#My Hero Academia Launches “World Best Hero” Character Poll & New York Times Ad After Manga’s Conclusion

Fresh off the ending of the My Hero Academia manga, Shueisha announced today that it will be launching a global character popularity poll called “World Best Hero” in celebration of creator Kohei Horikoshi and his series. The final chapter debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump on August 5, 2024. 

In addition, Shueisha took out an advertisement in the New York Times, which features a message of gratitude from Horikoshi to his readers around the world in celebration of the manga’s conclusion. The advertisement will also be published in the International edition of The New York Times, including in Japan, on August 6, 2024. 

Horikoshi’s translated message in English reads: 

Thank you for all the love and support for My Hero Academia! Seeing everyone enjoy the series was a joy for me as well. As you continue your daily lives, I hope you will fondly remember Deku and friends every now and then. 

Here are the details for the character popularity polls and more celebrations for the manga’s conclusion. 

Main Stage Voting Period

The first-ever global “World Best Hero” popularity poll for My Hero Academia will be held for a two-month voting period called the “Main Stage” from August 5, 2024 at 6:00 PM JST to September 30, 2024 at 11:59 PM JST. 

Results for the “Main stage” will be announced on December 2, 2024 at 7:00 PM via a premium live broadcast on the Shonen Jump official YouTube channel. The character who wins first place in the “Main Stage” voting period will be honored with the prestigious title of “World Best Hero” and will receive a special video on the Jump YouTube channel. 

A total of 278 characters that appeared in the My Hero Academia manga are eligible to be voted on.  Voting can only be done through the official global popularity poll website and each person can vote once per day. Fans can vote again every day after 12:00 AM JST. 

Plus Ultra Stage Voting Period 

Following the “Main Stage” voting period, a special and final round of voting called “Plus Ultra Stage” will be held for 24 hours to determine the number one character from the top three ranking characters from the last round. 

The character who wins first place in the “Plus Ultra Stage” will be honored with the prestigious title of “THE MHA.” They will have a statue created in his or her honor based on a new illustration from Horikoshi. 

The voting period for the “Plus Ultra Stage” will start from December 2, 2024 at 8:00 PM JST to December 3, 2024 at 7:59 PM JST. Each person can vote once every hour with a maximum of 12 votes per person within the 24-hour period. The results will also be revealed on the Jump official YouTube channel via a premium broadcast on December 3, 2024 at 9:30 PM JST. 

In addition, fans can create an image of their best five heroes with the generator to share with their friends. 

World Best Hero: Fan Art Contest

Shueisha also announced a fan art contest, where they can submit their artwork for consideration using the Twitter/X hashtags “#WBH_FANART” or “#頑張れって感じのファンアート” (DoYourBestFanArt). 

A total of 10 submissions will be chosen worldwide as “WBH Fan Art10” and will be showcased on a special website. Winners will receive digital data with a personalized signature from Horikoshi-sensei.

The submission period will run from August 5, 2024 to September 1, 2024. The results will be announced on September 15, 2024. 

Super Poll Event for Horikoshi’s Final Fan Book

Shueisha is also commemorating the manga’s conclusion with the release of a final fanbook in January 2025. As part of the fanbook, the publisher is conducting four reader polls and collecting questions for Horikoshi to answer. It will only be available in Japan.

The question submission period will take place from August 5, 2024 at 12:00 AM JST to September 1, 2024 at 11:59 PM. Multiple questions submissions are allowed. 

Meanwhile, the polling period will take place from August 5, 2024 to September 1, 2024 and will consist of the following categories:  

1. 1. Hero Name Ranking: August 5 at 6:00 PM to August 11 at 12:00 AM
2. 2. “Quirk” Ranking: August 12 at 12:00 AM to August 18 at 12:00 AM
3. 3. Best Episode Poll: August 19 at 12:00 AM to August 25 at 12:00 AM
4. 4. Comic Cover Poll: August 26 at 12:00 AM to September 1 at 12:00 AM

Additionally, an art book of the My Hero Academia manga series will be released in April 2025 and a new large-scale art exhibit taking place sometime in Summer 2025. 

The manga is also getting a board game from Shueisha Games called Boku no Hero Academia YOUR BEST MEMORY in commemoration of the manga’s completion. The board game will be released in winter 2024.

Source: Anime News Network, press release 

Want to follow our weekly chart updates and news? Subscribe to our newsletter for more content in your inbox!