The manga My Hero Academia began serialization in issue 32 of Weekly Shonen Jump, released July 7, 2014, and reached its finale in the combined extra-large issue 36/37 of Weekly Shonen Jump, released August 5, 2024. Roughly ten years of serialization—a long run—with the final volume being volume 42, scheduled for release in December 2024. In January 2025, the "My Hero Academia" Final Fan Book, packed with everything Hero Aca, is also slated for release.
With volume 40, released April 4, 2024, the comic series surpassed 100 million copies in cumulative worldwide circulation. That breaks down to over 60 million in Japan and over 40 million overseas, including digital editions.
The anime began airing its first season on Saturdays in the spring 2017 schedule, but when that time slot ended, it moved to Nippon TV. From there it has run all the way through its seventh season to date, with four films released. The one I'm covering this time is the fourth of those films. Kenji Nagasaki, who had directed since season one, shifted to an advisory role, and Tensai Okamura took over as director.
In My Hero Academia—"Hero Aca" for short—humanity has come to acquire special abilities called "Quirks" (turning invisible, causing explosions, and so on). As people began using them for evil, Pro Heroes were born to stop them, and the school that trains them is "Hero Academia."
The protagonist, Izuku (a.k.a. Deku), has no Quirk, but he idolizes heroes and has a stronger sense of justice than anyone. He's the type of kid whose body moves before his brain does. But because he was Quirkless, he had no choice but to give up on becoming a hero. That's when the legendary hero All Might takes notice of him and entrusts him with "One For All," the Quirk that is the source of All Might's power. Suddenly given All Might–class raw strength, the Quirkless Deku can't withstand the power at first, wrecking his body every time he uses One For All. But through relentless training, he gradually makes the power his own. And then, in the midst of all this, villains appear at the Academia...
That's the story of the anime's first season. A huge cast of American-comic-style heroes shows up, and it's a blast.
The boss of this fourth film is the boss of a gang.
Now, the score is handled, as ever, by Yuki Hayashi. Hayashi has been involved with the My Hero Academia score since season one, so the music here is exactly the kind that makes you go, "Yeah, this guy gets it."
My first recommendation is "Class A's Mission." Every Hero Academia track is cool, but this is one of the coolest of them all.
Next up is "Next, it's our turn!" The title evokes the film's tagline. This one's another cool track—a top-tier piece that's hero anime through and through.
To finish, let's part ways while watching the teaser for the film itself, You're Next.
Image from the official site: https://heroaca-movie.com/
