Interview with MHA Editor – Volume 2
The Honyasan bookstore mobile app in Japan released part two of their interview with My Hero Academia’s editor on July 11, 2019 as part of their campaign to celebrate MHA’s 5th Anniversary.
Enjoy our translation of the interview below! Highlights include him discussing his favorite chapters and lines (he loves Monoma), and also discussion about what he thinks has contributed to making MHA so popular.
You can find a translation of part 1 of this interview here
There’s also a video of the interview on YouTube, and the text in the article is pretty much a direct transcription of the video.
What’s your favorite chapter or scene from MHA?
Let’s see. Well I really like most of Monoma’s lines, especially his recent ones, like in volume 22 or the latest volume. All of his recent lines are really great so I encourage you to check them out.
But if I was to really rank my all time favorite scenes, my favorite has to be the very first chapter (lol). That first chapter is what created the MHA series, the impact it had on readers, without it I don’t think the series would have grown so much. The first chapter really left an impression on me personally too, when I read that first chapter in Jump I knew an amazing series had started. That one chapter includes a lot of the major characters and themes of the series and it really represents the whole series in that way. I really like the first chapter the best.
What’s your favorite line from MHA?
Let’s see, well as mentioned I really like all of Monoma’s lines (lol). But I like each and every one of the other character’s lines too. But for example, one of Monoma’s major lines is “We are all, to the last, merely bit players in the lives of others and the stars of only our own!” (Chapter 209). Even as Monoma is saying this, he’s not one of the main characters of this series. It’s a memorable line because he isn’t in a main position in the story, but he’s saying he’s still the main character of his own life. I think that line reflects how a character like him would see and think about his position in the story, and since the line makes you realize that (and is something everyone can relate too) I think it’s a good line. I think it’s a line that probably makes everyone think a little bit.
As the editor, what do you think is the reason for MHA’s success?
First, I think for MHA the character visuals have had a big impact on the success of the series. This is something that depends on the natural talent of the author, it’s something the editors can’t really change. Editors can’t teach artists how to do this, and it’s something that can’t just be mastered with know-how. I think it’s a rare skill to have the ability to keep creating cool and varied characters for a weekly running series, to create characters you think are cool and be able to make the readers think the characters are cool too, and Horikoshi has this skill.
Also I mentioned this earlier, but having characters who all have unique and appealing personalities is another strength of MHA. Each and every character has a different personality, and they’re all interesting in their own way. The characters feel human, having both this and good character designs makes MHA really strong. It’s not just the main character, but the other characters too, many characters other than Deku also have interesting and appealing personalities and designs, and I think that more than anything that has been the reason MHA has been such a hit.
And MHA is blessed to be popular overseas as well, and I think for good reception overseas art ability is one of the most important things. Crossing borders you have to be able to get readers to want to read the work just by seeing the cover, and I think one of the big reasons MHA has been such a hit overseas is that Horikoshi has amazing drawing ability that anyone around the world can acknowledge. Also I think one of the big reasons it has been so popular in North America is that is has a bit of an American comic taste to it. In that way I think it’s kind of creating a genre that wasn’t really seen in Japanese shonen manga up until now.
Vol. 3 of this interview will be posted on July 22nd and we asked the editor about when he’s been impressed by Horikoshi! Look forward to it!
We’ve also uploaded a video of this 5th Anniversary! Part 2 “MHA Editor Discusses 5 Year History” interview on the Honyasan Youtube account!! Check it out at the link below!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsXi0vQpfto
We’ll be posting part three of the interview soon and there’s a part four coming out in August too. In the meantime, be sure to join the Subreddit Discord for discussions!