A Full Orchestra, Three Voice Actors, and a Whole Lot of Tears
Yūki Hayashi — the composer behind every Plus Ultra moment in My Hero Academia and the high-energy scores of Haikyuu!! — took the stage at Pacifico Yokohama's National Hall as bandmaster of the SPECIAL ORCHESTRA BAND: THE HEROES. What unfolded wasn't a standard anime concert. According to Oricon News, Hayashi's live orchestra performed the anime's full score catalog while key scenes played on a massive screen behind them, and the series' three lead voice actors stepped on and off stage to dub those scenes live.
Daiki Yamashita (Izuku "Deku" Midoriya), Nobuhiko Okamoto (Katsuki Bakugo), and Yuki Kaji — best known internationally as the voice of Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan — playing Shoto Todoroki, brought the characters to life in a way no standard screening or panel could replicate. Band, footage, and voice acting fused into something the source accurately calls a "trinity" of performance.
Eight Seasons in One Night
The concert was structured as a chronological journey through the entire anime. Part 1 traced Seasons 1 through 4; Part 2 picked up from Season 5 through the Final Season.
It opened with the scene that started everything: Deku asking All Might, "Can I be a hero even without a Quirk?" Yamashita delivered the line live as "You Can Be a Hero" played. Then, just two tracks in, the orchestra launched into "You Say Run" — MHA's signature piece — synced to Deku's desperate sprint to save Bakugo from the Sludge Villain. Yamashita and Okamoto performed the scene together, and the crowd was already hooked.
From there, the highlights came fast. Kaji joined for Todoroki's entrance against the villains at the USJ. The Sports Festival arc built to Todoroki unleashing his fire side against Deku, with Kaji delivering the line "I want to be a hero too!" over a live performance of "Your Power." The Kamino Ward rescue brought all three actors on stage together for the first time, performing over "Trinity" — a literal three-way fusion of band, cast, and footage.
Part 1 closed out the Hero Intern arc with "Might" and the emotional weight of the Eri rescue. Then a mid-show talk segment gave the audience a breather. Hayashi reflected on a decade of writing MHA's music: "I fought my own battles while creating these tracks." Yamashita responded, "Over these 10 years, the staff, the cast, and the music have all been fighting and building together."
The Final Season Hits Different Live
Part 2 escalated relentlessly. The Paranormal Liberation War arc brought Yamashita's most intense performance of the night — a Deku confronting Shigaraki over "Revengers" that Oricon described as matching the character's desperate intensity beat for beat. The Lady Nagant fight switched gears with the high-speed "The Last Wielder," and the scene where Bakugo apologizes to Deku over "I'm sorry for everything I've done" had visible tears throughout the audience.
The Final Season block was the climax. Okamoto delivered awakened Bakugo's adrenaline-fueled lines over "Butterfly Effect." The last stand against All For One built through "WE ARE HERE!" into "You can do it!" — and Yamashita took the stage to scream Deku's "SMASH!!" with the full orchestra behind him and 4,000 fans cheering.
The epilogue brought it home quietly. The orchestra played "Great Hero" as footage showed an adult Deku, now a teacher at U.A., telling a young aspiring hero: "You can be a hero." Yamashita delivered the line — the same words All Might once said to Deku — and the hall erupted in applause.
The encore kicked off with Okamoto channeling Bakugo's bark — "U.A., let's kill 'em with sound!" — before the band performed "Hero too" from the Culture Festival arc with vocals. They closed, naturally, with one more run of "You Say Run," and everyone in the building — cast, band, audience — shouted "Plus Ultra!" together.
What the Cast Said
Hayashi's post-show comment was characteristically self-deprecating: "My Quirk of 'forgetting things' was in full effect. I forgot my phone at rehearsal the day before, and during the matinee I missed my cue to exit the stage. I wanted to crumble into dust. But I'll never forget the sight of fans watching us with shining eyes and tears."
Yamashita kept it simple: "That was the absolute BEST! The music has walked alongside MHA for all these years — it's like a friend to every character. Getting to perform alongside that friend on stage was genuinely fun. Next up, Osaka!! Plus Ultra!!"
Looking Ahead
The concert heads to Grand Cube Osaka on August 8-9, 2026, with two performances featuring Hayashi, Yamashita, and Okamoto. A U.S. tour is also confirmed, kicking off September 12, 2026. Tickets for the Osaka shows are priced at ¥9,900-¥11,000 (approximately $65-$72).
My Hero Academia's anime adaptation, produced at Studio Bones (My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), wrapped its Final Season in 2025 after eight seasons. The manga by Kōhei Horikoshi, serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, is published in English by Viz Media with all 42 volumes available. For international fans who missed the Yokohama shows, the U.S. dates represent the first chance to experience the concert format — though whether Kaji and the full live-dubbing format carry over to the international leg hasn't been confirmed.