David Matranga and Patrick Seitz on Finding the Truth in Shoto and Endeavor’s Pain In World Heroes’ Mission

 

Some anime series take some time to properly cultivate an audience, while others debut at the perfect time where society is ready to embrace its story, characters, and themes. My Hero Academia is a staggering achievement in the sense that it faithfully leans into the conventions that govern action-filled shonen anime series, yet there’s a heavy influence of Western comic books and superheroes that make the material feel universal. There’s no end in sight for the thrilling anime series, which now has over 100 episodes under its belt and is currently celebrating the release of its third feature film, My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission.

Previous movies in the series have had a tight focus on Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo, but World Heroes’ Mission benefits from a broader perspective that showcases more of its eclectic cast. The tug of war of emotions that’s taken place between Shoto Todoroki and his father, Endeavor, has been some of the most rewarding and emotionally mature material to come out of My Hero Academia. Part of the reason that Shoto and Endeavor’s bond is so powerful is because of the committed performances that David Matranga and Patrick Seitz channel into these complex heroes. Matranga and Seitz open up on My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission as they discuss the emotional truth of their characters, the payoffs of playing this pair for over 100 episodes, and the evolution of fandom.

 

Daniel Kurland: The growing father/son dynamic between Shoto and Endeavor has been one of the most satisfying relationships of the entire series. What has it been like getting to explore their bond from so many different angles across the first five seasons and them now in this place of peace with each other?

Patrick Seitz: Fun as hell! As a performer and someone who likes to consume media themselves, this sort of thing checks off all the boxes for me. As a performer, it’s also super fun because I’m not a father, but I think everyone has issues on some level—whether connected to family or otherwise—and this is why I like to act. It’s these sorts of relationships, which aren’t cut and dry or solved within one episode. For me, it’s always that dichotomy of “He’s really good at his job, but he’s really awful at being a person to those that are important in his life.” That’s a fun thing to watch unfold.

David Matranga: I second all of that. As an actor and as a performer, it’s the dream material. It’s nuance. It lives in a grey area and you can’t come down on one side or the other. There’s just too much history to consider. We’ve seen both of these characters experience such significant growth. As an actor, those are the types of characters and relationships that you want to get to work on. There’s so much meat there and material to work with. It makes me feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to make sure that material comes across as authentic, truthful, and just something that people can connect to. When I’m out and about with fans, that’s something that routinely comes up with them. So it’s satisfying on the level of not only an actor, but also just being able to discuss it with others since it’s such an equalizer on how to connect. 

Daniel Kurland: The previous My Hero Academia movies have had more narrow focuses and haven’t been able to give Shoto and Endeavor a lot to do. Was it exciting to learn that they’re such centerpieces to this adventure?

David Matranga: Yeah, absolutely! You never know what that’s exactly going to mean until you’re actually working on the project. It’s similar to the excitement that I felt during the show’s fifth season with the Endeavor Agency material, which fosters this camaraderie between these three heroes who want to grow together and learn as a team under the current Number One. This triggers some complicated feelings for all of the characters, but especially Shoto as he reckons with the Number One Pro Hero status, but also the history with his dad. It was exciting to get to return to that dynamic of teamwork. I thought there’s a really beautiful bond on display here between Deku and Bakugo—as much as Bakugo is able to bond with someone—but it’s just been such a treat.

Patrick Seitz: It’s fun getting to work on something like this where you have your own scenes that are very cool, but then you get to go back and watch the whole thing, top to bottom, and see what everyone else is up to. For a movie that has such a wide scope as this one, where everyone is scattered, it is nice to kind of be like, “Okay, I know that part, I know that part—wait a second, what’s going on here!” It’s kind of the best of both worlds where you get to experience it as a performer, but then as a fan and viewer. 

Daniel Kurland: Anime movies receiving major theatrical releases has become more of the norm in recent years, which is an incredible shift. Are you excited to get to watch this on a big screen and get to engage with the level of fandom that’s assembled there?

Patrick Seitz: It’s crazy! Actually, I think seeing the previous movie, Heroes Rising, in L.A., was one of the last movies that I actually saw on a big screen in the “before times.”

David Matranga: Same!

Patrick Seitz: So it’s amazing to be able to bookend the experience like this. But you’re right about how much the scene has changed. “Anime movies are in theaters now?” I remember back in the day you’d maybe get a random Bleach movie that came out,  playing on one screen sixty miles away at midnight, so it’s a true Renaissance for the current anime fandom. 

David Matranga: It is! To piggyback on that a little, just the scope of the movie really holds its own as a big screen feature. To answer you pointedly, I’m just excited to see it on a big screen with the proper audio mix and the perfect environment. I felt this way with the other movies too, but they hold their own as movies. The characters are just so strong. If someone just stumbled upon this movie randomly with no knowledge of the series then they’d still be engaged with these characters. That to me is just so impressive and crazy. This movie can function as a standalone entity, but also this continued growth of the series and characters.

Daniel Kurland: Absolutely. They’re such spectacles and these movies actually feel like movies and not just extended episodes of the series.

David Matranga: Right! Yes! Everyone can enjoy them. 

 

‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’ is now playing in select theaters