My Hero Academia took the Super Stage at Jump Festa 2022 today. Along with key visuals and a trailer for season 6 of the anime, mangaka Horikoshi Kohei announced something shocking. He revealed that if everything went according to plan, then My Hero Academia manga will end in about a year.
Horikoshi also revealed a few key details about how he has planned the ending, but also left many important points untouched. However, readers have come up with many theories regarding what he has revealed.
Horikoshi announces the key details of the ending of My Hero Academia manga at Jump Festa 2022
Today at Jump Festa 2022, Horikoshi announced that if everything went according to plan, then My Hero Academia manga will end within a year. He revealed three key details: Bakugou will have a very important role to play, Shigaraki is Midoriya’s largest obstacle, and Uraraka and Toga will have a confrontation.
Horikoshi has always said that he had the ending of My Hero Academia planned before he started writing the manga and it is currently in its Final Act. So far, every act has consisted of 9 arcs, and the Final Act is only in its third arc. The manga has released 338 chapters so far, and is currently in the U.A. Traitor arc.
If the manga ends in a year, fans will have at most 52 chapters more, which means that My Hero Academia manga will likely end before it reaches chapter 400.
Of the key details revealed, readers were already aware that the final fight will take place between Shigaraki and Midoriya.
Toga and Uraraka on the other hand, have been each other’s bane in a sense, especially since during the Paranormal Liberation War arc Toga had wanted to meet Uraraka to ask her what it meantto be a hero. It makes perfect sense for these two characters to have a confrontation.
Horikoshi’s comment about Bakugou, however, seems especially important.
[Spoilers from My Hero Academia manga from here on]
Theories and doubts
One of the most popular theories in My Hero Academia that emerged after the silhouette of the Second User of OFA was revealed is that the Second User is Bakugou Katsuki who has somehow traveled back in time. This theory was invalidated after the face of the Second User was revealed, but once again came to the forefront during Midoriya’s retrieval.
When other Users wanted to stop Midoriya from destroying himself, the Second User stalled them and said that it was a job for someone else. Immediately afterwards Bakugou and Class 1-A showed up to bring Izuku back. This led to a rise in the belief that the Second User was aware of what was going to happen because he was Bakugou himself.
While this theory has no canon validation at all, today’s announcement brings it back to the spotlight. Especially considering Horikoshi’s recent knack for confirming popular My Hero Academia theories, such as “Dabi is a Todoroki” and “Aoyama is the U.A. Traitor.”
Speaking of Dabi, one of the key points that Horikoshi had left out is the issue of the Todoroki family, especially the much-discussed confrontation between Todoroki Shouto, Endeavor, and Dabi. This confrontation has been alluded to multiple times since the revelation of Dabi’s real identity.
While it might not be as important as Midoriya’s final fight against Shigaraki, Horikoshi has consciously built up a certain hype around the Todoroki family brawl. The most logical conclusion is that since neither Hiro Shimono (Dabi’s VA) nor Yuki Kaji (Shouto’s VA) were present at today’s My Hero Academia Super Stage, Horikoshi did not mention them at all.
Horikoshi’s other three points pertain to characters whose voice actors were present today: Daiki Yamashita (Midoriya), Nobuhiko Okamoto (Bakugou), Ayane Sakura (Uraraka), Koki Uchiyama (Shigaraki), and Misato Fukuen (Toga).
Final thoughts
It had been hinted for the last few My Hero Academia chapters that the manga has entered its last leg.
With Chapters 337 and 338 particularly referring to the upcoming battle as the final war, many readers had anticipated that My Hero Academia would come to an end soon. But even so, 52 chapters seem less than what everyone expected. However, Horikoshi has always managed to pleasantly surprise even the most skeptical of his readers, and fans are waiting for him to do so once more.