My Hero Academia has come to a complete end in Japan with the release of the manga’s final volume, and the original creator behind it all is saying goodbye to their top heroes with some special new posters. My Hero Academia wrapped up the manga with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine earlier this year, but it has now come to a more conclusive end with the release of its final volume on shelves in Japan. My Hero Academia Volume 42 features some of the final new materials for the long running hero series, and it’s been a time of goodbyes for series creator Kohei Horikoshi.
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My Hero Academia is really going all out to celebrate the release of Volume 42 in Japan, and held a worldwide popularity poll that ran for the last few months. This poll catalogued millions of votes from fans around the world, and ultimately Katsuki Bakugo took first place with Izuku Midoriya coming in second, and Shoto Todoroki rounding out the top three. These three heroes in particular are helping to say goodbye to My Hero Academia with some brand new art that ran in different newspapers across Japan. Check them out below.
My Hero Academia Fans Vote for Their Top Heroes
As part of the grand finale celebration, My Hero Academia launched a worldwide popularity poll following the final chapter earlier this Summer. Fans voted across multiple stages, and Bakugo was ultimately the one that won the vote. It wasn’t very much of a surprise considering that Bakugo had been dominating each stage of the polls since they began, but part of the victory lap for the top three heroes was some brand new art shared by Kohei Horikoshi for these special posters.
As part of the push for My Hero Academia Volume 42, these posters appeared in different newspaper ads in Japan. Deku’s poster appeared in Yomiuri Shimbun, Bakugo’s poster appeared in Asahi Shimbun, and Shoto’s poster appeared in Mainichi Shimbun. These posters are also going to appear in various exclusive goods and other promotions across Japan, but they have been shared online so that fans all over the world can check out these illustrations as well as Horikoshi starts saying goodbye to the hero series he’s been spending over a decade on.
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What’s Next for My Hero Academia’s Creator
My Hero Academia’s finale might be keeping its creator busy for a while, but Horikoshi is already starting to lay the groundwork for what’s coming next. As part of a special crossover celebration with Marvel, Horikoshi was asked about what his future plans were, “I feel really lucky over the success of [My Hero Academia], so I know there’s a lot of pressure around my next move,” the creator stated. “I’m planning to start a new manga as soon as I possibly can.”
But while the creator initially planned to only focus on being the artist for his next work, Shueisha’s editors convinced him to write the next series as well, “I was thinking to committing myself to simply drawing my next project, and letting someone else write the story, but my editor advised me ‘It will be better if you do it all yourself.’” Horikoshi continued. “With that in mind, I’ve slowly started writing and drawing the thumbnails of my next manga. However, there are still several events left surrounding [My Hero Academia], so for a while I’ll still be committed to supporting and promoting it.” So while it’s going to be a bit longer before Horikoshi gets to really work on the next series in full, he’s already started on what’s next.