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My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hīrō Akademia) is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014,^[5] and 14 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.^[6] 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, and is scouted by the world's greatest hero who shares his powers with Izuku after recognizing his value and enrolls him in a high school for heroes in training. The manga was adapted into an anime television series; the first season aired from April 3 to June 26, 2016,^[7] and a second season premiered on April 1, 2017.

Plot[edit]

On an Earth-like world where people with superpowers known as "Quirks" (個性 Kosei) are the norm, Izuku Midoriya is a regular middle school student who has 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), the world's greatest Hero All Might 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.

Media[edit]

Manga[edit]

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 in July 2014. As of June 2, 2017 the series been collected into fourteen tankōbon volumes.^[8] 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. As of February 7, 2017, 8 volumes have been released.^[8]

Anime[edit]

On October 29, 2015, the series' official Twitter announced that My Hero Academia would receive an anime adaptation produced by Studio Bones.^[9]

With the anime announced, TOHOSHI Group registered the domain name "heroaca.com" as the anime's website.^[9] The anime is directed by Kenji Nagasaki, written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and feature character designs by Yoshikiko Umakoshi and music composed by Yuki Hayashi.^[10][11] The anime premiered on MBS and other Japan News Network stations in 'Nichigo' time slot at 5pm on Sundays in Japan. The opening theme is "The Day", performed by Porno Graffitti and the ending theme is "Heroes", performed by Brian the Sun. In March 2016, Funimation Entertainment announced they had licensed the series for streaming services, home and broadcast release as well as obtaining the merchandise rights.^[12] It has also been licensed in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures UK.^[13]

A second season was announced in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine's 30th issue of 2016.^[8] It premiered on April 1, 2017 on NTV and YTV, with the staff and cast from the first season returning to reprise their roles.^[14]

Video game[edit]

A video game based on the anime was announced in November 2015.^[15] The game is developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console, which was released in Japan on May 19, 2016.^[16]

Reception[edit]

It was nominated for the 8th Manga Taishō.^[17] Before the anime adaptation's premiere, manga author Masashi Kishimoto praised Kōhei Horikoshi's work, believing it would be a success overseas; Horikoshi, meanwhile, has cited Kishimoto's Naruto series as a primary source of inspiration.^[18]

Volume 1 reached the 7th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart with 71,575 copies sold.^[19] It sold out almost immediately on its first printing.^[20] Volume 2 reached the 6th place, with 167,531 copies^[21] and, by January 18, 2015, had sold 205,179 copies.^[22] As of March 2017, there were over 10 million copies of My Hero Academia in circulation.^[23]

The story has been noted to take inspiration from elements in superhero comics, such as the aesthetics of its characters.^[24]

Alex Osborn of IGN gave the anime series positive marks, saying "The first season of My Hero Academia delivers thirteen episodes of fantastic action, elevated by a heartfelt story that's wrappedizawa: "Midoriya, I can't anticipate what will happen. So no matter what, don't end up in a state where you can't move."

Deku: "I WILL CHANGE THE FUTURE!!" around a core cast of memorable and relatable characters." Osborn went on to state that the villains were underdeveloped.