When I first arrived in Japan 3 years ago, I wanted to see the 3rd My Hero Academia film in theaters. Unfortunately, by the time I left my two-week quarantine (this was during the COVID times) The film had already left Japanese theaters. Plus, I was busy with my new job, my new apartment, getting to know my new friends, and just familiarizing myself with my new home in Japan.
I imagine a few months later the film came to the US. It’s funny, if I had left for Japan just a month earlier or a month later, I would have seen My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission in a theater. I was just a bit too late and a bit too early, but so is life I guess.
This same dichotomy was rearing its ugly head again as I prepared to leave Japan earlier this month. Two times over even. After three glorious years my grand adventure in the Land of the Rising Sun was coming to an end, I had two timers going. One was the end of the My Hero Academia Manga. I thought the manga would end two years ago. I was certain I would see it end in Japan, and I would be able to purchase the final issue as a souvenir.
Nevertheless, it persisted. Suddenly I was less than two months away from my exit date, and the last big battle was still ongoing. Then once that was finished Horikoshi decided to take the long route with the conclusion, and I started to get really worried. Luckily, with 2 weeks to spare, The final issue came out and I procured my copy.
The second timer was the fourth film, My Hero Academia: You’re Next (2024). Finally, I could watch a My Hero Academia movie, in Japanese theaters. Here is where I admit I’m really only a casual fan of the franchise, however, it just felt so good to check this box off right at the last minute. Like Indiana Jones snatching his hat right as the walls cave in. In Japan, I had the opportunity to see a One Piece film, a Gundam film, a Godzilla film, a new film by Hideaki Anno, and somehow a new Miyazaki-directed Ghibli movie. It seemed like providence that I would check this one final box before I left.
So how was the movie!?!?!? eh. I had a pretty fun time. The reason I had that long pointless preamble, was because honestly I personally find it more interesting than the movie itself. I could have gone longer honestly. I could have talked about my long history with the franchise. How I was reading it at the beginning when I was just in high school! But that’s not particularly interesting or novel is it. So let’s get on to what you all probably want to hear.
You’re Next is the fourth film in the My Hero Franchise. It takes place where the series left off, with Japan in complete disarray after an abject failure of an attack on the League of Villains. However, this film has a new villain. An Italian mob boss dressed like Deku’s idol and Teacher, All Might. This villain, in a pretty corny, but still entertaining way, goes by Darkmight.
He has the power to essentially create anything, even whole environments. This serves mostly as a background for our chief cast of characters to travel to all different types of settings. We have a peaceful Italian archipelago and a snowy mountaintop. These backgrounds serve as fun stadiums for the film’s multiple battles, which are as exciting as ever. Studio Bones is in top form here. They may not always hit it out of the park for the series, but the films always have clever choreography and blood-pumping sakuga. Particularly, the final showdown is quite a visual feast for the eyes. The rainbow of flashing colors and the silky smooth animation make for an almost psychedelic sensation when the final hits come in, but I dare not spoil the fight any more than that.
The emotional core of the films is also sweet if a bit generic. It involves the new characters Giulio and Anna. A butler and his young mistress. Both of whom have your typical tragic backstory. Deku spends the majority of the film with Giulio, and his plight does offer some decent drama to the proceedings, It’s nothing that your typical filler film hasn’t done better before, but it’s welcome nonetheless. I will say, the character designs on the new additions, including the villains leave a bit to be desired. Giulio’s metal arm and leg are pretty cool, but overall, nothing here is as iconic or immediately appealing as the main cast.
At the end of the day, the main cast is what you came here to see. I saw this film less than a week after finishing the manga, and it really works best that way. As one last final hurrah for these characters. Everyone gets their chance to shine, from the students to even the pro heroes in the supporting cast. Even if I am no longer the biggest fanatic of the show, you grow to have a real familiarity with the characters in these long-running shonen TV shows. As stated earlier these are characters I’ve come to know and be with for a long time. Perhaps that was why I was so worried about getting that last issue of the manga, or seeing the movie before I finally left Japan. All and all, despite my estrangement, perhaps that is why I was overall happy that this was the last film I saw while in the theaters in Japan.