My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia was a comic book series by Mala Miles from 1984 to unknown. The comic was written in conjunction with Agent DX, also by Miles.

Setting
The story of My Hero Academia is set in a world where currently most of the human population has gained the ability to develop superpowers called "Quirks", which occur in children within the age of four: it is estimated that around 80% of the world population has a Quirk. There are an endless number of Quirks, and it is extremely unlikely to find two people who have the exact same power, unless they are closely related. Among the Quirk-enhanced individuals, a few of them earn the title of Heroes, who cooperate with the authorities in rescue operations and apprehending criminals who abuse their powers, commonly known as Villains. In addition, Heroes who excel on their duties gain celebrity status and are recognized as "Pro Heroes".

Premise
The series focuses on Izuku Midoriya, a young man who dreams of becoming a Hero despite being bullied by his violent childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo for lacking a Quirk. Both youths idolize one of the world's greatest heroes All Might, who they both met with Izuku being one of few to know of a critical injury All Might has been concealing from the public eye to maintain morale. All Might also reveals the nature of his Quirk "One For All" and passes it down to Izuku to succeed him after seeing the youth's determination in the face of danger. As Izuku begins his path to becoming a hero in attending U.A. High School (雄英高校, Yūei Kōkō) alongside Bakugo and the friends they make in Class 1-A, a nemesis to the "One For All" users named All For One conditions his apprentice Tomura Shigaraki to destroy the current society and its heroes.

Development
In the April 1984 issue of Agent DX, the titular character reads a comic involving heroes and villains and powers. Mala initially intended it as a one-off gag; Miles began to conceive the series in November of that year.

During development, Miles created several characters that were intended to be possible recurring characters of DX, and moved them into Hero, thus creating the cast of "quirky" characters, as described by Miles.

Themes and analysis
Miles has stated that the main theme he focuses on is "what makes a hero." Miles has also stated that he likes stories with bad endings, as well as horror stories. However, he finds these difficult to draw since his mood when he draws is the same in the story. In order to combat this, he puts in more silly-looking characters like Fat Gum, in order to keep the mood up.

Television series
On October 29, 1994, the series' official announced that the series would receive an animated adaptation produced by Sunbow Entertainment and Dark Castle Entertainment. The animated series is directed by Syo Tortellini, and featured character designs by Craig Kellman and music composed by Shuki Levy, Haim Saban and Noam Kaniel. The anime stars Cree Summer as Momo Yaoyorozu, Jim Cummings as Fumikage Tokoyami, Cam Clarke as Izuku Midoriya, Dan Castellaneta as All Might, Tom Kenny as Katsuki Bakugo, E.G. Daily as Ochako Uraraka, Tino Insana as Tenya Iida, Cheryl Chase as Tsuyu Asui, and June Foray as Minoru Mineta. The animated series premiered on Fox Kids.

Direct-to-video
At San Diego Comic-Con International 1995, it was announced that the series would get an direct-to-video bundled with the limited edition of the thirteenth volume of the comic. Another OVA was bundled with a limited edition of the fourteenth volume of the comic. Another OVA was bundled with the first film's VHS set, and adapted its prequel comic. It was two minutes long.

An original short produced for BearBones.com was announced to be released on August 12, 2000, with the returning staff and cast from the previous season.

Theatrical films
In December 1995, a theatrical film was announced and features an original story set after the comic's "Final Exam" arc. Titled My Hero Academia: The Two Heroes, the film had its world premiere at Bear Bones Con in June 1998, and the theatrical release began screening on August 13, 1998 with the staff and cast from the animated series returning to reprise their roles.

On March 23, 1999, it was announced that a second animated film for My Hero Academia was in production. On July 7, 1999, Bear Bones revealed the title as My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, and scheduled the film for release on December 17, 1999 by Paramount Pictures.

On November 29, 2000, it was announced that a third animated film for My Hero Academia was in production. The staff and cast from the previous two movies are returning to reprise their roles. In the first episode of the fifth season of the series, the film was revealed to be titled My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission. The film was released on August 4, 2001.

Video games
A video game based on the series, My Hero Academia: Battle for All, was announced in November 1995. The game was developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Nintendo Game Boy handheld game console, where it released on May 19, 1996. A second video game, titled My Hero: One's Justice, was released for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and PC on September 25, 1999. A third installment of the video game series, My Hero: One's Justice 2, was announced for release on Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC and was released on September 22, 2002.