I translated the entire interview with Boku No Hero Academia’s Horikoshi Kouhei, published online via Natalie Comics. He discusses many different things, from what is a hero to which arc was the most difficult to draw, how much he was involved with the new movie, and much more! The interview is extremely long but gives great insight into the creative process that he goes through! Enjoy~

THE INTERNSHIP ARC WAS DIFFICULT

Interviewer: Boku No Hero Academia will be celebrating its 4th anniversary in July. Congratulations!

Horikoshi: Ahh, it’s been four years already, huh. Thank you very much.

Interviewer: Well then, let’s discuss some of the content for Boku No Hero Academia. At the moment, the most recent volume is Volume 18, and up until now Deku and the others have been interning with pro-heroes and also came into contact with villains along the way. This is the “Internship Arc,” and it is supposed to be the longest arc within the Boku No Hero Academia story so far, right?

Horikoshi: When I started the internship arc, I was thinking that I wanted to make this the longest arc so far. Up until now, even the longest arcs for BNHA spanned no more than two volumes. However, series such as ONE PIECE have arcs that keep going and going, right?

Interviewer: The longest arc for ONE PIECE probably was more than 10 volumes.

Horikoshi: I wanted to challenge myself in creating a long arc like that. Also, I needed to introduce characters that will be present in the last arc of the Boku No Hero Academia story, so I wanted to plan this all out. To tell the truth though, when I was writing the internship arc, it was really hard to push through. In the middle of the arc I thought to myself, “I can’t do this.”

Interviewer: Is it because the arc was long that gave you hardships?

Horikoshi: It’s not because the arc was long, but more about the story that made it difficult. The story was much too dark, and during the middle of it, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Interview: The internship arc indeed also had a character who actually died, and this was a very heavy episode that had not happened thus far.

Horikoshi: When I read other manga or watch movies, I really like stories that have dark plots. I also like stories that don’t have happy endings and can totally stomach gore and horror. However, when I’m writing it myself, it gets really difficult. I’m someone whose feelings fluctuate depending on the contents that I am working on.

THIS WAS AN ARC THAT YOU WANTED READERS TO THINK WAS THE LAST ARC

Interviewer: When you were writing this dark episode, how did you keep up your own tensions during this?

Horikoshi: In the story, if I’m writing about a feel good development, then that’s where I recover my own feelings. For example, in the “Internship Arc,” the character Fat Gum really saved me.

Interview: With the name “Fat,” he was as his name suggests, and also spoke in a Kansai accent, and he was quite a comic relief character, right?

Horikoshi: In the scene with Fat Gum and Kirishima fighting against the villain, I felt really passionate, and I was able to transfer that onto my brush. From that point, I was finally able to write out the Internship Arc little by little. Fat Gum is My Hero.

Interview: On the topic of darker plot points, right now in the anime, the fight between All Might and All For One is also an episode that weighs heavily. Horikoshi-sensei, you started that episode in Volume 8 and made a comment that “This time, I want to write a bit more of a painful story.”

Horikoshi: As expected, writing out that arc was rough. Within the battle between All Might and All For One, when the rescue of (Bakugou) Katsuki, who was previously kidnapped by the villains, was finally put into motion, I myself was able to see the light, and I felt way better. That’s what I mean when I say that within the story, my own feelings become transferred on the paper, thinking “I finally drew it” at myself.

Interviewer: What kind of tensions were you feeling at that time?

Horikoshi: My goal was to let readers think that Boku No Hero Academia would end during this fight. However, the readers probably knew that this wasn’t the end, and at that point during the poll, there were really good reviews, giving me the feeling that this manga isn’t just going to be tossed aside as a one shot thing.

Interviewer: What was your reasoning of wanting readers to think that this was the completion of the series?

Horikoshi: Since All Might loses his power in this fight, I couldn’t just draw with a normal feeling of tension. It’s not really “PLUS ULTRA,” but it was an episode that I needed to break the limit in order to leave an impression on the reader. I wanted to create a story where readers could look back at Boku No Hero Academia and say that the best episode of the entire series was the fight between All Might and All For One.

WHAT IS A HERO?

Interviewer: This subject is present in the current arc, but for Horikoshi-sensei, what is a Hero in Boku No Hero Academia?

Horikoshi: “What exactly is a hero?” This is what I think about and what makes me want to draw. What is a hero? It’s hard to put it in words.

Interviewer: How would you define the image of a hero?

Horikoshi: Moreso than that, I personally do not want to define that. When Boku No Hero Academia first started, in a past interview, I remember answering “A hero would probably have this type of existence.” Recently though, I have been thinking about how there’s way more viewpoints that correlate with what is a hero. For example, some people might think a hero is someone who “even if they’re a lone wolf, they would still do their best, and that’s what you can call a hero.” There are also others who might think that heroes would be like a pro baseball player, someone who hopes to let everyone enjoy their work. There’s no single word that can pinpoint “Ah, this is a hero” in my opinion.

Interviewer: Has there been any triggers that made your own thought process change within the story?

Horikoshi: As the serialization continued, and after seeing various reviews from readers, I decided to start moving various characters’ stories forward. For example, for Deku, a hero is someone who can save people, and for Katsuki, a hero is someone who can win. When I realized that I had to write about their entire stories, I started to think that I had to figure out collectively what a hero figure would be for various people, and I guess if you call that a trigger, then I guess it is one.

A CHARACTER WHO WAS EXPANDED UPON AFTER INITIAL SERIALIZATION

Interviewer: The series has been in serialization for four years now, and has there been any characters that have been expanded upon than what you originally had planned?

Horikoshi: Hm…I guess that All Might, Katsuki, Todoroki, Endeavor, Ochako are all characters that this can be applied to, but since they are all main characters who have been progressing since their introduction, I wouldn’t say it’s an expansion of their character per se. However, if we are speaking about characters that had more plot expanded, then it would be Tsuyu and Toga. I think since they were first introduced, we took into consideration the voices of the readers, and afterwards changed their storylines. That’s why I would probably say Tsuyu and Toga.

Interviewer: Aoyama was featured in Volume 19 at the beginning of the volume. During the Boku No Hero Academia anime event, and according to the coverage, a lot of cast members said that they like Aoyama, but of course, if he’s popular enough, will he have his own feature?

Horikoshi: No, that’s not exactly true (laughs). Just because he’s popular hm…maybe he’s just popular among industry members.

Interviewer: Oh no (laughs)! Besides Aoyama-kun, if you were to feature another character from Class A, who would it be?

Horikoshi: If it’s the girls, then I would choose Ashido. She’s rather cute, and a good character, so I would like to write about her. If it’s the boys, then I would choose Sero, the guy who has Spiderman-like abilities that could have great action sequences. However, I think that including Hagakure, Shouji, etc., I would like to write more about all members of the class. We actually have a story featuring Shouji planned already, so we will probably include it somewhere.

I WANT TO REACH NUMBER ONE IN THE POLLS

Interviewer: In Kadokawa’s Da Vinci magazine, you had an interview with Naruto’s Kishimoto-sensei, and during the discussion, you mentioned that you were worried about keeping up with the demands of the readers.

Horikoshi: Yes, I did.

Interviewer: At that time, Boku No Hero Academia was only at its 3rd volume, but afterwards the anime, games, light novels, and now a movie have been released, so the series has expanded to various media. How do you maintain the demand of the readers in this case?

Horikoshi: The most important one is of course the polls. I always aim for the top and not lose any traction. Boku No Hero Academia fluctuates a lot in the polls, so there have been times where it dipped. That’s why I want to create an amazing story that can reach the Number 1 ranks, and I create the content with the hope that it will reach Number 1. At first I thought that since the anime has started, I really needed to put my all into this, but if I keep thinking that, then I would probably break from the pressure, so that’s why right now I just want to focus on the contents of the manga.

Interviewer: You mentioned before that Yahagi Kousuke, the person who initially helped the serialization of Kishimoto’s Naruto, was a great presence for you.

Horikoshi: That’s right. He’s always on my conscience.

Interviewer: Do you think about the editor who first helped you in the serialization?

Horikoshi: Sometimes. Even though we have a different editor now for Boku No Hero Academia, I sometimes think about what the first editor, Koike-san, would say, such as maybe he would get upset at that, and so forth. However, I heard that Koike-san tell my current editor that he praised the new character Hawks, and that made me really happy from the bottom of my heart. In lieu of this, my first editor does have a presence within me.

THE MOVIE HAS A COMBO MOVE WITH DEKU AND ALL MIGHT THAT WAS NOT IN THE MANGA

Interviewer: Well then, let’s talk a bit about the Boku No Hero Academia Movie “The Two Heroes,” which will release in theaters in August! When it was decided that there will be a movie, what were your feelings?

Horikoshi: I had a feeling of “wait…no way, you’re joking, right?” There was talk of making a movie previously, but I never believed it. However, when the story progressed more and more, even if we were to have a meeting with the staff, I’m sure that the plans would fall through. Because a movie requires a lot of manpower to make it happen, I truly thought that it was never going to happen, but now that I think of it, I was a bit rude in that aspect.

Interviewer: Horikoshi, you are listed as the creator and supervisor of the movie. Exactly what did you work on?



Horikoshi: I worked on many things such as the design for David and Melissa as well as what I want to have in the movie’s plot, what I want the characters to do, and we discussed this thoroughly with Director Nagasaki and the movie staff. I also read the scripts and offered my own opinions with the direction of how the story should go.

Interviewer: What kind of scenarios did the staff ask you?



Horikoshi: It wasn’t discussed in the first draft, but I wanted Deku to really try his all in the story. I also wanted people who did not know anything about Boku No Hero Academia to be able to enjoy the movie. Since it’s a movie, I wanted to let Deku and the others go to a different location! (laughs)

Interviewer: The stage is set in a floating island abroad, and we also see that a Young All Might used to study abroad in a city in America.

Horikoshi: When I create a character, I think of their chronology, and for All Might, his history is that he studied abroad in America, so that’s why I wanted to expand on that aspect.

Interviewer: In the trailer, there are scenes where they are fighting, and the animation is really well done!



Horikoshi: Yes, I actually haven’t seen the finished product yet myself, but from the brief scenes I saw, the characters move wonderfully. I hope everyone watches it in theaters! The duo combo attack scenes with All Might and Deku that didn’t make it into the manga are also a point of interest!

Interviewer: Since this happens before All Might loses his power in the manga, his power move with Deku is something you can’t write anymore in the manga.



Horikoshi: Yes, the events of the movie happen before the battle with All For One, so I want everyone to be able to watch and look forward to this since you will never see their duo power move in the manga.

FOUR CAREFULLY SELECTED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Interviewer: To promote the movie, there was a hash tag on Twitter where users could ask you a question, and these are the four questions that we hope you can answer for us.

Horikoshi: Ah, these were the four chosen ones, yes? I totally you meant that even though we had planned this, we only got four questions (laughs).

Interviewer: We got so many questions, it was way beyond even 100 (laughs). So let’s move on to the first question. “Is there club activities in U.A. Academy?” and “If there was, what kind of activities would the students of Class 1A partake in?”

Horikoshi: U.A. Academy has the General Studies and Economics departments, so there would be club activities. However those who are in the hero department would not enter those. They of course could enter if they wanted to, but I don’t think they would have time to go through that. However, perhaps the General Studies’ student Shinsou might be involved, and there might be a bit about the club activities in the main story in the future.

Interviewer: For example, what type of club activity do you think Deku or Katsuki would do?

Horikoshi: Deku would probably be in some kind of movie analysis club. Katsuki would be in…I don’t know, maybe Argument Club? (T/N: He specifically says ARGUMENT club, not Debate Club lol).

Interviewer: You don’t think he would be in a boxing club? (laughs)

Horikoshi: I think he would hate the rules and probably boxing isn’t his thing. Maybe he wouldn’t even be in a club to begin with.

Interviewer: Okay, on to the next question: “Within the series and the world, the BNHA characters feel real and have very human emotions. Did you have any of your own experiences that you wrote into the story?” Has there been any specific instances where your own personal experienced have influenced some of the story’s scenes or script?

Horikoshi: Oh wow, there’s way too many to count. For example in Volume 11, when Deku was younger he and his mom have a scene together [where Deku’s mom says, “Help me!” and Deku says “I am here!”] I actually used to do this exact same thing with my mom when I was younger, and we played at the park’s playgrounds. We called it the “King of the Jungle.” My mom would go inside the jungle gym at the playground and say, “Please save me, Leo,” which is the name that I used to call myself when we played this together.

I have that memory of pretending to be Leo and playing with my mom at the playground, so I wanted to incorporate that into the story. As a reader, it’s probably a scene that does not hold much meaning, but as for me, I cried while writing that scene.

Interviewer: So Horikoshi-sensei does incorporate your own experiences into the Boku No Hero Academia storyline.

Horikoshi: Yes, I suppose. Another experience that I put into the story was in Volume 16 where you learn about Tamaki transferring schools.

Interviewer: Tamaki transferred schools and was not used to his new class, but he soon became good friends with Mirio, who helped him feel included.

Horikoshi: Right before entering middle school but after elementary school, I ended up going to a middle school outside of my neighborhood. Since this school was outside of where I went to elementary school, I knew no one at all. Everyone else was already in their own groups and knew each other, but I was the loner, and it was a really sad time for me (laughs).

Interviewer: So then for you, a friend like Mirio was there to help.

Horikoshi: Yes, he told me, “you’re not a bad person at all” and was the one who helped me feel included. Man, when I say this now it sounds kind of stupid, huh? (laughs)

Interviewer: Not at all!!!

Horikoshi: Hopefully fans of Tamaki won’t dislike this bit of information, with an impression of like “Oh that’s actually Horikoshi’s memory” or something like that. However, that’s basically how I use my own experiences to add to my characters, and my feelings just overflow into the story.

Interviewer: Let’s move on to the third question: “If you had this quirk, you would definitely want to use it!” Which quirk would that be, and how would you want to use it?

Horikoshi: Definitely Todoroki. I hate hot places, and when things get hot I immediately want to cool down. When I draw Todoroki, I often think “It would be nice to have this quirk.”

Interviewer: That’s quite a practical answer (laughs). Here’s the last question: “Please let us know the reason why you decided to become a mangaka.”

Horikoshi: I loved drawing ever since I was little, and if you think of an industry that allows you to draw, there’s nothing else besides manga, so I decided to become a manga artist. To give a specific incident that occurred, when I was in Elementary chool, the manga “Megaman X2” came out, and I loved drawing the character called the Crystal Snail. My friends complimented me on my drawing and even said “Please give me this drawing!” and this made me really happy. At that time, I don’t know why, but I remember thinking “I want to be a manga artist in the future!”

HE IS DRAWING CONTENT THAT WILL HAVE MEANING IN THE LAST ARC

Interviewer: Well then, lastly, please tell us a bit more about the expansion of the “Boku No Hero Academia” universe. Previously in SUGOI JAPAN, you mentioned that you would like Boku No Hero Academia to be a short and concise story and not drawn out, but what percentage of the story is complete at this point?

Horikoshi: When the decision to extend the series happened, I personally thought “I guess I want to end it here” and it was around Volume 30.

Interviewer: So then are you 2/3 done with the story?

Horikoshi: That’s what I had originally planned, but when I think of all the things that must be set up before getting into the last arc, I realized, “Ending the series at Volume 30 will be impossible” (laughs). However, the current arc that is going on all has purpose that will be relevant in the last arc.

Interviewer: You mentioned in today’s interview that the “Internship Arc” had a very important character that you wanted to draw at the end. Does that mean that all the characters will come together at the last arc?

Horikoshi: All characters will come together and go forward into the last arc. However, at the moment we are not even close to the last battle, but I do have an idea of how I want it to be planned out.

Interviewer: Volume 19 covers the Cultural Festival, and there’s a lot of bright scenes, but please give us a message in regards to points of interest within the newest volume.

Horikoshi: The Cultural Festival puts a spotlight on Jirou from the girls in Class A, and I had the conscience of making sure that she has a lot of cute faces when drawing it. Of course, fans of Jirou would love this, but I hope that others will also enjoy Jirou in this arc!