More than 3,400 local “My Hero Academia” fans attended the event. Fans lined up from early in the morning for the stage performance, and cosplayers dressed as various characters including Deku were also seen.
Four people who came from Japan to take to the stage were Yamashita Daiki, who plays the main character Izuku Midoriya (also known as Deku); Miyake Kenta, who plays the former No. 1 hero All Might, known as the “symbol of peace,” and Dark Might, who stands in Deku and his friends’ way in this movie; Miyano Mamoru, who plays the movie’s original character Giulio Gandini; and Ikumi Meru, who plays the heroine Anna Scerbino.
First, Yamashita appeared on stage and greeted the audience in English, saying “California Smash!”, combining Deku’s signature move with a Los Angeles touch. The audience erupted in cheers. After that, the MC called Miyake to the stage, and he greeted the audience in All Might’s voice, saying “It’s okay now! I’m here at Anime Expo!” The audience erupted in cheers, and the event began with a climax-like atmosphere right from the beginning of the stage.
As the two talked about the currently airing seventh season, the fans gathered at the venue listened intently to what they were saying, sometimes cheering. After that, the movie version part began, and Miyano and Ikumi appeared. As they began their greetings, the audience erupted in cheers and shouts of the two’s nicknames, “Meruru!” and “Mamo!”, and the cast members on stage could not hide their surprise at the reaction.
When asked how she felt about standing on the stage at the wildly enthusiastic Anime Expo, Ikumi commented, “Everyone’s enthusiasm is really amazing… it’s so much fun…!” She seemed speechless at the atmosphere in the venue. Miyano commented with an overflowing love, “I love you!!”, and the audience shouted out “I love you too”, and some fans even screamed “I love you!” in Japanese, showing that the entire venue was united in enjoying the stage.
This is the first movie version of “My Hero Academia” in three years, so when asked how he felt when he heard it was being made into a movie, Yamashita commented enthusiastically, “I was so happy!” When the MC translated it as “Super Happy!”, Yamashita enthusiastically repeated “Super Happy!”, and the audience erupted in laughter at the fans’ comments of “So cute!!”
He continued, “The My Hero Academia movies carefully follow the chronology, based on the TV series so far, so I was really curious to see where the story would take place this time. It was a surprise to see something like this happen in between. And compared to the first movie, this fourth one was ‘very heroic,'” he said, expressing his deep emotion from continuing to play the character Deku, which elicited applause and exclamations of admiration from the audience.
Next, Miyano and Ikumi, who will be appearing in the film version, were asked how they felt when they received the offer. Miyano echoed Yamashita’s comment, saying, “Super Happy!”, expressing his joy, drawing laughter from the audience. He also said that he was happy to be appearing this time because “My Hero Academia” is a work that features voice actors who are already good friends. Ikumi also echoed Yamashita and Miyano’s words, saying, “I was so happy because I’m a big My Hero Academia fan that I thought it was a prank. I’m super happy!”, and the audience burst into laughter as she spoke of how happy she was at the time.
Miyake, who took on the challenge of playing two roles, All Might and Dark Might, one of the highlights of the film, commented, “Super Happy!” when asked how he felt when he was offered the role. He continued, “The theme of ‘My Hero Academia’ is ‘PLUS ULTRA’ (even further!), so I thought I had to go even further as a voice actor, and decided to play the enemy villain, Dark Might.”
Afterwards, the cast members were asked about the dubbing process. Ikumi, who was doing dubbing for the first time as a character, commented, “I was nervous and it was a difficult role, but with the direction of the director and sound director, I was able to perform it to the best of my ability.” Meanwhile, Miyake, who recorded All Might after recording for Dark Might, looked back on the struggles he faced at the time, saying, “Dark Might pulled me in, so All Might ended up looking a bit like a villain, so we had to do a retake (wry smile).”
Miyano, who plays the original character Julio, talked about what kind of person Julio is, and when talking about the scene where Julio gets emotional, he said, “I didn’t just yell, I thought carefully about his personality and what it was that made him explode with emotion, and I re-recorded it many times,” to which Miyake responded, “Me too.” There was also a moment when the audience laughed when Miyano replied, “You too.” The conversation expanded to include the individual conflicts they faced at the time of recording, as well as the friendly relationship between the cast members.
After the talk, which had the audience so engrossed, the first 15 minutes of the film was shown on the special stage, ahead of its release in Japan. What’s more, the cast members who appeared on stage also went down into the audience to watch the film together with the 3,400 other people.
When the screening began, the 3,400 audience members were glued to the screen on the stage. Every time familiar characters such as Deku and Bakugo Katsuki appeared, cheers erupted, and when Julio, Anna, and Dark Mite appeared, the audience not only cheered, but also stared intently at the scenes, further increasing their expectations for the movie version.
The screening ended in such a frenzy. It was then announced that the film would be released in North America on October 11th, following Japan, and the venue erupted in a thunderous roar and applause. Afterwards, the cast members took to the stage once again and excitedly shared their thoughts on watching the film with 3,400 people. At the end of the event, Yamashita called out the My Hero Academia slogan, “Further beyond! PLUS ULTRA!”, and the whole audience shouted it together, bringing the special event to a close with huge excitement from start to finish.
The cast members were able to feel the enthusiasm of the American fans at this event, and even after they had left the stage they were heard saying things like, “It was fun!” and “The energy was incredible.” The event strengthened their desire to convey their feelings to Japanese fans ahead of the film’s release on August 2nd.
The fourth and latest film in the My Hero Academia anime series, My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: Your Next, will be released on August 2nd.
Event details:
Event name: Anime Expo 2024
“My Hero Academia THE MOVIE YOUR NEXT” Special Event in LA
Event period: 4 days from July 4 to 7, 2024
*The My Hero Academia Stage will be on the 5th
Location: Los Angeles Anime Convention
Speakers: Yamashita Daiki (role of Midoriya Izuku), Miyano Mamoru (role of Giulio Gandini), Ikumi Meru (role of Anna Scelvino), Miyake Kenta (role of All Might/Dark Might) *Titles omitted
(C) 2024 “My Hero Academia THE MOVIE” Production Committee (C) Kohei Horikoshi / Shueisha
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