My Hero Academia's cast reflect on an emotional finale: 'I’m kind of a weepy mess'

The dub voiced actors gets emotional as they say goodbye to the anime series

My Hero Academia has finally ended, leaving anime fans emotional for reasons that run deeper than the story itself. MHA has always been more than a superhero story; it’s a coming-of-age saga about hope, resilience, and what it means to stand up in a world that constantly tests its heroes. Season 8 pushes those themes to their limits, as Class 1-A faces the fallout of the Paranormal Liberation Front’s rise and a world on the brink of chaos. Izuku Midoriya and his classmates confront increasingly powerful villains while their bonds with friends and mentors are tested like never before.

For many, the 2015 series was their first taste of anime, and from its hype-filled debut to its emotional finale, it defined the artform for almost a decade. Its ending marks the close of an era. If you find yourself tearing up while watching the series finale, you’re not alone. The English dub cast felt it too, pouring just as much emotion into recording the final seasons.

Ahead of the finale, Polygon caught up with Christoper Wehkamp (Shouta Aizawa), J. Michael Tatum (Tenya Iida), Justin Cook (Eijiro Kirishima), Jason Liebrecht (Dabi), and David Matranga (Shoto Todoroki) to talk about the final season and what it’s like to say farewell to My Hero Academia.

“It’s been such a magical thing to see season 8 bring all these threads together into this huge, emotional catharsis for these characters,” Wehkamp says. “And to be part of that, and in that moment, voicing the characters, is incredibly powerful.”

It isn’t just the story making the goodbye so difficult. My Hero Academia became a defining chapter in their lives, and with its end comes the closing of an era they’ve carried for years.

“Just as a person, for whom this has been part of life now for the better part of the decade, even if the line I'm saying isn’t particularly emotional, if it’s just Ida being Ida, every time I finish a session, I’m kind of a weepy mess because it's ending. I’m not ready,” Tatum says.

Despite being part of the cast, several voice actors still have favorite characters outside their own roles, characters whose arcs hit them just as hard emotionally.

“The thing that’s surprised me so far in my viewing of season 8 is how many characters are bringing me to tears," Cook says, "whether that be All Might’s fight at the very beginning of this season, Aizawa, [even] Aoyama drew a tear from me this season!”

Liebrecht and Matranga, the voice actors behind brothers Shoto and Dabi, were also swept up in the tragedy of their hero-and-villain dynamic, particularly during the brothers’ confrontations across seasons 7 and 8.

“Just a couple of days ago, David [Matranga] said something as Shoto that, really, if you took it out of context, it’s a nothingburger, it shouldn’t do anything to anyone, but he asks his brother a question, and the way David delivered it was so real and beautiful,” Liebrecht recalls. “It inspired the read I gave. I love my castmates, they’re so good at this, and I can’t express enough that I’m so lucky.”

Matranga echoed the sentiment, explaining that the question traces back to a small, lighthearted moment introduced in season 7, one that comes full circle in the finale and lands with devastating emotional weight.

“Fast-forward to season 8, when they’re visiting, and [Shoto] says, ' Wait, I need more time’,” Matranga says. “Yeah, it was just a way to try to connect. It was just a question, as Jason said, but in context, it's everything. It's love, acceptance, remorse…”

“... and regret,” Liebrecht finishes, choking back tears. “Those boys should’ve been able to talk like that.”

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My Hero Academia's final season is streaming now on Crunchyroll.