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Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia: You’re Next aheadMy Hero Academia: You’re Nextis an epic outing for the characters ofMy Hero Academia, but as it turns out, the film might actually be a love letter to a different franchise entirely. Fans across the web have been pointing out that the movie has more than a few similarities to another anime series by Bones:Fullmetal Alchemist.
My Hero Academia: You’re Nextfocuses its tale on an attack by the villainous Dark Might, leader of a European crime family, and his seven closest minions.Dark Might closely resembles the real All Might, a figure for good withinMy Hero Academia’s universe who is adamantly against his doppelganger’s evil antics. The story sees Deku team up with Giulio, a butler with a prosthetic arm and leg which can be used as weapons, who acts as a secondary protagonist for the film. If these details are starting to sound a little familiar to you, you’re not alone.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next Echoes Fullmetal Alchemist
The Film Borrows Some Character Elements from Bones' Other Hit Series
Many people online have noted the similarities at this point, such as@ladolcevolke on X (Formerly Twitter), and the commonalities between the movie andFullmetal AlchemistBrotherhoodare easy to list. Giulio’s prosthetic arm and leg happen to be on the exact same side as Edward Elric, the protagonist ofFullmetal Alchemist, drawing an immediate comparison between the two heroes.Dark Might’s Quirk is literally called “Alchemy,” and he acts as a patriarchal figure leading the villains, akin to Father, who similarly shares his face with a more heroic character, Hohenheim.
Dark Might has precisely seven henchmen: Deborah, Bruno, Simon, Paulo, Kamile, Gil, and Ugo Gollini, whom he treats as highly expendable family members. These characters loosely align withthe Seven Sins, the homunculi which serve Father inFullmetal Alchemist. The theme song for the movie is titled “Homunculus,” by the artist Vaundy. The first villain related to Dark Might that Deku encounters even has an obvious “gluttony” theme to him with his Quirk, seemingly further referencing the Sins/homunculi ofFullmetal Alchemist.
Like Father, Dark Might aims to create a new world under his control, where he can effectively reign supreme using his superior abilities, and sees the innocent civilians caught up in his plan as fodder for experimentation. The characters even use Anna Scervino’s Overmodification Quirk in a manner akin to a Philosopher’s Stone, as a means of enhancing their powers far beyond their usual maximum, and at great cost to others (in this case, mostly Anna).
My Hero Academia Has Paid Tribute to Other Series in the Past
My Hero Academia: You’re Next Follows in a Long Line of References
Of course,My Hero Academiais no stranger to having shout-outs to other series and franchises, both Japanese and international.Series creator Kohei Horikoshi is well known for his love ofStar Wars, with many locations (such as Kamino Ward, or the Gunga Mountain Villa) named after planets from theStar Warsuniverse. Horikoshi even lifted the character of Admiral Ackbar almost directly as “Timothy Agpar” in the Star and Stripe arc.
My Hero Academiavillains often reference other works in general. Lady Nagant’s ability to curve the trajectory of bullets was said by Horikoshi to have been based on Angelina Jolie’s character in the movieWanted, while Mustard’s gas mask and helmet design is meant to be evocative of Darth Vader.Spinner takes many design cues from theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while Twice seems to be inspired by Marvel Comics' Deadpool.
Even theMy Hero Academiamovies have indulged in shout-outs before. The first movie,Two Heroes, features a hero character named “Godzillo”, who, of course, looks like Godzilla, and is said to have starred in many movies.Godzillo’s Quirk is even referred to as “Toho” in the supplemental informationprovided to viewers alongside the movie, referencing the distribution company for bothGodzillamovies andMy Hero Academia’s movies.
Why Reference Fullmetal Alchemist So Heavily?
Bones Is Celebrating Its 25th Anniversary
The studio Bones, which produced bothMy Hero AcademiaandFullmetal Alchemist, has been celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, honoring their own impressive history in the anime industry. It makes some sense that, as a celebration of their past, they might want to shout-out some of their own most prominent past work, and few anime series are as well-respected asFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.By stuffing the film with lots of references, it ensures that most fans with even a passing familiarity ofFullmetal Alchemistmight recognize at least one of them.
With theMy Hero Academia: You’re Nextmovie being their biggest production of the year, and one that’s based on an original storyline which Bones was in control over, it presented an excellent opportunity for these kinds of references. One can’t help but wonder if there might be references to other Bones anime series shoved in there as well, references which are less obvious and just haven’t been as noticed by fans yet. There are certainly plenty ofother notable Bones anime, likeMob Psycho 100, which would be easy enough to reference inMy Hero Academia’s world–for that matter, one of the villains does have a telekinesis Quirk.
Still, withMy Hero AcademiaandFullmetal Alchemisteasily being the two most popular Bones anime of all time, it almost seems inevitable that one would reference the other eventually, and that duty would fall toMHAas the currently running series. Hopefully, fans can appreciate these references for the fun in-jokes that they are, rather than misconstruing this as some kind of lapse in imagination on Bones' part. Instead, it’s just the creatives behind-the-scenes having a little bit of fun with their audience.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next’s sheer volume of references toFullmetal Alchemistpretty much guarantees that these were very deliberate decisions on the part of the movie’s creatives, rather than just a mountain of coincidences that piled up.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next
Cast
In a world where heroes and villains clash, Deku faces a powerful new threat in the form of Dark Might, an evil doppelgänger of his mentor, All Might. As a mysterious fortress begins devouring entire cities, Class 1-A must rise to stop this unprecedented danger and uncover the villain’s true motives.
