My Hero Academia: You're Next movie review - The Smash hit the series needed

The fourth My Hero Academia movie, My Hero Academia: You're Next, premiered in Japan on August 2, 2024, and made its overseas debut on October 11, 2024. The English and Japanese voice casts reprised their roles as their respective characters, while new and familiar faces played the new characters, like Kenta Miyake and Christopher Sabat playing both All Might and Dark Might.

My Hero Academia: You're Next complements both season 7 of the anime and the Final War Saga, featuring plenty of callbacks, themes of moving forward, and the overall clash of ideologies between heroes, villains, and new faces.

What begins as a routine jailbreaker's capture mission for Class 1-A turns into a hostage situation and rescue mission when several mysterious people turn up: a man with a gun arm on a red motorcycle, a blond woman held hostage, and a vast ship with black-suited people aboard led by a man with All Might's face and voice claiming to be his true successor.

Disclaimer: The following review will contain spoilers for My Hero Academia's anime, manga, the prior movies, and My Hero Academia: You're Next. All opinions are exclusive to the author.

My Hero Academia: You're Next sees Class 1-A fighting an All Might impersonator

Plot summary

In the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War arc, most of Japan still lies in ruin. Since many heroes either died or retired, the students of Class 1-A have had to pull multiple jobs, including catching Tartarus jailbreakers and runaway villains. My Hero Academia: You're Next begins by showing this effort.

After a successful mission wherein Izuku's team stopped a trio of criminals from stealing supplies from a civilian shelter, problems arose when a spider-like criminal with a mouth for a stomach was spotted racing through the ruined city with a hostage: a young blonde-haired girl.

My Hero Academia: You're Next preview images (Image via Studio Bones)

Attempts to accost the villain were stymied when a man with an eyepatch and gun arm zoomed onto the scene, attempting to kill the girl. The situation got more chaotic with the arrival of a large ship and the All Might imposter and his cohorts aboard. The All Might imposter defeated the villain with a punch, causing a small earthquake that busted the street and injured many nearby civilians.

Undeterred, the man calling himself Dark Might spoke about how All Might's time is over and how he will usher in a new age of peace for all. After being trapped in the ship and its multiple biomes via a weapon Dark Might launches, it's up to Deku and Class 1-A to take this imposter down before he ensnares all of UA in his twisted mechanisms.

The Symbol of Power: Dark Might/Valdo Gollini

My Hero Academia: You're Next's main villain: Dark Might (Image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia: You're Next's main villain, Dark Might, aka Valdo Gollini, is a combination of Syndrome from Pixar's The Incredibles and My Hero Academia's Stain in that he considers himself All Might's successor in every conceivable way. Aside from getting surgery to change his appearance to resemble All Might like the Batman villain Hush, he deluded himself into thinking All Might was addressing him during the fight against All for One in Kamino Ward with the "now, it's your turn" line.

The comparisons to All Might begin and end with Dark Might's voice and appearance sounding like the genuine article, including naming and stylizing his ultimate moves after him. The obsessive hero worship is on display with many statues of Gollini as All Might throughout his massive fortress, though plenty of harsh words are lobbed at All Might when negotiating for the release of the hostages.

Unlike the villains of World Heroes' Mission and the main series' League of Villains, who had sympathetic qualities, Gollini and his crime family don't have such attributes. Gollini killed his father for not believing in his plans to become a Symbol of Strength, only cares about civilians insofar as they worship him, and is not afraid to kill everyone to get what he desires.

Gollini's Quirk, Alchemy, is quite a powerful one. He can convert matter into anything he wants by paying gold as a cost, and he always has gold on his person. He created the massive ship the Gollini crime family uses to travel using the gold. His fighting style includes massive fists styled after All Might's smashes.

The wandering gunman: Giulio Gandini

My Hero Academia: You're Next - Giulio Gandini (Image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia movies have well-done movie-only characters; some are canon, as the manga proved when showcasing Melissa Shields, the Shimano Twins, and Rody Soul in the Final War saga. My Hero Academia: You're Next's mysterious motorcycle-riding man who tried to kill Anna, Giulio Gandini, is one such character.

Giulio Gandini is an interesting case compared to all the other movie characters, likewise for Anna. He starts trying to kill Anna and never stops until Deku and Class 1-A convince him otherwise. His appearance is also interesting, as he has a mechanical right eye, right arm, and left leg that serve as prosthetics and support items.

Giulio Gandini throughout My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

Giulio and Anna are the heart of My Hero Academia: You're Next. Their story, of a butler and his charge bonding after the boy was the only one who could help keep her Quirk under control and let her live a normal life, is the movie's emotional core. The entire story is a rescue mission from start to end, to the point where the main focus of the climax is Giulio trying to calm Anna down as her Quirk reaches Singularity.

Giulio's Quirk isn't shown for most of the movie except in flashbacks and at the end. It's called Nullification; it allows him to temporarily nullify someone's Quirk Factor by touching them with his right arm. Since his right arm was crushed when the Giloni family kidnapped Anna, he can't use his quirk until the very end of the film when Anna's Quirk overloads and reactivates his and renders her Quirkless.

The hostage: Anna Scervino

Anna Scervino throughout My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

Anna Scervino is held hostage for most of My Hero Academia: You're Next. She's the other half of the emotional core, being pushed around and used much like Eri was during the Shie Hassaikai arc in the series proper. She's unique in several different ways.

Anna is a scarred young girl with PTSD from the Gollini Family destroying her home, killing her family, and kidnapping her. She lived a solitary life before Guilio entered it, always having to avoid people due to her Quirk and becoming depressed and nearly hollow because of it. She made Guilio promise to kill her if she ever lost control or was being used as the Giloni family used her.

Anna Scervino in My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

Anna's Quirk, Overmodification, is a potent and dangerous one. It enhances the skills and abilities of people and things around the user, provided they're compatible. Her Quirk activating is symbolized by flowers growing. It also comes with nasty side effects:

The Quirk is always on and can only be temporarily nullified, not turned off.
It causes painful feedback to those who aren't compatible, including intense shocks and leaving them unconscious.
Anna herself suffers from almost constant migraines and seizures that threaten to kill her.
Overuse can turn any compatible person into a monster akin to Tetsuo from Akira.
If it ever reaches maximum output, plants around the user become wild and lash out, and the Quirk could prove fatal to the user.

Her Quirk does overload and achieves singularity during My Hero Academia: You're Next's climax, causing her hair to go all black, the fortress to start breaking apart, and Dark Might to mutate like Tetsuo from Akira. Though she and Guilio get a happy ending, it takes them the whole movie and them nearly dying to do so. Unlike every other example of Quirklessness throughout the series, Anna being Quirkless at the film's end is treated as a happy ending.

The Quirk Mafia: The Gollini crime family

The Gollini Family in My Hero Academia: You're Next (Image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia film would be nothing without its villains. Two Heroes had Wolfram, but he and his gang were little more than Die Hard-style terrorists without Hans Gruber's charm and charisma. Heroes Rising was a step up with Nine and his gang of ultrapowerful experiments. The anti-Quirk doomsday cult Humarise and their leader Flect Turn in World Heroes Mission was another step up, showing other factions aside from the League of Villains or the Meta Liberation Army.

Going from a quartet of ultrapowerful experiments and an anti-Quirk doomsday cult to a crime family might seem like a step down to many fans. However, the fights and Quirks displayed in My Hero Academia: You're Next more than compensate for this shortcoming. The Gollini Family's Quirks are simple but deadly when boosted by Anna's Overmodification:

Paulo's Quirk allows him to erase Quirk Factors within a certain area, maintaining a bubble around him and his allies so they can still use theirs. Overmodification extends his area of effect to a mountain range.
Bruno's Quirk is similar to Dio's The World, but it doesn't stop time. It creates a sphere-like bubble over an area that causes everything except him to be stuck in a state of slow motion. With Overmodification, his range extends to envelop a mansion yard.
Deborah's Quirk is akin to the Sharingan from Naruto. It allows Deborah to make any person fall unconscious or be put into a hypnotic state. Likewise, the victim will be stuck in a dreamlike world filled with their heart's desires and rendered near comatose in the real world. Overmodification expands her range from a single person to entire crowds.
Simon's Quirk allows him to summon monsters like those found in Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs. Overmodification lets him summon a nearly infinite horde.
Kamile's Quirk allows him to ignore the laws of gravity in objects. Overmodification allows him greater control, including keeping the massive Gollini fortress afloat.
Gil's Quirk is teleportation, allowing him to move himself and anything living or nonliving he touches to any point in sight. Overmodification allows him to teleport faster.

Ugo's Quirk is telekinesis, allowing him to move inanimate objects. Overmodification increases the number of objects he can control at once.

The rest of the Gollini Family in My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

According to the exposition provided by the Pro Heroes, the Gollini crime family is usually based in Europe and is considered the biggest crime family there. They pose unique challenges to Class 1-A that they cannot brute-force their way past, forcing Class 1-A to get creative to overcome their Quirks.

The unorthodox tactics include Deborah being taken down by Giulio's prosthetic appendages after she incapacitated him with her Quirk and Deku having to use Black Whip to slingshot himself forward to overcome Bruno's Quirk slowdown. Though the Gollini family all have powerful Quirks, they all share the same fundamental flaw of arrogance that leads to their downfall.

Timeline placement

My Hero Academia: You're Next's manga prequel panels (Image via Shueisha)

As with the other movies in the series, My Hero Academia: You're Next takes place in the series' timeline. Two Heroes took place during the summer vacation between the Final Exams arc in season 2 and the Quirk Training Camp arc in season 3. Heroes Rising is after the Meta Liberation Army arc in season 5. World Heroes' Mission is after the Endeavor Agency Arc in season 5 and before the Paranormal Liberation War in season 6.

My Hero Academia: You're Next had two one-shot manga released before the movie premiered: chapter 342.5 was titled Connect The Day, and 430.6 was titled A Piece of Cake. Both chapters elaborate that My Hero Academia: You're Next takes place in the Final War Saga, in the intervening time between The UA Traitor Arc and the events of the Final War.

My Hero Academia: You're Next's connection to the timeline (Images via Shueisha/Studio Bones)

This makes sense due to several noticeable factors. The first is the absence of Yuga Aoyama, the Shining Hero "Can't Stop Twinkling," since he's still under house arrest after being revealed as the U.A. Traitor. The second is the state of decay and destruction due to the Tartarus breakout and UA having already been converted into a fortress, complete with characters like Kota, Inko Midoriya, and Mitsuki Bakugo making cameo appearances.

The post-credits stinger shows All for One awaiting Shigaraki's awakening, and the final shot is Shigaraki awakening from his battle against Stars and Stripe and All for One's attempted possession. Combined with the manga having recap shots that showed Stars and Stripe fighting Shigaraki, this cements My Hero Academia: You're Next's place in season 7.

The highlights

Examples of Pro Hero teamwork in My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia: You're Next is phenomenal in several areas. One of them is how the Pro Heroes and Class 1-A actively collaborate to rescue the civilians trapped inside Gollini's mobile fortress. While this happened in Two Heroes and World Heroes Mission, the former focused on All Might, whereas the latter didn't focus much on the heroes fighting Humarise as often as it should have.

In My Hero Academia: You're Next, everyone's tasks are given attention, and all are given enough stakes and gravitas befitting a rescue mission. Everything from the Pro Heroes' struggles to breach the Gollini fortress, Class 1-A leading civilians to a makeshift exit Endeavor spends most of the movie creating, Tokoyami buying Deku, Shoto, and Bakugo time by fighting off a near-infinite monster horde, Mirio's efforts to aid the heroes in stopping the fortress, and Guilio struggling to save Anna are all given time and focus.

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The fact that the Gollini family, much like Humarise from the prior film, have no connection to All For One elevates them above the villains of the first two movies. This lends a sense of scale to My Hero Academia's world, showing that there are more threats to the world than just the ones the audience is familiar with.

Another point in its favor is that Anna and Guilio's story is far more interesting and compelling than Rody's story in World Heroes' Mission or the Shimano Siblings in Heroes: Rising. The audience gets the story of how they met and how important they are to each other far better than the other movie-only characters, second only to the Shields in The Two Heroes.

The animation matches season 7's stellar animation, especially during the fight scenes. The voice acting, especially for the English dub, is excellent, especially when Dark Might and All Might speak to each other. There's a sinister feeling hearing All Might's voice say villainous things, one that demands attention a lot more than other villains did.

The flaws

Flaw 1: Anti-climatic villain fights in My Hero Academia: You're Next (Image via Studio Bones)

Although My Hero Academia: You're Next is a phenomenal example of an anime movie, it does have a few flaws preventing it from reaching the heights that Heroes: Rising did. Though the villains have unique Quirks and make for interesting fight scenes, most of the Gollini Family are defeated in one fight each except Deborah and Dark Might. Heroes: Rising did better on that front.

The Gollini family are also two-dimensional villains compared to the more complex and nuanced villains like The League of Villains or Flect Turn and Humarise. Dark Might is also the only villain that gets any real backstory, which may downgrade the Gollini family for those used to villains with more nuance as in the series proper. It should be noted that My Hero Academia does have villains like Muscular who are evil for evil's sake, but the point stands.

Flashbacks in My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Image via Studio Bones)

Although the pacing is well done in the movie, it could've been slightly longer to give the audience more of Guilio and Anna and more of the Gollini family. When contrasted to the other films, it doesn't have the same story importance as Two Heroes, the final fight is an afterthought compared to Heroes Rising, and the scale of the threat isn't as large as World Heroes' Mission.

This doesn't mean My Hero Academia: You're Next would be better as a filler arc in the show, a common critique of World Heroes Mission, only that the movie could've been longer. Instead of having the Gollini family defeated by Deku, Guilio, Shoto, and Bakugo, the rest of Class 1-A could've been utilized better to lend them a hand. Heroes Rising got this perfectly by having all of Class 1-A fight the villains, with everyone dealing huge blows, taking out Nine's companions, and forcing Nine to expend plenty of energy.

Final Thoughts

A brighter tomorrow (Image via Studio Bones)

My Hero Academia: You're Next feels nearly on par with Heroes: Rising. Its few flaws hold it back, but don't ruin the film. It's a nice complement to season 7, with a lot of good action, deeper intrigue, and an emotional story that previews the long fight ahead in the Final War arc.

While the story isn't as narratively important as Two Heroes, My Hero Academia: You're Next fits into the series easier than Heroes Rising or World Heroes Mission. Likewise, it ensures everyone's efforts in the rescue are treated as important, something World's Heroes Mission didn't do as well in its allotted time.

My Hero Academia: You're Next is one of the better My Hero Academia films, only succeeded by Heroes: Rising for how that film focused more on Class 1-A than this one did. While the heroes in 1-A don't technically develop in this film, the movie takes place before The Final War, and movies don't typically develop their mains and have it carry over to the series.

My Hero Academia: You're Next is a film every fan should watch. Whether to see Dark Might, Gulio and Anna's story, Deku hitting All Might's Ultimate Moves against the mutated Dark Might at the end, or to see Mirio and Mirko back in action earlier than their returns in the main series. It is available digitally at digital storefronts, with a physical release coming on April 1, 2025.