My Hero Academia Star Was Ready to Fully Unleash Dabi After True Identity Reveal

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This was not only a huge moment for Dabi’s character, but also was a path for the villain to become a much more unhinged version of himself than before. Speaking to ComicBook to celebrate My Hero Academia‘s final season, Dabi voice star Jason Liebrecht revealed that he was unfortunately spoiled about the villain’s true identity from a fan when it happened in the manga, he was able to turn that into a burning desire for the day he’d be able to let it all out completely.

My Hero Academia’s Dabi Got His True Identity Spoiled

Courtesy of TOHO Animation

When asked if he was aware of Dabi’s true identity before it was revealed in the anime, Liebrecht revealed that a fan had spoiled it for him when it happened in the manga, “Three and a half years prior to that, I believe that reveal happened in the manga. I had a fan approach me in public at some point and spoil it all for me in a very, very quick moment. So no big deal.” Continuing further, Liebrecht revealed how this ended up changing his approach to the moment when it actually went down.

“I do like to try to stay in the dark…I feel like if I’m in the dark when it happens in front of me in the booth, then I’m reacting in the most honest way possible,” Liebrecht explained. “And it’s okay if I learn something, but when it gets spoiled, then I’m like, ‘All right, tell me everything.” This ultimately helped him to be ready for the moment itself, “I was really, really ready to do that moment because once I learned it, it was like, ‘When’s it going to happen? When’s it going to happen? When’s it going to happen?’ There are all these other through lines that are going on the show. And finally it happens.”

When Dabi’s true identity was revealed it was like a weight was lifted, “And man, I was relieved. I was ready. It was like I’d been unleashed, let out of a cage. I’ve been told repeatedly by the powers at be, ‘You can’t talk about this. Don’t spoil this. Only talk about the anime, et cetera, et cetera.’ When you have other knowledge in here and you keep having to answer questions about this, that becomes a bit tricky. But then after that is kind of when his internal life started to become more, and more, and more detailed.”

Dabi Was Fully Unleashed for My Hero Academia’s Final Seasons

TOHO Animation

And that’s where he was truly able to understand Dabi, “I got more, and more, and more data. Consequently, I got more and more that I could relate to. More and more things were happening to him that had echoes of my own past trauma as a child and my own very dark family history. So progressively, it got more and more therapeutic as this went on, more and more cathartic.” This connection between the star and Dabi got even deeper from then on.

“I’ve said before that often I got to do things that reminded me of things that happened in my actual life, but I get to do them not only as this powered kind of cutthroat individual, but no one gets hurt,” Liebrecht explained. “I get to relive them in this interesting way and have more power than I would’ve as a kid, but no one gets hurt. So man, it’s just been unlike anything I’ve ever worked on. What a unique opportunity. I don’t know that it can ever be replicated.”

Now is the perfect time to catch up with My Hero Academia now streaming with Crunchyroll. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!