Boku no Hero Academia

Note: Tl;dr at the end for the lazy ones.
*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*


Inspired by American superhero comics, Horikoshi Kouhei's Boku no Hero Academia (or 'My Hero Academia' in English) manga started publishing two years ago, but got gained a lot of popularity only after the release of One Punch Man anime. But being honest here, I must say that I was somewhat disappointed by it.


Story: 6/10
The story is rather childish. In the world of My Hero Academia, on one fine day, out of nowhere, new born babies started having some random super powers which are called 'quirks'. With that, evil villains emerged, and with that heroes emerged ... too, which soon became usual and was accepted by the society. Our main protagonist of the show, Izuku Midoriya, who is always bullied by his childhood friend Bakugou Katsuki who has a great quirk, wanted to join the prestigious 'Hero School', UA, and become the best hero in the world like 'All Might'. But he discovered in his childhood that he is 'quirkless', but finding the potential in him due to various situations, All Might passes on his quirk to him which is somewhat like ultimate strength, speed and endurance. But due to his weak body and lack of practice, he always hurts his body due to the recoil. Anyway, he manages to clear the UA entrance exam and now he must struggle in the school to pass out as a pro hero.
Okay, so far so good. But from this point, the excitement goes downhill. Bad jokes, predictable events, childish plot, and what not, makes it seem more like an American Cartoon than a Japanese Anime.


Art: 7/10
Bones Studio, very popular for it's work in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, delivers some of the best artworks out there. But this time, it gambled with My Hero Academia. The graphics are very sketchy and it feels like we are reading a comic book. It may be a hit for some people. But honestly speaking, it was a miss for me.


Sound: 9/10
There is no doubt that Porno Graffitti, the most misunderstood band name, did an amazing job for the OP with the song 'The Day'. The fast and catchy song and the visuals along with it are very good and fits the mood. 'Heroes' by Brian the Sun is another great ED. And guess what? Kaji Yuki performed the role of Todoroki Shouto! Also other talented voice actors like Okamoto Nobuhiko, Suwabe Junichi, Kitamura Eri, Yuuki Aoi, Inoue Marina did a great job. The OSTs during the action scenes are really good too.


Character: 6/10
This is the biggest negative point for the show. The characters, are well, lame. Everyone is either silly or one dimensional or simply annoying. They all have unique quirks which make them different from each other. But still, they are lame.
Bakugou Katsuki is the lamest and the most annoying of all the characters. He exists just to bully Midoriya Izuku to make the anime more shounenish.
Midoriya Izuku is no good either. A lame-ass who usually cries over stupid things instead of fighting like a man. He is a fan boy who cries tears of happiness like a girl when he is able to see some pro hero. That's seriously lame.
All Might, the strongest hero in the world is the silliest childhood-hero like character. He has got some weird hairstyle and dialogues without any punch. He has one alternate form in which he shrinks to a thinner size with a gunny un-proportional face and body, which may have been shown for comedy, but I found it silly.
Eraser Head is the only character whom I found interesting and mature. Reminded me of Kakashi Hatake from Naruto. :P


Enjoyment: 8/10
I enjoyed the show only in some parts of it (mostly the action part). The rest of the show was silly, childish, predictable and it felt like it was targeted for pre-teens. But anyway, if you have already watched a lot of good anime, then this anime is suited for casual watching.


Overall: 7.2/10
If you are a pre-teen or younger, you will like or maybe love this show. It has all the scenes and factors which today's generation kids love (I guess). If you are a matured adult who is not into silly comedy, bullied-kid-turned-into-superhero or someone who finds funny villains evil, you should probably avoid this anime.


Tl;dr:

+Sound
+A few action scenes
+Good for audience below the age of 16 years

-Poor plot, many loopholes
-Silly and annoying comedy
-Silly and annoying characters
-Comic book sketch-like art
-Not good for mature audience

It's like a rip off of Marvel, DC and One Punch Man. But a bad one. Good for casual watching, if you have already watched a lot of good anime and have nothing new to watch. If you like shounen super power anime, then you will like this anime. I have a feeling that the sequel is going to be better. Let's wait and see.

Boku no Hero Academia is an anime that lives and dies by the conventional. While that could be seen as a negative feature in most scenarios, for a superhero shounen that understands its limitations, it's actually quite refreshing.

Being satisfied with maintaining a status quo in a medium that constantly pushes the envelope may seem like the wrong direction to take until you come to realize the confines the show is working with. While some shows of this nature tend to sabotage themselves with poor narrative decisions, most are usually knocked off, not by their content, but by their desire for more, despite not having ... the material needed to back it up.

Shounen stories by design are meant to facilitate the fundamental building blocks of easily digestible themes. It's for that reason that the main demographic targeted is first and foremost young boys to teens before concerning themselves with any other group. While some titles have successfully escaped this genre's trappings to garner appraisal from a more demanding audience (Fullmetal Alchemist, Hunter X Hunter, etc.), most of it tends to fall apart when they attempt to push beyond the capabilities of its written material (Owari no Seraph, Blue Exorcist, etc.). This isn't to say that a creator shouldn't attempt to do more if they think they're capable of pulling it off, just that knowing what material you have to work with is also key to creating a successful work. You can't exactly create thematically rich content from something that didn't contain it in the first place, but what you can do is make the best product possible with the hand you're dealt.

And this is where Boku No Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) comes in. It's a shounen story that isn't ashamed about its humble offerings, nor does it display delusions of grandeur for accolades out of its reach. While other content creators are busy navel-gazing, Academia uses that time to create something that's full of whimsy. It's an anime that lives comfortably in its realm of customary standards. And really, isn't that enough? Academia doesn't work because it offers more than other atypical shounen titles, it works because it decides to be the best it can be in its current position that it's given. And what better way to show strength within one's limitations than by having the story revolve around characters that put forth their best effort in the face of adversity.

Academia tells a story that I'm sure most anime viewers are familiar with. The classic underdog story; the naive boy growing into his own, the bonds he forms with like-minded individuals, and the life lessons he learns along the way. It's a simple tale, one of perseverance, childish ideals, and believing in oneself. Izuku "Deku" Midoriya is that naive boy, and the object of his admiration is that of All Might: the idealized embodiment of peace and justice. The story chronicles his attempts to become an admirable hero like the one he looks up to, as well as seeing him overcome the obstacles he's bound to face in the uphill battle that he's undertaken to get there.

Set in a universe where superpowers manifest itself in 80% of the world's population, becoming a professional hero has become commonplace. These innate abilities that people find themselves with are referred to as "Quirks." Naturally, the 20% that's born without a Quirk is at an inherent disadvantage to the rest of the population. And as you would guess, our protagonist Midoriya is one of these unfortunate people that life handed lemons to. Despite his situation, our protagonist still desperately seeks out the chance to become a hero. But it isn't until a fateful encounter that his dream could become a reality. Fast forward a few months later, and Midoriya finds himself at the gates of one of the most respected schools for heroes in training. And so begins our tale.

The first thing you'll probably notice about Academia is just how expressive its art and animation looks. The show looks like colored panels jumping right off the pages of its manga counterpart. This is further illustrated by the dynamic movement of the characters, instantaneously eye-catching character designs, and an ultra-vibrant color scheme. Studio Bones rolled their sleeves up with this one, delivering a visual spectacle that they're known to be capable of. A firework display of showboating talent that the studio has earned across the many years in the industry. And since they're adapting the material verbatim, none of their infamous plotting issues makes its way into the narrative, making Academia into a cohesive body of work, the likes of which wasn't pulled off by Bones since their adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. It's the studio at its best, which not only spotlight its talents to others but also helps Academia to shine its brightest.

To further heighten the visual treat, we're also given a soundtrack composed by Yuuki Hayashi, which was, for the lack of a better term, hype-inducing. Lending his talents to Kiznaiver, Death Parade, and other projects, Hayashi is quickly making a name for himself within the industry and is a talent worth keeping on your radar for future works to come. With veteran Sound Director Masafumi Mima lending his talents to the project, together these two men help shape the auditory section of Academia into what it is. It's a commendable effort that's deserving of the praise received.

And just like the presentation of the show, the characters are just as lively, with a broad range of personalities and superpowers to boot, as to be expected from a show dealing with superheroes. While they're all fairly stereotypical, what they lack in layered character detail, they more than compensated with spunk and attitude. Their eccentricities added to the show's tone and lighthearted nature. They're in no way innovative or new to the genre they're a part of, but they still serve their purpose for the content at hand.

This extends to our protagonist Midoriya as well. He is your archetypal lead in every way possible. Replacing him with almost any other shounen protagonist would yield very little change. What is interesting about him, however, is the handicap that he's strong-armed into working with. Because of the inherent nature of his power, he is forced to make compromises to avoid extensive injury to himself. Since he spent his entire life taking notes of the anatomy and capabilities of other heroes, he's more astute than his peers. This allows him the ability to plan accordingly, especially under stressful conditions that force him to be quick on his feet. As the show goes on, this analytical prowess of his doesn't go to waste. He brings this talent to each physical encounter he's placed in, making combat situations a balancing act between outsmarting his opponent, as well as mitigating potential risk to himself.

Speaking of physical encounters, since our protagonist makes an effort to think tactically in the midst of battle, the skirmishes he gets into are far more entertaining than what you'd typically expect from superhero brawls. Of course, he's still a kid, so these tactics may not be the most riveting things to see play out, but it still beats seeing senseless bishounen cock-fights that resort to shouting and punching wildly to achieve results. This was also prevalent in other physical altercations throughout the show. Again, while not the most imaginative fights, they were still a cut above the usual standards of the battle-shounen formula. This doesn't mean that hotheaded characters grew a few brain cells all of a sudden, they still acted in a brash manner befitting their personality; but for those that have powers or limitations that needed adjustment, they found ways to innovate whenever it was necessary.

With the trend of superhero stories becoming ever-present across all storytelling media in the last few years, the marketplace has gotten to a point where it's on the verge of stagnation. For the general populace, that point may not be that prevalent yet, but for those vigilant viewers that recognize the pattern, it's a backlash shit storm just waiting to happen. Boku no Hero Academia is just another drop in the bucket. Inconsequential. A blip on the radar. But that's also the beauty of it. It's not an anime that hurts the medium, nor is it unwarranted to most that sit down to watch it. It's just an honest-to-god shounen. No gimmicks, no underhanded attempts into duping its viewership to take it more seriously than they need to. It's just a sincere piece of media made for the sole purpose of entertaining its audience, and perhaps even more than that for those wide-eyed youths that sit down to view this type of story for the 1st time.

That sort of honesty in a time when desensitized audiences have grown jaded to what's offered to them might just be the remedy needed. I always want to see the medium push forward, but when a break is necessary, I more than welcome the likes of shows like Academia. It's fuel in the fire to keep going. Easygoing entertainment that I could trust at face value won't give me the runaround.

Academia is a rare case where it's good because it's average, and I know that may leave many of you questioning how something could possibly be both, but really, that's the only way to explain this show's predicament. We could commend a show for trying and succeeding at doing more, as one should when a title pushes beyond what's standard fare. But at the same time, there's nothing wrong with appreciating a title that chooses to be good in a way that's not necessarily innovative in the market it's a part of. This will be an instance where the score of "5" isn't used to insinuate inferior goods, but rather one of accurate assessment of the product at hand. It's a good show for its target demographic, just an average one given its placement in the broader landscape of shounen material. Its modesty is endearing. And in a time when titles either conflate their worth or uninspiringly follow a checklist for a quick profit, Academia proves that just being yourself is never a bad thing.

Tackling a show in a negative light is usually a very tricky task. However in this particular instance, I figured that taking the risk may be worth the trouble, seeing as the show in question is very undeserving of the praise it has gotten so far. Boku no Pico Academia is another run of the mill battle shounen about overpowered teenagers doing overpowered things. It tries to be slightly different in essence but ultimately crumbles under its own weight.

The story is set in an alternate universe where 80% of the population have received superpowers (Quirks) and evil is running rampant. To protect society from ... these villains, numerous heroes have emerged over the recent years in order to make justice triumph and bring peace to the citizens. Our protagonist is Midoriya Izuku, a shy 14 year old boy who's aspirations ever since he was little were to become a hero. Unfortunately for him, he is not a part of the overwhelming majority in the sense that he has no Quirk of his own which is why he is regularly ridiculed and looked down upon by the people around him.

All of this is put to a stop when he is conveniently placed under the strongest hero of all time, Allmight. After going through a harsh training routine for a solid 10 months and gaining a Quirk of his own, he is finally deemed worthy to join the ranks of other overpowered teenagers alike and enroll at the Hero Academy in order to groom his newly-formed power and finally qualify to be a real hero, thus making his dreams a reality. Though that is just the glorified way of saying it. Around here I noticed that the story often struggles with balancing whether or not it wants to handle this plot in a serious manner or a not-so-serious manner, which makes up for some rather rough transitions down the road when the serious arcs role around.

Anyhow, the premise of the story is not the problem I have with it, but rather it's the way they went of doing things. I was personally hoping to see the plot move in a bit more serious fashion or maybe have a bit more focus on the implications and alternation of society as a whole from suddenly receiving these bizarre super powers out of the blue. Though this is a shounen after all, so we ended up taking a more shounen-ish approach to things as we follow Deku and friends through their many trials and tribulations. Unfortunately, when compared to series of the similar nature like last year's One Punch Man, it ends up falling short.

With other genres to the side, a big portion of time and effort is spent on action and comedy, as you would normally expect from a shounen series. The action scenes are usually handled fairly well due to the bizarre nature of the Quirks and there being basically no limitations to what one can and can't do which in turn makes up for some interesting scenarios. And Bones being Bones, the animation is as consistant as you can imagine. The comedy, on the other hand, is very lackluster and more often than not just ends up falling completely flat. And if it miraculously does somehow end up being even remotely funny, then you can be sure that they will re-use the same joke 5 times over and run it to the ground. A good example of this would be the gag of Allmight being anorexic.

This section plays a significant role in the series decline as like with most other shounen, the characters aren't developed that well at all. Though, that is not something I should entirely fault it for, especially considering the genre at hand. However, Boku no Hero Academia misses a very crucial opportunity here. Do you know what all the top-tier shounen all have in common? They have an actual likable main cast of characters.

Thus, we enter Midoriya Izuku, otherwise known simply as Deku. Deku, being the protagonist of the story of course doesn't have a quirk of his own and was therefore looked down upon by his peers throughout his entire life. The amount of victimization they give to this character can get pretty overwhelming at times, seeing as at one point he is laughed at by everyone in his classroom even with the teacher being present and everything. They really went all-out to make this guy the ultimate underdog, to the point where it sometimes just irritates me to watch him. He's weak, can't stand up for himself and is socially awkward around girls. However, this all changes when he conveniently meets up with his favorite and most powerful hero in all of existence and gets taken under his wing. After that, he is fed a piece of hair, thus receiving superpowers. Hooray!

I really thought it couldn't get any worse but here we are. Bakugou Katsuki is Deku's psychopath of a childhood friend, his biggest bully as well as his possible rival later on. He is usually a tool from which Deku's victimization during the series stems from, as Kacchan here is completely mental. It is heavily implied throughout the series by Deku that he became the way he is now after "straying off the path" and receiving his Quirk, yet it was clearly shown in multiple flashbacks what an egotistical maniac he was even during his childhood. There really aren't any justifiable factors for this guy. His character is very basic and doesn't ever go beyond him being a self-absorbed cunt who wants to be the best at everything for extremely shallow and selfish reasons.

Then there are some other main characters that didn't leave me much to write about either because they either weren't utilized properly or were just not very good. Allmight is the object of Deku's admiration as well as his questionably-anorexic mentor. He usually ends up defeating the villains in a few seconds and has some semi-inspirational dialogue throughout the series but is ultimately overshadowed for the majority of the show, up until the final 2 episodes. Uraraka is pretty cute and ends up giving Deku panic attacks whenever she talks to him due to his seemingly crippling anxiety around girls. I don't remember the armored guy's name but he's pretty cool. As for the antagonists, their motivations never get explored and we're just left to our imagination.

The art for Boku no Hero definitely isn't bad by any means, it's just very unappealing so to say. With a very cartoonish style to it, it has a sort of unique feel to it, yet still somehow looks ugly. This complaint is nearly nonexistent when it comes to the backgrounds but is very much there when I stare at the character designs for too long. Midoriya's design faintly reminds me of diarrhea, for one reason or another. Bones has continuously produced some of the best animation through each passing season for years now so no surprise here. Since it heats up during the intense moments of the show the fights are quite nice to watch. Most of the tracks from the OST were unnoticeable apart from the main theme and another track which's timing was nailed very well every time to enhance the feeling of dread once the antagonists showed up. I enjoyed the ending and especially the opening theme a lot and the voice acting was solid, albeit there were some performances that I found to be annoying.

The enjoyment of the show will mostly depend on how big of a fan of shounen you are. If you go in with the assumption that it will suck, you may be pleasantly surprised like I was when the latter half rolled around. It has deplorable humor which is a miss in 90% of cases which can easily ruin a series for me and that really was the case for the first few episodes, but eventually I just tried looking past it. The final 3-4 episodes of the show is where shit hits the fan and I don't remember the last time I was this entertained while watching a seasonal anime. Essentially, if you're a shounen fan looking for some dumb fun you'll probably love it, and if you're coming in with a skeptical mindset then try to look past the first few episodes, as the show gets better the longer it goes on.

In conclusion, I don't think Boku no Hero Academia is that bad of a series. Sure, it has its fair share of problems here and there but what my rating mostly stems from is when I compare it to other series in the same vein, be it a regular shounen or the example that I have previously mentioned which is OPM. It has a story with some potential to be found but a very mediocre and slightly disappointing execution, with every character in the show being either extremely unlikable and annoying or simply bad. At times it takes itself too seriously and at others not seriously enough, which makes up for some pretty awkward transitioning.

If you're a fan of shounen series, I'd recommend Boku no Hero with a grain of salt as hopefully you don't come in with your previous completed series being FMA and end up setting the bar too high. Though, if you're an easygoing person who's just looking for some dumb fun then this is definitely your go-to this season. All in all, it's not bad and is certainly not good but mainly fails to live up to the hype created by the community.

"All men are not created equal. This was the reality about society that I learned at a young age of four."

Thus begins the journey of Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, a dreamer, who's passion and wish is to become like his idol and role model, the Symbol of Peace, the one and only All Might.

There was never a shadow of doubt that My Hero Academia was slated to divide opinions among fans for all the not quite correct-- but inevitable reasons. Enter Izuku Midoriya, a cheerful but an extremely introvert middle school teenager who feels neglected by the society, not because of his depressive tendencies ... or anything but that he's a "Quirkless" among the more common ones born with "Quirks". Quirks are something which has become a norm in the world of My Hero Academia. Nowadays most people born in the planet consist of the 80% of population which mysteriously develop supernatural powers titled as Quirks. Quirks can vary from the personalities to the genetics of the given person, and there is no clear explanation as to how the powers can manifest within a human's body. As quickly as one can comprehend it, this is the way of life portrayed in the series, and it revolves around Izuku, who is now one of those rare cases where there is no sign of a Quirk developing in his body.

Fans of the Shounen genre know all too well what to expect from the series. And for it to be coming with an ordinary premise that has been done multiple times within the genre (Which as I said earlier can divide opinions easily.), My Hero Academia certainly has its highs and lows. It gets off to a cheesy start with its nail-bitingly snail-like pace and has a nostalgic feeling to it, albeit the premise gets the better of it and it feels very underwhelming. At this point it doesn't provide sufficient meat to the viewer and it doesn't come off as surprising if the viewer decides to drop the show. While the show picks up on it and precedes it by changing the momentum and present more material to the viewer, the inception of the series leaves a bad aftertaste which cannot be shrugged off. After the initial first four episodes, the series starts to change gears and while it becomes more battle-oriented, it also doesn't leave out the characters that drive it and adds more to them. Once Izuku establishes his very own skill set after registering into the prestigious school of heroes, The Yuuei (U.A.) Academy, things look brighter for him and there's more insight to what creates and identifies him. The mid phases of the series is also where the rivalry of Izuku and his life-long friend and also enemy, Katsuki Bakugo, is at its peak.

Izuku Midoriya takes the center-stage in the show accompanied by All Might, who Izuku thinks of highly and his childhood rival, Katsuki. Izuku is depicted as a very timid, a slightly eccentric but still a cheerful boy who's one and only wish is to be a hero like his idol. In a matter of thirteen episodes, My Hero Academia manages to flesh out the basic characteristics of Izuku as he tries to overcome bullies who ridicule him on being born without any quirks. The show doesn't shy away from flashing the reality across Izuku time and time again, which gives it a little more meaning to the trials Izuku has to overcome to become like the hero he always admired. Katsuki Bakugo, who Izuku dearly calls as Kacchan, is the exact but a superior opposite to Izuku. From a very early age he is shown as someone who has immense pride in himself. This is only justified more when Katsuki's flashy quirk manifests. The middle stages of the show focuses more on the one-off between Izuku and Katsuki, and excels at presenting Katsuki's extreme pride in himself and him having a superiority complex. All Might can be said to be the most polarized character from the show. What starts as a super hero with generic drawings and whose power is not revealed, leaves a trail of identity behind which makes the viewer slowly draw in towards his charm and ultimately like him towards the end.

I have always been a fan of Studio Bones and their extremely quirky and exaggerated drawing style. My Hero Academia was a case of the two making a perfect couple. Put together with Horikoshi Kosei's Marvel and DC-inspired characters' art style, Studio Bones did what they do best at presenting the honest and fluid animations as they always have. While its a perfect ten on the visual aspect, its also a subject of mere taste. Many are put off by the Americanized character designs and personalities. So in general, its a hit or a miss on the visuals.

Getting to the sound and auditory aspects of the show, the voice acting of the characters plays a big role in conveying the full material to the audience and it was no different with My Hero Academia. Yamashita Daiki's vocals are synced to perfection with Izuku's timid characteristics. He also does an excellent job at being rational and calm while doing the narration as well. Okamoto Nobuhiko's presenation of Katsuki was nothing short of a spectacle in the show. Katsuki's psyched up reactions are handled masterfully by the pumped up and convoluted voice of Nobuhiko. Not to say that Kenta Miyake's job as All Might was any easier. "There is no need for fear. Why? Because I'm here!" These lines always burst out the joy within me. "The Day" by Porno Graffitti was a perfect choice for the intro and for a classic battle shounen such as My Hero Academia and it will definitely make your blood boil. In a season filled with some amazing openings, The Day without a shred of doubt took the spotlight. "HEROES" by Brian the Sun was nothing short of amazing too. It was more centered around Izuku's character and him coming of age.

If you love shounen anime's, then My Hero Academia will deliver. There is no doubt about that, but its a matter of perspective. It has fights which are more tactically focused and it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, and has cool characters with some ridiculous powers. My Hero Academia has a wider prospect as a second season is officially announced. The first season is an answer to the potential to be good, and that answer is yes.

If I were to ask you what you aspired to be, what would be your answer? Everyone lives their life chasing dreams, no matter how big or small. Dreams, goals, aspirations; these elements make up each individuals world and are part of what keeps life unique.

The dreams we focus on throughout the anime Boku no Hero Academia are those of Izuku; a young boy who aspires to be the greatest hero in a world filled with heroes. This is no menial task, seeing that each man and woman in this world was born with a quirk (superpower) that gives them a clear advantage over young ... Izuku who was curiously born without one.

Now, originally I had planned to give this anime a lower score (8 or 9) to try to tend my review to a larger audience. The reason behind this decision was because the show itself was nothing notably different or unique. The story was that of a young man who wanted to be a hero, and who accomplishes such through blood, sweat and tears. In retrospect, it's a story we've seen hundreds of time throughout the years in anime.

Now, take a moment, and peer at the world "originally." I had *planned* to give this show a lower score because I knew some people felt it generic. This is something I had considered around episode 5 - 7. I've now finished the show, and have tossed that idea in the trash and burned it.

This show, in my honest opinion, is a must watch of the Spring anime season and is well deserving of a 10. The story is indeed something we've seen a multitude of times before, but this show took that story and made it special. I've seen so many zero to hero animes that I never would have imagined watching another that could illicit the emotions this one did in me. This show managed to pull my full attention and to really immerse me in the world it was meant to portray.

I found that by the end of the series I had grown very fond of the protagonist for his die-hard attitude; and had found myself inspired by All Might, the same man who had inspired our protagonist himself. All Might was one of the best representations of a role model character I have seen, he was actually an adult I looked up to in an anime, which is truly something special after all the side character adults I've seen in shows who are simply there to crack a pun every episode or two. To add to this, each character in the show was given a unique personality that didn't fit any prior anime cliches, something I feel is uncommon in this age of anime.

The sound work in the show was fantastic. The OST fit the setting and genre of the show, and the OP and ED are both ones I looked forward to listening to each week. The art was well done and I never noticed any 'lazy' frames or glaring mistakes - the animation was smooth and enjoyable.

All in all, I really enjoyed watching Boku no Hero Academia. The show felt very much like "Haikyuu" in the sense that you wanted to see each character succeed and left the show each week feeling motivated to be the best version of yourself. If you've not already seen this show, then go watch it - if you dropped it because you felt it was generic, I suggest revisiting it; it's well worth watching.

Now get out there and be your own heroes; I'll see you again for Season 2.
PLUS ULTRA

Perhaps the next “big thing” by Shounen Jump. It was inevitable that Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) would get an anime adaptation. A matter of time and it eventually did. The premise is rather simple and classic for a battle shounen. It takes place in an academy setting with the main character trying to become a hero after being inspired by All Might (his idol hero) and others who vowed to protect their world from villains. Up to this point, there has been all sorts of battle shounen series adapted by Shounen Jump so it was time for superheroes to step up to ... the plate.

The main character, Izuku Midoriya is a young boy who is born without powers. As such, he is mocked by peers, especially a childhood bully named Bakugo. As evidenced from many flashbacks, he is mocked because of how useless he is while the most of his class all developed powers (or otherwise known as “Quirks”) It goes far to the point where he is even nicked named “Deku” for being useless. Although the initial story establishes Deku as a weakling, this changes after he meets All Might, a superhero who is famous in their world.

A general idea about the show is that Deku is constantly trying to prove himself and to others. Early episodes shows that he is fearlessly loyal to his friends and those he wishes to protect. This also includes Bakugo because Deku always wanted to surpass him after seeing how cool he is. Meanwhile, it’s evident that Deku has potential to become a powerful hero himself. All Might gives him the opportunity by letting Deku borrow his Quirk. After training and determination, Deku establishes himself as a newcomer to keep an eye on while Bakugo grows more jealous of his rival’s abilities. That’s also one of the interesting aspects of the show – the character relationships. Deku develops many relationships throughout the series. These include the rivalry between himself and Bakugo, the student-master relationship with All Might, and various friendships at school. Through these relationships, we see how Deku brings the best and worst out of characters. And believe me, there’s quite a lot of characters with their colorful personalities in this series.
With such a large cast, you may be asking yourself “how does the director plan to adapt this show?” Unfortunately, the series is structured to be a 1-cour with a mere 13 episodes. The ongoing manga has over 90 chapters while pacing of the adaptation seems slow. The plus side is that the “slow” also translates to faithfulness as every episode in the series is consistent and leaves nothing important out. As a fan of the manga, I’m proud to say that the series accurately does what it needed to do. I can’t speak for everyone though as the comedy can occasionally feel like a hit or miss for some fans. Although on a subjective level, it’s very popcornish humor that is there for some good fun.

As for the character casting, the show does a neat job at characterizing most of them. Each of them has a different personality, a different Quirk, and unique persona that makes them individually talented. Some of the more prominent characters such as Iida, Uaraka, Todoroki all get their screen time that will be memorable for fans. In the meantime, it’s important to visualize that each character also has a reason to become a hero. So in retrospect, the characters aren’t there just to push Deku’s story but also have story themselves. The downside is that the characterization is condensed for this adaptation as result of the minimal episode figures.

It would also seem inevitable that the show is inspired by other genres and shounen jump works. The generic Exam Arc can be easily compared to series such as Naruto or Hunter x Hunter although with different styles. Meanwhile, there’s the whole underdog premise with the main character trying to make a name in their world. Still, the show is definitely fun to watch as it also seems to be inspired by American comic heroes. Popular series in North America such as The Flash, Arrow, etc all have heroes and there’s some resemblance that can be taken to account for this series. All Might stands out as the poster boy, Deku is the most prominent underdog, while Bakugo is portrayed as the hardcore antihero. And of course, we can’t forget about the villains either. In contrast to the heroic resemblance of the good guys, the villains are designed to look malevolent. The show does a nice job at introducing them without shoving them down the audience’s throats. Villains such as Stain and Kurogiri looks legitimately menacing. It also invites the anime only fans to wonder about their intentions, roles, and how powerful they really are. Because really, the show is literally saturated with all sorts of powers. You name it. We got super strength, explosive punches, gravity manipulation, superhuman flight, ice and fire control, invisibility, and even a girl who can use frog-like abilities. For a world with about 80% humans capable of using supernatural powers, it comes with a cool features.

Adapted by studio Bones, the show creatively designs its characters that matches a fair amount of consistency. Let’s face it, Kouhei Horikoshi is an underrated mangaka and his previous works weren’t considered major successes. Here, we got this show that has superheroes, action, and it just seems like every shounen fan’s wet dream. The character designs, while looks generic, is also creatively attractive. Every character has their own unique appearance and those who are heroes are equipped with a stylistic costume. I can’t say this enough but if there’s anything to remember this show, Boku no Hero Academia should definitely deserve some sort of reward of ‘Best Character Designs of the Year’. The action is well choreographed as well when you see punches landing or super powers connecting as how it should. Furthermore, character expressions brings out the best of personalities whether it’s fierce (Bakugo), Charming (Urakara), or heroic (All Might). Deku’s reactions are mostly comedic although when he gets hyped up, there’s a lot to keep an eye on as well.

Ah Yuuki Hayashi. I was ecstatic after seeing his name appear as the music director as his work on Haikyuu!! Is nothing short of wonderful. Indeed, the music and soundtrack of the show is a solid demonstration of his talent in this show. It is crisp, intense, and cinematic all the same time. For a battle shounen series like this, it’s important to capture every important scene and the music delivered just that – making them relevant. The OP and ED theme songs are also creatively crafted with flamboyant choreography and style. Finally, praise should also be given to the voice acting especially for All Might and Bakugo as their character personalities really shines when you listen to their voice.

So in the end, what should you expect from this show? There’s a lot and if you’re a big fan of battle shounen, then this will be a wonderful treat. From diverse character cast to the high dosage of superhero action, Boku no Hero Academia is a very fun show to watch. Despite my issue with the pacing, it is still consistent on most parts with the manga. With the announcement of the second season, there's still a lot of potential waiting to be explored. All in all, the show is recommendable to anyone. Whether you’re a new viewer getting into anime or a seasonal fan of shounen series, it’s a show that’s nothing short of exciting.

Overrated, childish, and cliche. Those are the first three words that come to mind when I think of this anime.

This is the most overrated anime that has came out in the past 5 years. After watching two seasons of this anime, I've come to the conclusion that this anime is absolute garbage with no redeeming qualities. I actually cant believe that people above the age of 15 can be watching this. It's actually crazy...This review might also contain spoilers. I cant fully explain how bad this show is without including spoilers unfortunately. This review will also not only be about season 1.

This is hands down ... the most basic and generic shounen I've ever come across. The story is very stupid and cliche. The story is about a kid that wants to become a professional hero. It cant get anymore generic than that. So almost everyone in the world has quirks but Midoriya apparently doesn't. Ok. He then receives a quirk given to him by all might. That's just lame to be honest. I don't like how he just gets a quirk given to him. I'd rather see him training to get his own quirk. If anyone here is familiar with Black Clover, then you know how Asta got his own powers after training right? Even Black Clover did that better than My Hero Trashademia. How boring and uninteresting is it to see him just getting a power from someone else.

The plot is extremely repetitive. They go to school and have training sessions, random villains attack, fight villains, villains run or get defeated, and that's it. Now sometimes it's a bit different, but for the most part shits exactly the same. Nomus attack, League of Villains attack, it's just the same boring shit. In conclusion, the plot is fucking terrible. The only good thing is that the pacing is fast and I don't have to watch 10 episodes for 1 fight. That's literally the only good thing about this awful anime.

As I said earlier, this is the most basic and cliche shounen I've seen in a while. After finishing the first season I just thought, why the fuck are people hyping this up? It's literally the same thing as every other generic battle shounen we've had in the past 20 years. It does nothing different yet I see shounen fanboys everywhere sucking it off for what??

This anime easily has one of the worst cast of characters I've ever seen. The mangaka just tries to give ALL of them screen time it just doesn't work. In the end, barely any of them get character development at all. They're so bad I barely can even remember their names, even after two seasons of watching it. There's nothing interesting about the main characters either. There's nothing interesting about Bakugo. I don't know how anyone can like a character that screams 24/7 and gets absolutely no character development whatsoever. Midoriya has to be one of the most boring characters I've seen in a Shounen. His character development is just basic shounen character development. One second he's a pussy and the next he's extremely serious. It just makes no sense. As for Todoroki he's just a garbage Zuko rip off (but zukos actually a good character) with daddy issues. As I said before, this anime is extremely cliche and bad characters like this just prove it.

There's just too many irrelevant characters that get screen time for no reason. The only students that need a lot of screentime would be Midoriya, Bakugo, Uraraka, Momo, Frog, and Tokoyami. All these other characters shouldn't be getting screen time when they have little to none impact on the plot. If anyone here is familiar with Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans, use that as an example. The writers for that anime tried to give too many characters screen time and it turned out to be a complete failure filled with underdeveloped characters. The same thing is happening with this anime.

This anime has the worst character designs I've seen in a Shounen. I honestly could not stand looking at these people. These characters just look so damn goofy and childish I felt like I was watching a childrens cartoon. Mineta, Alien looking girl, dude with the tape quirk. There's just way too many goofy looking characters to name them all. That's why this is the most childish anime I've ever watched. Not even joking. I've never seen an anime that looked goofier and more childish than this.

The music wasn't that great either. The only good opening is the first one. The endings are all pretty bad. There was only one memorable OST which played during fight scenes, and that got annoying real quick.

One good thing about this show is Stain. I think he's the only good villain in this entire show, all three seasons. But besides Stain, every other villain is complete and utter garbage! They're literally all just evil for the sake of being evil, especially that muscular guy. There's just no other interesting villains in My Hero Academia and that's fact.

The fights in this anime are very underwhelming. All might vs One for All, one of the most disappointing fights I've seen in a shounen. Why should I care about this trash villain One for All when he has no depth whatsoever? He was just used to make all might look badass before his career as a hero ended. Todoroki vs Midoriya, once again another bad fight. The only good part of this fight was the end, that's it. Everything before that wasn't good at all. All the animation was put into the ending of the fight and anything before that was just talking or just boring to watch in general. Uraraka vs Bakugo, a fight that many My Hero fans were sucking off around the time it came out. I... I don't understand why people think this is that good? When it comes to actual fighting/choreography My Hero Academia fights are complete trash.

In conclusion, this show is just awful and I don't suggest watching it. It's no different than any other generic battle Shounen anime you've watched. Bad characters, bad fights, bad plot, bad character designs, bad villains, bad everything. Don't watch this show.

Hi there it's actually my first time writing a review. *I NEVER PLANNED TO WRITE ANY, BUT THIS IS A TRUE EXCEPTION*

If you are a fan of this, it would be in your best interests not to continue reading.

Anyways bear with me. A sentence to summarize this whole show? "the most overrated cliche shounen anime with ripped off ideas from a marvel movie forcefully jammed together with childish ideals"

The story.
I can go on and on about this it was absolutely dreadful and the most cringiest setting I have encountered.
A bland boy suddenly gets superpowers from a hero and starts training and fights for eons. ... Amazing. It's repetitive like the filler stories of Naruto except it's all squeezed into a season.

The art.
Not bad really, colors were well done.

Sound
yeah classic booms and other normal sound effects. The theme songs were nice.

Character
Characters are well dictionary definitions. Please. There's a difference between exaggerated to definition characters. The main character is a textbook example of a one dimensional character with no background other than he was born without powers. "I wanna be a hero!" says he but all he ever does is write diary entries about current superheroes and does nothing to even train for it. He gets bullied and never fights back. As a survival instinct you usually defend yourself to avoid damage and things get cringey. His academic skills aren't special too. Normal. Normal. Normal. Wait, to be fair underdog is a realistic opinion.
His childhood friend would then be the definition of emo. He hates poor "does nothing but daydream" kun and bullies him. I can understand, all he ever did when I watched the episodes was talk about his dreams but still, way too violent.
Others are poor representations of emotions and ideals like the movie inside out (inside out was good).

Enjoyment: No. Shounen for kids? Yes. Adults? Unless you really like this stuff no. No. No.

Overall: Just please no. It's an overrated anime that should be called more of a cartoon. I've heard some say this is better than SAO and I really must protest. Yes I acknowledge the issues like story skipping and such in SAO, but BNHA also has its issues with the whole classroom dynamic focusing on so many characters they start to become less important as the anime progresses, etc. I accept that no anime is going to be a perfect 10/10 for everyone and agree with the constructive criticism for such situations. BUT this is the most overrated, I repeat, overrated anime (ahem cartoon) I have ever seen.

PS: looking back, I still feel the same way but would like to point out, as one user said, "I'm not going to dislike someone because they liked something I didn't." I hope you feel the same way that this user did. I'm not going to go around trying to argue my opinion on this show in front of avid fans. And yes, I am an SAO fanboy and I feel not-so-smart bringing up SAO on a totally different show.

In a world, where all of a sudden humanity has gained superpowers called Quirks…
A world, in which almost all humans look like alien mutants and the crime rate has significantly increased…
Where being a hero is considered a profession and Saitama definitely doesn’t exist… There exists a boy who belongs to the minority that doesn’t have a superpower...
The boy, called Izuku Midoriya, has a dream… He wants to be the mightiest hero of all, he wants to become the second ALL MIGHT!

The very young protagonist, despite having no Quirk, tries his very best to become one. But is that possible at all, ... when the profession “hero” is all about being strong? And how could one possibly beat superhuman powers if you don’t have a special ability?


Boku no Hero Academia is set in a modern world where every single person wants to become a hero to save the useless people that don’t know what to do with their Quirks from the bad people who use their abilities to wreak havoc and be evil. Being a hero and become the focus of attention is way better than doing mundane things such as becoming a random office worker, right?
This is where the first problem arises. How can society work if the 80% that have superpowers want to become a hero? And if, on top of that, not having a Quirk is being looked down upon; and doing everything that needs to be done to make everyday life function correctly is disregarded, why would these normal (or maybe abnormal) people even bother? You, the reader, must realize that there is no way the farmers will be able to produce enough food if their population decreases by 80%. Society can simply NOT function in the way this world is presented to us. But hey, since there is a superpower for anything, this might just be miraculously solved!

With that out of the way, I’ll start talking about the main plot. The main character Midorima, in his eagerness to become a hero, takes notes on every hero he sees and looks how they fight against villains. But since he himself has no Quirk, it is very hard for him to become a hero. This is also why many other kids in his class look down on him, making his life more miserable. On top of that, his “childhood friend”, who is constantly bullying him, makes him realize all the more that it would be an impossible task for a quirkless person.
It seems like his quest for becoming a hero will certainly fail, when he has a fateful encounter with an emaciated geezer that always coughs up blood. This encounter proves to change his life radically, because Deus ex Machina is overwhelmingly overpowered and seems to be able to solve any problem without much effort. Well, maybe not exactly without much effort, but certainly it is a half-assed way to solve things. This is when he sees a light at the end of the endless darkness. HOPE! He can maybe become a hero!


The next section I will discuss is characters. Although the cast of character is certainly not huge, being most of them sidekick heroes or unimportant hero students, there are four important characters in this show.

The protagonist, Izuki Midoriya, is a young boy that at the beginning of the show hasn’t entered high school yet. During his whole life he aimed to be a hero, but it seemed as though his Quirk never wanted to appear. Despite that, he continually worked hard to become one through studying alone. He obviously will succeed, as he is the protagonist. That aside, this character seems to evolve slightly, going from a total coward to someone that dares to speak up (a bit). Although he isn’t a total retard, his personality is still the same as most shounen protagonists.

The second main character, Bakugou, is supposed to be Izuki’s childhood friend, which completely baffled me, as this character is constantly bullying the protagonist bcuz eevil is gud and is objectively superior since he has a nice “bang”. It’s also rather annoying that he underwent a sudden character change; all of a sudden he is a “good” guy, and the reason to it is rather stupid.

Another character introduced to us is the emaciated geezer, who is something like a mentor to Midoriya. He is the responsible for making it possible for the protagonist to become a hero and has an interesting story which I won’t tell because spoilers. Nevertheless, I really doubt his choice-making ability, as Midoriya doesn’t seem that special to me.

The only female lead is a girl called Ochako, whom Izuki met in the hero entrance exam and seems to be nice to Izuki, without any reason. She is a dimensionless character who doesn’t really add anything to the show.


Thus concludes the characters section and starts another one; sound and animation.
As for the sound, the music played throughout the different scenes was satisfying; there was no mismatch between music and type of scene. The used soundtracks were well used and could be considered good. Furthermore, the voice actors played their role well and managed to match the personalities of the characters with their voices. The opening and ending themes were shit as with nearly all shows, and nothing anyone says can change this particular opinion of mine. Overall nothing special in this regard, only what is required to not make it disturbing.
The animation used in this show was good enough; background was well done (though it had no movement) and the moving parts were drawn well. Battle animations were fluid and special effects also transmitted all the information that was needed easily observe what is happening.


Finally, I’ll discuss enjoyment and make a small summary of the show.
Surprisingly, this show managed to be enjoyable for me, for about 3 episodes. This is where the whole idea started to become too stereotypical and predictable, making me start to dislike it. As the show progressed, everything became more and more predictable; and thus more boring. All the Deus ex Machina didn’t really help my enjoyment of the show either, contributing to the low score I gave to this section.

In essence, heroes are gud and villains are bad; small children must go into a hero academia to beat eevil. Even though there are some terrible people amongst these heroes.
Do I recommend Boku no Hero Academia? No, I don’t think watching this is worth the time for people who actually think about what is happening in an anime while watching, because the amount of plot holes and inconsistencies is too big. For those who prefer to just enjoy a show and not think about it (or those that are new to anime), I do believe that it is worth watching, though.

If you read through all of this, I applaud you. Furthermore I would like to add that feedback is appreciated.

Boku no hero academia or My hero academia was one of the most hyped anime series of spring 2016 and in my opinion it lived up to the hype.

My biggest disappointment was the episode count being only 13 but that was to be expected as Bones rarely does 25 episode anime. However a season 2 has been announced and if they continue to follow the manga season 2 will be even better.

Story: 8/10
The story is not that original but all the characters quirks make the story interesting enough.

Art: 9/10
The art and animation for Boku no hero academia is great for the most is great, there ... is a few scenes near the end were the animation is not that great but it is very good for the most part.

Sound: 9//10
I love the soundtrack it fit the series perfectly. The opening is fine but I thought it would be better, the ending theme is great though.

Character: 9/10
The characters are all unique the only reason it does not get a ten is because their are too many characters and not enough time. The character that were introduced were great.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I enjoyed Boku no hero academia so much it was my favourite of Spring 2016. Not only was it my favourite of Spring 2016 it is only in my top 5 anime of all time.

Overall: 9/10
Overall Boku no hero academia was great. It was slow paced and needed more episodes but I still enjoyed it. Just after the villains arc ( the one the anime ended on) the manga gets way better so I'm very hyped for season 2. I highly recommend My hero academia so everyone. Evan if you thought season 1 was just okay I think you should watch season 2 when I comes out it will be way better.

Watch it on Funimation or buy the blu rays when the come out. Illegally streaming is killing the anime industry.

Thanks for reading my review, It was my first one so it might not be that great.

As i see season 2 of this anime is very good ranked i wanted to try it. People say its a original and refresing shounen but they are all wrong.

Story: The world they live in everyone has superpowers, but the mc dont so he is useless. But even tho he is useless the best hero gives him his power for no reason instead of giving it to someone more op. I mean think about it, if you could choose to give superpowers to a useless guy or guy that make explosions what would you choose??

Art: The art is only good with this anime

Sound: Sound is ... okay

Characters: This is the worst part of all, the characters is so cliche. Its like copy paste from all other shounen. All male characters are boring and cringe. And no good waifus for female characters, just boring.

Enjoyment: I only give this anime a 3 cause of cliches. And it only makes it worse when all might is copy from saitama in one punch man.

For the spring 2016 Anime lineup, Boku no Hero Academia was considered as the main shounen title of the season, and for good reason. It had everything going for it that you’d need in a good shounen and was something that could easily be picked up by anyone at any time. But the real thing to consider here is, even though it managed to stand as a good show to watch overall, was it truly able to Go Beyond (Plus Ultra!!) any of what the genre has set as its standard?


Story:

For the most part, the story doesn’t really have much to talk about. Well, at ... least not yet. The show, like most others in the shounen genre seems to be of a rather extensive nature and considering the length of Academia, it’s pretty understandable that they could only give us a small part of the story with just 13 episodes, thus leaving us with a plot that does leave behind a few hints of a deeper subject and some greater events to come but unfortunately also leaves the show in a rather incomplete and unsatisfying note. So we’re not really getting any closure until maybe another season.

But let’s talk about the actual contents. First off, while the concept is nothing new and has been done several times before, the show still manages to present it in a very ‘fun’ way. It maintains a very nice atmosphere and is able to carry out events in a manner that is very easy to digest and do not require much thinking to enjoy. While the story doesn’t offer anything all that amazing and is rather linear, it is still enjoyable. One other thing that I particularly liked about the show is that it is very honest with itself. It knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try too hard to be something that it’s not. This way, everything always feels in place and none of the scenarios feel overdone or unfitting.

Sadly, even with all that, the show still did feel as if it was constantly missing something, like it just didn’t have enough. Though I did say that I appreciated the fact that it doesn’t try to be something it’s not, it also doesn’t try to ever improve or explore upon the aspects that do relate to it. It feels confined to a certain space which doesn’t leave much room for diversity, thus lacking anything for the viewer to truly look forward to. Simply put, it’s a very simple show with a simple setup.


Art and Animation:

Academia offers a simple and comic-like style of art. It might not have all that much detail, but it does hold a certain charm to it and is pleasing to look at. The character designs are also done nicely, again not much detail and are kept simple but that’s what allows it to fit with the theme to a good extent. The animation did feel a bit clunky at times but was fairly smooth when it needed to be, such as during the action sequences which were always animated well enough.


Sound:

The soundtrack is one of the better aspects of Academia. I always found the OST to be catchy and it always set the atmosphere for the show really well. Coupled with its style of presentation, it managed to set the mood for certain situations and even got me excited during some of it. The voice acting’s also done well, but still not something I would praise.
The opening sequence was well presented and did prove to be a good way to start the show, but eventually starts to lose its charm after a few episodes. After about 4 to 5 episodes, I found myself skipping through it at the start of each one..


Characters:

While the characters do have some very interesting designs and fun personalities, there’s hardly anything redeemable about any of them. Most characters within the show are very flat, they’re exactly what’s given to you at face value. There’s no depth to them and most of them are very stereotypical. The main character himself follows a very generic underdog personality and development which can pretty much be seen anywhere within the shounen genre. There isn’t anything wrong with sticking to the norm, but to not add your own uniqueness to it kind of is. Because of which, most of the cast just ends up feeling like a copy-paste of other shounen stereotypes. While the characters do have their own quirky personalities and are fun in their own way, they don’t have anything to offer much beyond that, and eventually end up feeling rather plain and forgettable.


Presentation:

This is the aspect which pretty much saves Academia from falling to a bad grade. Despite all the shortcomings, it still manages to be an entertaining show. It just offers a very lively feel and really puts you in the mood. Getting to experience all the different abilities and quirks that the many characters had, proved to be a rather enjoyable experience for me and the way these quirks are used during the battle sequences was also very nice. It gave off a sense of creativity. The way the show carries out its development and how it’s all presented allowed me to enjoy the show for what it offered without paying too much mind to the many problems that it already had. Thus allowing me to even forget about those problems sometimes.


Conclusion and Verdict:

While Academia might not have been able to offer anything above the usual, it still fulfilled its job as a fun shounen. If you’re looking for a nice little show to watch that doesn’t take too much thinking or just want to enjoy something that’s quick while giving out enough enjoyment to make you want to watch more, then Academia could tend to your needs quite well. But for those who’ve already seen enough of the genre and are looking for something new to be had, then your time is better spent elsewhere.

Story 4: My Hero Academia is a story about superheroes learning at an academia. Except it isn't. It starts that way, but it isn't that way. Deku works so hard just to go to a school we don't get to pay attention to. People say it is just a typical shounen, but a typical shounen would have tried to flesh out the school life a little. When you have such a unique school setting for once, you decide to just blow it. It's so stupid. The story is very, very character focused and overly convenient. You go from entrance exams to showing off a really ... powerful set of villains and how the fledgling heroes act in a crisis almost immediately, right when we were just feeling like it would possibly be a more developed world.

Art 9: There are a ton of character designs, which is amazing to me. There are some exceptionally cute character designs, which is not something that I have said about any anime before. It also doesn't shy away from mixing big muscle and a slightly more Western style with the typical skinny young anime heroes aesthetic. There is nothing really lacking, but it isn't artistic enough to warrant a 10.

Sound 8: I don't remember much of the sound, but I have a feeling the soundtrack isn't a weak point. I'm not at all a fan of the opening theme, but the ending isn't too bad. Usually I don't factor in openings or endings into the sound department too much though since they aren't made by the team behind the anime usually.

Character 6: Characters SHOULD be higher, but I still feel like the only ones they really care about are the biggest protagonists. Even with trying to give a lot of characters a little time to develop, it is done in such unnatural form that it doesn't feel nice. The only exception in this arc was Iida, who really got to show what they were like at heart. All Might is annoying character. While it might seem deep to give such a strong character a weakness, it just feels like an excuse for weak writing and a reason to have a slightly unnecessary tutor character like in Naruto or Reborn!. Yes it may have been the start of the story and a central plot point, but it doesn't work well in the long run and All Might basically just proves that the time limit he placed on himself might mean nothing at all, which makes things feel extra fake. Maybe once the injury is explained, we can understand his reasoning because i don't get why it would hinder him so much.
The main character Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is really a solid shounen protagonist since he is truly thoughtful, studious and passionate and gets to where he is at the beginning by pure hard work. But how his power develops is very, very shaky because we don't get to see him train the power directly. His rival is very well presented, has a great character design and you can really feel that he has deeper motivations in everything that will probably develop further even if other developments were dropped.
One character I absolutely hated was that baby. There is no reason why he exists. His personality is bad and quirk is useless so it doesn't make sense that he got into the Academy with the highest standards. Additionally, Sui's reaction to him is terrible.

Enjoyment 3: I was able to watch 26 episodes of Hero Academia, which is more than I can say for basically all of the few anime I get around to trying. But that may have just been because I was curious about the world since I was in an RP discord server and wondering what made the world stand out. Still, I was not excited past the first two episodes. There wasn't too much that caught my attention after they got to the exams and school, except Deku's rivalry and showing off new character skills, which is just too flat for me. There was also the feeling that the plot wasn't properly explored at all by skipping to a major fight so quickly in place of what could have been a very interesting event (learning how to rescue people in natural disasters or something like that).

Seeing the hype of My Hero Academia, I have the general impression that people watch it with the mindset as just another enjoyable fighting shounen with a unique-looking superhero premise. The production values are decent, the atmosphere is fitting for the superhero premise, and the story of a Quirkless individual really gives off that empowerment vibes. However, I like to try to dig beneath the surface. This review is mainly focused on the premise of the show and how it’s possibly flawed upon closer inspection.

First, we get a setting where having superpowers is a normality. How come heroism still thrives in this kind of ... setting? Factors such as the existence of Quirkless people, powers being inferior to others, and the inevitable division between bad and evil are all reasons why. Yet, these reasons could have been used more properly to have a better story in terms of conflict and exploration. The existence of Quirkless people serves as a way for discrimination to thrive into the story, without having any pre-existing remedies to compensate for their absence of Quirks. Inferior powers are also a way for discrimination to be present in the story, but powers could be used in other aspects of life apart from fighting like industry and transportation. The division between bad and good hasn’t been properly explained by the story so far but the impression I get is that it’s biased on one side (Justice always wins). I’m hoping the second season will try to expand on this aspect.

Second, the story takes place in an academy for aspiring heroes. Does it really need to be necessary to enroll in an academy to be qualified a hero? Apart from the main cast being kids which means there must be a sort of school, there is no real reason. There is an organization of heroes in general but having an academy that is modelled after an ordinary school with stuff like English class feel pointless. Powers varies by person and you can’t simply measure their capability through a set of tests following a common guideline. Sure, you can polish things like preparedness, mentality, and utilization of powers but they mostly lie on the theoretical side. How will they train their powers if there is no such thing as an academy? Things such as self-training or discipleship work. Based from what I observed, the main drive for the cast is to have their powers recognized by the crowd and not the noble idea of helping others unconditionally like All Might does. The original meaning of heroism gets twisted. It can make an interesting deconstruction but it doesn’t look that way based on what we are shown thus far.

The story is fairly average as a shounen title but with the attention-grabbing superhero premise. The main cast are not really that interesting and lack the charm to be an interesting hero. They could use better characterization to look less generic and more character background to reinforce their standing and future development as a character in the story. Overall, it has an interesting premise but it’s not being fully utilized by the story. It has a strong start, but it starts to lose steam as it side-tracks into the less interesting parts of the story. The enjoyment is there, with a couple of frustrations along the way, but it could have used its episodes better. But hey, we still have another season and just maybe it might resolve some of the problems I have in the show. For now, it’s just fine as a mindless yet enjoyable and engaging superhero story but not really as amazing as I expected it to be.

My Hero Academia was easily the most hyped show this season for me, and for good reason. Once I heard that it was going to be produced by Bones, my anticipation went through the roof because of the obligatory Full Metal Alchemist comparisons. What I got was not FMA, nor should it have been. My Hero Academia is an endearing and uplifting tale of a young boy trying to get accepted into an academy full of individuals with superpowers (which he ironically has none of). It's almost like an anime based on Xmen. It ends up suffering a tad from groundhogs day disease and plot ... conveniences, and the overall premise wasn't exactly what I originally foresaw. However, a great potential and the last three episodes certainly made the series for me, giving me something to look forward to in the newly announced season two.

There's that popular saying in life that everything is good in moderation, and I found that that's one of the areas that Academia struggles. The first episode was rather enjoyable and I really felt moved and gripped by Midoriya's motivating personality. The way he admired the other heroes and envied their ability to save those in need struck some heart chords with me that I really can't explain. A lot of shows start off with this underwhelmingly weak protagonist but something about Midoriya seemed more relatable. In a way he kind of reminded me of myself because of his brains over brawn mentality, even if it is was technically forced upon him due to natural selection. Unfortunately, the "I can do it!" theme from the first episode repeated a multitude of times afterwards. It almost felt as though I was watching the same episode over and over again with a different background. This was the point in the show when I realized how lofty my expectations may have initially been.

I chuckled at the convenient nature in which Midoriya receives his perk. I guess in his case persistence really does pay off. All Might almost appeared to be swatting away a fly when he was initially dismissive of Midoriya. Convenience aside, I was relieved to see that the power given to him was not magically mastered in a minute. Perseverance and willpower were the keys to making this perk work. Using this new power Midoriya grows tremendously as a character. Through this growth he even inadvertently manages to spark a sense of jealousy in his rival Kacchan's eyes. toll that the All Might ability had on his body was proof of its potency. The manner in which Midoriya's fellow students revered him after saving Uraraka was a prime example of the naivety of youth. The other adults teaching the classes knew something was up, but his peers change their minds rather quickly when they saw the impact of his perk. I'm just glad an anime writer finally illustrated how gullible kids can be vice making them into a reincarnated Sherlock Holmes in the form of a 14-year-old. I appreciated the sense of realism written into the characters which was shown quite well in the evacuation scene, where mass chaos ensued when the threat of a security breach within the school loomed.

Another aspect of Academia I enjoyed was the comedy. Sometimes anime can entirely derail due to poorly written comedy. Unintentionally deadpan humor that falls on deaf ears can be cringe worthy. There were even shows this season guilty of such atrocities in dialogue. Academia's jokes were well written, subtle and well-placed within its 13 jampacked episodes. I even found myself laughing out loud during a couple of instances. Something about Midoriya's character is so pathetic you can't help but laugh at him from time to time. At the same token, the story can have very uplifting moments, and the tides can turn quite quickly into serious, cerebral battles. Pacing can be a slight issue due to the development of the characters, environment and plot. With the potential to be a repeating series, at times Academia struggled to keep me focused due to the sheer amount of things it was trying to get done in such a short amount of episodes. Despite this and the aforementioned groundhog effect, Academia kept me entertained and intrigued enough to look forward to its second installment in order to expand the story. I was also elated to see how the show ended, another aspect that made me look forward to future seasons. The series took a dark turn in the concluding episodes, showing the heroes in a vulnerable state, something not shown in many anime/television shows. You can really feel the panic in Midoriya and his friend's voices, realizing that being a hero isn't all about glory and morality... There can be quite a grim side as well.

Obviously the character development in Academia primarily revolves around our main protagonist Midoriya. I can be slightly empathetic to his childhood as I also got made fun of and ridiculed for my shortcomings when I was younger. I do like the approach the writers gave to Midoriya's backstory, making it seem like a tale of redemption more than a sob story. Although meek and timid l, Midoriya shows promise as a MC from his determination and intellect. Although his goals are lofty, he is still just a boy who is shy and nervous around girls, and gets worked up over relatively trivial matters. His interactions with Kacchan are very believable in the sense that he sees himself at level ground once his perk is obtained. His rival, someone that he's looked up to and envied for his entire life has now been knocked down a peg and has become vulnerable. The Herculean growth he goes through in the series is awe-inspiring. Kacchan doesn't necessarily receive the same amount of growth or character development, but he isn't entirely ignored. His past is slightly explored through character flashbacks and some inner monolguing, but it didn't quite cut the mustard for me. I wanted to know more about what made his mind works the way it did and why he was always so pissed off at Midoriya. I felt like there was a lot more emotion possibly smokescreened beneath it all.

Besides Kacchan and Midoriya, the only other character worthy of any development was All Might. His facade he showcased in hero form was taking a massive toll on his body. Passing the torch was inevitable, but he struggled internally with doing so. I think he may have been my favorite character in the whole series. There was just a brute sense of realism in his actions. I know that this character development problem stems from the fact that the series is only 13 episodes but that doesn't make it not a problem. I know that risk and budgeting issues limit most anime seasons from being longer than about a dozen episodes, but it doesn't give me a real chance to become connected to a cast the size of a show like Academia. I couldn't even remember half of their names when the show is over. I know this isn't a problem directly linked to Academia, but it's frustrating nonetheless. The villain who appeared at the end showed some promise so, I guess I'll have to wait till next season to see his character more developed.

There is no denying that the music and art in Academia are top notch and I would expect nothing less from bones. The opening is one of my favorites this season, with its quick beat and intense animation. I actually found it on a 10 hour loop within a couple days of its premiere on YouTube. There are no miss use of sound effects or bad voice acting. Both Midoriya and All Might's voice actors put on tremendous shows of versatility in their roles. The ED's a cute little childish bow on each episode as if to remind you that you're watching a cartoon, in case you forgot. Nothing really special here. I really like the art style in academia, everything looked fluid and seamless... and its budget was on display here. Beautiful fight scenes galore, it was certainly visually stimulating. I thought it was interesting how both shows produced by Bones this season (Academia and Bunguo Stray Dogs) each had such vivid and discernible art styles.

My Hero Academia was no FMAB reincarnation, but was easily entertaining in its own right. Through its use of eye-catching visuals and inspirational story, there is something for everyone in this series. I am anxiously awaiting the second season to discover what happens to Midoriya and his friends at the Hero Academy. I guess only time will tell how great of a franchise this becomes, but I would recommend it to anyone. If you're looking for some quality action and entertainment without too much strain on the intellectual side, this is an anime for you. As always, thanks for reading an be sure to check out the rest of my Spring 2016 reviews!

I've come across a few anime of this genre, and I can't rack my brains around how they so consistently amass a large following. Whether the premise is confined to a school; the world; a personal journey; a collective journey; comedy; harem or on a more serious tone. Maybe the recently sensationalised marvel universe has enchanted the masses into submission.

Boku no Hero Academia seems to touch on a few of the above mentioned bases without the core themes being disjointed on paper. The problem however, is that the ultimate relay is a lukewarm exploration into topics it clearly took a more juvenile approach to ... and ultimately finds its themes disjointed. Which is why I'd say this is for the younger audience, as I can't imagine this being taken seriously by an older demographic.

Boku no Hero Academia is about a world where 80% of the population is born with quirks, or in other words, some 'super power'. One of the problems I had right away is with the properties of these powers - they were mostly just painfully juvenile and often times lacked any practicality in more or less any scenario. This problem is inevitable if you are going to build a premise of a barrage of characters having said powers. This would have been OKAY if not for the fact that EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A HERO. What's worse, more or less, THEY ARE. To enjoy anime is to often times suspend disbelief, but when you are presented with characters that have lame heroes with powers like climbing walls or shooting balls of goo, it is hard to take seriously. More or less, the majority of other characters also have abilities that any pistol would outdo from a militaristic standpoint. This would have been OKAY if the anime was mostly confined to a comedy genre, but it ISN'T - it tries to take a serious tone with melodramatic and black and white depictions of good and evil.

Which brings me to the other problem; characters. Alot of characters, but few backgrounds explored. And the ones explored are as what you'd expect if you notice the rest of the show - childish. The MC is a pansy kiss ass without any resolve beyond the shows projected fight for its black and white justice.He always wanted to be a hero despite not being born with a quirk and now conveniently has one, thus fulfilling his dream. That's the sum of his character. The blonde haired secondary (forget his name), has probably the worst background to date in anime - he hates the MC despite being friends in the past because the MC asked if he was okay after an accident that had nothing to do with the MC, and now this terrible secondary vows vengeance against him throughout the series. One of the worst narratives I've come across. The rest of the characters are also the lame righteous knights without faults for the most part, and as mentioned, don't have much backgrounds explored, and their overall personalities are just a lot of ''I want to be a hero'', to be well, a hero. No backgrounds beyond that for the most part.

The villains were as you would also expect, the other polar end of the good and evil spectrum. The main antagonist pushes to upset the balance of peace for the sake of destruction and fame. Full stop. Moving on. The only one villain in the show that has any character is 'Hero Killer Stain', whom has an agreeable philosophy to mine - ''there are too many heroes''. The rest of the antagonists seem to just be an extension to the main antagonist with their viewpoints aligned. No individuality to comment on. This union is structurally symmetrical to the hero's society. Bleh.

Story :

The story is just a function of the above mentioned character design. Light vs Dark. Good vs Evil. Beyond the plot, the combat is mildly enjoyable if you can move past the question of practicality,as it is actually rather well choreographed. Beyond this, the actual concepts of their abilities were a bit too juvenile for my taste. They tried to incorporate a strategic front to the combat, but it was often times a little too simplistic or unreasonable even within their own framework. The absence of death or gore to boot only made the show lack suspense. Again, no problem with that, but I find it more for a younger audience.


The art is one thing I can't criticise at all.

Ultimately, I did manage to get through the show without too much struggle, but it's more of a show to simply pass the time rather than take something with you. Put it on the bucket list if a fun combat oriented anime is for you, but probably place it on the lower end.

First thing I just feel the need to say, everyone who is saying this is like One Punch Man... sorry but THAT IS ABSOLUTE BS. Beyond the fact that they're both series with heroes and superpowers and that the character designs are are a little funky/quirky (haha pun intended), there is NOTHING SIMILAR. That's like saying Death Note and Bleach are similar series since they happen to both focus on shinigami as a supernatural element in a previously seemingly normal world and both MC are high schoolers. Bleh. No. Just no. Just needed to get that off my chest, since I feel like people ... might watch this with the expectation that it's like One Punch Man, or might not watch it because they think it will be like it. It's not.

Since I'm late to the party in watching this, rather than give yet another description of the plot like all the other reviews before mine, I'm just gonna say it straight:

This show suffers from a SERIOUS pacing issue. Every single episode, from the first to the last, feels like a forth to a half is filler. The story is dragged out beyond being dragged out. It doesn't work because for this first arc of the story, the plot is very simple and predictable and follows a typical shounen genre type plot with magical schools/superpowers we've seen dozens and dozens of times beforehand.

You can literally fast forward through a lot of it, and the characters will be doing the exact same exercise/dialogue topic/training, whatever, as minutes prior. And it's not complicated stuff, there's no amazing fight scenes or complex plot points to warrant such drawn out scenarios. Basically, it actually gets boring.

I'm being repetitive, but it's just truthful, you can't drag out a show with such a simple story line. I feel like what happened in 13 episodes could have happened easily in half the time, and it still might have felt a little dragged out.

I actually ended up reading the manga after, because I really like the whole superpower/magical school genre, (and it's rare to find one without the females being stupidly cliche weak/annoying idiots or overly sexualized characters only being placed for fan service. Kudos to the author for that.) The manga is bounds and leaps better than the anime, and after reading it I can see WHY people rate this show so highly. If you're a fan of the manga, seeing the characters you like come to life, and knowing the cool storyline that unfolds afterwards, is really awesome and exciting. But as an anime on it's own, if you're not already a fan, it's just alright.

The show gives off that same feel that Naruto filler episodes do: the creators are trying to milk it for everything it's worth to make as much money as possible. I don't blame them, since it's a business, but it could've been an amazing show. As it is, it's just sort of good. I wouldn't be disappointed if it's discontinued, but I would still be sort of interested to see if it gets better in the next season, giving how well I like the manga. That sort of feel.

To sum it up, to just rate this show based on its merits as a stand alone anime, it barely receives a passing grade.

*ATTENTION*
Do I have your attention now?...hehe

Boku no Hero Academia is not like your every shounen anime. This (and One punch man) is kind of "shounen gone american" version, like the concept of superhero society spreading around which is(and I mean it) certainly not a bad thing. We all watch things for something new but once in a while who doesn't like combos (here bit american-japanese).
Izuku Midoriya is your nerd with hell-lot of bravery who wants to become a hero no matter what. SO it's the story of the journey of this boy from being a zero to some ass-kicking-badass-'all-might'y hero......
The universe of My hero Academica ... is where everybody(almost) have some kind of power or quirk (in anime's terms), now according to their powers they become either heroes or live normally. Now Izuku (I think u already know) is our powerless but passionate wannabe hero, the emotions, the feelings that he carries are one of the +points and is beautifully portrayed. Every hero story needs a rival either in a form of enemy or friend-now here we have Bakugou who is one arrogant prick but yet overwhelmingly powerful, he my friends makes a great rival who is standing on the brink of the pit of evil held by Izuku from the other end. No matter which universe we go we all stay human, hence it is yet another saga of struggle against the odds. Ofcourse (you know) there is also an evil organisation at work who like any other one believes in extermination of all heroes and bring darkness, so what their plan is..>.>(don't worry not tellin) but they still have a big plan they need to execute...so now our Hero Academica will try and stop them..
So let the game begin...

Art/Animation-9/10
Animation is not 'WoW' but it is good, somewhat like in every other anime, it's pleasant to watch.

Music/Sound/Voice Actors-9/10
Music is good...OP is "The Day" by Porno Graffitti and ED is"HEROES" by Brian the Sun....Background music in important and fighting scene is badass,cool...Voice actors are good..I personally quite like Urakawa's voice done by Ayane sakane (She's super cute ...(~ ~))

Characters-8/10
Izuku is good earnest hero, Bakugou is your 'almost evil'-hero, Todoroki is your 'all powerful yet in pain' hero and many more interesting ones.I've read it's manga first and I think you can see a character more truthfully in it's original form, so what I can say is that the character don't have that much depth (but anyway when did shounen heroes had any depth...ლ(o◡oლ)) but still they do the task.

Anyway it's a show with a great potential as Masashi Kishimoto said. I personally think it's a must watch as for seeing the sort-of changing trends in anime industry.
Result::GO AND WATCH IT and see for yourself, alrighty!!!!(Surely, worth a try)

My Hero Academia is regularly billed as "The New One Piece" or "The New Naruto". There's certainly some truth to that - even setting aside meta comparisons like its status as Jump's new cash cow, it clearly draws inspiration from both, with its distinctive cartoony character designs and action scenes owing much to One Piece, and its school setting and ensemble cast resembling early Naruto.

But the important thing is what's new.

It'd be easy to dismiss Hero Academia as another soulless clone of its predecessors (and there really are so many), but in some respects HeroAca marks a progression from usual genre conventions. The first and ... foremost example of this is in the protagonist, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

One of the biggest and most frequent problems with battle shonen protagonists is in the origin of their powers. Goku, Naruto, Ichigo, Yusuke, and many other such protagonists are all born special. The growth of these characters and their abilities ultimately breaks down to unlocking a series of contrived powerups.

Deku, however, is born powerless (which in the setting of HeroAca is quite unique). But as he idolizes heroes - especially All Might, who is considered the world's greatest hero - he devotes his life to the study of heroes' abilities. Perhaps because of this, Deku develops the virtues key to being a great hero, is recognized for this by All Might himself, and is granted powers of his own.

This is one of Hero Academia's strengths - there's an emphasis placed, not just on becoming the strongest hero, but on becoming the *greatest* hero. On what it means to be heroic. HeroAca is a series about character growth, but it's about their growth as people as much as their growth in skill.

The battle system also benefits from this, as their powers (or "Quirks" are they are known) are always simply what they are. While Deku's increasing ability is a core part of the plot, the roof on his power level is set from day 1. His progression is only him learning to use it. This keeps the series grounded, ensuring it doesn't devolve into a string of powerups. Better still, every step taken to gain control of his abilities is logical and earned - there's no deus ex machina at work here.

That we're able to empathize with each step of his journey keeps us invested in Deku, which is the core of why this series works. The contrast of virtues also makes for an interesting and colourful supporting cast. each with their own reasons for becoming heroes. This is helped by some exceptionally distinct character designs courtesy of mangaka Horikoshi Kouhei's unique sense of style and aesthetic. There's no mistaking HeroAca for any other anime.

However, while all this applies to Hero Academia as a series, both to the manga and later instalments of the anime, to speak solely of this particular season of the anime, it suffers from being a 13-episode season. Not only is this season absurdly slow-paced compared to the source material (most likely as an attempt to neatly end with a complete story arc), but it ultimately leads to a lack of actual content. As a result, there are alarmingly few hot-blooded beat-the-shit-out-of-each-other fight scenes, considering that these are practically mandatory for this genre.

At the end of the day, My Hero Academia is a prelude for things to come. It's the beginning of a long story. The first act. It's a very solid foundation to build a great series on, but that is all it is - a foundation. HeroAca is definitely a good show and worth watching, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Story/Plot: 5/10
Animation/Graphics: 8/10
Music/Background: 7/10
Characters: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

For Fans Of: One Piece, Naruto

So like, I watched 300 episodes of Naruto, so that makes me some expert on shounen anime. Thing is, this is a good genre, but a lot of titles have too much bullshit. Corny backstories, cheap asspulls, ridiculous powers thinking that bigger=better; there are certainly good shounen, but a lot of them just come off as trying too hard. But Boku no Pico Academia doesn’t step outside of anyone’s comfort zone while it embraces the genre; it’s a love letter to those who grew up thinking superheroes were fucking cool (which they are), and for those who still enjoy a traditional feel-good underdog story, all ... without stepping outside of its boundaries.

To anyone with a soul, the beginning of Izuku Midoriya’s story is easy to understand. He grows up admiring the number one hero, Saitaaaaa...ll Might, and wants nothing more than to be a badass superhero like him, until he soon learns that he simply lacks the genes to do so. Yet, he continues to follow his dream and tries to become some sort of analyst or something, perhaps being a hero with knowledge. Gotta respect someone with determination like this.

One thing leads to another, and eventually Izuku really does end up with a great power, and starts his journey to become the greatest hero ever. But he doesn’t get this power through a sheer amount of luck or through bloodlines, he actually earns it through hard, daunting work.

Without a corny, exaggeratedly tragic backstory, or a free super-overpowered ability, we get a typical shounen hero, one that’s very believable and respectable. Izuku Midoriya isn’t really an interesting character, but the basics of him are absolutely perfect.

The one thing that is exaggerated a bit is the rivalry between Izuku and his childhood rival, Gary Oa--oh, sorry. I mean Bakuman, that’s his name. There’s nothing wrong with the rivalry, it’s just a standard “hey this guy’s better than me, I wanna beat him!” versus “HAHAHAHA SCRUB I’M AWESOME GET GOOD SMELL YOU THE FUCK LATER”, but the anime furiously hypes this rivalry up to the point where it’s obvious that the they’re buying time so the episode can fill twenty-four minutes. Like… I get it. Just fucking punch the guy, already.

Flashbacks, a common shounen trait, are used pretty commonly in general, but they didn’t bother me nearly as much as this one episode did. If anything, they go along with the show’s slow pacing to add some real impact to the show’s big HYPE!!! moments, which are extremely satisfying. This plays into Izuku’s power, which is some sort of super-strength, but using it will essentially crush the body part it’s used from. This means that not only is it severely limited, but using it involves making a clear, conscious decision, leading to each attack being a huge, swift moment with a lot of build-up.
So I guess it’s kind of an orgasm, have fun thinking about that from now on.

But the biggest moments for me were those involving All Might, the #1 hero and almighty (heh) symbol of justice. In a tale all about superheroes and learning how to become one, it’s good to have a character that embodies the role perfectly. He’s the strongest, he’s the nicest, and he doesn’t afraid of anything. His relationship with Izuku is a charming one (no homo tho) and has a struggle of his own, adding to his ideal personality, and his one big fight in the series made for the most exciting scene in all thirteen episodes.

Other superheroes, young and old, play a part in the anime, but not as significantly. For now, most others play as bystanders that observe and take a small part of the action. Everyone’s powers are rather basic and linear: super-strength, gravity, explosives, fire&ice, etc., but they’re made a little more interesting with just a bit of ingenuity.

Battles are often accompanied by some really exciting music, much of it being orchestral with a few pieces having some electronic layers that mingle well with the instrumentation. Much of the other tracks have a good driving feel, such as the vocal-included rock track known as ‘Hero A’. If you don’t remember what that is, it’s the one that says “MY HERO!!” And uh… other things, I guess. Yeah. The seiyuu are pretty great; Izuku’s annoying whiny voice is made a little better with his emotional range and mature narration, Bakuman’s hateful, raging screams are intense as hell, and All Might has a pretty hilarious and great dichotomy between his booming, powerful voice in his superhero form and the frail, weak tone of his true form.

The OP is a good rock song, and while not as overall powerful as a mighty hero, its beginning is a striking, hype-filled section with a great hook. The visuals matching it are rather basic in direction, but effective enough, as it gives a brief look at the main character and the supporting cast with their powers. It’s good to have an action montage and actually know what the fuck is happening in it. The ED is of similar caliber, but not as dynamic or emotional as the OP. I didn’t care for it much, in comparison.

The art style is decent overall, with some great moments where it counts. Battles feature some great animation and a lot of environmental effects like smoke and fire incorporated perfectly. The characters themselves look pretty interesting, and facial expressions always lined up with the vocal performances, both soft and hard. The villains, appropriately named by the show as Villains (don’t get confused, now), are the most interesting, with the endgame’s baddie having one of the strangest appearances ever, with an edgy-as-fuck voice to match it. In a way I wanna laugh at how ridiculously emo he is, but it’s also so crazy that I can buy into it.

In the end, Hero Academia is pretty average, pretty basic. And I respect that. It doesn’t take risks and attempt something it’s not, but the amount of heart it has prevents it from feeling cheap or stale. If you want just a simple little action shounen, it’s right here. But for anyone who craves a little more, maybe you should stick with Hunter x Hunter.

Story - 6/10
Art - 7/10
Sound - 9/10
Characters - 6/10
Enjoyment - 9/10
HYPE - FULL/10
Overall - 7/10
Favorite episode - 12
Favorite character - All Might
Recommendation level - High