My Hero Academia Has a Perfect Sequel That Would Put Naruto to Shame
My Hero Academiais well-known for its absolutely tragic backstories, shared by heroes and villains alike. Most of the series' prominent characters experienced a make-or-break moment in their lives at one point, leading them to either become a hero or to pursue villainy.
For example, the members of the League of Villains experienced horrific circumstances and turned to evil as a result, but not every character follows this vengeful path. Two My Hero Academia characters surprisingly became even more empathetic and kind after living through awful events, and they would be perfect protagonists for a future spin-off that could rival series like Dragon Ball DAIMA and Boruto.
Kota and Eri Have Two of My Hero Academia’s Saddest Backstories
Kota Lost Both of His Parents to a Villain, While Eri Was Tortured and Manipulated During Most of Her Childhood
Two of My Hero Academia's worst backstories belong to children, heartbreakingly enough. Kota Izumi and Eri had extremely difficult upbringings, but still became caring people in spite of it all. Kota was introduced in the Forest Training Camp Arc, since he is related to one of the Wild, Wild Pussycats members who was running the camp, Shino Sosaki. The reason he lives with Shino is actually quite distressing: both of his parents were killed by a villain. Kota's parents, who were known together as Water Hose, were killed by the villain Muscular while working as Pro Heroes, causing Kota to despise heroes.
I Didn't Like My Hero Academia Until This Underrated Deku Moment Completely Changed My Mind
I was not a huge My Hero Academia fan when I first watched the series, but Deku's bravest moment completely changed my perspective on the show.
Kota was furious with Hero Society, which he blamed for stealing his parents from him at such a young age, and until he met Deku, he had a very negative view of heroes. Ironically, Deku wound up rescuing Kota from the same villain, Muscular, who was involved in the unanticipated attack on the training camp. Kota's opinion on heroes changed in an instant once he realized Deku's willingness to save his life when he had been nothing but rude and abrasive towards him the entire time they knew one another. Kota's backstory is sorrowful, but Eri's might be even more agonizing than his.
Their Origins Are Just as Devastating as the League of Villains Members
Kota and Eri Suffered Just as Severely as Villains Like Shigaraki and Toga, if Not More So
Eri was a pawn in Overhaul's evil schemes during the Shie Hassakai arc of My Hero Academia, which is one of the series' most dismal arcs. Eri's Rewind Quirk was viewed as extremely valuable by Overhaul, so he used her as a weapon, stealing her childhood from her. Eri's own family abandoned her when her Quirk malfunctioned one day and killed her father, so she had no escape from Kai Chisaki's cruelty until Deku and some other heroes intervened. For years, she was trapped by the villains in a facility, experimented on, and missed out on so many joyful experiences that most children get to enjoy.
Villains Can Be Victims: Why Twice Stands as My Hero Academia's Most Complex Character
Twice’s character arc shows that some villains are victims and his madness and identity issues arose from abandonment rather than malice.
One of Eri's most tear-jerking revelations to the heroes Mirio and Deku was that, since she spent so long living in such appalling circumstances, she completely forgot how to smile. Thankfully, Eri was eventually rescued and the Shie Hassakai organization was defeated, putting an end to Eri's torture. Kota and Eri are not the only My Hero Academia characters with backstories of suffering though, the League of Villains members like Toga Himiko and Tomura Shigaraki were also subjected to agonizing circumstances, including abandonment by their families, difficulty controlling their Quirks, and bullying from society for their unusual, sometimes dangerous powers.
Despite Their Pasts, Kota and Eri Became Kind People
These Two Young Heroes Began to See the Positive Side of Humanity Again, Even After Extreme Trauma
The difference between characters like Kota and Eri versus characters like Shigaraki and Toga is how they responded to their circumstances and the choices they made going forward. Shigaraki and Toga become deadly villains, murdering innocent civilians and plotting to take down Hero Society entirely. Although it is easy to feel sympathy for the trauma many of My Hero Academia's villains went through, they retaliated by passing that pain on to uninvolved people and making the world a worse place, while Kota and Eri took the opposite approach.
Both Kota and Eri have horrific pasts that rival the tragic backstories of characters like Shigaraki and Toga, but they did not become villains and instead grew into kindhearted people who help others. Although neither of them became official Pro Heroes, it would be no surprise if they did in the future, because despite their hard lives, they still care deeply for other people. Even though humans wronged them over and over, they learned to trust again and see the good in humanity as a whole, providing living proof that devastating pasts do not necessarily have to lead to villainy.
Kota and Eri Would Be Perfect Protagonists for a Spin-off
These Heroic Children Prove That Even if a Character Has Tragic Origins, They Are Not Doomed to Villainy
If another My Hero Academia spin-off wasever created aside from My Hero Academia: Vigilantes and the other current canon spin-offs, Kota and Eri would be the perfect main characters. Their life stories, although they started out seemingly hopeless, became quite inspirational, as they both made it clear that a tough past is no excuse at all to become a villain like Shigaraki or All For One. Hero Society is rife with issues, and everyone in My Hero Academia has their own opinion on how to solve them. Although the villains' actions are despicable, they were right to call out flaws in Hero Society, but they did go about it very incorrectly.
My Hero Academia Quietly Unpacked Society's Worst Flaw Way Back in Chapter One
Even in the very first chapter, the problems with My Hero Academia's Hero Society were already very apparent, foreshadowing its eventual fall.
Hero Society needs change, and characters with strong morals and love for others like Kota and Eri would be the ideal candidates to represent this new batch of heroes. These characters have seen the absolute worst of humanity and all the pain and death that people can cause, yet they still go out of their way to change, grow, and help others. Kota was unafraid to admit he was wrong about heroes, while Eri relearned how to smile after years of mistreatment. Both of these My Hero Academiacharacters make it clear that no matter who someone is or what they have been through, they can still be a hero.
- Movie(s)
- My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018), My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019), My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021)
- First Film
- My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
- Cast
- Daiki Yamashita, Kenta Miyake, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ayane Sakura, Yûki Kaji, Aoi Yuki, Kaito Ishikawa, Toshiki Masuda, Marina Inoue, Yoshimasa Hosoya
- TV Show(s)
- My Hero Academia
- Video Game(s)
- My Hero Academia: Battle for All, My Hero One's Justice, My Hero One's Justice 2
- Character(s)
- Izuku Midoriya, All Might, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, Shoto Todoroki, Tsuyu Asui, Tenya Iida, Eijiro Kirishima, Momo Yaoyorozu, Fumikage Tokoyami
