Before creating the popular manga series My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi faced challenges on his path to success. He was previously working on a manga called Barrage, which was discontinued by Shueisha due to low readership. However, this didn’t stop the mangaka from drawing. 

In many interviews, Horikoshi has expressed his love for manga drawing, which is totally reflected in his work, as My Hero Academia has one the best art styles in Shonen Jump Line. However, Horikoshi still cannot forget about the time when his Barrage got axed. He even shared his story about how he felt when it got axed.

Kohei Horikoshi Fights Back After His Second Manga Gets Axed

my hero academia 2
UA-1 Class from My Hero Academia (Credits: Bones)

Kohei Horikoshi’s previous manga, Barrage, was canceled by Shueisha after only completing two volumes. This had a huge impact on him as he had planned a lot about this manga. The mangaka started feeling depressed after this.

Also Read: Kohei Horikoshi Came up With My Hero Academia’s Most Well-Known Feature “To avoid making the story too dark”

However, he didn’t want to quit drawing, as he loved doing it more than anything. So, with little energy left within him, he started working on a new manga, My Hero Academia. The mangaka added happy elements and events from his previous works into this new manga. 

My Hero Academia Season 6 OVA
Bakugou, Izuku, and Todoroki playing trading cards

Horikoshi remembered the excitement of drawing the one-shot “My Hero,” which he had written back in 2006, so he decided to use it as the foundation for something new. The setting of My Hero Academia was the same as My Hero. According to Horikoshi, My Hero Academia is actually the peak of all his works since he first started drawing.

“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.”  – Pre anime Interview of Kohei Horikoshi.

Even after getting his manga axed, Horikoshi didn’t stop drawing. He took inspiration from his previous work and started working on his new manga. However, this time, instead of making a new manga, Horikoshi decided to recreate his one-shot manga, My Hero.

The Creation of My Hero Academia

Deku from My Hero Academia Season 7
My Hero Academia Season 7 Key Visual Featuring Deku (Credits: Bones)

My Hero manga played a big role in the creation of My Hero Academia. By releasing this one-shot manga, Horikoshi got to know if the manga readers would like to read this type of story. Since this manga had gotten a good response from the readers, Horikoshi released his new long-running manga,

Also Read: Shigaraki’s Greatest Quirk Is Put In Danger In My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia. Just within a year of release, the manga got pretty viral and also got its anime adaptation soon. To date, the manga has sold over 100 million copies, making it one of the 21st manga to reach this milestone. Horikoshi’s life has truly changed after writing this manga.

You can read My Hero Academia manga on Viz and Manga Plus platforms.

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