My Hero Academia creator hilariously “enters” fan art competition

Tulisha srivastava
Ochako in My Hero Academia

Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of a popular Shonen manga My Hero Academia “enters” a fan art competition with stunning Ochako art.

My Hero Academia concluded in August 2024 after a ten-year-long journey. The manga and superhero anime is set in a world where 80% of the world’s population has certain special abilities called Quirks and it follows aspiring heroes who want to make society safe from villains.

A few weeks after the manga finale, creator Kohei Horikoshi shared his love for Ochako Uraraka, one of the main characters in MHA. The franchise is holding a fan art contest and Horikoshi shared a special new sketch of Ochako.

She was a student in Class 1-A at U.A. High School, training to become a Hero. Eight years after the war, she becomes one of the beloved heroes in Japan, alongside the rest of her classmates.

Since the post is in Japanese, many fans believe Horikoshi is also entering the competition as a participant. That’s not quite the truth, Horikoshi is just submitting new art for the occasion and showing more love to the fan-favorite hero as part of the new contest. 

One fan writes, “I just know Ochako is one of Horikoshi’s favorite cuz look at how well he draws her cutest character ever.”

“Mr Horikoshi, you’re a gambler through and through! This fan art is beautiful, I hope it will be recognized by the author of My Hero Academia,” jokes another.

Another fan explains, “Okay then to fully translate, the hashtag means like “fan art that cheers you on” or something and the left says “today is the deadline! Here’s an Ochako as thanks!”

For more from MHA, have a look at our guides on the major character deaths and the best Quirks stolen by All For One. You can also find out if Dabi is dead.