The final chapter of the TV anime series " My Hero Academia ," based on the manga by Kohei Horikoshi that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), is airing on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV every Saturday at 5:30 pm. The story of heroes and villains that has been broadcast for about nine years is reaching its climax. We spoke to Kenta Miyake, who has played the "symbol of peace," All Might , since the first season of the TV anime began airing in 2016, about what went on behind the scenes during the recording of "FINAL SEASON," and his thoughts on the series.
◇ Armored All Might fought while wearing the "bond"
The "FINAL SEASON" began with a battle between All For One and "Armored All Might ," who was equipped with the powered suit and support item Hercules. The Hercules contained the "quirks" of the students of Class 1-A at U.A. High School, including Izuku Midoriya (Deku), and the sight of the "quirkless" All Might using everyone's "quirks" to face his nemesis became a hot topic. Miyake described this development as "a battle truly wrapped in fate."
"In the movie, they say it's about 'bonds with friends,' and I really thought that was true. More than just everyone's 'quirks' being reproduced in form and as abilities, All Might himself is wearing all of the connections he has made with his friends. For me, it felt like he was fighting wearing a new One For All. Even when I read Horikoshi-sensei's original work, I got the feeling that he really wanted to portray the aspect of connections, and that came across very clearly in the anime. Also, when All For One approaches him, he says to him, 'Hey, he's my best friend,' and 'We've known each other for a long time, haven't we?' It was because of his connection with him. It really felt like one of the nodal points of connections that transcends the roles of hero and villain."
All All Might originally wore a hero-like suit, but when he saw him in a jet-black suit, he thought, "Oh, so that's how it is."
"At the end of season 6, All Might himself was broken. He was on the verge of giving up, wondering what he could do and whether everything he had been doing was wrong, but Stain scolded him and he pulled himself together, asking himself, 'What is it that I should do now?' Up until now, he had fought alone, carrying the weight of his own strength and acting as a breakwater, but this time he borrowed everyone's strength and stood in All For One's way. It seemed to me that he was embodying what a quirkless person like him could do. It was really cool, but personally, I also felt a sense of sadness about it. I thought that his appearance in the dark suit might also represent a change in All Might's position, a change in his feelings. However, he does smile, saying, 'I have to show my true colors.' I felt something welling up inside me when I realized that he really values the mindset he inherited from his master, that 'the more you smile, the more you're in trouble.'"
All Might's transformation is also linked to how Deku went from fighting alone as "Black Deku" in season 6 to fighting alongside everyone in Class A in season 7. Miyake-san recalls, "There was something about Yamashita Daiki when he was Black Deku that was hard to look at."
"When he became Black Deku, the COVID-19 pandemic was still in full swing and recording was done in separate locations, making it difficult for everyone to get together and record. I watched the performance thinking that Midoriya himself was shouldering everything, and in a way, embodying what All Might was trying to do in the past. Kacchan (Katsuki Bakugo) had anticipated this and said, 'This guy is going too far.' Yamashita Daiki tried to play that excess head-on, and it really wore him down. Every time I met him, he was disgusted, and his face looked so tired... Of course, he had a positive mindset of wanting to fulfill the Izuku Midoriya, but seeing Yamashita at that time, I felt like I was seeing Midoriya himself, beyond just an actor."
That's why, when he unleashed Deku's kick as Armored All Might, he said, "I thought it was pretty cool that All Might was unleashing a technique that young Midoriya had developed through trial and error!"
◇A passionate recording session with "All for One"Hiroshi Kamiya
Armored All Might faced off against All For One, who was getting younger and younger. Originally, All For One was played by Akio Otsuka, but as he got younger, the role was taken over by Hiroshi Kamiya.
"Before he faced All For One, I was terrified when I saw the time rewind. Then Kamiya's voice came on top of that. He has taken over the extremely selfish and evil feel that Akio played, and I felt the greatness of my senior. I have been voicing All Might for nearly 10 years, so I should have been the one to lead the way, but in the end, it felt like Kamiya was lending me a hand, and I was half happy, a little frustrated, and thought, 'I still have a long way to go.' That's what I felt as an actor."
Before the recording, Kamiya declared to Miyake, "I'll beat you!" in the studio, to which Miyake responded, "I won't lose!"
"However, we tried too hard, and during the first test recording, we were told by the sound director, Masafumi Mima, that we were both yelling too much (laughs). But we were passionate."
◇ All Might is "a human being after all" - A change in the view of heroes
Miyake, who has played All Might for about 10 years, says that compared to the early days, his view of "heroes" and "justice" "has changed considerably."
"When you get down to it, I think he ends up leaning towards darkness. Perhaps it's precisely because he himself is quirkless that he has the edginess to want to do things that other people can't. After All Might burned up his quirk, One For All, in his battle with All For One at Kamino in season 3, he promised his mother that he would stand by young Midoriya's side, protect and raise him, but I think somewhere deep down he still had the desire to 'be useful to people,' 'be useful to everyone.' But how could he achieve that? I think he must have been searching for that all along, until he arrived at the Armored Uniform. He is a 'human' after all. Because he has nothing, he has always had a deep desire to find something he can do. So he may have drifted a little from the image of the perfect hero."
Miyake says he feels that All Might"had been playing the role of a symbol of peace" until the end of the Battle of Kamino. After the fourth season, he says, "I began to see All Might as a person, or rather, as Yagi Toshinori."
While playing All Might, he was initially conscious of the difference between his muscle form and his true form, but he revealed, "In recent years, I've been playing the true form more often, so I don't think about the difference as much. In that sense, it's still difficult because I have to act more humanly as the true form."
"Mima-san has been telling me from the beginning, 'Don't try too hard.' He said, 'The harder you try, the lighter you become.' 'The more I explain that I'm strong and a symbol of peace, the more I'll become a stereotypical hero and people won't feel at ease.' So, on the other hand, it was easier when I was playing Muscle. As True, I have to express the true strength of his existence. So, to be honest, it's actually harder to play All Might in his current state, and the bar is getting higher and higher. But still, I've been given the role of 'Armored All Might,' the final hero, so I'm going to do my best to come up with a voice that lives up to that."
What kind of hero will All Might be in the "FINAL SEASON"? You won't be able to take your eyes off the passionate performances of Miyake and the other voice actors.
