In less than two weeks, the My Hero Academia manga will come to an end, wrapping up an incredible 10-year journey. The final chapter of the long-running superhero manga series is scheduled to be released on August 5th in Weekly Shonen Jump combined issue 36/37.
Given the success of the My Hero Academia manga, which has sparked numerous adaptations including an equally successful anime series, many are wondering what's next for the franchise. In a recent interview with Viz, My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi acknowledged that there are characters and backstories that he created, but didn't include in the actual manga story.
"For instance, I have detailed stories for the previous inheritors of One For All," he revealed. "I intentionally left these out."
Unfortunately for fans, Horikoshi has no plans to explore these stories further in future spin-offs or sequel series. When asked if he wanted to draw these backstories at some point, Horikoshi stated: "No, not at all."
"Rather than drawing out all the well-thought-out backgrounds and episodes, I wanted to hint at those elements instead," he continued. Horikoshi likened his approach to these characters and backstories to that of Terminator 2.
In the blockbuster film, we hear about the future war between humanity and robots, but we don't actually see it. Horikoshi appreciated that by not depicting the future in detail, it left more to the viewers' imaginations, which is how he approached certain elements of My Hero Academia.
It sounds like after 10 years of writing, Horiksohi is content with the story he has told in My Hero Academia. When pressed further if there was nothing he felt he missed, he simply responded: "Exactly."
To that end, Horikoshi is content with the story of My Hero Academia ending with the manga, and not trying to drum up any future spin-off or sequel series.
My Hero Academia first debuted in July 2014 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014. Set in a world where superpowers (referred to as "Quirks") have become commonplace, the story follows a young kid named Izuku Midoriya, who despite being born without a Quirk, dreams of being a hero. Recognizing Midoriya's potential, the world's greatest hero, All Might, bestows his Quirk to Midoriya and helps him enroll in the prestigious U.A. High School for superheroes in training.
Since its debut, the manga has amassed 425 chapters collected in 40 volumes. The manga has also been adapted into an equally successful anime series which is currently in its seventh season and also drawing to an end soon as well, as it's nearly caught up to the manga story at this point. There's also a new movie, My Hero Academia: You're Next, scheduled to release in August in Japan and October in the United States.