My Hero Academia Fandom Roasts Author's "Unfocused Mess" of Storytelling

A discussion erupted on /a/ this week over the final arc of My Hero Academia, with commenters leveling sustained criticism at author Kohei Horikoshi for what they characterized as serial narrative incompetence.

The prevailing complaint, raised across multiple threads, centered on Horikoshi’s alleged tendency to introduce promising character arcs and plot developments only to abruptly discard them. One respondent wrote: “Hori has an idea. It’s a romance. He teases it. And then sets it on fire because he doesn’t know what to do with it.” The commenter cited the Liberation Army and the character Geten as examples, alleging “they too were thrown off the cliff suddenly.”

Another user provided a more expansive critique, claiming: “Hori has always shoved in tons of crap to his manga and then forgets about using them properly. Mirio and Eri included.” The same respondent alleged that Horikoshi’s editorial team bore no responsibility, writing: “His editors never would have brought quick singularity or making quirk erasure bullets, that was all on Hori.”

Commenters also disputed the internal logic of the final arc. One user alleged that Horikoshi retconned a major reveal, stating: “He retconned to say ‘oh AFO didn’t actually want Shiggy to be his successor. He wanted his quirk to possess him,’ despite showing Shiggy was capable of his own thoughts and ambitions.” Another respondent defended the epilogue’s romantic pairings, claiming: “Toga redeemed herself by sacrificing herself to save a life after killing so many… Deku and Ochako finally finding love through each other while Toga gives Ochako a push from the afterlife is objectively the best and most satisfying ending.”

Thread participants also rehashed the longstanding Bakugo-Deku dynamic. One commenter confirmed that Bakugo’s infamous insult was literal, writing: “He actually said it, yes,” in reference to allegedly telling Deku to “an hero himself.” Another user reframed the relationship: Midoriya “saw Bakugo as the ideal hero candidate” and only reciprocated feelings after entering UA, where “Bakugo went from a big fish in a small pond to just another fish in the sea.”

The thread devolved into the standard grievances of the post-manga fandom, with one user conceding that Horikoshi “had great moments” but concluding: “I fucking hate how Hori routinely dumpstered his own story.”