My Hero Academia: You’re Next is in many ways a typical superhero combined with the typical shonen story. It doesn’t deviate from either of those formulas by much, with only a side romance plot to spice things up a bit. Still, if you’re a fan of both Marvel and Shonen Jump, then this will be a decently entertaining anime film for you.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next ~ Details
My Hero Academia: You’re Next is the fourth feature-length anime film of the My Hero Academia anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the Shonen Jump manga of the same name by Kōhei Horikoshi (Oumagadoki Zoo, Barrage). Just as is the case for the mainline anime series, studio Bones Inc. (Wolf’s Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist, Mob Psycho 100) is the animation studio behind this anime film. Toho International is the company behind its distribution, with Crunchyroll licensing it for its upcoming NA theatrical debut.
Production Cast
Tensai Okamura is the director behind My Hero Academia: You’re Next, with screenplay by Yōsuke Kuroda. Kōhei Horikoshi himself is responsible for general supervisor and original character design. Yoshihiko Umakoshi is the character designer, with Yuki Hayashi composing the music we hear in the anime film.
Speaking of music: the opening theme song for this anime film is “Homunculus” (ホムンクルス) by Vaundy. Meanwhile, “Gift” also by Vaundy is the ending theme song.
Voice Cast
My Hero Academia: You’re Next features the voices of Daiki Yamashita (Justin Briner in English dub) as Izuku Midoriya / Deku, Nobuhiko Okamoto (Clifford Chapin in English dub) as Katsuki Bakugo / Dynamight, Yuki Kaji (David Matranga in English dub) as Shōto Todoroki / Shōto, Mamoru Miyano (Mauricio Ortiz-Segura in English dub) as Giulio Gandini, and Meru Nukumi (Kayli Mills in English dub) as Anna Scervino.
Other notable voice roles on Class 1-A’s side include Ayane Sakura (Luci Christian in English dub) as Ochaco Uraraka / Uravity, Kaito Ishikawa (J. Michael Tatum in English dub) as Tenya Īda / Ingenium, Marina Inoue (Colleen Clickenbeard in English dub) as Momo Yaoyorozu / Creati, Toshiki Masuda (Justin Cook in English dub) as Eijiro Kirishima / Red Riot, Eri Kitamura (Caitlin Glass in English dub) as Mina Ashido / Pinky, Aoi Yūki (Monica Rial in English dub) as Tsuyu Asui / Froppy, Tasuku Hatanaka (Kyle Phillips in English dub) as Denki Kaminari / Chargebolt, Yoshimasa Hosoya (Jessie James Grelle in English dub) as Fumikage Tokoyami / Tsukuyomi, Kei Shindō (Trina Nishimura in English dub) as Kyōka Jirō / Earphone Jack, Kiyotaka Furushima (Christopher Bevins in English dub) as Hanta Sero / Cellophane, and Ryō Hirohashi (Brina Palencia in English dub) as Minoru Mineta / Grape Juice.
On the Heroes’ side, we have Kenta Miyake (Christopher Sabat in English dub) as Toshinori Yagi / All Might, Tetsu Inada (Patrick Seitz in English dub) as Enji Todoroki / Endeavor, and Yuichi Nakamura (Zeno Robinson in English dub) as Keigo Takami / Hawks.
On the Villains’ side, we have Kenta Miyake (Christopher Sabat in English dub) as Dark Might, Ken Uo as Hugo Gorrini, Yūki Ono as Kamil Gorrini, Minako Kotobuki as Deborah Gorrini, Yūsuke Kobayashi as Paulo Gorrini, Michitake Kikuchi as Simon Gorrini, and Masaki Terasoma as Bruno Gorrini.
When and Where to Watch
My Hero Academia: You’re Next made its theatrical debut in its home nation of Japan on August 2, 2024. Fortunately, Crunchyroll is licensing this anime film for a NA theatrical debut on October 11, 2024. You can in fact purchase tickets for the anime film right now on Fandango.
While we’re at it, you can also watch My Hero Academia on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, or Apple TV.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next ~ Synopsis
Alas, while My Hero Academia: You’re Next did make its premiere in Japan already, it has not made its NA debut yet. Thus, you all are getting the official synopsis of this anime film from IGN. You can check out that synopsis below:
Set after the conclusion of My Hero Academia Season 6 and right before the final battle between heroes and villains, My Hero Academia: You’re Next sees Deku and his friends face a new threat—a mysterious figure calling himself Dark Might and claiming to be the new Symbol of Peace.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next ~ The Good
Honestly, my opinion here is that the best part of My Hero Academia: You’re Next is the animation. Bones Inc. definitely has a handle on that animation quality. You know, just as they have been for the previous three anime films. In particular, I would like to point out the fight scenes in this anime film. All of them feature some very high quality animation. Very pretty debris clouds and explosions to go with them too. There’s also some scenes of rose vines growing and flowers blooming out of control that are very nice as well. You’ll know what I mean when you see them.
However, that’s not to say that the story is bad. On the contrary, it’s pretty decent so long as you like shonen and superhero stories. Kōhei Horikoshi has a knack for writing a story that feels very much like a Marvel film crossed with a shonen anime. This is no different, complete with the usual “Leave an ally behind to hold off the enemies” trope you’d expect in stories like Bleach. The only significant way this anime film deviates from that is in the romance. The side romance plot between Giulio and Anna is actually quite touching. There are elements of it that bugs me, but overall, it’s quite an enjoyable little romance. Shame we don’t see much of it.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next ~ The Bad
Honestly, if you’re not a fan of shonen or superhero stories, then you will probably find My Hero Academia: You’re Next to be kind of boring. Even if you are though, it’s definitely on the classic side. You can see every shonen and superhero trope coming from a mile away. It can get a bit tedious after a while if you don’t find it entertaining.
Speaking of that: my main criticism comes from the villain. Mr. Dark Might is a rather boring villain to be facing off against. He had potential as an All Might wannabe. However, he devolves into an idiotic madman with an ego the size of Jupiter. He regularly offs his own minions for failing, regardless of how useful they are. He’s like someone breaking a valuable tool in fit of pique. He’s just…boring as a villain. A shame too, since he started off so promising.
Lastly, even for the romance plot that I liked, there is a problem with it. I don’t like that the basic story of that side plot is that the girl gets an amazing superpower, but she wants to get rid of it because she can’t control it. I get that it makes sense within the context of the story, but I still don’t like it. Perhaps a better plotline would’ve been having Anna learn to control her Quirk to take her life and love back from the monster who stole it? Just a thought here.