The author behind the worldwide sensation My Hero Academia recently revealed the inspiration behind his widely adored characters. A huge fan of American comics, he appeared at the San Diego Comic Con with his booth. In an interview with him, he revealed his passion for American works and his thoughts before introducing characters in his world-famous work, My Hero Academia.
My Hero Academia follows the story of high school student Midoriya and his classmates at UA High School for superheroes, along with his fights and growth.
Horikoshi’s Debut in the Manga World
Horikoshi, famous for his intriguing characters and high-paced writing, was asked about his entry into the world of drawing manga. Horikoshi said at the San Diego Comic Con.
“Ever since I was a child, I’ve been drawing. I’d show them to my parents and they were very encouraging.”
Horikoshi, famous in the manga and anime world for his engaging and wild art, revealed how a practice from his childhood helped him a lot to shape his career as a mangaka. When asked about how many times he had to try before securing his place in Shonen Jump, he replied: “Just once!”
When further inquired, he said he got very lucky with it, claiming that the judges may have seen his talent. He revealed his origins as doing freelance work for more famous mangaka and learning the culture and the process of manga writing from it.
My Hero Academia and the Character Inspirations
When inquiring about his initial ideas for characters, he revealed:
“Dragon Ball. I was a huge fan of Dragon Ball so I’d think about what sort of other characters would exist in that world and drew those characters”
With the death of the legendary mangaka behind the world-acclaimed series, Dragon Ball, the world of Manga and Anime was shaken to its core. Being the inspiration behind many Mangaka and authors, many of them shared their sorrow. When asked about the aspirations behind every character he replied:
“Are they cool? Do they do cool things? I think that is the core of these characters.”
He explained that sometimes he will think about how a character will be, and the only thing left is imagining how they will react to certain situations. With characters with colorful personalities and backstories, such as Bakugo, Midoriya, and Todoroki, fans of the series enthusiastically follow their adventures and interactions.
He also explained the process behind giving each character their powers:
“It’s momentum. I have these light bulb moments – I don’t spend hours and hours thinking about it. I just get inspired.“
He said that he sees daily life products and thinks,
“Hmm, maybe there’s a face in here somewhere.”
With each character having their unique powers or Quirks, many of them are really clever and unique in their own way. With the manga entering its final saga, fans are excited about potential future developments.
