle for All (僕のヒーローアカデミア バトル・フォー・オール, Boku no Hīrō Akademia: Batoru fō Ōru), was announced in November 2015. The game was developed by Dimps and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the Nintendo 3DS, where it released in Japan on May 19, 2016.

My Hero Academia has also received four video games developed by Byking and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first, titled My Hero One's Justice (僕のヒーローアカデミア One's Justice（ワンズ ジャスティス）, Boku no Hīrō Akademia: Wanzu Jasutisu), was released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One on October 26, 2018. The game has sold over 500,000 un…

Stage plays

My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage, a stage play adaptation, was first announced in 2018 and ran from April 12–21 and April 26–29, 2019. The play was directed by Tsuneyasu Motoyoshi, written by Hideyuki Nishimori, and choreographed by Umebō. Shunsuke Wada composed the music. The cast includes Shin Tamura as Izuku Midoriya, Ryōta Kobayashi as Katsuki Bakugo, Yume Takuchi as Ochako Uraraka, Hiroki Ino as Tenya Iida, and Ryō Kitamura as Shoto Todoroki.

A second stage play adaptation, titled My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: A True Hero, was scheduled to run from March 6–22 and March 27 – April 5, 2020, with the cast and staff returning. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemi…

Art and guidebooks

Two My Hero Academia art books and four guidebooks have been released by Shueisha. The first art book, titled My Hero Academia: Official Character Guide Ultra Archive Art Book, was released on May 7, 2016. The first guidebook, titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Archive - The Official Character Guide, was published on May 2, 2016. Accompanying the anime, the second guidebook, titled My Hero Academia: Ultimate Animation – The Official Book Guide, was released on September 4, 2017. The third guidebook, titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Analysis – The Official Character Guide, was released on October 4, 2019. The fourth and final guidebook, titled My Hero Academia: Ultra Age – T…

Other media

A drama CD titled My Hero Academia: Sweep! Local Area Cleaning! (僕のヒーローアカデミアハケ！ちいきせいそう！, Boku no Hīrō Akademia: Hake! Chiiki Seisou!) bundled with a limited edition of the seventh volume of the manga, released before the anime. Kōhei Horikoshi provides the original story and supervised the project, and the script is written by Yōsuke Kuroda who also wrote for the anime series. An interactive puzzle-solving event called "Heroes Dead End Program" was held on July 29 and 30, 2017. An exhibit of the series ran in Tokyo's Ikebukuro Sunshine City from September 30 to October 8, 2018.

An art exhibition, titled "My Hero Academia Drawing Smash", ran in Tokyo from April 23 to June 27…

Reception

Fans cosplaying as characters from My Hero Academia at FanimeCon in 2018 Popularity

My Hero Academia ranked second on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2015" poll by Honya Club online bookstore. The series has been ranked on the "Book of the Year" list from Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine, where professional book reviewers, bookstore employees, and Da Vinci readers participate; it ranked 26th in 2015; 22nd in 2016; 16th in 2018; 37th in 2019; 41st in 2020; 34th in 2021; 22nd in 2022; 19th in 2024; and 28th in 2025. On Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! ranking of the top 20 manga for male readers, it ranked fifth on the 2016 list. On TV Asahi's Ma…