My Hero Academia: we saw the fourth film exclusively! It’s the same as the anime except for one detail and that changes everything

My Hero Academia You’re Next: what’s the summary?

In this year 2024, the manga My Hero Academia ended. 10 years of adventures for Izuku Midoriya aka Deku who, with his classmates, shared the message from its author Kohei Horikoshi. A morality around benevolence in its world where 80% of the population (i.e. 4 out of 5 individuals) have a special ability.

Although the main work is finished, Deku still has other fish to fry. The proof with season 7 of the animated series, currently being broadcast, which leaves room for a final season or a film to definitively close the adaptation. It is also the fourth film, titled My Hero Academia : You’re Nextbroadcast in Japan from August 2, Izuku and class 2-A of UA superhero high school return to the spotlight to counter a new threat. A film that we saw in preview, during its broadcast at the Grand Rex in Paris on September 26

My Hero Academia : You’re Next sets its setting around season 3, during the fight between All Might and All for One. With a devastating punch from him, the number 1 hero sends the antagonist flying. But this final attack acts as a last stand, leaving him drained of energy and at the mercy of the enemy. All Might still resists and, under the cameras, decides to make official who will take over. He points at Deku and shouts: you’re next in English.

Except that by being filmed at that moment, All Might also sends his message to all spectators around the world. In front of his TV, the antagonist of the film also listened to this statement and is convinced that it is to him that All Might was speaking.. He then sets up a whole plan to show everyone that he is the successor, a plan that the class of 2-A will have to foil alongside two new protagonists.

A concentrate of epic still as effective but aimed at connoisseurs of the series

It is good to point out that, if the film draws its context from season 3, it definitively settles around season 7. Something which is observed by the powers and paraphernalia of the heroes of 2-A but also by the mention of certain characters: we see Star & Stripes at one point, a heroine that we only see from the end of season 6. The film My Hero Academia : You’re Next settles into an advanced framework of the manga. It lacks contextualization for anyone entering the movie theater experiencing the universe: there is no presentation of the universe, the characters and it is only with the All Might scene that the context is explained. This fourth film can however be appreciated by fans who do not have all the references to the film but are closely or distantly familiar with the work. On this subject, we find the bones studio which once again demonstrates its know-how in terms of animation, especially in terms of action scenes. We nevertheless regret the figurative presence of certain characters present only on the poster to attract customers and whose role in the film is very limited. A deceptive practice often used in the industry.

Change however in terms of production since it is Tensai Okamura who is behind the camera for this film, his first work around My Hero Academia. He is an industry veteran whose main lines of his portfolio are made up of his involvement around Cowboy Bebop (creation of the storyboard of several episodes) and more recently of Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai) as director for the first season. Tensai Okamura delivers here a film that oozes shônen and spectacularity. It explodes everywhere during the clashes, enough to give goosebumps especially when they are accompanied by the first musical theme of the You Say Run / Jet Set Run saga. In short, we find the epic side that the animated adaptation of My Hero Academia has managed to offer through all its seasons.

One little thing less

My Hero Academia has always shone through its incarnation of shônen and the values ​​that the genre wants to transmit: determination, surpassing oneself, efforts and kindness. Enough to put the writing and the scenario in the background, which nevertheless remain major strong points of the original work. Something that we are far from finding in the film My Hero Academia : You’re Next.

What succeeds in making the strength of My Hero Academiait’s the combination of character writing and recovered alters. Each of them has a personality that fits strangely well with their power and this is often how the heroes manage to win: by analyzing the behavior of their opponent rather than studying the strong and weak points of the opponent. alter in question. Something that we are far from finding in the fourth feature film of the saga.

Despite their numbers, the fights are nothing more than displays of raw power. This obviously serves the spectacular side of the film but the absence of a layer of strategy (even a tiny one, we would have taken it!) prevents the film from having this little extra something. There’s none of the usual puzzle charm, which is completely contradictory to the film itself. The antagonist, convinced of being the next number 1 superhero, is blinded by his thirst for power. However, he is defeated by three kids through a show of force who nevertheless proclaim that “power is not enough”.

In summary, My Hero Academia : You’re Next is a film in line with what the animated adaptations of the original work offered: a concentrate of epicness against a backdrop of surpassing oneself which still manages to give goosebumps. We will just regret the absence of the usual writing work which, without being the main asset, contributed to making My Hero Academia one of the most popular mangas of recent years. Theatrical release scheduled for October 9 in France.