"Can't unsee the similarities" - My Hero Academia fans in disbelief at Yuga Aoyama being inspired by Zatch Bell's Folgore

In the weeks since My Hero Academia’s conclusion, one of the most popular aspects of the manga’s ending has been Yuga Aoyama’s appearance in the final panel. With this appearance, mangaka Kohei Horikoshi confirmed that the already-fan favorite was able to climb his way back to Pro Heroism again and reunite with his friends.

Likewise, My Hero Academia fans are more in love with Aoyama than ever before, eager to explore everything there is to know about his origins, both in-series and in the real world. On the latter point, a recent early concept design for Aoyama was recently rediscovered by fans, which revealed an inspiration from Zatch Bell!’s Parco Folgore.

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Zatch Bell!’s Folgore played a role in shaping one of My Hero Academia’s most iconic characters

The aforementioned early concept design for Aoyama can be found on the unofficial My Hero Academia wiki site. Here, fans can see the full concept design, including Horikoshi’s notes in Japanese. The notes feature Aoyama’s name, Hero Name, Quirk details, and his various attributes, one of which effectively translates to “not as stupid/foolish as Folgore.”

Given Aoyama’s overall design, this is clearly a reference to Zatch Bell!'s Parco Folgore, a central character to the series who has also been appearing in the currently serializing sequel. In Makoto Raiku’s manga and anime series, Folgore is a very flamboyant and outgoing character who, like Aoyama, is very close with and involved in his respective protagonist’s story. The two also use similar rose imagery in some of their most iconic scenes and appearances.

With this in mind, it seems Raiku’s manga and character played a great role in shaping My Hero Academia’s events and one of its fan-favorite characters. Especially in the third and final act of the series, Aoyama plays a major role, the absence of which would fundamentally change the story’s homestretch.

While Folgore’s role isn’t quite as impactful, he and his partner Kanchomé are central characters who make it to the top 10 in the series’ central tournament of 100.

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Fan reaction

Both My Hero Academia and Zatch Bell! Fans are commenting on the rediscovery, with many questioning how they couldn’t see it all along or celebrating their gut feelings. Some are also commenting on how apparent it is in hindsight that Horikoshi would be a fan of Raiku’s series:

“Horikoshi being a gash bell fan makes a lot of sense, a bunch of people with very specific powers using them in really creative ways,” pointed out one fan.

“I KNEW THERE WAS SOME CONNECTION,” proclaimed another.

“OMG I made that comparison when I first seen Aoyama! [3x crying emojis],” celebrated a third.

Others are taking Horikoshi’s comments against Folgore much more seriously, asserting he’s wrong about Folgore being foolish to the point of being libelous.

“I won’t take this libel of best boy Folgore. Leave him alone Hoirkoshi,” dissented one devoted Folgore fan.

“The assumption that Folgore is stupid, Horikoshi please,” dismissively posted a second.

“He clearly hasn’t seen folgore locking in,” suggested yet another.

“folgore is goofy at times but serious when he needs to be,” pointed out a final fan.

It is worth noting that Raiku’s Folgore clearly inspired Horikoshi's Aoyama to a seemingly large degree, despite what the fans' opinions are. This inspiration plays into both Aoyama’s design and characterization, as well as the role he plays in the story.

Likewise, it’s also safe to assume that Horikoshi is paying homage to Raiku’s manga here, given his age and the possibility of having grown up following Raiku’s series.

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Related links

• Why did Yuga Aoyama betray U.A. in My Hero Academia? Motivations explained
• My Hero Academia pairing Aoyama with Deku for final stand against AFO is perfection
• Zatch Bell! manga sequel announced, release month revealed, fanbase pops with excitement