With the premiere of the anime adaptation of Kōhei Horikoshi's hit Weekly Shonen Jump manga My Hero Academia swiftly approaching, its protagonist, Deku, recently got a shout-out in Shonen Jump issue 17 from a fellow aspiring warrior: Naruto.

Naruto is shouting "Congrats on getting an anime! Believe it!!" (Yes, the "believe it" bit is actually dattebayo.) Naruto's creator, Masashi Kishimoto, provides a few words as well:

My Hero Academia is finally getting animated! Congratulations! To put into words this sensation, which I know firsthand... it's probably a great feeling. [Considering] the original work and the studio, Bones... you don't need the 'probably,' it's a great feeling. People who know it will get it! Internationally, even... in any case, it's a great feeling. It's the same feeling I had when my work was first animated -- no, My Hero Academia is more than that! And they aren't making me say this, it's the truth.

There may seem to be some parallels between the shunned and determined Naruto and the ostracized and disadvantaged Deku, and Kishimoto identified this in an interview last year. He claimed that since My Hero Academia appeared at around the same time Naruto concluded, he felt that the former work had taken Naruto's mantle. He also predicted that My Hero Academia would succeed overseas as Naruto had before it. Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) also speaks warmly of Horikoshi, and is proud that an artist who submitted Usopp fanart for One Piece volume 23 is now serialized alongside him in Shonen Jump.

My Hero Academia's anime adaptation will air on April 3. The manga was honored with the Mandō Kobayashi Manga Grand Prize last year.

[Via Otaku.com and Jump Sokuhō]