Be it through the anime or the manga, My Hero Academia saga has perfectly entertained its viewers throughout the years since it first originated a decade ago. Created by Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi sensei, the series immaculately serves as the ultimate storyline through its superhero themes. But while most would describe it as perfection at its peak, a few others’ opinion tends to differ.
This dates back to the time when the saga had newly originated and was one of the hottest topics of debate amongst fans. And since it was such a renowned superhero concept that Horikoshi sensei molded and modified into something more unique and interesting, a section of people acquainted with the story wanted the mangaka to change this exact crucial aspect of the masterpiece.
Fans felt Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia Initially “Needed some work”
Everyone who is acquainted with the My Hero Academia saga knows that it widely rests on the themes of superheroes and superpowers. And the reason behind such influence is that Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi sensei “really likes Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.”
As Mr. Koike, one of the first two editors for the series, shared in an interview with Manga Plus, “American comics and works such as Ultraman, or Kamen Rider” seem to have “contributed to his ‘love of heroes’,” and thus, eventually led to the making of this masterpiece.
But even after having influences imbued in such content, Horikoshi sensei still made sure to alter it as per his own ideas. As Koike continued to share,
“There were many story patterns which got rejected… many were changed during our meetings, and Horikoshi also dismissed many ideas on his own.”
Thus, because of such modifications and newer concepts being introduced in the saga, people were led to have divided opinions about it in the beginning. While most welcomed it with open hands, a few others felt that some “corrections” needed to be made and that “the series needed some work.”
According to what Mr. Monji, the other first editor of the manga, shared in his interview:
“Although everyone agreed that the series was ‘interesting,’ the opinions were divided into ‘the series needs corrections group’ and ‘the series is good as it is group.’ I believe no one said the series wasn’t any good but there were some who thought the series needed some work.”
But that isn’t all. As Mr. Koike shared, fans had contrasting opinions on one particular thing the most: All Might and his revealing to Deku about “the inheritance of his quirk within the first chapter.” What’s more interesting is that even the editors wanted to change it!
Even the Editors Wanted to Change What Fans were Divided About
While Mr. Monji pointed out that the series had both kinds of reviews during its initial chapters, Mr. Koike further elaborated to share what exactly had fans divided in their opinions. According to what he shared,
“I believe the opinions were divided over the fact that All Might does not tell Deku about the inheritance of his quirk within the first chapter, so some felt it may have been better to make the first half more compact and easier to read.”
As it turned out, even Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi sensei and the editors discussed this and wanted to add this change to the saga. However, this was not possible “because of the number of pages,” and thus, “we had no choice but to leave the episodes as they are now.”
Moreover, Mr. Koike further shared a detail about this decision as he said:
“In our hearts, it’s really from the third episode that we would go in with full force, and Horikoshi said ‘I won’t change it.’”
Thankfully, as the series progressed, viewers eventually came around to it and accepted it the way it all turned out to be, considering the massive success that has surrounded the masterpiece saga — both manga and anime — ever since.
You can read My Hero Academia on MANGA Plus and stream the anime on Disney+.
