There aren’t many characters out there who could stand up to rival Weekly Shonen Jump’s most well-known face, that of One Piece’s protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. Over the years, Luffy has stood out as one of the recognizable characters all around the world, even to non-anime fans. Alongside him were the likes of Goku from Dragon Ball, Naruto Uzumaki, and Usagi from Sailor Moon. But now, a new character can be thrown into the mix, and that's Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia.
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Midoriya, also known as Deku, showed his best performance ever in My Hero Academia Season 8. This will immortalize him as one of anime’s best-known faces, and as a rival of even Luffy as an anime protagonist.
My Hero Academia’s Deku Has Proven To Be A Rival To One Piece’s Luffy
One Piece is the best-selling manga in the world, and with that, its protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, has garnered worldwide fame to a scale rarely seen before. Previously, when Naruto was being serialized, one could say that it was One Piece’s biggest rival. But, Naruto ended over a decade ago now. Instead, My Hero Academia and its protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, have risen.
Deku has become recognizable all around the world, even more so now with how big MHA season 8 has been. Even years ago, Oda’s daughter was actually worried about One Piece after seeing MHA’s popularity.
“During one of my daughter’s school field trips, they riled up the kids by playing a song from the My Hero Academia anime on the bus. When she came home, she asked me in a worried tone, “Daddy, is your manga gonna be okay?”— Eiichiro Oda in an Interview with Horikoshi
Horikoshi Reveals That He Wanted To Shape Deku To Be Just Like Luffy At First
Surprisingly, despite One Piece’s fame and success, not many mangaka quote it as part of their inspiration process when creating their own series. Horikoshi, however, stands as an exception.
Kohei Horikoshi has taken great inspiration from One Piece to create My Hero Academia. He has previously revealed that while Izuku Midoriya was actually supposed to be just like Luffy at first, he failed at making him similar.
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He struggled to write a character like Luffy, and instead, looked to find a character that fit his style more. This is how My Hero Academia was born.
“When I started thinking about the project, it was just after the serialization of my second work, Barrage, had ended. Up until then, I had a strong admiration for Luffy from One Piece and really wanted to create a character like him.
However, when my own work ended after two volumes, I realized that “there is no Luffy in me.” So I began searching again for a protagonist who would be easier for me to draw and who could keep moving forward even after being defeated. In the end, the protagonist I had drawn in a previous one-shot of My Hero fit my style best. I thought, “If I make the protagonist the character I can draw most easily, I can try creating a manga again,” and that’s how My Hero Academia was born.” — Horikoshi
Izuku Midoriya And Luffy Both Stand As Two Of Weekly Shonen Jump’s Most Iconic Characters
While Izuku has definitely become one of the most well-known anime characters all around the world, the truth is, he still doesn’t hold a candle to One Piece’s Luffy. In the grand scheme of things, even with MHA’s success, it’s nowhere close to One Piece.
My Hero Academia never managed to outsell One Piece, and it never will. Even at the end with everything the series has achieved, the face of Weekly Shonen Jump will always be Luffy.
However, at the end of the day, Luffy and Izuku are two of the most popular faces of the magazine, and they each offer something different and fresh to fans. With MHA having ended, it’s quite obvious that Weekly Shonen Jump is now trying to find a replacement to stand side by side with One Piece through the next decade.