My Hero Academia debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump back in July 2014, and has become one of Japan’s most popular manga. This weekend, creator Kohei Horikoshi announced that the manga was entering its home stretch.
Horikoshi issued an official statement during a stage presentation at the Jump Festa event held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, outside Tokyo.
“If things progress smoothly, the original My Hero Academia [manga] will reach its goal, for instance, in just about a year,” read Horikoshi’s statement. Later, he added that he didn’t know if the ending would meet people’s expectations, but he plans on writing and drawing the final arc with that intention.
“If things do not go smoothly,” Horikoshi’s statement also read, “I think at next year’s Jump Festa, I’ll have [Deku voice actor] Mr. Yamashita read the same statement.”
Haha. It sounds like Horikoshi is aiming to have the manga wrapped up in a year, but depending on how things go, it might take a little longer. It’s good of him to set expectations for readers—and to also give some breathing room with a somewhat soft deadline. There’s nothing worse than endings that feel rushed and forced.
But can you believe that the conclusion is on the horizon? It’s still massively popular, although this hasn’t stopped other manga artists from wrapping things up.
This year, a little over seven million copies of My Hero Academia manga were sold in Japan—a number followed closely behind the fourth-biggest selling manga series of the year, Attack on Titan. Also this year, Attack on Titan finally ended after its 11-year run. The year before that, Demon Slayer, at the height of its popularity, came to a close. So, if My Hero Academia finishes up in 2022, that will be three years in a row that hugely successful, incredibly popular manga called it a day.
That is, if things go smoothly for Horikoshi as he enters the finale.
Check out Viz’s official English language site for the My Hero Academia manga.