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Ochaco Uraraka
Superhero from My Hero Academia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ochaco Uraraka (Japanese: 麗日お茶子, Hepburn: Uraraka Ochako),[a] also known as Uravity (Japanese: ウラビティ, Hepburn: Urabiti), is a superhero in the manga series My Hero Academia, created by Kōhei Horikoshi. Born into a poor working-class household, Ochaco aspires to become a hero to support her parents as she protects and saves others' lives. She is one of the closest friends to the protagonist, a student hero named Izuku Midoriya, and the one who inspires him to embrace the nickname "Deku". In My Hero Academia, where most characters have superpowers called quirks, Ochaco's quirk is Zero Gravity (無重力, Zero Gurabiti), which allows her to nullify the effects of gravity and make any object weightless by touching it with the extended pads on her fingertips. Overuse of her quirk causes her to suffer from severe nausea.
Ochaco is voiced by Ayane Sakura in Japanese and Luci Christian in English. Her character has received praise for her character arc and personality. Critics particularly noted her kindness, relationships with others, and significance to the plot. She placed high in several popularity polls within the My Hero Academia fandom. Merchandise featuring Ochaco, such as model figures, keychains, clothing, and cosplay pieces, has been offered. In addition to My Hero Academia, she appears in numerous spin-off series, video games, and different crossover promotions.
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Concept and creation
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Kōhei Horikoshi, the author of the manga series My Hero Academia,[2] created a fictional universe where most characters have superpowers called quirks.[3][4] Originally, he intended to create another character, Yu Takeyama, or Mt. Lady, as a student hero. Because Mt. Lady's superpower allows her to change her size, he thought having this power would have made her as a student hero too powerful. Consequently, he created the character who became Ochaco Uraraka instead, and he favoured the name he gave Ochaco.[5] An editor noted in the English translation of the first volume of My Hero Academia that her name means "Tea-Girl Pretty-Day" and conveys beauty.[1]
In My Hero Academia: Ultra Archive – The Official Character Guide, Horikoshi's book on the characters in My Hero Academia, he remarked that his tendency to draw thick hips, feet, and waists was suspicious, but he favoured drawing a girl who appeared slightly plump and solid.[3]
Voice actresses
![Thumb](#/media/File:Sakura_Ayane_from_"PSYCHO-PASS_Sinners_of_the_System_Case.1_&_Case.2"_at_Opening_Ceremony_of_the_Tokyo_International_Film_Festival_2018_(45568231662).jpg)
Ayane Sakura (left) and Luci Christian (right) voiced Ochaco in the Japanese and English dubs, respectively.
Ochaco Uraraka is voiced by Ayane Sakura in Japanese[6] and Luci Christian in English.[7] Sakura said she strongly desired to portray Ochaco.[8] In another interview, Sakura thought Ochaco was a strong-willed character in the first season, and when Ochaco entered the school in the series, UA High School, she was not experienced in actual combat. Sakura said that as Ochaco grew, she could handle more things. Sakura thought part of Ochaco's nature did not change, but she wondered if Ochaco's behaviour showed her self-confidence, based on her experiences.[9] Sakura remarked that although she had been portraying Ochaco for more than six years, as tension built up in My Hero Academia, Ochaco grew from a character centred on fun school life to one where she had become increasingly wiser. At that point, she felt that Ochaco, as a hero, eventually rescued other heroes.[10] When Sakura was with Misato Fukuen, Himiko Toga's actress, regarding their roles, Sakura said that it was difficult to ignore Himiko when she played Ochaco in the seventh season.[11] Sakura cried when she was recording the 20th episode of the seventh season with Fukuen and said that the image of Himiko had become deeply ingrained in her mind. She said she could not remember much because she could not see the script well.[12]
Luci Christian affirmed that she had not read the manga, but she was surprised to learn that Ochaco was strong. She said that at the time of dubbing My Hero Academia, she did not know she would act for the amount of time she had been portraying other anime characters. She was delighted in moulding the personalities and voices of the characters she acted as. She asked questions about the characters she was portraying, and she adjusted her performance based on what her director answered.[13] She further said she already knew what Ochaco should sound like, such as in the speech she gives to plead for fellow student Izuku's return in the sixth season. She said that she thinks deeply about the frameworks of the character's voice instead of the situation the character is in. She also remarked that being involved in the series changed her life as she reflected on the journey to voice her character. When Christian was with Leah Clark, Himiko's English actress, regarding their roles, Christian said that reflecting on Himiko's backstory felt painful, and circumstances similar to what Himiko faces became true for many young people. According to Christian, people who do not grow up with things they enjoy choose another way to fulfil their desires. Clark compared this to situations people in the LGBT community face when they are young. She affirmed that as she was working on the seventh season, she did not know about Toga's fate until Christian accidentally revealed it for her.[14]
Characterisation and themes
Ochaco is depicted as a sincere,[15] kind, bright, and charming girl from Mie Prefecture whose strong will shows in her fighting and accent sometimes slips out.[16] According to My Hero Academia: Ultra Archive – The Official Character Guide, she is characterised as being honest and determined, and although she has average intelligence and below-average power and speed, her superior technique and cooperativeness compensate for these weaknesses.[3] One time, she wanted to use her quirk to help her parents with their construction business, but they told her to pursue her own path.[17] She is described as having lived a difficult life, but she plans to help her parents live more comfortable lives.[18]
Ochaco, being Izuku Midoriya's first friend,[3] understands him well,[19] trusts him, and shares many behaviours with him. She thinks about him and plans to enter an intimate relationship,[20] so she becomes increasingly interested in him.[21] Kōhei Horikoshi revealed in chapter 394 that Ochaco loves Izuku.[22]
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Appearances
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In My Hero Academia
Ochaco first appears when going to an entrance examination with Izuku Midoriya and other students within Class 1-A. She notices Izuku and acts friendly towards him. She takes the examination with the other students and shows that she can throw an object an infinite length.[5] During the examination, when Izuku was falling, Ochaco touches him to save him from death.[23] These show that her quirk, Zero Gravity, allows her to remove gravity from objects by touching these objects. She starts off with being able to remove gravity from anything up to three tonnes in weight, but overexerting herself by exceeding this weight limit will cause her nausea. Closing her fingers together cancels her quirk's effects.[3]
Ochaco explains to Izuku and Tenya Ida, another fellow student, that she wants to earn money to support her poor parents.[24][25][26] Although a fellow student named Katsuki Bakugo insultingly called Izuku "Deku" when they were children, Ochaco calls Izuku "Deku" because she gives a good meaning to "Deku", instead indicating the feeling of perseverance.[27][28][29] Then, she fights Katsuki in the UA Sports Festival.[30] Later, she trains under Gunhead, a professional hero, to strengthen herself, learn martial arts, and blend physical combat with her quirk.[3] She fights alongside Yuga Aoyama against Thirteen in the final examination and wins because of her ability to think and internalise what she learnt from her internship quickly.[31]
She works with fellow student Tsuyu Asui, professional hero Ryukyu, and professional hero Sea Rescue Hero Selkie to stop drug smugglers flying an aeroplane.[32][33] Using her powers and tools, she enters the aeroplane and knocks the pilot out. Realising that the drug could contaminate the ocean if the aeroplane crashes, she negates weight from the aeroplane and lands it with help from Ryukyu and student hero Nejire Hado.[34]
Because of the antagonist All For One's actions in causing society to struggle and Tomura Shigaraki, another antagonist, looking for Izuku, civilians try to stay away from Izuku and do not support him. To surpass All Might in power, he needs support from civilians. Civilians panic and become angry about lawlessness running rampant in Japan, but Ochaco convinces them that UA High School needs Izuku, and if he does not return, he will die.[35][36][37]
Throughout My Hero Academia, Ochaco and Himiko Toga, an antagonist, have fought each other, but Ochaco ultimately wins and gets Himiko to change her ways and behaviour.[38] Himiko has clones to try to stop the heroes, but Ochaco stops her, and her clones dissolve. During her fight with Himiko Toga, she awakens her quirk, but after she talks to Himiko Toga to attempt to understand her and gets stabbed.[4][39] After awakening, or maximising the potential of, Zero Gravity, Ochaco does not need to touch anyone or anything to cause them to float. She awakens her quirk when she encounters clones of Twice, another antagonist, and the floating Twice clones touch other characters and cause them to float. Himiko reveals to Ochaco how her life progressed. To prevent Ochaco from dying, Himiko gives her own blood to her before she dies.[40][41][42]
Ochaco has trouble in class and struggles in holding back her tears as she leaves school. Izuku tells Ochaco that she prioritises others over herself and she is a hero to him.[43] Eight years after the events of the series, Ochaco becomes a professional hero and intends to help offer quirk counselling. Because of how she feels about Himiko's rejection from societal norms and consequent death, she wants to ensure something similar does not happen again.[44][45]
Ochaco appears in the films My Hero Academia: Two Heroes,[46][47][48] My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising,[49][50][51] My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission,[52][53][54] and My Hero Academia: You're Next.[55][56] She, along with the rest of Class 1-A, fights alongside civilians David Shield and his daughter Melissa Shield in Two Heroes.[57] She and the rest of Class 1-A go to Nabu Island to stop Nine, the antagonist, in Heroes Rising.[58][59] She goes with Tsuyu, Nejire, and Ryukyu to France to apprehend criminals in World Heroes' Mission.[60] In You're Next, she works with her class to rescue Miss Anna, a civilian, and stop Dark Might, the antagonist.[61][62]
In other media
Ochaco appears in the spin-off light novel series My Hero Academia: School Briefs,[63][64][65][66] My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions,[67] and the parody comic My Hero Academia: Smash!!, which depicts My Hero Academia's events in a more comedic manner.[68] In My Hero Academia: Ultra Archive - The Official Character Guide, she appears in an omake, or a bonus section at the end of the book, with Katsuki Bakugo set during a final examination in chapter 68, where they talk about Izuku Midoriya.[3] She is a playable character in the video games My Hero Academia: Battle for All,[69] My Hero One's Justice,[70][71] My Hero One's Justice 2,[72] My Hero Ultra Rumble,[73][74] My Hero Academia: Smash Rising,[75] and My Hero Academia: All's Justice.[76]
In a crossover promotion with Avengers: Infinity War, Ochaco shares a brief conversation with Black Widow.[77] She appears alongside Izuku, Katsuki, and All Might in Fortnite as crossover characters.[78][79][80][81][82][83] Ochaco was a character skin option as Juno for crossover promotion in Overwatch 2, which became available from 17 to 30 October 2024.[84]
Ochaco appears in the My Hero Academia Collectible Card Game, a part of the UniVersus Collectible Card Game. She has cards in the Girl Power booster set[85][86] and JetBurn expansion, and she has her own deck.[87]
In the stage play, Ochaco is portrayed by Yume Takeuchi.[88][89] Takeuchi revelled in hearing that she had the same height, blood type, and hair colour as Ochaco, and she especially favoured My Hero Academia. She described Ochaco as a character who persistently stands up despite getting dirty, is not two-faced, and continuously advances.[90]
Merchandise
Merchandise featuring Ochaco includes model figures,[91][92] plush toys,[93] building toys,[94] keychains, stickers, bags,[95] rucksacks, wallets,[96] photographic bromides,[97] clothing,[98] and cosplay pieces.[99] Cosplayers have acted as Ochaco.[100][101] One cosplayer on X, who had done cosplay for four years as of 2024, was influenced by a friend to get into My Hero Academia, felt fascinated by Ochaco's desire to be a hero who helps other heroes. She thought that her costume for Ochaco looked natural.[102] Another cosplayer, who was also a gravure idol and had more than 270,000 followers, dressed up as Ochaco and said that she had thought about cosplay for much time. She remarked that she favoured cooking, called herself an otaku, and frequently went to Hello! Project live events.[103]
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Reception
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Popularity
Ochaco has been popular amongst fans of the series. In a 2018 My Hero Academia character popularity poll by Crunchyroll, Ochaco ranked in fourth place with 3,268 votes.[104] She placed third in the Viz Media's first Weekly Shonen Jump popularity poll.[105] She ranked fourth behind Izuku, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki in the first Japanese popularity poll with 652 votes.[106] Anime! Anime! took popularity polls for characters with gravity manipulation abilities. Ochaco ranked as the second most popular character in 2022 and 2023, with 11 per cent of 1,212 voters and 6 per cent of 2,230 voters, respectively.[107][108] In the same popularity polls, she placed third in 2024 with 14 per cent of 1,930 voters.[109] In 2024, in the "World Best Hero" global poll, she was found to be the franchise's eleventh most popular character overall and the most popular female character.[110] In an Internet poll taken by Mynavi News on 10 January 2025, Ochaco was found to be the most popular character Ayane Sakura portrayed, with 9.7 per cent of 500 Mynavi employees favouring Ochaco.[111] She was nominated for Best Girl at the Crunchyroll's inaugural Anime Awards,[112] and went on to win in the same category at the second edition in 2018.[113][114] She was one of the five recipients for the "Best Girls of the Decade" category in the Funimation's Decade of Anime fan poll.[115]
Critical response
Manga and anime-related publications have both praised and criticised Ochaco. Daniel Kurland of Den of Geek praised her character development and personality.[116] A writer for the Anime UK News praised the character for her kindness.[117] Nick Valdez of ComicBook.com commended Ochaco's performance in the 14th episode of the sixth season and regarded her as a highly important character in that episode.[118] Editors at Abema favoured Ochaco's appearance in the first episode of the second season, especially when she was a child. They wrote that viewers appreciated Ochaco's appearance as a child and commended her desire to help her parents from a young age in that episode.[18] Himanshi Jeswani of FandomWire said that Ochaco's powers were underutilised despite being important to the narrative, compared her to Marvel Comics' character Greg Willis, and criticised Horikoshi for not giving Ochaco or other female characters enough character development in My Hero Academia. She wrote that fans said Horikoshi disregarded his female characters despite these characters' potentials.[119]
Sam Leach of Anime News Network and Alex Osborn of IGN commended her performance against Katsuki Bakugo and noted the importance of this event for her character growth.[120][121] Chandra Shekhar of FandomWire noted that whether Izuku and Ochaco are dating is left for readers and viewers to decide.[122] Editors at Abema noted that viewers felt depressed about Ochaco and Himiko's final encounter and Himiko's death.[4][42] Eric Himmelheber of Anime Corner praised Ayane Sakura and Misato Fukuen's performance in the 20th episode of the seventh season, despite Sakura's attachment to Ochaco and her crying during the episode's recording session.[123] Mario Taschler of Anime2You wrote that fans criticised Horikoshi's portrayal of female characters in My Hero Academia and that the confrontation between Ochaco and Himiko, although noteworthy, could be seen as childish.[124] Tarun Kohli, also of FandomWire, noted that although Ochaco and Himiko's conflict throughout the series was pivotal, if Katsuki had fought Himiko instead, fans would have favoured having him as her opponent because of their destructive tendencies, although Katsuki chose good instead of evil as Himiko did.[38]
Analysis
Satomi Miyama analysed speech patterns of characters from shōnen manga such as My Hero Academia, Bleach, and One Piece. She found that Ochaco's idiolect is generally gender-neutral, but slightly leaning towards masculine speech patterns, and Ochaco uses Japanese honorific speech less frequently than do Izuku and Tenya Ida. The gender-neutral speech aligns with her sociability and frank demeanour.[125] In another study, Yūko Uchida of Saitama University found that Ochaco is less individualistic than is Izuku.[126] Derek McGrath found that Ochaco has permanent blushes to show innocence.[127] Maria-Teresa De Rosa Palmini, Laura Wagner, and Eva Cetinic of the University of Zurich found that Ochaco has been amongst the most common anime figures to be used in text-to-image models.[128]
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References
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