My Hero Academia Author, Kohei Horikoshi, Reveals How He Was Inspired By Dragon Ball in Creating His Characters
In an interview, the creator of My Hero Academia shared the inspiration behind his character creations and also mentioned his debut in the manga world.
On August 5, 2024, one of the biggest shonen manga came to an end: My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) by Kohei Horikoshi. While some fans were divided by the ending, there's no denying that the manga entertained its audience for 10 years. Now that it has concluded, it's a great time to reflect on its roots. Some time ago, the author attended San Diego Comic-Con, where he shared insights in an interview about the inspiration behind his iconic character creations.
Horikoshi’s debut and Dragon Ball as inspiration
My Hero Academia followed the story of Izuku Midoriya and his classmates at UA High School for superheroes. They had many adventures together, but the manga ultimately wrapped up with a major battle that resolved all the key storylines. For now, let's take a moment to revisit its origins and recall Horikoshi’s debut in the manga world.
In the aforementioned interview, the mangaka was asked how he began his career. He responded with the following:
Ever since I was a child, I've been drawing. I'd show them to my parents and they were very encouraging.
After graduating, Horikoshi worked as a freelancer, creating various illustrations. At one point, he submitted one of his works to Shonen Jump and won. He commented on this experience:
I think I got lucky.
Later, his career gained momentum when he created a one-shot manga called “Tenko,” which shares many similarities with My Hero Academia. Kohei Horikoshi also admitted that he is a huge fan of the Dragon Ball series and often tried to draw characters that could fit into Toriyama’s world amd on that he based his own characters when creating MHA. When asked if he based All Might on anyone he knew in real life, he replied:
No – I based him on Goku from Dragon Ball.
With the passing of the legendary mangaka behind the Dragon Ball series, it’s reassuring to see many other acclaimed artists continuing his legacy and drawing inspiration from his work. After all, Toriyama is often considered the father of the modern shonen genre, beloved by fans all around the world.
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