Overview
My Hero Academia: I am a hero too is a six-minute special that works as a quiet coda rather than a battle chapter. It catches up with Eri, introduced as a child in the main series, now a high school student chasing music instead of heroics, and it returns to Izuku Midoriya in his later role as a teacher at U.A. That pairing gives the short its reason to exist. It shows the ordinary future that the main story's conflicts were fought to protect, and it lets a supporting character carry something of her own.
The experience is small and gentle by design. With one episode and a runtime measured in minutes, it trades spectacle for tone, leaning into slice of life, urban streets, and the nerves of a first performance. Viewers who know these characters will read the emotional shorthand packed into the reunion and the time skip. The music angle and the adult cast give the piece a different texture from the mainline arcs, and the brevity keeps it from overstaying its welcome.
Because so much of its weight depends on knowing who these people are and what they have been through, this special is best approached as a companion piece to the larger franchise rather than a starting point. Fans looking for a low-stakes epilogue, and viewers who enjoy short, music-flavored character vignettes, will find it easy to sit through. The franchise hub covers the main story and where this entry sits within it. It streams on Crunchyroll.
Synopsis
This short special centers on Eri, now a high school student who dreams of becoming a musician. With her first street performance only a week away, she reaches out to Izuku Midoriya, the hero known as Deku, who has become a teacher at U.A. High School. Their conversation gives her a chance to talk through the mix of excitement and doubt surrounding her upcoming debut.
Set in the same world of Quirks as My Hero Academia, the story shifts away from large-scale hero battles toward a personal, music-focused slice of life. Eri's main challenge is not a villain but her own uncertainty as she steps toward a goal she has chosen for herself. Deku's role as a mentor figure adds a quiet link to the wider series while keeping the focus on Eri's next small but meaningful step.
Trailer
Should You Watch It?
Watch it if you enjoy
- Best for My Hero Academia fans who have finished the main story and want a quiet look at what the fighting protected.
- Suits viewers who enjoy gentle slice-of-life character pieces, music themes, and small emotional payoffs over spectacle.
- Good pick for anyone curious about Eri's growth after the main series, with only a six-minute commitment.
- Works as a light epilogue pairing for readers of Kohei Horikoshi's manga who know Deku and Eri already.
It may not suit you if
- Not a starting point: the special assumes you already know Eri, Deku, and the U.A. setting from earlier material.
- May disappoint viewers expecting hero battles, action set pieces, or the franchise's usual large-scale stakes.
- Its roughly six-minute runtime leaves little room for plot, so those wanting a full episode or film may find it slight.
- Those unfamiliar with the franchise's time skip may miss the emotional shorthand the reunion depends on.
The primary starting work is a standalone anime special, so watching the complete special is the natural Volluble Test Drive.
Why It Connects With Audiences
Why people love it
- Eri is given her own arc, moving from the main series' rescued child to a high school student chasing music.
- Deku's later role as a U.A. teacher offers a quiet, mentor-style link back to the wider series.
- The Music and Slice of Life framing gives the short a warmer texture than the mainline action arcs.
- Its brevity and self-contained focus make it an easy, low-pressure coda rather than a demanding commitment.
Common criticisms
- Some viewers may feel a six-minute special cannot develop Eri's music dream or her doubts very deeply.
- The piece leans heavily on prior franchise knowledge, so its emotional weight may not land for casual viewers.
- With no villain or conflict, those wanting narrative momentum may find the tone too low-key.
- Being an optional side story rather than a main arc, it may read as a minor extra to some fans.
Volluble DNA
A quick profile of the title’s dominant storytelling ingredients.
Characters and Voice Actors25 characters
Eri
Main character- Japanese: Seiran Kobayashi
- Japanese: Myka Morton
Shouta Aizawa
Supporting character- Japanese: Junichi Suwabe
Hizashi Yamada
Supporting character- Japanese: Hiroyuki Yoshino
Toshinori Yagi
Supporting character- Japanese: Kenta Miyake
Ken Ishiyama
Supporting character- Japanese: Kenta Ookuma
Izuku Midoriya
Supporting character- Japanese: Daiki Yamashita
Katsuki Bakugou
Supporting character- Japanese: Nobuhiko Okamoto
Shouto Todoroki
Supporting character- Japanese: Yuuki Kaji
Mirio Togata
Supporting characterKyouka Jirou
Supporting characterDenki Kaminari
Supporting characterKouta Izumi
Supporting characterShino Sousaki
Supporting characterOchako Uraraka
Supporting characterTsuyu Asui
Supporting characterMashirao Ojiro
Supporting characterRikidou Satou
Supporting characterJosei Announcer
Background character- Japanese: Yuu Shimamura
Tenya Iida
Background characterMomo Yaoyorozu
Background characterHitoshi Shinsou
Background characterEijirou Kirishima
Background characterMinoru Mineta
Background characterMina Ashido
Background characterHanta Sero
Background characterProduction and Staff16 credits
View all 4 additional credits
Production Background
My Hero Academia: I am a hero too is a single-episode anime special released in 2026, running approximately six minutes. It adapts material from the manga written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi, which was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from July 2014 to August 2024 and collected into 42 tankobon volumes. The special draws its source from that manga rather than from an original screenplay, placing it alongside the broader body of animated adaptations rather than standing as a feature-length film or a full television season.
The episode centers on Eri, now a high school student pursuing a dream of becoming a musician. Her first street performance is approaching, and she turns to Deku, who by this point in the story works as a teacher at U.A., for guidance on the matter. That time-skip framing places the special later in the narrative timeline than the main school-era storylines, and its classification leans into Music and Slice of Life alongside Fantasy, a tonal mix distinct from the action-heavy core of the franchise. Crunchyroll serves as the streaming outlet for the special.
With only one installment and a runtime of roughly six minutes, the special functions as a compact, self-contained piece within the larger property. Its listing carries alternate titles including "My Hero Academia: I am a hero too Special," and it first appeared during the summer 2026 season. Details such as the animation studio and English dub production have not been confirmed in the catalog record.
Franchise Context
This entry belongs to the My Hero Academia franchise, which began as Kohei Horikoshi's manga in Weekly Shonen Jump and expanded into a broad media mix of anime seasons, films, and spin-off manga including Smash!!, Vigilantes, and Team-Up Missions. Within that larger body of work, I am a hero too is not the starting point. It is a single-episode special released in 2026, arriving long after the main storyline, and it functions as a short side story rather than a new season, a remake, or a retelling of existing material.
Its ties to the franchise are largely thematic and chronological. The special revisits established characters in later roles, reflecting the time skip implied by its premise, and it takes the original manga as its source while remaining a self-contained addition rather than an adaptation of a main story arc. Like other franchise extras, it sits outside the core television run and can be watched on its own, though familiarity with the series gives it more weight. It streams on Crunchyroll and stands alongside the films and spin-off manga as one more piece of the same shared world.
Where This Fits in My Hero Academia
A spoiler-light guide to where this exact work fits within the broader My Hero Academia franchise.
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Step 1
Begin with the main My Hero Academia manga or its anime adaptation, since this special assumes you already know Izuku Midoriya, Eri, and the U.A. High setting.
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Step 2
Finish the core story before watching: this six-minute special is set after a time skip, with Deku now a teacher and Eri a high school student, so its quiet payoff lands best once the main narrative is complete.
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Step 3
Treat this special as an optional epilogue rather than a required installment, and note that it is a single short piece, not a full season or a franchise entry point.
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Step 4
Spin-offs such as Smash!!, Vigilantes, and Team-Up Missions can be explored separately at any point and are not prerequisites for this special.
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Step 5
Nothing is required after this special; it serves as a closing character moment, so you can move on to spin-offs or other franchise material whenever you like.
Franchise Path
- Begin with the My Hero Academia manga or its anime adaptation; this six-minute 2026 special assumes you already know Deku, Eri, and U.A.
- Place it after the main story's time skip, when Deku is a teacher and Eri a high school student, so her choice reads as a closing epilogue.
- Spin-offs such as Vigilantes, Smash!!, and Team-Up Missions are optional side paths and never prerequisites for this special.
- No further franchise step follows; this single-episode special is the end of the path.
After You Finish
Continue with
- Nothing continues after this special; it ends on Eri's own quiet next step and stands as a complete, self-contained piece.
- Curiosity can move sideways to the franchise's spin-off manga, but no sequel or new season is set up by this episode.
Community Verdict
Quick reader and viewer signals from the Volluble community.
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