My Hero Academia volume 42 sales prove how much fans needed the epilogue

Thursday, December 12, 2024, saw the official X (formerly Twitter) account for Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series announce a My Hero Academia volume 42 reprint. The post also confirms that, with this reprint in mind, the print edition of the 42nd and final volume in the series has already exceeded 1 million total copies in circulation. These reprinted copies will be available in Japanese stores starting Wednesday, December 25, 2024.

The reprint is especially noteworthy considering that the original printing of the final volume for Horikoshi’s series was just released on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. While there are no official statistics to check against, it’s surely one of the fastest manga volume reprints in the industry’s history. Likewise, it also speaks to how desperately fans needed the epilogue which My Hero Academia volume 42 offered in its exclusive extra issue, chapter 431.

My Hero Academia volume 42’s truly momentous sales pace emphasizes a proper epilogue’s importance

As mentioned above, the My Hero Academia volume 42 reprint now means that the final volume has over 1 million paper copies in circulation as of this article’s writing. Without a doubt, one of the biggest factors in this success is its inclusion of chapter 431, which serves as a proper, fully-fleshed epilogue for the series. While chapter 430 did offer a relatively satisfying conclusion, chapter 431 effectively corrects almost every major issue with the ending otherwise.

One of the biggest factors in why fans have clearly responded so positively and with such energy to this proper epilogue is its focus on Deku’s fellow Class 1-A students. Many felt that chapter 430 didn’t give enough of a focus to the class in general, instead mentioning a few in passing while focus was maintained on Deku. Chapter 431 instead offers a dedicated focus to almost every Class 1-A member, and certainly all those who’d be considered fan-favorites.

Further supporting the idea that chapter 431 is a main factor in the final volume’s success is the overall sentiment the series’ fanbase had upon chapter 430’s initial release. Many were dismayed by the ending, writing off the series as having fumbled its conclusion as many other manga have in the past. Had this sentiment not been swayed, it’s unlikely that volume 42 would reach the 1 million copies in circulation mark so quickly.

In any case, My Hero Academia volume 42’s incredible success speaks to the importance of having a proper and satisfying ending. Thankfully, Horikoshi was able to provide that via chapter 431’s inclusion, leaving fans off with an extremely satisfying last look at the series’ central-most characters. While hopes of a sequel are still circulating amongst fans, no rumors nor official word on such an occurrence are available as of this article’s writing.