Finding Closure With My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia aired its final anime episode this past weekend. With that we got the close to an anime most has been most synonymous with the industry the last decade. That is a major event for the industry as we will be entering 2026 with a major hole left for other current and upcoming animes to fill. Personally, that is close for a major chapter as My Hero Academia has become one of my favorite manga and anime since the first chapter debut. With that in mind let’s take a look back and forward at My Hero Academia and what will come next.

FEELING OF CLOSURE WITH MY HERO ACADEMIA

Now this isn’t the first time we’ve gone through the end of My Hero Academia as the manga ended in 2024. So this feeling of going through an ending for My Hero Academia isn’t new. What is new is the feeling of closure.

When I read My Hero Academia Chapter 430 back in August 2024 I knew it was the end but didn’t feel like things were over. Even the special epilogue Chapter 431 that came out December 2024 didn’t feel like things were done. That was because we still had the final part of Kohei Horikoshi’s epic to be adapted into the final season of My Hero Academia’s anime.

It is a revelation that really didn’t hit me until I watched the final episode of My Hero Academia this past Saturday. When I got to the final credits where we saw where Class 1-A ended up after graduating it hit me that this was goodbye. It was the feeling that My Hero Academia is over that I didn’t get from the final chapter. There is no thinking we still got another adaptation to have. The complete story that Horikoshi wrote and drew for his My Hero Academia run is adapted.

MY HERO ACADEMIA IS MY FIRST MANGA DISCOVERY

This made a rush of memories come to mind. It reminded me that My Hero Academia is the first manga that I discovered when the first chapter was released. I’ve been there from the beginning.

That is not something that happened with my other favorite franchises like Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and others. All those franchises are ones I first became a fan after their anime adaptations released. And any manga that I read before they got anime adaptations, I usually found them several chapters in or after the first few volumes came to the US. My Hero Academia is the first one that I had that sense of discovery.

So for as sad from the sense of closure about My Hero Academia being over I am equally happy. It has been an incredible ride to see so many people become fans of the Horikoshi’s series. Whether it was from the manga, anime, movies, conventions, or other ways people have discovered and become fans of My Hero Academia it has all been cool to see. It makes me even happier that I was able to be there from the beginning to see so many of us have this connection through being fans of My Hero Academia.

WILL WE GET MORE MY HERO ACADEMIA?

While the main My Hero Academia series is over it is not the last we will see from the franchise. The My Hero Academia: Vigilante spin-off series will have its anime’s second season debut next year. A live action adaptation that got backing from Legendary Entertainment. Last we heard it Shinsuke Sato was announced as the director. Sato has experience directing live-action manga adaptations, including Bleach, I Am a Hero, Injuyashiki, and Kingdom.

It wasn’t really mentioned much in the final episode but Horikoshi did leave room for a final in-continuity animated movie for My Hero Academia. Izuku Midoriya mentioned that he had one final big adventure that used up the last spark of One For All. There was also talk about a cyber war that happened three years after All For One’s defeat. Those mentions lay the foundation for a final anime movie. That could be a big announcement for this year’s Jump Festa happening December 20-21 that My Hero Academia is announced to have a spot on the Red Super Stage, the main stage for the convention.

Outside of that it would not be surprising if in the next few years, if not a year, we get another spinoff that acts as sequel to the series. There is already precedence to this with My Hero Academia: Vigilante. That manga showed that there can be stories told with new characters in the world while still having fan favorites appear as guest stars or supporting characters. That is the magic of what Horikoshi created as My Hero Academia combining comic book and manga storytelling approaches with its story arc structure.

Whatever happens My Hero Academia certainly left a mark as Kohei Horikoshi created a memorable franchise many fans will continue to enjoy.

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