WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia: Endeavor's Mission, by Kohei Horikoshi, Yoko Akiyama, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available in English now from Viz Media.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission is the highly-anticipated third movie to the epic shonen anime franchise of the same name. Ahead of the film, which releases in Japanese theatres on August 6, Shonen Jump recently published a special one-shot chapter titled "Endeavor's Mission."
This one-shot is primarily a prelude to the film, adding a bit of context for what will happen before fans dive into the film. But in addition to being a prequel, it takes place during the Work Study arc of the currently airing fifth season of the anime series, during which Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo undergo training with Endeavor. As such, this one-shot doubles up as a supplementary story that fits right into the TV series.
Written by Yoko Akiyama, an assistant to series creator Kohei Horikoshi, "Endeavor's Mission" begins when three agents from the World Heroes Association arrive at Endeavor's Agency in the midst of Izuku, Shoto and Katsuki's work study. These agents want to recruit Endeavor for an overseas mission and test his three interns to judge if they are skilled enough to join him. To determine this, Endeavor gives the trio three minutes to land an attack on him. If they fail, they don't get to take part in such a high-profile mission and must stay home. It takes the trio a few attempts, but eventually, they find their stride by working together, allowing Izuku's Smash to connect.
With the previous MHA movies (Two Heroes and Heroes Rising) being canon, it's likely that this one will be as well. Especially as the one-shot confirms that this entire ordeal takes place during the Work Study arc. In fact, their time working for the World Heroes Association is more like a side-quest for the main series, as they continue training with Endeavor, who, earlier in Season 5, had given his interns specific things to work on -- things that they still struggle with in the one-shot, but make up for by working together.
Izuku, Shoto and Katsuki are only just starting to get their bearings working as a team in My Hero Academia, something the World Heroes agents and Endeavor are concerned about when they embark on this mission. Nevertheless, landing an attack on the Number One Hero is no easy feat; a testament to their hard work thus far. Venturing on a mission with Endeavor is nothing abnormal to their Work Study, either, making it plausible in the TV storyline.
In addition to subsidizing the main series, "Endeavor's Mission" also builds up to the World Heroes' Mission movie by teasing the severity of the overseas mission -- since the Association are recruiting skilled heroes from all over the world. As mentioned, the one-shot already showcases issues that are bound to make an appearance in the film, like the urgency to improve their Quirks and becoming a proper team. Izuku, Shoto and Katsuki have a long history, one that started with heated rivalries but is slowly morphing into a strong friendship. This special chapter presents a snippet of how far they've come since and just how powerful they can be together, particularly under the intense stress of an important battle.
At the end of the one-shot, the trio designs their new movie costumes, which have been teased countless times in trailers and promotional images. Made sleek and black for stealth purposes, Izuku, Shoto and Katsuki are given the opportunity to upgrade their support equipment to better adapt to their ongoing progress. What these new adjustments do exactly is left unknown.
The chapter ends with Izuku wondering of the many heroes and villains they are destined to meet, with the cliffhanger confirming that their journeys will continue in My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission.
