Warning: Contains spoilers for My Hero Academia: Ultra Age.The final official hero rankings for My Hero Academia have finally come out, and they’re everything fans could have hoped for. While My Hero Academia ended almost a year ago, a new data book called My Hero Academia: Ultra Age has just been released in Japan, and in addition to a Q&A with Kohei Horikoshi, it includes a short story to add further context to the finale.

My Hero Academia’s new epilogue wasn’t too expansive, but it did include something fans had been waiting to see: the new hero rankings. With Izuku finally out of retirement, it was obvious that he would rank highly among the other pro heroes, and sure enough, My Hero Academia’s new epilogue reveals that Izuku, now known as the “One For All Hero” Deku, is officially the fourth-ranked hero in Japan, with Bakugo right behind him in fifth place. It does a perfect job of bringing My Hero Academia’s story full circle, and overall, it was more than worth the wait.

Why Deku’s New Hero Ranking Is Perfect For His Character

Why Izuku Not Being The Number One Hero Makes Perfect Sense

While Izuku doesn’t end the story as the number one hero in the country, his current ranking is nonetheless perfect for him. The new epilogue takes place six months after My Hero Academia volume #42’s epilogue, so Izuku has only been active for six months while everyone else has been at it for years. Saving the world from All For One likely helped him climb the charts so quickly, but it would have been unrealistic for Izuku to become number one after being retired for almost a decade, so being in fourth place strikes a nice balance between the two.

Something to also consider is how this isn’t Izuku’s only job. The new epilogue mentions that Izuku is still teaching at U.A., so while everyone else can put all their time into being heroes, Izuku needs to balance that with being a teacher and likely doesn’t have the time to show up for as many problems as he would like. Izuku’s hero ranking would probably be even higher if he didn’t have to balance being a hero with being a teacher, but with how selfless a person Izuku is, that’s plenty fitting for his character.

How My Hero Academia’s Epilogue Brings Deku’s Story Full Circle

My Hero Academia Gives Izuku His Perfect Ending

Above all else, the reason why My Hero Academia’s epilogue is so great is how fitting a conclusion it is to Izuku’s story. Not only is he known as the “One For All Hero”, meaning that One For All’s legacy will always be part of him, but even though he’s not the top-ranked hero, he’s still regarded as the greatest hero for saving the world from Shigaraki and All For One. My Hero Academia’s epilogue ends Izuku’s story with him unambiguously succeeding All Might’s role as the Symbol of Peace, and that makes his ranking nothing more than a formality.

From the very start of the manga, Izuku said that it was the story of how he became the world’s greatest hero, and while that later evolved into a statement about how he and his friends earned that title together, it’s still being attributed to Izuku, specifically, so My Hero Academia’s final epilogue is all the more meaningful because it finally bookends Izuku’s story of becoming the world’s greatest hero. There’s plenty to unpack with Izuku’s new hero ranking in My Hero Academia, and fortunately, all of it is great to watch unfold.

Source: @TKRocker on X.