Kohei Horikoshi Pre-Anime Interview
May I ask you what you really felt when you first heard that your work is going being animated?
I was really surprised. I remember it was decided when the serialization wasn’t even a year old, so I felt kind of lost all of the sudden. Then I hurriedly started telling my friends and family the news about my work getting animated, and they were all happy for me, which is the moment that I finally had the realization that went something like “ah, this is great, I’m getting an anime”.
When and where did you hear about the news of the anime announcement?
I don’t remember it quite clearly now, I think it was when Vol 3 was about to come out. My editor mentioned it when he was talking about some other stuff. (Laughs) Every Friday we have a discussion, and I remember my editor was talking about the rankings when he said “Oh yeah, there’s news about the anime.”
What were the circumstances that gave birth to My Hero Academia?
My second series was axed really quickly after such a short time of serialization, and I was pretty depressed about things. I didn’t have the energy left to create new things in the manga medium, but I still needed to come up with one fast. So, I decided to add happy things and happy events that I had drawn in my previous works into this new series. Before, I was really happy drawing the one shot My Hero, so I wanted to make that the foundation and create something new from it. The stage my new series and My Hero is the same, so I decided to add a lot of the elements that have appeared in my previous works into it as well. From a certain point of view, this series is actually the accumulation of all my works from when I first started drawing.
When you’re drawing My Hero Academia, what are some things that you watch out for?
This series is the story of Izuku and All Might, and I plan to make their story the main focus of the plot line, and the “vertical axis” that runs through the main story. It’s actually not a really glorious story at all, as All Might grows weaker every day and Izuku gets injured every now and then. Even the victories in the story for the protagonists aren’t won straightforward and simple. If I keep drawing the story involving these two characters, I feel like the story would get darker and darker as time goes on. My own personality has the tendency to compel me to keep delving deeper and deeper into that. To avoid making the story too dark, I set up a “horizontal axis” to intersect the main story’s “vertical axis”, which is the “fun part”, also known as the Quirks to the heroes of the story, or side character characteristics. With the “horizontal axis”, it sort of mellows out the darker aspects of the “vertical axis”, so “enjoying the horizontal axis” is something that I insist upon, which is something that I watch out for. If I can make myself happier while drawing, then the story would seem that much brighter.
Is All Might the character in My Hero Academia that you like the most?
It would be wrong of me to say that I “like him the most”, as All Might is an absolute within this series, so there is no choice for me as I have to like him. His words are all very cautious, so I have to go over them repeatedly to decide his lines, which costs a lot of effort. So even though I like this character, as I draw him I need to keep reminding myself that “this is important!”. On the opposite end, Bakugou is somebody that I can relax to draw. I really like Otomo Katsuhiro sensei’s, Akira, and within this series there is a character called Tetsuo who, even though he’s a kid, is really strong. And he uses his power like a kid too. I really like that, so I decided to create a character like that in My Hero Academia, which is why mentally speaking, Bakugou is still like a child, though he has a really strong power. His way of fighting is also jumping and flying around, and when he actually fights he hollers and shouts. I’m really happy when I draw characters like that. However Bakugou’s words are all really rude, which might make readers feel unpleasant, though personally I like him.
From the start of the series until now, which parts of the story do you personally enjoy?
I enjoy them all actually. I really melded my feelings into the characters when drawing Izuku and Bakugou’s battle training. Also I needed to get a strong hold on the reader’s heart, as that part was the climax of that arc, so I really tried my best, which is something that I really like about it. I got a lot of positive reviews for that part too, which gave me some reassurance. Including this reassurance, this is probably one of the parts that made the most impression on me.
Indeed, that scene included some of the heavier aspects of Izuku and Bakugou’s relationship. And on the other side, Iida and Ochako were cheerfully having a conversation, which was a lot of fun to read. Is this the “vertical axis” and “horizontal axis” relationship you were talking about?
If there were only Izuku and Bakugou there, then sometimes things might turn out really scary, and Iida and Ochako can mediate their relationship by being their, slowly finding a balance point… that’s what I was thinking when I drew the scene. I’m touched that you’re able to see this.
Sensei, if you were to discover your own “Quirk”, what quirk do you think would be right for you?
I thought about that one already, and that is the “no need for sleep” Quirk. (laughs)
That’s very much like the style of a mangaka. (laughs)
I often fall asleep without meaning to. And once I fall asleep, I can’t wake up… If I were to use this quirk then I would use it normally, and this quirk might make people not feel tired at all.
What manga and anime did you enjoy as a child?
A manga that I enjoy is definitely Dragon Ball, and when I was young I always kept reading Dragon Ball. I kept reading the same volume. I think it was the place a little bit before the android, Cell, started the Cell Games? I don’t know why, but I kept rereading this volume. In terms of anime, there were a lot of anime that were on TV at 6 PM. I really liked Mashin Hero Wataru, rewatched that many times. I also dressed up as Zurugibe Shibaraku, which is a character from that show.
Do you have any influences from Dragon Ball?
My impression that strong characters are packed with muscles is probably because of Dragon Ball’s influence. I really like the body shape of Goku when he goes Super Saiyan, which might be where All Might’s concept came from.
A lot of people say that My Hero Academia is similar to American comics. Have you always enjoyed heroes from American comics?
Yeah. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man was super impressive, and after watching that I started reading American comics from time to time and watching American hero movies. What I learned from them is that, American onomatopoeia and character lines are formatted differently from manga, which is something that i will keep in mind. When I read them I would notice : “Oh, so the sound effect of that fight is added here” . Other than that there are the darkness of the color black and the use of shades. Such as the balance of using full black, which I noticed when flipping through comics “Ah, so coloring this place black would have this kind of effect on the scene”. Even though I haven’t fully grasped the technique yet, I am still learning while I am working on my series.
So, Sensei, what heroes do you like?
Probably have to be Goku and Spiderman. To me, when mentioning heroes, these two are the ones that I think of. In Goku’s case, it’s the reassurance that everything is going to be fine he brings when arriving. Such as, on Namek, Goku was getting healed, and his friends are all beaten badly. When Goku finally recovered and walked out of the healing machine, that reassurance right there is what I’m talking about. Something like “Ah, everything is going to be fine”. When I first read it and saw it was really Goku who had arrived, I continued reading thinking the thought “gonna win”. (laughs) That reassurance is something that all of the other characters don’t have. I thought about it afterwards, and even though there are a variety of heroes, the hero model that is built up in my mind is built around the concept that the hero is somebody that brings reassurance. That’s why I think a hero to me is somebody that helps and brings reassurance to others. In Spiderman’s case the first experience I had with this character was the movie, in which there were a lot of scenes with him rescuing people, which I felt that was really cool. The moment he “saves somebody” is really awesome. Well, In Goku’s case it’s because he likes fighting that he fights so that’s a bit different. (laughs) You can say that Spider-Man and Goku are two different aspects of being a hero. Also, I recently watched the Anpanman movie. Anpanman is really cool, and even when Kabao kun was beaten badly by Baikinman’s robot henchmen, when Anpanman arrives everything was okay. After Anpanman arrived, everybody’s expression was something like “you’re finally here”. Everybody’s mood shifted to become more positive when only Anpanman arrived. That’s probably what it means to be a hero. Of course everybody has a different view on what it means to be a hero, and some people might say “heroes aren’t supposed to be like that”, though to me that’s what being a hero means, and that’s the aspect of heroism that I want to illustrate in My Hero Academia.
Next are some questions about the anime. Midoriya Izuku’s CV is Yamashita Daiki, who also did the radio drama before. What were your impressions on hearing his voice?
Actually, I never really thought much about Izuku’s voice, and when I heard it in the radio drama, I sort of naturally accepted it as: “Ah, so Izuku has that kind of voice”, so it’s hard for me to imagine somebody else other than Yamashita san doing Izuku’s voice.
You mentioned earlier that you really enjoy drawing Bakugou. What do you think of the voice of his CV, Okamoto Nobuhiko?
Ah, if it’s Katsuki, then his voice really captures the feeling the character. Like I said before, Katsuki is like Tetsuo from Akira, giving off characteristics of an antagonist, so he’s really like a child, like a little kid…And Okamoto san’s voice (even though me saying this won’t sound good to Okamoto san) is like a child, the very naughty type. The way he speaks also gives off a very middle schooler type feeling. (laughs) Okamoto san really brings out Katsuki’s characteristics, so this character belongs to Okamoto san and nobody else. Really fitting.
How about Uraraka Ochako’s CV, Sakura Ayane, and Iida Tenya’s CV, Ishikawa Kaito?
Sakura Ayane san’s Uraraka Ochako, is really cute. I’m really looking forward to her voice when she fights. About Ishikawa Kaito san’s Iida, I actually have some things that I’m not sure about myself about Iida’s character, and only after listening to his voice was I able to make a decision.
What about All Might’s CV, Miyake Kenta san?
When I heard Miyake san’s voice for All Might, It gave off a feeling that All Might is talking to Izuku while crouching down so that their eye levels are the same. All Might isn’t towering above, and after thinking about it over again it really is that way. Only heard a little of Miyake san’s All Might, and I feel that he’s got a good handle of this feeling, so I like Miyake san’s All Might.
What were your feelings when you saw for your very first time the animated My Hero Academia?
When I saw the PV last year, I felt something like “this is awesome!”. I can only say something normal people can say: “The characters are really moving”. I was working when I watched the PV with my editor. Naturally I started grinning. Because I didn’t want to be seen doing that by my editor, I kept my hand covered over my mouth. (laughs) Getting an anime is a dream I’ve always had for many years, and I’m really happy.
What do you expect the most from the anime?
Definitely the action parts. Like how the characters will move. I’ve received comments like “the action parts are really hard to understand” for this series, and only the anime can really show the outrageous action parts easily and effectively, so I hope the anime crew is able to do a really good job, I’m looking forward to it.
That’s right. That’s why I’m really looking forward to it…(laughs)
And last of all, please give a message for all of your readers.
Getting my work animated is really something way too extravagant for me, so I will keep on working hard so that I won’t be left behind in the dust by it, that’s how much I’m looking forward to the anime… My Hero Academia’s anime will probably become something really awesome, so for the original series, I won’t lose to the anime, will do my best to draw amazing stories with all my effort. Thank you all for your support!
gummygunk
kianamaiart
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
baratheonpilled
