It has been revealed that the eighth and final season of the TV anime series My Hero Academia, based on the manga by Kohei Horikoshi serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha), will be produced and broadcast in 2025. The announcement was made when episode 159, the final episode of the seventh season, "Battle Without Quirks," was broadcast on the Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV networks at 5:30 pm on October 12th.
The final chapter, which begins with the story from the 40th volume of the manga, will see the battle between Deku (Izuku Midoriya) and Tomura Shigaraki, and All Might and All For One come to a conclusion. A teaser visual drawn by character designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi was also released. The visual features Deku saying, "This is the story of how we became the greatest heroes."
In the final episode of the seventh season, a surprise appearance was made by actress Mirai Shida, who plays Hercules. Elcules is a powered suit and support item worn by All Might to fight All For One. It executes All Might's commands and instantly activates its onboard weapons. Elcules was developed by Melissa, a scientist girl who appeared in the first animated film, "My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: Two Heroes," released in 2018.
When the production team was discussing casting for Elcules, the original author Horikoshi suggested, "Since it's an AI for a machine created by Melissa, why not ask Shida Mirai to play it?" Shida, who played Melissa in the film, will be appearing in "My Hero Academia" for the first time in about six years.
"My Hero Academia" began serialization in "Weekly Shonen Jump" in July 2014. The final episode was published in the combined 36th and 37th issue of the magazine, released on August 5th, bringing the series to a close after about 10 years of serialization. Set in a world where about 80% of the population has supernatural powers or quirks, the story follows Deku, also known as Izuku Midoriya, as he strives to become the greatest hero. The comics have sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
The first season of the TV anime aired from April to June 2016, the second from March to September 2017, the third from April to September 2018, the fourth from October 2019 to April 2020, the fifth from March to September 2021, and the sixth from October 2022 to March 2023. The seventh season started in May.
Animated movies have also been produced, with the first film, My Hero Academia: The Movie: Two Heroes, released in 2018, grossing approximately 1.72 billion yen. The second film, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, released in 2019, grossed approximately 1.76 billion yen, and the third film, My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission, released in 2021, grossed approximately 3.43 billion yen. The fourth and latest film, My Hero Academia: Your Next, was released on August 2nd and was a hit, grossing over 3.1 billion yen.
