As someone who’s been watching anime for over a decade, it may be a shocker to some that I’ve never seen My Hero Academia. Some may think it’s because “I don’t like superheroes”, but it’s actually the opposite. I love Superheroes; I grew up with the DCAU & both 90’s & 2000’s Marvel cartoons, I’m practically one the few people who still watches some MCU movies in theaters, Spider-Man PS4 is my all-time favorite games, and so on. So why have I never seen this show? Well for a couple reasons;

• 1.) I’ve felt like Japan’s take on superheroes have never fit my tastes in Superheroes (which I’ll talk about in the end).
• 2.) The concept seemed off, with a non-powered teen wanting to be a hero in a world where everyone has powers and then gets powers.
• And 3.) The director who worked on it was my mortal enemy, because he made my most hated anime, Gundam Build Fighters. Really mature thinking I know. I have nothing against Kenji Nagasaki nowadays. He seems like the guy who loves what he does, so I don’t hate the guy. I just don’t like his writing style and I’ll talk why soon.

So, what’s my opinion on this show? Is it as good as people make it out to be? While it’s better than I expected, it unfortunately left so much to be desired. It’s just…not as good as the stuff I grew up with. There’s stuff I like enough for me to consider it passable, but not enough to make me love it. That’s the TL;DR, but I’m going into more detail, so don’t go bitching about my wall of text. Otherwise, here’s my opinions both Season 1 & Season 2

Season 1; While this is where my issues come from, It’s a little forgiveable, since it’s the beginning of the series. It’s just trying to find its footing and setting you up for this world. It does fine for the most part, but it honestly feels a little barebones.

**Plot: **

The story goes, in a world where people with superpowers called “Quirks” are the norm, our protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, has none. All that changed when he encountered his idol, All-Might. Once they formed a bond, not only he shares his secret with him, but also offers him his Quirk, finally granting Midoriya his dream to go to My Hero Academia & become one of the greatest heroes. Sweet story, hits you in the feels at times. There’s stuff I can easily nitpick, but at a macro scale, it’s a pretty competently told story. However, there’s certain aspects I don’t like. While this show prides itself on being a superhero story, it’s lacking in certain aspects. While we see the basic stuff; heroes saving civilians and fighting bad guys, I feel as though it’s lacking in the minor stuff; like the heroes interacting with civilians, preventing massive disasters, or even heroes quipping. Seriously, none of these heroes have any quippy remarks to make. But I’ll talk about that in S2.

But the story itself actually has some decent build up, since it actually has our protagonist earn his powers through a show of determination & real training. I also think that it has emotional moments that feel earned; like All-Might telling Midoriya that he can be a hero and Midoriya actually getting accepted into UA. Those moments where honestly the highlights. This is going to be a common theme on my thoughts on both seasons, but there’s things that this show does well as an anime, but not well enough as a superhero show. The feel good aspects in the story does feel genuine, but the superhero aspects feels too focused on the action for my tastes. Overall, decent story that lacks stuff I want to see in superhero media.

**Characters: **

Honestly, I guarantee that the characters are what people mainly talk about this show. Do I agree? Well to some extent, yes. While I didn’t care too much about all of them, the ones I did really did leave an impression on me. Luckily it’s because of the stellar english voice acting. I don’t care what the stupid Sub-Elitists will say, MHA’s voice acting is one of its strongest aspects. While the dialogue wasn’t always the best, the acting really did improve it. As for the characters themselves, here’s my thoughts on them

Heroes:

I was honestly shocked how much I actually liked Izuku Midoriya. Many people call him a “nothing protagonist”, but he and another character I liked perfectly represent the Superhero aspect I wanted to see more of in this show. While Midoriya started off the show without a quirk, I was engaged with how heroic he was. Him standing up to a bunch of bullies with quirks and even helping one of them when they were being attacked by a villain really made him a capable enough protagonist in my eyes. I also like that he actually has to train hard to earn his quirk from All-Might. My only complaint is that I wish that the notebook he carries was actually used more. Like his whole gimmick is that he studies heroes to learn from them, but that never helped him much outside of a couple scenes. But I think he’s a strongly written protagonist.

Not a lot of heroes in UA were developed much in this season, so I don’t really have too much to say about them. The only ones I want to comment on are Uraraka, Iida, and 2 of the Facility members. Ochaco Uraraka was a pretty fun character with gravity manipulation, as she’s cheerful & bubbly. I also really like her rapport with Midoriya, as they have some good banter with one another. Tenya Iida had me worried at 1st, as he looked like the stereotypical smartass. But I was honestly surprised at how much I actually liked him. While he’s by the book and eager, it remained interesting with his dedication. I also like his Quirk, makes him a more mature speedster, which is an interesting take. There’s more students that were fun to watch; like Kirishima, Momo, Asui, and Shoto, they don’t get much to do in this season.

Unfortunately, there’s 2 students I genuinely couldn’t stand; Minita & Bakugo. Minita is pretty obvious, he’s an obnoxious pervert who’s only desire is to see boobies. Luckily he’s barely in the first 2 seasons, so he’s pretty forgettable (most of the time). Bakugo is the complete opposite, as he’s in the majority of the series, and I can’t name a single thing I like about this asshole. He’s cocky, brash, rude, & just an all round psycho. I wouldn’t mind that, if he actually grow throughout the show, but he really doesn’t. What’s worse is that his behavior is rewarded and there’s isn’t a single moment where that punk gets what’s coming to him. But that’s about it for the students.

As for the facility, there’s 2 I want to highlight; Aizawa (Eraser Head) & Toshinori (All-Might). Shoto Aizawa was pretty interesting to watch as this cynical but sharp teacher who tests the students in many ways. And his Quirk to block someone else’s Quirk just by looking at him is also really cool. But my favorite hero and favorite MHA character is without a doubt All-Might. At first, I thought it was going to be a cynical take on “paragon of justice” like we’ve been getting lately, but he’s actually a genuinely good hero. The secret is that his true self is weaker and he’s only able to show himself towards people he’s close to, which becomes Midoriya. Speaking of which, they’re friendship is honestly the best part of the show. All-Might feels like the mentor Midoriya needs, and Midoriya motivates All-Might to be a shining example. These 2 interactions are easily the best part of the show.

Villains:

If I’m being honest, the villains in this season are really forgettable. Like there’s only 2 bad guys that actually left an impression, and that’s Shigaraki & Kurogiri. Shigaraki for his bitterness & desire to kill All-Might made him somewhat interesting. And his Quirk to disintegrate objects was honestly really cool and made him and actually threat. And Kurogiri has this mysterious vibe with his calculative demeanor. I also think his Quirk to teleport people to other places is cool too. Though most of that is because of his design being sick AF. However, every other villain really didn’t left an impression on me. One of the many cracks in Kenji’s writing. At least the Nomus were cool and presented an actual challenge to the heroes.

Overall, the cast has their hit or misses. Some are great; like Midoriya, All-Might, Ochaco, & Iida. Some are decent, but forgettable; like the rest of the UA students & the villains. While others genuinely got on my nerves; like Minata & Bakugo. Whoever’s your favorite is completely up to you, but that’s my opinion on the cast Verdict:

Season 1 does what it sets out to do, introduce us to this new world and get us comfortable with these new characters. How well it succeeds is a matter of personal tastes. But for me, while it did decently well enough, it kinda felt a little underwhelming. Especially the world building, which I’ll talk about in S2. While I liked the main character & his idol, his banter with his friends, & some of the feel-good moments in the show, I was just left underwhelmed for the superhero stuff. Like the last few episodes,it was going to have students train to save & protect civilians like actual superheroes, but instead it’s just a bunch of D-list supervillains fighting them. The fights were cool, but that’s abou. It. As a shonen anime, it’s pretty good. But as a superhero show, it’s lacking in a lot of areas. Next

Season 2:

Apparently, this is the highest rated season on MAL with a whopping 8.05. So does this mean it’s the greatest anime of all time? I’ll say this, it’s a lot better than S1, but again, not to the point where I was fanning over this show. Hell, the only parts I genuinely enjoyed about it was the middle chunk involving the internship and the majority of the final exam. Otherwise, my opinions on this season are the same as the last season; decent anime, lackluster superhero show. Now it’s time to go into more detail

Plot:

This season has like 3 arcs. The 1st one is your stereotypical tournament arc, the 2nd one has the students do some internships, and the 3rd & finally one has them do a final exam, where they fight the teachers. Honestly out these 3 arcs, the tournament arc is easily my least favorite, for 2 reasons; too fucking long & unsatisfying ending. There’s moments I like, like when Iida learns about his brother’s accident and Shoto’s messed up backstory. Those where great moments, but it doesn’t excuse the lion’s share this arc takes up. And the fact that Bakugo wins really pissed me off.

On the other hand, I really liked the Internship arc, since it puts the students into the field & teaches them about patrolling as a superhero. It also pairs Midoriya with All-Might’s mentor, Gran Torino. And it introduces a pretty good villain for a change. The Finals arc is a take it or leave it scenario, where I liked some parts, but couldn’t stand others. Overall, outside of the tournament arc, I was well engaged with certain parts of the plot. Not enough to make it my favorite, but enough to keep me interested for long enough.

Characters:

The characters here are honestly way more interesting here, as they have more to do and are given more screen time. And for once, we actually have a villain with real & understandable motives (maybe generic, but it’s something). There’s even some new characters to shine. And as always, the English voice acting really carried these characters.

Heroes:

Midoriya is a lot more proactive here and is finally given more chances to show off his Quirk. Speaking of which, I might as well talk about what kind of Quirk it is. “One-for-All” is basically a generational Quirk that increases the user’s abilities tenfold. All they need is to take the previous user’s DNA (or in Midoriya’s case, eat All-Might’s hair), along with their consent. I like seeing him struggle at first, since using it greatly damages his body, only to learn to control it a whole lot more. As for Midoriya himself, it’s like S1 where he’s just really selfless and I just love seeing that in a protagonist. He’s just helping in a multitude of ways. Like helping Shoto with his childhood trauma or helping Iida fight a villain when he’s down.

Speaking of which, Tenya Iida is a lot more interesting here. We learn that his family runs a hero business and that he looks up to his brother. So when he learns about the accident that basically ended his superhero career by a psychopath, you want to route for him to get justice. However, I have an issue with how his desire for revenge is handled. Or specifically, how others treated it. When Iida is paired with a professional hero, he tries to stop him from pursuing him, not because it won’t make him feel better, but because it is against the law. Which is fair enough, but I would’ve like if he had a realization that killing the villain that harmed his brother won’t set the heroic example he wants to set. Something like that would’ve been more interesting. I still think Iida is a lot more interesting here.

Ochaka doesn’t really have too much to do, but I like that they expanded on her motivation a little more, as she wants to be a hero to support her family. But the anime doesn’t really have much outside of that. I like that the side characters are expanded a whole lot more, as they have more to do. Momo gets to use her powers, to create things out of thin air, in unique ways. Asui has a solo episode where she stops a bunch of shipjackers. And we get to see more of Kirishima, as he works for a big boss for his internship.

But the character who I think is the most interesting is Shoto Todoroki. For starters, he has a unique combination of both fire & ice powers, but he mainly uses ice powers as his fire power is from his father. That last part is the main talking point, as we see his backstory. His father was an abusive jerk who pushed his son to become stronger to beat All-Might, while also beating his wife for trying to help her son. This leads her to go insane and burn Todoroki’s face with a kettle, hence the scar. This gives him more depth as a character, as you want him to be his own person and break free from his trauma. I also like that it was Midoriya that broke him out of that abusive state of mind, and embraced both sides of himself. And I like that he tried to save Midoriya. Those 2 and Iida were honestly the best characters in this season in my eyes.

The opposite can be said about Mineta and Bakugo. Mineta is an obvious fucking creep, so I have less than nothing to say about him. Bakugo on the other hand earns a spot on my list of most hated anime characters. The only positive I can say is that he actually gets punished in certain parts of the show, like getting thrown into a wrap sheet after the tournament or being tormented by the hero he’s mentoring. Otherwise, I just can’t stand the fucking guy. He doesn’t listen to reason, he punches through without thinking about the consequences, and is just an overall rude person. The moment he slapped Midoriya made me want to reach out for the asshole on the screen. But that’s all the students I really have anything to say.

As for the teachers, I’ll say they were pretty interesting. Eraser Head being a cynical teacher was fun to watch, and I like how he tests the students in unique ways. And while I didn’t talk about him in the last season, Present Mic was also a fun watch. I don’t have too much to talk about him as a character, but I like his design as it invokes Jet Set Radio, and his quirk to scream loud is cool too. Similar case to the principle, Nezu, who’s just a smart hamster. That’s just funny to me, I don’t know what else to say. Midnight is an interesting character for a couple reasons. 1.) Elizabeth Maxwell does a really good job voicing her, as she matches her seductive demeanor. 2.) He Quirk to disperse sleeping gas is pretty useful and goes well with her fighting style. And 3.) I like how she & Mt. Lady talked about skimpy outfits for superheroines. That’s a pretty meta discussion, but I wished those 2 actually went deep into that and not be a throw away gag. As for All-Might, like last season, he’s the absolute GOAT. I like how he expanded on his backstory more, as he was Quirkless like Midoriya once and he trained under a man named Gran Terrino. He also actually mentors the other students like Shoto and even Bakugo, though you can tell which students he had better luck with. And hanging out with Midoriya will always warm my heart.

Two more heroes I want to talk about are All-Might’s mentor Gran Terreno and Shoto’s father, Endevor. Gran Terreno was a fun guy to watch, as he helps Midoriya improve his quirk usage and drops some pieces of wisdom towards him. And this his Quirk to jet through areas is a fun one too. My only nitpick is that he tells Midoriya that he didn’t become a pro hero, because he didn’t want to deal with the “extra work”, when it would’ve been better if he said that he didn’t want the attention and just wants to be a hero for the sake helping others. That would’ve perfectly tie in to what this season was trying to say. As for the “hero” Endevor, I’ve mentioned this before, but this scumbag beat both Shoto into becoming stronger & his own wife for trying to defend her son. I want to know what the writers were thinking when they made the obvious wife beater bob with fire powers a prominent character, because I’m obviously not going route for a clearly abusive creep who treats like a successor to beat All-Might. But of Endevor & Bakugo (and obviously Mineta), the heroes were honestly quite interesting time around

Villains:

I can’t really say the same about the villains however. They feel very one note and feel like they only exist to give the heroes something to punch. Shigiraki & Kurogiri are basically the same as they were in S1, so I don’t have too much to add. The only villain that was actually interesting, was the new villain Stain. He was the only villain who was even remotely interesting, as he’s the only one who actually serves as a threat. For starters, he’s completely ruthless in his attacks with the amount of times he’ll stab his victims. Sure, a hero can dodge it easily, but that’s where his quirk comes in. He has the ability to paralyze someone by licking their blood. Those traits and his plethora of blades, and we have a deadly foe to deal with. But what makes him a great villain, is his reason for going after heroes. He believes that there’s no true heroes in this world anymore, other than All-Might, and he wants to get rid of all of them. And to be honest, he’s not wrong. Most of the heroes we see in this world are basically walking advertisements and only care about the spectacle. With heroes like that, it’s kinda hard to tell who’s a genuine hero and who’s only doing it for fame & glory. The only reason why he wants All-Might to kill him is because he thinks that he’s the only “true” hero left.

Unfortunately, all of that comes crashing down when you realize that he’s never proven wrong. Not in the way where he’s that delusional, but just…no one learns anything. Going back to my Gran Torino point, no one really learns what it truly means to be a hero, let alone called Stan out for his faulty reasoning. And this is where I take issue with Kenji’s writing. He introduces a really good concept, but expects the spectacle & aura farming to carry it, instead of actually going deeper with the concept itself. And this is a prime example, where the villain presented a really good point, but everyone solved it with their fists. It’s kinda lazy in my eyes, as anything that’s handled with your fists feels shoehorned in. Overall, while I did like Stain as a character, the villains still felt pretty lacklucker in my eyes, as they didn’t have any intrigue that makes a villain interesting. While this show does tease more villains for the next season, let’s just say I have no interest whatsoever.

Otherwise, I think the characters are what really keep me somewhat interested in the show. While there were some characters I really didn’t like, The ones I did like were enough for me to keep on staying. They were an improvement from the last season as they had more to do and were a bit more fleshed out. And again, the english voice acting was pretty good.

World Building:

Honestly, while I praised some of the characters in this show, the world they inhabit was what broke the camel’s back in terms of a superhero series. World building in superhero media is what made the stories we see so interesting. Both DC, Marvel, and even Ninja Turtles have such fascinating lore, that it makes the story they’re telling so investing to watch. MHA is just lacking in that area, as there’s not a lot to make it stand out. For starters, I kinda hate the idea that nearly everyone in their world has a quirk. To quote Syndrome “once everyone’s super, no one will be”. If everyone has a quirk, it kind of takes away from the stakes, since everyone can either make a force field or shoot fire. They also don’t explain how humans with no quirks feel about people with quirks. They kinda did that with Midoriya in the S1, but they dropped it immediately. I just think DC & Marvel handled this way better. In the DCAU, a faction called Cadimus is formed out of fear of Metahumans turning against them after learning about an evil version of the Justice League in an alternate universe that took over the world. Marvel has humans forming a prejudice against mutants, to the point where they create giant robots that hunt down mutants in the form of the Sentanels. MHA doesn’t need to follow those examples, but doing something with non-powered heroes would’ve been interesting.

I also wonder if there’s anyone who got their powers through an accident, like a radioactive spider-bite, gamma radiation, a trip to space, or super soldier serum. Going back to the civilians, there’s also rarely moments between the heroes and the civilians. Outside of Midoriya’s mom & All-Might’s detective’s friend Naomasa Tsukauchi (I actually like him & All-Might’s rapport), there’s barely any civilians who actually interact with the heroes in a meaningful way. The closest we got was that coast guard congratulating Asui from saving the day & Bakugo scaring a bunch of kids. I just think back at any super hero media that utilizes the civilians in a meaningful way; Like in Spider-Man 2 with Aunt May & the Train Passagers Peter saved, in Batman Begins with that little boy who Bruce gave one of his gadgets to, hell, even the MCU is loaded with moments like that. Again, I felt like MHA is lacking in that area.

There’s UA, but I don’t really have too much to say, other than the facilities that test their super powers and that stadium. It’s basically just a Japanese High School you’ve seen a million times with the Danger room slapped onto it. I know I’ve been negative about this part of the anime, but there’s certain aspects I actually do like. Like the students making their costumes, choosing their hero names, and you know, the action is pretty good. I also like the friendship between All-Might & Naomasa, as it reminds me of Batman and Commissioner Gordan.

Overall, I just don’t find MHA that interesting in terms of world building, as other super hero stuff has done what it did but better. I get that it’s trying to be more small scale, but it just feels limited in that regard. I think that fight scenes are good enough and the quirks used in pretty unique ways, but that’s all I can really say. I’ve saved the world building section for S2, because it was basically non-existent in the last season. But otherwise, I’m just not impressed

Verdict:

Was this wall of text that not a lot of people are gonna read a way to say that I’m not a fan of MHA? Not exactly, as there’s more to it than that. As a shounen anime, it’s alright. It’s good enough for me to see the reason for the popularity. However, I wasn’t watching it as someone who likes anime. It’s just that I was watching this show as someone who grew up with superhero media my whole life. With that lens, I realize that, while you can tell that Kenji’s a massive fan of superheroes, his heart is kinda in the wrong place as it lacks what made superheroes so interesting.

While most of us are going through “superhero fatigue” because of how Disney monopolized Marvel, I feel as though that superheroes can still be cool if handled well. I could just think “man, superheroes were cool”. And I’m not just talking about the live-action stuff. I remember that tender moment in Batman: The Animated Series where Bruce saved one Mr.Freeze’s goons from succumbing to hyperthermia, Scott helping his childhood friend who’s running an orphanage in X-Men the Animated series, Leonardo going through an arc where he tries let go of his trauma, and that ending of PS4 Spider-Man where Peter let Aunt May go to save the city from the virus made me really teary-eyed.

Just watching MHA really made me appreciate the stuff I grew up with, but made me realize how Japan handles Superheroes really doesn’t hold a candle to what I see. Maybe some Japanophile will write a long rant on how they feel the opposite, but I really don’t care. If you like this show, more power to you. I’ll just to the western stuff to get my superhero fix.