Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia’s Final ChapterMy Hero Academiahad some controversy surrounding its manga ending, with certain fans feeling that Deku was too isolated from his friends after the timeskip, giving the impression he was leading a lonely life while they went off to bigger and better things. While the bonus epilogue proved this couldn’t be further from the truth, the anime could make some small changes that would allow it to fix the problem entirely.
My Hero Academia’s post-timeskip finale shows Deku as a teacher at UA, working alongside Aizawa and with a class of his own, which includes some familiar faces like Kota and Eri. However, Deku seems a bit sad in some of these scenes, despite his insistence that he really does enjoy teaching at UA. Many of his friends are shown to have become big names in the hero world, but there’s a (likely unintended) implication that Deku hasn’t actually heard from them in a while. Deku is presented with a suit of power armor at the chapter’s end, built using funds from Bakugo and his other Class 1-A friends.
Give Deku Some Scenes With His Friends
My Hero Academia Just Needs to Emphasize Deku is Not Alone
To curb the idea that Deku is lonely and out of touch with his friends, it might be a good idea to put at least a few of his friends into the scenes. It’s established that Uraraka and a few others have become engaged in outreach programs and occasionally visit schools, so it wouldn’t be odd for them to be visiting at UA. Alternatively, Deku could talk to one of his friends on the phone, showing that they still keep in touch despite their lives going in different directions.All Might does present Deku with the power armor directly, without any of his friends who funded it around; perhaps they could be present to see his reaction?
These small changes would go a tremendously long way towards fighting the idea that Deku is isolated and lonely in his final chapters. Deku may be living a different life, but his friends haven’t abandoned him–the bonus epilogue even shows them hanging outand catching up, as it was written in direct response to some of the reactions to the actual ending. Altering the ending a bit to drive that point home would be one of the most helpful things thatMy Hero Academia’s anime could do to preempt complaints about the series' ending.
Even with the bonus epilogue, there are still many fans who are under the impression that Deku was lonely, so it’s clear that more needs to change than just that. The actual ending only shows Deku’s working life, after all; if it gave more of a presence to his social life, it would become apparent immediately that he’s not actually alone. Any of these small changes could accomplish that, at least to a degree that would finally lay to rest the accusations that Class 1-A abandoned Deku until he could be a hero again.
The Anime May Face Some Challenges in Changing the Ending
Even Small Changes Can Be Difficult to Fit Sometimes
While none of these proposed changes are anything major, adding new scenes might cause problems with episode run-times, and it’s still not clear whether the anime will adapt the bonus epilogue or not. There has been no official episode countrevealed for season 8 yet, either, so it’s very difficult to say whether the anime will actually have time for new scenes. And, of course, there are manga purists, who would prefer the anime adapt everything faithfully, for better or for worse. There’s really no way to satisfy every fan with the ending, whether it stays the same or changes.
This is one case, however, where deviating from the literal panels of the manga may be better at capturing the intended spirit of the final chapter. The unintended implication that Deku is lonely or sad taints what is otherwise a perfectly acceptable ending, so fixing the implication is actually more in line with how the manga was meant to be taken than leaving it as it is. There are also elements of the anime which may help to improve these scenes–Deku’s voice actor’s performance of the lines, for example, may make it more clear that he’s not sad.
Deku’s Anime Ending Can Be More Accurate Than the Manga
Changes May Make the Ending Closer to Horikoshi’s Vision, Not Farther Away
It’s clear that series creator Kohei Horikoshi was concerned with fans' misinterpretations of the endings, or the bonus epilogue chapter never would’ve been created in the first place.Perhaps Horikoshi has his own recommendations to make to the studio as to how they can properly capture the feeling of the ending in a way that the manga failed to do. It could be as simple as directing the performances in a certain way, or playing more upbeat music under the scenes in question.
While some purists may not like the changes, the overall effect on the fandom is likely to be a positive one, and there’s no real reason not to toy with the ending a bit to try and make it clearer that Deku still has his friends. Any or all of the changes mentioned previously could do a lot to resolve this misinterpretation, and wouldn’t contribute too much to padding the episode’s runtime.
Whether Bones embraces these kinds of changes or does something entirely different (perhaps at Horikoshi’s direction), the fact of the matter is that Deku’s final chapters aren’t lonely or sad; they’re a bit wistful, asDeku reminisces about his own time at UA, but that’s all. Class 1-A is still there for Deku, even in the original manga ending, and just because it was unclear doesn’t make it any less true.My Hero Academia’s true ending is one of love and support for Deku, even when he can no longer be a hero, and as long as fans get that, the ending is a success.
