Hot off its first feature with last year's Two Heroes, and a new film, Heroes Rising, coming later this year, Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia shows no signs of slowing down. And with the anime's fourth season premiering in October, fans have even more reason to be excited.
As that trailer shows, Season 4 begins with an altered status quo. With the world's greatest hero and Symbol of Peace, All Might, retired after finally defeating his longtime nemesis All For One, the superhero community is adrift. And the supervillain community is plotting its next moves.
Ahead of Season 4's Oct. 12 premiere in Japan (simulcast on FunimationNow, Hulu and Crunchyroll), it's time a good to explain who the new characters are on My Hero Academia, and why you should look forward to seeing them in action, even if you haven't read the manga.
Lemillion
Lovingly called "buff Tintin" by fans due to his drastically different facial design, Mirio Togata, aka Lemillion (voiced by Tarauskue Shingaki in Japanese and Ricco Fajardo in English), is the most passionate and outgoing of U.A. High School's "Big 3," three third-years (the Japanese equivalent of senior year of high school) who are the strongest members of the student body.
Fast, durable and extremely strong (able to incapacitate members of Class 1-A with a single stomach punch), Lemillion is a wholesome, goofy kid who's a lot like All Might in his sheer dedication to helping people. His Quirk, Permeation, makes him intangible, allowing him to travel through walls and the ground to confuse his enemies. Unfortunately, he can only turn himself invisible, not his clothes, so he winds up naked every time. Trained by pro hero Sir Nighteye, Lemillion's relationship with Deku is key to this arc of the series.
Suneater
Another member of the Big 3, Tamaki Amajiki, aka Suneater (Yuto Uemura and Aaron Dismuke), looks like your typical slovenly anime boy. Extremely anxious and socially awkward, he'll often face the wall whenever his nerves tend to get the better of him.
Despite that, and his own lack of confidence, Suneater is easily the strongest student at U.A. High, behind Lemillion. His Quirk, Manifest, lets him manifest the characteristics of anything he eats while it's in his system. For example, if he eats clams, he can turn his hand into a giant clam and use that as a weapon.
Fiercely loyal and full of a deep resolve to protect people, Suneater is one to watch going forward.
Nejire-chan
The third member of the Big 3, Nejire Hado, aka Nejire-chan (Kiyono Yasuno and Lindsay Seidel), is an optimistic sort with possibly the best hair in the whole franchise.
Curious if a bit blunt when asking about people's Quirks, Nejire-chan's is "Wave Motion," which allows her to convert her own energy into shockwaves and blast them out through her wrists.
While she won't be spotlighted as much as Suneater or Lemillion in Season 4, Nejire-chan is certainly one of the more unique students at U.A.
Fat Gum
A pro hero under whom Suneater and Eijiro "Red Riot" Kirishima intern, Fat Gum, aka Taishiro Toyomitsu (Kazuyuki Okitsu and a yet-to-be-cast English actor), is pretty much exactly what his name describes. A big dude who towers over everyone, his Quirk, Fat Absorption, allows him to stick to anything and force objects to sink inside him. His fat also stores kinetic energy, which he can convert back into attack power at great cost.
Kai Chisaki
The leader of the supervillain Yakuza gang, the Shie Hassaikai (literally translated as "Eight Precepts of Death"), Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul (Kenjiro Tsuda and Kellen Goff), is this season's overarching villain. A creepy germophobe, Chisaki is obsessed with returning the world to the way it was before Quirks came along. To that end, he's developed a Quirk-destroying drug.
His Quirk, also called "Overhaul," allows him to disassemble and reassemble anything he touches. That means he can either rearrange someone's body to heal a wound, or else scatter their atoms. With a dangerous Quirk and absolutely no sense of remorse, Overhaul might just be the scariest villain the students and teachers of My Hero Academia have faced yet.
Eri
A small child with a large horn growing out of her head, Eri (Megumi Han and a yet-to-be-cast English actress) is the granddaughter of the Shie Hassaikai's boss. Her Quirk, Rewind, which lets her rewind people's bodies to previous states, is so powerful that Overlord has made her central to the plans for his Quirk-destroying drug.
Sir Nighteye
A stoic pro hero who prefers a tailored suit to a costume, Sir Nighteye (Shinichiro Miki and Brandon McInnis) is one of the smartest people in the world.
Nighteye's Quirk, Foresight, allows him to see an hour ahead into the future, but it's not always accurate. Regardless, Nighteye's stoic demeanor and powerful Quirk make him one of the most important adults in this series.