Despite ending back in August 2024, hype surrounding My Hero Academia‘s finale hasn’t slowed down, and now, with Volume 42 set to release in Japan on December 4, 2024, fans are more anxious than ever to see what the additional 38 pages of content promised in the series’ final volume will offer. The final chapters of My Hero Academia explored the lives of the main cast following a brief time skip. Though it felt rather abrupt, it did offer a short look into how everyone was doing following the war, whether they decided to continue down the road of becoming Pro Heroes, or if they resigned to living a normal, pedestrian lifestyle.
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Surprising many when the chapters were released, it was revealed that the series’ main protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, had given up on being a professional hero instead to take up the role of a teacher at UA, acting as a mentor to future generations of heroes after his experiences fighting Shigaraki. The ending also very briefly touches on Ochako’s survivor’s guilt before Bakugo swoops in to offer Midoriya a Tony Stark-esque mech suit so that he can jump back into his life as a hero.
While tender, in many ways, the series’ final moments miss the mark due to how quickly everything happens, without ever truly resolving anything.
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Does My Hero Academia Finally Have a Chance To Tie Up Every Loose End?
My Hero Academia‘s ending’s biggest mistake is that everything that happens feels incredibly rushed. Up to this point, even in its lowest moments, My Hero Academia did an excellent job with pacing itself, especially when dealing with sensitive moments between its main cast. One of the most frustrating moments in the ending by far is how the manga ended up treating Ochaco and her struggle with survivor’s guilt following Toga’s death.
During Ochaco’s breakdown regarding her complex feelings toward surviving everything that happened, she laments to Deku about Toga sacrificing herself for Ochaco’s sake and how difficult it’s been to keep moving forward despite that. Deku responds quickly and with compassion, but in a dicey writing choice, instead chooses to insert himself into Ochaco’s feelings, expressing to her how much she has helped him during their time in school, and how much she means to him. It’s an exchange that, frankly, doesn’t land as well as it should because fans don’t get any opportunity to see Ochaco ever except how she’s feeling for herself.
Additionally, readers never get to see what Deku’s life looks like after receiving the mech suit – or if he struggled with accepting a normal life before getting it. Sure, there is a gorgeously illustrated panel showing how he gets to reunite with his friends, but My Hero Academia never shows its readers how and if it was difficult for Deku to adapt to seeing his friends less as they each entered their adult routines. It would also be great to see more of Deku’s life as a teacher, interacting with his students, and carrying on All Might’s legacy whether or not he has access to One For All.
How My Hero Academia Can Fix Its Ending
Horikoshi has proven in the past that he’s more than capable of writing satisfying conclusions to isolated character and story arcs, and thankfully, My Hero Academia‘s ending is more than salvageable. One of the most important aspects of the ending that readers need to see for Horikoshi’s message to land is what Deku’s life looks like before getting his super-powered mech suit. While Deku willingly gave up his ability to use One For All, it would make his character arc feel far more complex to see how he managed to adapt to an average civilian life again.
When readers see him in the My Hero Academia epilogue, he’s happy – but fans want to know how long it took him to get there. Readers never see how deeply Shigaraki and the other villain’s deaths – especially Toga – affected Deku. By using some of the extended ending’s page count to flesh out Deku’s guilt and regrets, Horikoshi could craft an excellent exploration of what?My Hero Academia?truly defines as being heroic and, more importantly, make Deku feel much more human.
In the same vein, My Hero Academia‘s expanded ending should explore the other students from 1-A, especially Ochaco, and provide actual closure regarding their survivor’s guilt following the war. In the manga’s final arc, the students from class 1-A were thrust into an impossible situation and forced to watch their mentors die while they, as children, had to rise above it with no time to grieve.
Seeing the very real effect this would have on the other characters, even if it was just a brief memorial followed by a handful of tender character moments, could show how the students have been able to endure, heal, and usher in a better future. It’s also important to show the lengths that this new generation will give the new generation of heroes a fighting chance at not being traumatized in the same way they were.
Horikoshi could take plenty of avenues to tie up the ending of My Hero Academia, and regardless of how he does it, fans are seated and anxiously waiting to see what new content he adds to Volume 42.
