My Hero Academia Creator Knows One Thing For Sure About The Series' Ending
Japanese manga artist Kōhei Horikoshi knows how to take the shonen genre and make a story that, even though it possesses many of the well-known formulas of shonen, feels as fresh as Shoto Todoroki's right side. "My Hero Academia" is one of the most important titles within the genre to have emerged in the 2010s, and it has amassed a considerable fanbase throughout the years. It is not difficult to come up with reasons why Horikoshi's story is so popular with the public. One such reason concerns how the mangaka took the superhero genre and made it new and unique, making it so that people with superpowers, known within the "My Hero Academia" universe as "quirks," are the norm and not the exception.
Naturally, Horikoshi has been compared to other of the biggest names in the shonen manga industry like the veterans Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda, which interestingly enough served as inspiration for the younger mangaka. However, Horikoshi has made it known that in at least one way he is completely different from the other two artists, and it's related to how he wants "My Hero Academia" to end.
Our Academia will not go on forever
One of the first things that may come to mind when we are comparing Kishimoto's and Oda's work is that both "Naruto" and "One Piece" have gone on for ages. Indeed, Kishimoto wrote an astounding 72 volumes, spanning more than a decade from 1999 to 2014, and Oda has gone even further with 103 published volumes as of right now, with more still to come. Horikoshi, however, does not have similar plans to drag his story out indefinitely.
In a 2018 interview with Anime News Network at San Diego Comic-Con, Horikoshi made his intentions known in regard to the fate of his beloved manga series. When asked about the end of his manga, and whether it would have 80+ volumes like Oda's "One Piece", the author replied, "No, it won't be infinite – I don't have the stamina for it to be as long as One Piece. I'd like to keep it concise."
For some fans, this may not seem like good news but Horikoshi's intention is reasonable and likely for the best in the long run. When one such work goes on for a really long time oftentimes, motivated by the sheer size of the fanbase that feeds the money-making machine, the story tends to begin shedding its consistency and coherence, losing momentum as it progresses. Horikoshi's plan to prioritize concision would prevent such a thing from happening to his series.
"My Hero Academia" currently has 35 volumes but, although it's still ongoing, if one follows the manga chapter releases, they might have a clue that this story of heroes and villains has entered its climax and thus might be nearing its finale. And without a doubt, we can count on Horikoshi to make it "Plus Ultra."