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My Hero Academia Exhibit Takes You Through the Anime Locations
posted on by Kim Morrissy
My Hero Academia is holding a week-long exhibit at Ikebukuro Sunshine City covering all three seasons of the anime so far, plus the movie. Unlike most anime exhibits, the focus this time isn't on the production materials. Instead, it recreates many of the iconic locations of the anime, allowing visitors to relieve some of their favorite moments of the series as if they're part of the scene.
It should probably go without saying that you shouldn't enter the exhibit if you're not up to date with the My Hero Academia anime, because this exhibit spoils every big moment in the series. Recaps of the first three seasons are sprinkled in every section, but they're clearly intended more as a refresher course than as a introduction to the series in general. Naturally, this article will have spoilers for the anime as well.
The exhibit is separated into seven zones which cover a different part of the anime's story. Photography is permitted in every zone except for a few walls of key animation for My Hero Academia: Two Heroes at the very end. The exhibit also goes out of its way to encourage its visitors to take photos of themselves posing with the characters.
Once you get past the entrance, which recaps the opening episodes of the anime, you'll get into a room with stands of the main characters from class 1-A, all lined up in a row as if greeting the visitors passing through.
The next section focuses on school life. Here, you can see the lockers of Toru Hagakure (the invisible girl), Yuga Aoyama (the Navel Laser guy), Hanta Sero (the tape guy), and Mezo Shoji (the guy with multiple arms).
The other characters from 1-A didn't get lockers, but you do get to see the front door of their dorm rooms. You can also see Bakugo and Todoroki messing about outside.
Although you don't get to see inside the dorm rooms themselves (with one exception that will be covered later in this report), each door has some of the character's possessions just outside it. My favorite is Iida's room because it's so completely characteristic of him.
Moving on, we enter the classroom, where Aizawa stands in front of a whiteboard to explain the theory of battle: how to counter quirks, where pressure points on a human body are located, and so on.
The next area was probably the most interactive area overall. Here, the characters are shown using their moves, and you're encouraged to take photos so that it looks like you're the one doing the moves.
(Thank you to my friend Alex for having the courage to pose as Aoyama doing his Navel Laser. Your bravery is commendable.)
The next area is the bar where the villains hang out, but to get there you have to pass through a curtain with an image of Bakugo telling Deku not to come after him. This is a direct reference to the events of episode 45, when Bakugo is whisked away to villains' lair by Kurogiri's Warp Gate.
The bar is recreated with such detail that you can even see the torn up posters of All Might and the cards in front of Kurogiri. None of the bottles on the wall are real, though.
Next up are the pro heroes, who are behind a cordoned off area that shows evidence of the city's destruction.
Beyond that is an entire section dedicated to All For One and the battle between him and All Might. Relieve this big moment with plenty of screenshots from the anime.
After a dramatic battle, our characters settle into their dorms. Here, we get a glimpse of Deku's room and his shrine for All Might.
His desk is also recreated in fine detail. You can see his notebook where he keeps his “Hero Analysis For the Future” and the letter of gratitude he received from Kota for saving him.
The exhibit doesn't cover the last part of season 3. It appears that the exhibit was planned before the provisional hero licensing exam arc. Instead, the second-last section is dedicated to recapping Deku's unique relationship with All Might and Shigaraki.
Finally, the exhibit touches on the movie, showing off a handful of key frames and some info about the plot and characters.
Once you get out of the exhibit, you can enter the merchandise booth, and once you've finished there, you can enter the cafeteria. Stands of the characters greet you on your way, although the scale of the cafeteria is quite small.
Overall, what the My Hero Academia exhibit lacks in production materials, it more than makes up for with its faithful recreations of the anime's sets.
The exhibit will run from September 30 to October 8. Normal tickets cost 1,500 yen (1,300 if you order them beforehand) but you can also buy a “limited goods ticket” for 1,500 yen extra, which comes with a lanyard with hero licenses for Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki.
