As My Hero Academia comes to an end, the final season cements it as one of the all-time greats, not just in Shōnen anime, but superhero storytelling at large. The journey Izuku "Deku" Midoriya takes from a "quirkless" fanboy to our world's greatest hero will be remembered long after it's completed, inspiring fans just as much as Deku inspired those he saved. But there was a point when this journey could have ended before it had even begun.
Following the manga's climax in 2024, creator Kōhei Horikoshi revealed to Comicbook.com that his career almost died just before he brought Deku to life. "When my second serialization was canceled, I thought, 'I’ll never be able to draw manga again.' I drew My Hero Academia thinking that if this didn’t work out, I would quit drawing manga."
