Celebrating My Hero Academia’s Villains With Toga’s Leah Clark And Dabi’s Jason Liebrecht

 

There are plenty of anime series that grow more complex and dramatically fulfilling the longer that they go on, but part of what’s made My Hero Academia especially satisfying is that each season becomes a little more mature and intense as Izuku Midoriya and company grow older. My Hero Academia is an anime with dozens of interesting supporting characters and some of the most compelling individuals in the series are not allies, but rather members of the League of Villains. Himiko Toga and Dabi have always been two of the more fascinating villains in the series, even when they’re left to just lurk in the shadows and not function as the focus. 

Season five of My Hero Academia has done exceptional work to shine a light on some of the anime’s more neglected characters, whether it’s the students in Class 1-B, or in the case of the season’s most recent story arc, the villains. “My Villain Academia” finally allows Toga, Dabi, and other members of the League of Villains to receive the proper attention that they deserve. In honor of this upcoming focus on the bad guys, Leah Clark and Jason Liebrecht, the voice actors behind the twisted Toga and mysterious Dabi, open up on why My Hero Academia’s villains are as compelling as the heroes, the major changes that lie ahead for the League of Villains, and if either of these villains would ever defect to the side of justice.

 

Daniel Kurland: The current arc of this season, “My Villain Academia,” turns the tables and gives an extended look on what the villains have been up to. Has it been a rewarding change of pace to suddenly be in the spotlight like this?

Jason Liebrecht: ​​Absolutely, man, absolutely. For me, my personal tastes tend to run to the darker end of the spectrum. So I get super excited whenever the series shifts to those dark warehouses and the villainous plotting begins to happen. The prospect of those scenes becoming more frequent is exceptionally exciting for me. 

Daniel Kurland: I think this is crucial to any good villain story, but this show really portrays these characters as individuals who think they’re the heroes of their own stories.

Jason Liebrecht: You know, with Dabi and so many of these characters it really all comes down to their perspectives. Whether you’re a hero or a villain, it all comes down to how you see the world—where you came from and what circumstances led to you being where you’re at. 

Daniel Kurland: My Hero Academia is fortunate enough to now have over 100 episodes and is still going strong. How has playing these characters for extended periods of time allowed your relationship to change with them?

Jason Liebrecht: Honestly, in my case it’s been a slow burn—no pun intended—since Dabi keeps his head down, holds his cards to his chest, and has yet to reveal a lot about himself. There have definitely been some hints about things that may or may not have happened in the past, but it’s been such a gradual simmer—again, no pun intended—as I learn more about him. What he’s going through right now isn’t dissimilar to what many of the other characters currently experience. 

Leah Clark: Yeah, I think my personal perception of Toga has shifted a little. We’ve gotten to learn a bit more about her in the most recent past few episodes that she was in. Toga does show a little more depth in regards to how she wants to make a world that’s easier to live in. At the same time, she’s also doing a lot of things that don’t make the world easier to live in, which is also important to consider. I think in that sense I’m more intrigued with Toga than I’ve ever been before. I can’t wait to see what happens in the upcoming arc and that I’ll be able to learn more about her since all of this has just left me even more curious. Toga has me going, “Wait, what!? Why are you doing this!” 

Daniel Kurland: Both Dabi and Toga are quite resilient, but death is also a very real thing in My Hero Academia, especially for the villains. Are you worried about the fates of your characters?

Jason Liebrecht: No ego here, but good luck defeating Dabi! That’s how I feel about that. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but if we look at physics then blue flames are definitely the hottest flames. We don’t officially know what Dabi’s Quirk is, but my suspicions have led me to believe that he’s more powerful than he’s let on. Again, I don’t know and there may be some personal pride going into that take, but I think he’s exceptionally resilient and will be okay.

Daniel Kurland: Both of your characters benefit from unusual relationships–or rather obsessions–with certain heroes, whether it’s Toga with Midoriya and Uraraka or Dabi with Endeavor. Talk a little bit about how those relationships inform their behavior and give them greater depth.

Leah Clark: I think Toga’s attachments to Deku and Uraraka have to do with the goodness of those characters and how Toga—and this is just my own personal speculation here—wishes deep down that she was a good person like they are. She does say that she wants to be more like the people that she loves. So I really think that there’s some kind of yearning inside of her to be a good person, so she attaches herself to these individuals who are genuinely good souls.

Jason Liebrecht: We definitely do not have the same answer here. I know nothing about what’s coming up—to be clear—but it’s obvious that Dabi is obsessed for some reason. He thinks of Endeavor and views him in a very specific way, which also hasn’t been made fully clear to me. However, this is clearly something that motivates Dabi in a lot of what he does. So personally, I cannot wait to get those details and learn what exactly has left him with this obsession.

Daniel Kurland: There have been several My Hero Academia feature films, but they don’t typically showcase the villains from the series. After this “My Villain Academia” arc and the villains’ growing popularity, would you like to see an upcoming movie that focuses just on the villains?

Jason Liebrecht: Hell, yes!

Leah Clark: Yes, absolutely!

Daniel Kurland: We need to make it happen, guys!

Leah Clark: We do! That’d be so smart! What a hit, right?

Jason Liebrecht: I’m not a marketing person, but how could that not work after “My Villain Academia?”

Daniel Kurland: Do you see either of your characters reaching a point where they’d possibly become a hero? Are they too far gone, or is it just a matter of the right circumstances?

Leah Clark: I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if Toga one day, nine thousand seasons away, were to become a hero. I feel that she wants to be good, so my perception of her is that she could maybe reach that point, but it’s going to be a ways away. 

Jason Liebrecht: Dabi came into the series talking about tearing those “false heroes” down from their pedestals and all of that. I think that a lot—a lot—would need to change for him to ever consider leaving the dark path that he’s currently on. And honestly, I don’t feel like Dabi even views what he’s doing as being on a dark path. That’s not to say that he considers himself to be a hero, since he has some real issues with heroes, but he still views what he’s doing as the right thing to do. So, I think that a change like that could be cool for Dabi, but a lot would need to go down.

 

My Hero Academia’s fifth season is currently streaming on Funimation.com, with new dubbed episodes airing Saturday nights on Adult Swim’s Toonami block