Deku’s Voice Actor Justin Briner Lashes Out At The Fandom For Being Bombarded With Weird Character Shipping-Related Questions
An individual came out to Justin, seeking his opinion on Deku X Eri in an attempt to make fun of the shipping community.
It’s well known throughout the anime community that the My Hero Academia fandom is notorious for creating weird ships between characters in ways that were never mentioned or even hinted at by author Kohei Horikoshi. It’s not everyone in the fandom but if you spend a good portion of your time in it, you’ll definitely know what I’m talking about.
However, some of these fans have gotten too far with it, basically annoying even the ones behind the anime itself!
Recently, on May 5, 2024, the English voice actor of Izuku Midoriya or Deku, Justin Briner, took to Twitter, requesting that these fans stop asking him about ships at convention panels.
Kindly stop asking me about ships at my panels! It’s none of my business and it’s officially gone too far
— Justin Briner (@justinbriner) May 4, 2024
Basically, an individual who did not actively participate in the My Hero Academia fandom inquired Justin about the darker aspects of the fandom and sought his opinion on the Deku X Eri ship, with the intention of mocking the shipping community inside the fandom. And, as you can see from the video recording below, the whole crowd sighed heavily and Justin felt reaaaaaally uncomfortable responding to that.
— andy💥 (@dbksssn0420) May 4, 2024
After that, other fans began condoning the attendee, basically insulting her on Twitter, saying, “This is how MHA fans treat their idols”.
But Justin was quick to respond, requesting those fans to stop abusing the attendee, saying that he never meant to paint the fandom in a weird way and would never use people to attack others.
I don’t condone any of your cruelty or personal attacks. I also don’t condone those who have found this moment as an excuse to paint the entire fandom as weirdos when that’s simply not my experience with them at all. I would also never send fans to attack anybody on my behalf.
— Justin Briner (@justinbriner) May 5, 2024
That’s why he usually leaves the fandom to their own and tries not to involve himself in it, despite having fun while interacting with them.
I’m not indicting any fandoms I’m parallel to at large! In general you’re very considerate and we have a lot of fun together. I’m certainly no stranger to the internet. The fandom space is yours. Involving myself in it is at best uncomfortable and at worst very inappropriate.
— Justin Briner (@justinbriner) May 5, 2024
Fans asking obscure and weird questions to annoy celebrities have been quite common in recent times. And MHA fans feel bad that Justin had to face such an interaction with a representation of the fandom’s dark side.
About My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump, since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into 39 tankōbon volumes as of November 2023.
It inspired many spin-off manga, including My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vigilantes, and Team-Up Missions. Besides light novels, stage plays, and souvenirs, the franchise has produced many video games.
Studio Bones produced the first season from April to June 2016, a second from April to September 2017, a third from April to September 2018, a fourth from October 2019 to April 2020, a fifth from March to September 2021, a sixth from October 2022 to March 2023, and a seventh that is currently in production.
It has three animated films, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, Heroes Rising, and World Heroes’ Mission, plus nine original video animations. The fourth animated film and a live-action Legendary Entertainment film are currently being planned.
Crunchyroll describes Season 1 of My Hero Academia as follows:
Izuku has dreamt of being a hero all his life—a lofty goal for anyone, but especially challenging for a kid with no superpowers. That’s right, in a world where eighty percent of the population has some kind of super-powered “quirk,” Izuku was unlucky enough to be born completely normal. But that’s not enough to stop him from enrolling in one of the world’s most prestigious hero academies.
Source: Justin Briner’s Official Twitter
