My Hero Academia’s Author Comment Gives a Neat Explanation on the Ending

Horikoshi’s author comment reveals that Chapter 429, not 430, is the true ending of “My Hero Academia”

Vincent Reyes 4 Dec 2024

With the release of the final volume of My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi has sent a lengthy and comprehensive author’s comment, entailing the nature of My Hero Academia’s epilogue arc, as well as his own writing journey for the past 10 years.

Horikoshi’s afterword in volume 42 pic.twitter.com/rf3VHSGQbT

— Rukasu (@RukasuMHA) December 3, 2024

The real final chapter is 429, 430 is more like a curtain call. I drew it to resemble a game’s bonus stage. “My Hero Academia” is now complete. It’s been so long since the “the final act begins” title drop, right?? If I were to list the aspects of the story that I feel were lacking or didn’t quite reach the highs that I wanted, we’d be here all day — but I’m glad that you kept reading it until the very end. Because, if you didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to draw it.
Manga creators are creatures that come with a pre-recorded line: It’s all thanks to the readers’ support”. But I think me and all of my peers keep saying that not because of politeness only, but because it’s true. Both in a “numbers and economics’ way and in a psychological way. You guys give me so much strength. Every time you root for my characters, I move into a higher gear and go like “you (characters) can do it! You can do even better!’
For me, MHA always left me with a feeling of “this chapter doesn’t match with my skill level”, it was just pure luck that I was able to produce something like this. Like a Black Flash (Referring to his friend Gege Akutami’s work “Jujutsu Kaisen”), you know? So I felt like I needed to keep going beyond my limits for the rest of the series — I was fighting against my own self-consciousness every single day_ “Is this chapter better than the first one?’ “Am I drawing something better than chapter 1?” If I’m not getting better, no one will keep reading it…”. Those were my all so anxious weeks. But when I took some time to read the fan letters, this anxiety disappeared from my mind and joy took over Or rather, I was able to keep the anxiety in check for a while. This may sound like I’m overly dependent on the fans, but I’d rather compare it to gasoline_ It felt like you guys were telling me “don’t worry, everything will be fine”. As you can see, I’m a rather weak individual.

I can never believe in myself, it’s like I ate the Weak-Weak Fruit (referring to “One Piece’s” Devil Fruits). And MHA was only able to exist because a guy like me got encouraged by your words.
Yes, you are this strong. And yes, you’re capable of making this power reach other people. Thank you for giving me power. This afterword is my fan letter to you.
If during these past 10 years, MHA was able to give you even one drop of gasoline, I’ll be able to proudly announce that I’ve developed a perpetual motion machine. Thank you so much for reading and looking after my characters!!
P.S For chapter 431, I tum off the cameras and free the characters from their dramas. I’m grateful to all of them, who kept doing their best for so long.

Horikoshi thanks the fanbase for their undying support as their motivating messages have emboldened Horikoshi in spite of his self-admitted limitations.

Within this message, we also see how Horikoshi approaches the ending to his story, which was done through a sort of epilogue arc beginning in Chapter 425: “Unseasonable”.

Horikoshi has stated that Chapter 429, titled, “I am Here” is the real final chapter of the main story while Chapter 430, titled “My Hero Academia” is the curtain call or epilogue of the story and Chapter 431: “More” is where the characters are outside the limelight or the screen.

This is because Chapter 429 is where Class 1-A has finished their journey as students and the next two chapters are about their adult lives after the Academia life.

We also see the greater themes of the story wrap up when the boy (named Koma Terumoto) meant to parallel a younger Shigaraki after losing control of Decay is saved by the same old woman that rejected Tomura over a decade ago.

Additionally, Horikoshi has stated that Chapter 431 is where the characters are no longer tied to the old story as Chapter 430 finishes off all ties to the UA High stories, as well as an expression of his gratitude to the journeys these characters have gone through, which might also explain why he neatly wraps up the dynamic between the protagonist Izuku Midoriya with his love interest Ochako Uraraka.

The message also contained multiple references to Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece as a way of signifying the influence that these works have had in his journey as a mangaka.

In the same comment, he has also mentioned how he is aware of what the story might still be missing. In the interview with Marvel upon the release of Volume 42, Horikoshi has stated that he has plans to create a new manga but will prioritize supporting events related to My Hero Academia.