My Hero Academia: Do Deku and Uraraka Get Together? Explained

Of all the ships in the popular manga/anime series My Hero Academia, the most popular is the one between the protagonist Deku and his classmate Ochaco Uraraka. With Kōhei Horikoshi’s best-selling manga finished, here is whether My Hero Academia officially brings Deku and Uraraka together.

Deku and Uraraka’s Relationship in My Hero Academia, Explained

Longtime fans of My Hero Academia, especially those who have shipped Izuku “Deku” Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka since the beginning, will be disappointed to learn that they do not become a couple by the end of the manga series. The final chapter of the manga jumps ahead eight years to show the principal cast well out of high school, with no explicit mention of a romance between the various U.A. High School graduating class, including no romantic relationship between Izuku or Ochaco into their adulthood. However, there are, of course, hints that Ochaco still sees Izuku as more than a friend, which may keep fans shipping the two characters as a couple beyond the manga series’ final chapter.

A montage of images in the final chapter helps fill in the eight-year time gap between narrative sequences in the manga. Among the images seen are Izuku and Ochaco enjoying a wintry stroll outside together, while, even in the sequences set eight years into the future, it’s clear that Ochaco still harbors deep feelings for Izuku with her longing gaze at her close friend and former classmate. The idea of Ochaco holding unrequited feelings for Izuku is something that has been clear since early in My Hero Academia, and even after everything the characters have been through, including the passage of time, this remains true.

Related: Why I Never Cared About My Hero Academia

Fans will understandably be disappointed that Izuku never returned Ochaco’s feelings, at least from what’s explicitly shown on the manga panels of My Hero Academia. For better or worse, romance was never really the point of the series, and once the superhero action escalated, there certainly wasn’t much time for romantic love anyway. Still, for those hoping that My Hero Academia would have a happy ending for Deku and Ochaco as a clear couple, it does not end with these two embarking on a romance.

My Hero Academia is available to read on the Viz website.