My Hero Academia Proves Itself as Naruto's Successor With Chapter 423 (2024)

When My Hero Academiafirst began ten years ago (2014), anime/manga fans quickly started comparing it to Naruto. While Naruto brought ninja lore to the manga/anime genre in the 2000s, My Hero Academia was a series that reflected the shift into the sci-fi/superhero blockbuster franchises of the 2010s.

My Hero Academia and Naruto both center around an outcast protagonist trying to manage an ultimate power (while winning over allies and enemies alike); however, that starting point for comparison didn't mean that MHA automatically qualified to be placed on the same level as Naruto. Now, as My Hero Academia reaches a climatic milestone with Chapter 423 of the manga, all debate is over: this is truly Naruto's successor in the anime/manga genre.

My Hero Academia Delivered a Naruto-Level Climax

My Hero Academia Chapter 423, "One For All vs. All For One" lived up to its title, as Izuku Midoriya made his epic final strike against archvillains All For One and Tomura Shigaraki. We've broken down in detail how this climatic fight brought all of MHA's main characters and story themes together in a powerful way. The difference between the powers of AFO and OFA was always in the names: one was a power built from the contributions, unity, and sacrifices of many, while the other was a voracious power that only sought to take from others for selfish benefit. Deku's victory is achieved (and the villains destroyed) by teamwork in both the physical and spiritual planes of existence, as Izuku gets help from Bakugo, All For One's brother Yoichi and the rest of the OFA past users in his final blow strike.

The point of Kohei Horikoshi's epic manga is made clear in the moment of heoric victory: brighter days are something we can only reach together.

Naruto had a lot of the same thematic substance to its story – especially by the time we got to Naruto: Shippuden's climactic battle. By the time Naruto was fully locked-in with Nine-Tails (Kurama) and his friend/rival Sasuki to battle Kaguya Otstusuki, he had overcome the worst sort of ostracization in life, and built himself a community of friends and family worth going all-out to protect.

Naruto: Shippuden ended on a more personal (yet epic) note, as Naruto and Sasuke finally had to settle their longstanding feud in an epic final battle, that finally drove home what a bond they truly share. We expect that My Hero Academia will have a similar denouement, as the aftermath of the Final War still leaves us with a pro hero world has been shattered to its core. Deku, and his fellow students will have to find out if they still have the will and desire to be heroes – and what kind of new world they'll have to build to do it. That epilogue, if done right, will only solidify My Hero Academia's status as a Naruto-worthy competitor.

...And just like Naruto did with Boruto, we're going to need that My Hero Academia sequel series, as well!

My Hero Academia's latest chapters are free to read on Shonen Jump.