Summary
- The "Internship Arc" of My Hero Academia was the most challenging for the creator to write due to its dark and violent nature.
- The arc, spanning 41 chapters, tackles intense subjects such as the death of a major character and the creation of a drug that eliminates Quirks.
- Despite the difficulties, the completion of the arc allowed the manga to take a darker direction and showcase more high-stakes fights.
Creating a lengthy work like My Hero Academia is certainly no easy feat. It requires complex world-building and character development, as well as the creation of story arcs that steadily move the plot toward the author's desired ending. No one knows this struggle better than My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi.
As they write their works, many manga writers frequently find that one specific story arc causes them greater challenges than the rest of the arcs. Horikoshi discusses an instance of this occurring in his experience in a 2018 interview with Natalie Comics, a Japanese manga news website.
The full interview was translated from Japanese to English by devoted anime fan and Tumblr , Audrey, whose name on the platform is AitaiKimochi. In the interview, Horikoshi candidly discusses the difficulties he encountered when writing the very lengthy "Internship Arc", also known as the "Shie Hassaikai Arc", of My Hero Academia.
My Hero Academia's Internship Arc Was Horikoshi's Most Challenging To Write
The Shie Hassaikai arc is 41 chapters long and appears in 5 volumes (volumes 14-18)
When explaining his thought process in creating the Shie Hassaikai arc, Horikoshi cites One Piece's long arcs as inspiration for My Hero Academia's Internship arc. He hoped to follow in Eiichiro Oda's footsteps and finally write one just as long as Oda's, which are often over 10 volumes. However, this didn't come as easily as Horikoshi was hoping, not because of the arc's length, but because he struggled with the dark subjects the Internship arc chapters tackle. In comparison with the previous My Hero Academia arcs written before this one, the Shie Hassaikai arc is certainly darker, more gruesome, and more violent than the rest.
Horikoshi: It’s not because the arc was long, but more about the story that made it difficult. The story was much too dark, and during the middle of it, I just wasn’t feeling it.
This arc, which covers chapters 122-162 of the manga and episodes 62-78 of the anime series, follows Class 1-A's students as they embark on their Work-Study experiences with more established Heroes, so they can gain the knowledge to eventually become strong Heroes themselves. Later in the arc, Izuku partners up with the Big 3 of U.A. (Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki) to fight against a group working to create a drug that gets rid of Quirks. The group is named Shie Hassaikai, fitting with the arc's title. It is no surprise that this intense part of the manga was difficult to write.
The Dark Nature Of The Internship Arc Gave Horikoshi Some Difficulties
These chapters of the My Hero Academia manga were undoubtedly the hardest to write, due to their violent nature. Izuku and the other Class 1-A students fight against the horrifying Shie Hassaikai group, a young girl named Eri is at risk of being kidnapped and used to create a drug that eliminates Quirks against her will, and a major character even dies during the events of this arc. So much is at risk in this part of the manga, and it is understandable that Horikoshi struggled to continue writing the story through such grim and seemingly hopeless occurrences.
The manga volumes preceding this arc were fairly lighthearted, so the Internship Arc definitely offers a shocking new twist to the story of My Hero Academia, taking it into darker territory. Although this arc wasn't simple for Horikoshi to write, it produced excellent results and allowed the manga to begin showcasing more high-stakes fights. After the completion of Shie Hassaikai, Horikoshi went on to continue creating more intense chapters, like the current "Final War Arc." The completion of the Internship Arc of My Hero Academia was likely the push Horikoshi needed to take the manga in a darker new direction.
Source: Natalie Comics (translated by Tumblr AitaiKimochi)
In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk s into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the "One-For-All" quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.
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