Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season

At UA Academy, not even a violent attack can disrupt their most prestigious event: the school sports festival. Renowned across Japan, this festival is an opportunity for aspiring heroes to showcase their abilities, both to the public and potential recruiters.

However, the path to glory is never easy, especially for Izuku Midoriya—whose quirk possesses great raw power but is also cripplingly inefficient. Pitted against his talented classmates, such as the fire and ice wielding Shouto Todoroki, Izuku must utilize his sharp wits and master his surroundings to achieve victory and prove to the world his worth.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Midoriya, Izuku Main

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Todoroki, Shouto Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Bakugou, Katsuki Main

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

All Might Main

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Uraraka, Ochako Main

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Iida, Tenya Main

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Aizawa, Shouta Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Kirishima, Eijirou Supporting

Masuda, Toshiki Japanese

Toga, Himiko Supporting

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Dabi Supporting

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Okamura, Wakana Producer

Nagai, Kouji Producer

Sanjouba, Kazumasa Producer

Reviews

Sep 30, 2017

Stark700

Recommended

After watching the first season of Boku Hero no Academia (My Hero Academia), I can’t help but feel wanting for more of this series. The first season consisted of only 13 episodes. It adapted the general premise of the story and had its character roster in set. However, it missed the opportunity to expand more and build on those elements. Have no fear. Season 2 is here and it’s set to fill the gaps for you diehard fans of this classic shounen adventure.

One major part of the sequel is that the length is almost twice the duration of the first season. It consists of 25 ... episodes (including an anime original) as part of its storytelling. Therefore, expect almost twice as much as details. As an avid fan of the manga, I’m also rather impressed by the faithfulness of its adaptation standards. Expecting this show to hit a lot of its marks is no easy task and I had some doubts at first. Still, the sequel does a splendid job at crafting the essence of its story. At its core, the show is about heroes in a fictional world. Protagonist Izuku Midoriya (nicknamed Deku) tries to make a difference in his world by trying to become a hero.

Something that I often found appealing about Boku Hero no Academia is how stylish it establishes itself. It’s a typical shounen series yet is able to spread its themes and knows how to do so. The second season asks a question: what really makes a hero? From the first half, we get a tournament (U.A. Sports Festival Arc) that pits the best of the best between classes. While this may seem like a generic battle tournament you can find in many shounen series, Boku Hero no Academia sets itself to establish characters within its tournament. Prominent characters such as Deku, Ochako, Bakugo, and Todoroki gives the audience their insight on their reasoning for fighting. While some of their principles can be disputed, they sent a clear message that becoming a hero is no easy path. At least for these characters, being a hero is more than just about saving others. The Sports Festival arc also examines the background story of Todoroki, a character that we knew little about from the previous season. It invites moments of sympathy as we see how tragic his past has influenced his character in the present.

Meanwhile, the show still maintains its presence of antagonists. Perhaps the most prominent of these is Hero Killer Stain, a new villain with his own objectives and morals. Again, his character ties with the question of “what makes a hero”. In his mind, there are certain rules that establishes what a “true hero” is from the “fake ones”. Season 2 has psychology that makes antagonists such as Stain feel meaningful as a character. It motivates other heroes to realize what they are and what to fight for. Don’t believe me? Just ask Tenya.

As I watched more and more of season 2, I can’t help but realize that the sequel serves as a way to prepare for the characters/heroes for what’s really ahead. What I mean is that while the second season is rich in content, it still leaves some gaps to fill. Mainly, prominent villains such as Tomura Shigaraki and his right-hand man Kurogiri play very minor roles despite establishing themselves as a dangerous threat from the first season. All Might also plays a lesser role in this season despite still being the main hero. Although his role is still important for Deku’s development, it feels that his character dynamics with the boy is less. As a show loaded with characters, don’t expect everyone to get the same development as the main cast. While most characters gets some time to shine, others are left with less memorable moments or comic relief. (yes, I’m looking at you, Mineta) Finally, season 2’s storytelling can occasionally feel stale at times with the academy setting and themes. Luckily, the comedy gives the fans its entertainment value that’s deceptively fun to watch.

Bones studio (known for their adaptation of other super power and hero theme shows) returns with their animation quality. I must admit, season 2 sets the bar for is stylish animation. Battle scenes from the Festival Arc particular stand out that is simply mesmerizing. The fight between Deku and Todoroki is especially noticeable that captures the stellar choreography as I’d expect from this studio. Camera angles feel smooth with vibrant colors and body movements. However, there are a few scenes that feel stagnant especially during the fight with Stain. Perhaps some of those can be fixed later in BD/DVDs but it’s nothing too distracting. Character designs in this sequel also remains memorable for characters ranging from the barbaric design of the Hero Killer, pro heroes, and our main cast.

When listening to the soundtrack, I can’t help but feel that everything is on point. From character voice mannerisms to the battle OST, it succeeds far more than it fails. I can honestly say that the voice mannerism of the characters really brings out the personalities of the cast. Characters such as Stain, All Might, Bakugo, and Todoroki especially stand out this season whenever they speak with dynamism and purpose. The theme songs offers a classic hero-like tune that’s hard to miss.

If you’re going to watch this second season, just know that it will be a thoughtful experience beyond the colorful battles. Everything has a reason ranging from the story, themes, morals, and even character names. I can’t say this enough but season 2 really bought out what I had expected as an adaptation. It’s faithful on most parts and leaves me hunger for more each episode. That being said, season 2 is still far from resolving the end story. It actually feels more like building up for more as certain characters are foreshadowed and more threats looms in the horizon for the main characters. However, I came into this show with high expectations and left with awe. With season 3 announced, this sequel is nothing short of been a classic.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 16, 2017

Hatul

Mixed Feelings

This review covers both seasons and will contain some vague spoilers.

For a show called Boku no HERO Academia there's definitely a lot of academia but not much heroism. Makes sense too since according to this show, the word 'Hero' doesn't have an actual definition.. Yeah, apparently being a hero is whatever you want it to be. this is something a character in the show actually says at some point and we're supposed to see it as some kind of profound gospel.

I'll start by saying that I think the first 2 episodes of season 1 was the show at its best. Deku's backstory had a good ... emotional punch to it and we get a glimpse of real heroism on the part of his childhood hero, All Might, via YouTube video. and in episode 2 Deku himself demonstrated real heroism by risking his life to rescue a kid who bullied him despite not having a super power. But before you know it, the show becomes no different from any other shonen that DON'T boast the word "Hero" in their title.. only with more training and a lot less fighting villains. It just becomes an endless barrage of competitiveness and egoism with actual heroic acts being an afterthought at best.

Everybody in this show just seems obsessed with the superficial aspects of being a hero, like the strength, the glory, the cool costume, the super hero nickname. Speaking of which, why do they even need a costume and nickname? Isn't that for keeping your identity hidden? We have half an episode dedicated to them picking out costumes and nicknames.. Which comes straight after a tournament that was broadcasted on prime time television and everyone in the street cheers for them while knowing their names and faces.. That's just one example of how this show comes off as gimmicky and disgustingly shallow, despite sometimes pretending that it has actual heart and a heroic spirit, none of it is convincing because the majority of content in the series doesn't compliment that at all.

Meh. This world is boring and unimaginative anyways. By reading the synopsis you'd know that 80% percent of the population now have super powers and yet the world is pretty much the same as ours, except they have super powered people working alongside the police and receiving tax payer money.. Which begs the question why the police is still needed or why the police aren't made up of super powered people but oh well. It's not like this setup is displayed well anyway.. When villains attack civilians in the street, all said civilians do is run away instead of using their powers to defend themselves, which most of them supposedly have...

But whatever, I don't really care about these nitpicks. The thing that bothers me more though is that most shonen consist of some cool fantasy setting where there's a lot to explore and potential adventure is at every turn.. while in this series the only thing to look forward to is seeing more people with different powers.. How exciting. And I don't think it's good as an American-stlye super hero show with a contemporary setting either (See the first three paragraphs)...

Out of 38 episodes so far there's probably only about 9 that AREN'T training sessions or a tournament and there's only so much of that I can take when the fights aren't that great and there's barely any dramatic weight behind most of them. Furthermore there isn't really much of a connection between the training and the non training parts either. Near the end of season 1, Villains invade the school and basically hijack what was supposed to be another training session in order to kill the mentor character, All Might. And the Hero Killer arc (which only lasted about 3 episodes in season 2) had no relation to anything happening in the tournament that preceded it and just generally felt like a detour before we go back to more training again straight afterwards (though admittedly a pretty badass detour). There's definitely something building in the background but it's hard to see this as much of a story in the traditional sense, so far.

Plus, I found the tournament to be fairly underwhelming as a whole. The less important fights ended very quickly and had unremarkable choreography (consisting of up to 5 unimportant fights per episode) and the more important ones that take up about half an episode or one whole episode and the fights in general play out as follows: fighter X repeats the same attack over and over again while fighter Y evades them until there's one strategic move employed by fighter Y which ends the fight without fighter X having a counter strategy. Not to mention that these fights are excessively interrupted with dialogue from spectators.

The tournament doesn't really do all that much for the characters either. Sure, you get to see everybody's powers (which we mostly saw already in the last 3 episodes of season 1) and see them interact some more, but the main purpose of it was just to move on to the internship which only lasted a few episodes anyway and then it was back to business as usual. The most notable thing to come out of it was fleshing out and developing Todoroki's character which was the only participant that had actual immediate dramatic weight to him fighting in the tournament.

Speaking of characters, they're all quirky, and vibrant as shonen characters should be and in a basic way of personality and appeal there's nothing really wrong with them. On the other hand they all have the same motivation of becoming a hero and with a lot of them it's for rather selfish reasons which are never called out on by their teachers (Student: "I want to be a hero because BOOBS!" Teacher: "oh how charming" ).

Also the more the show goes on I started to notice that there's a huge lack of good character interactions. As far as I could tell, the vast majority of episodes (with the exception of maybe the opening episodes to an arc) consist of one scene of a minute or two (or much less) where characters interact in a casual way while the rest is made up of either exposition or mid battle lectures. I started to notice this because these interactions are the most enjoyable part for me. I thought it was cute when Deku was excited over talking to Uraraka on the phone because she's a girl.. Why did it have to take 3 episodes (of one scene in each) to get to the punchline of that interaction? Well I guess because the show is too busy with training sessions and tournaments..

The most prominent characters that started proper character arcs so far were Deku, Todoroki and Tenya. I'll just point out that I didn't like how Deku was handled. They make his childhood hero his mentor - he becomes his mentor's favorite boy - and the one unique trait he had which was NOT having a power is taken away. All of this happens in the span of the first few episodes and through convenient happenstance, so it feels like most of his arc is already behind him and that he already achieved what he wanted, which makes it harder to be invested in him as a character. Todoroki's backstory is a little weird for reasons I won't go in to because of spoilers, but I generally thought it was at least a step in the right direction and there were some ok dramatic bits with him. I guess the same can be said for Tenya. As for Uraraka, we get to know her motivation and background but that didn't seem to go anywhere yet. She's still best girl though. I know there's also the rival character but he's cliched and overdone, it's like the author didn't know how to make a believable character like this so he's just angry all the time even in situations in which he shouldn't be and hard to care about for that reason.

We also have All Might who's seen as the ideal hero by pretty much everyone in the show (villains included) and we get a glimpse of what he's capable of in the beginning and end of season 1. And in season 2 we get some backstory for him which excuses why Deku of all people, is his favorite boy. Not a bad character, but since he's looked up to as such an ideal hero it would be nice to see him going out and doing heroic things without being forced to, instead of being shut in the school all day. He's more defined by the way other characters perceive him rather than his own actions.
The rest aren't really worth mentioning, they take up a lot of screen time and used for comic relief, and while some of them do have their own little character arcs that continue from the sidelines (which is good and all) there's still not enough in terms of any details that we know about them for me to have enough to talk about.

So basically the main characters in this show have about as much depth and personality as minor One Piece villains.. And really not much else can be said about the rest of them. To this show's credit though, I've definitely seen worse.
Speaking of villains, let's talk about the ones that were introduced (and actually did something) so far. Yes, All two of them.

The prominent one is.. Angry.. and itches his neck when he's angry.. and uh, he works for some guy.. and uh.. oh right he wants to kill All Might. yeah that about sums up what we know about him.

There's actually more to talk about with the less prominent one who appears only in season 2 for a few episodes which is the Hero Killer. His motivation makes a lot of sense for the world he's a part of and it's similar to my sentiment on the lack of heroism in this show that I brought up in the beginning of this review. There was potential with him to at least begin to address this issue, but the show doesn't seem to acknowledge that he may have a point and when Tenya (the character who confronts him) concedes that he's right and admits he's not a real hero... he only seems to be referring to himself for not preventing the hero killer from attacking someone near and dear to him, which he had no way of preventing anyway.
So in the rest of season 2 this theme is dropped.. Will it resurface? I don't know and I'm not convinced that sticking around for it is worthwhile, after seeing how the show danced around this topic the first time. And understandably so because if the show acknowledges that this villain has a point, it's an admission that what it presented to us up until then - was shallow and dumb..

And with that, I think that's about all I have to say about the story, characters and themes.

Visually this show as a whole is pretty good but far from perfect and I would argue, somewhat unappealing. It has a nice and fittingly bright color pallet and it knows when to mute the colors when there's a darker scenario. The character designs are somewhat creative for sure since they all have different shapes and sizes but a lot of them are also made distinct by having one special feature to them that's kinda ugly like big lips or a frog face. It can look pretty lame and ugly with some of them, especially when they're attached to otherwise normal looking designs.
Furthermore some characters are drawn with thicker outlines to the point where they look like they're from a different show.
In terms of backgrounds they're mostly made up of either generic school grounds or ok looking cities.

The animation is above average and there is a noticeable improvement in season 2 when it comes to character motions. But this definitely is a downgrade for studio Bones since their shows are known for having fluid animation and great fighting choreography and this does not. Plenty of moments look dull with panning shots over still frames of people just standing around. Not to mention the action can look stiff with speed lines and Pokemon style flashing backgrounds being fairly frequent. To be fair, you could argue that this show is going for a classic comic book look, but I don't think the art is pretty or detailed enough to justify that style.

I never had much trouble with the voice acting. All the kids sound enough like kids and adults sound like adults. The acting can get a little over the top and some voices are a little high pitched so it can get a little annoying but it's not too bad. It has some really nice and heroic sounding tracks, there's lot's of fast rock tunes and slower melancholic ones mixed in but it doesn't quite sound like something you would listen to on your own and the ops and eds i found to be fairly average and unexciting with the exception of op 2 of season 2.


So overall I find this show unimpressive, fairly dull most of the time and even insulting to the super hero ideals I grew up with (or the basic definition of the word). I know many people feel very differently which is fair. And sure, it has some cool moments and it even raises some interesting questions but its answers seem to either be rooted in moral relativism or it just cops out from an answer all together. So I think I'll spare myself from watching season 3 thank you very much.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 22, 2019

77AnonyMei__77

Not Recommended

I know this might sound exaggerated — “2/10? Are you insane?” — but please just hear me out for a second...

Spoilers ahead:
Protecting people in the face of adversity; even in the means of sacrificing yourself, using unique strength only found in the hearts of some people for good, being brave and standing up for the people you love… this is what it means to be a hero. A hero isn’t something you strive to be, nor is it something to be viewed as a career. To be qualified as a hero in the first place, is to be selfless. By devoting all your life trying ... to become a hero by wearing a cape and a superhero outfit made by plastic is, in and of itself, a selfish and childish dream. By dreaming so only results in a messiah complex.

To be running around and jumping from building to building wearing goofy clothes only defeats the purpose of being a hero. Only people who are looking for attention do this; narcissism at its best.
Having a girl wear a suit that reveals most of her cleavage, and a skirt so short to the point where it should be called a belt, only makes me wonder why she didn’t become a prostitutional entertainer instead. And also having a character wearing a cape whilst stepping on the bad guy they just beat up whilst laughing like a maniac and shouting, “Don’t worry, your savior’s here.” only makes me wonder why he didn’t become an exhibitionist.

Every character in My Hero Academia only have a single goal in mind: to become a hero that everyone looks up to. That’s really it. There’s no other character in the series that has a different ambition — even if they do have a bit of a different ambition, it’s still completely connected to being an admirable hero. Being a show about heroes, it’s okay for everyone wishing to become a hero. But if that’s the only primary goal in their mind, then that’s just a writing excuse — all of these characters have a goal, thus, all of these characters are three-dimensional — or so the author thinks. The characters are like a group of Flamingos who have chain reactions. If you can’t handle writing a very large cast of characters — especially by trying to flesh out all of them — then don’t try to do it in the first place.

Characters are indeed hard to write. It’s definitely okay to have a large cast of characters, but do so at your own risk. The writer, in this case, tried to give some personality to other side characters. But what resulted in was underdevelopment of main characters — not to mention failing at even making the side characters decent.
Deku is the underdog of the world. He’s also shy and not so good socializing with girls; in other word, he is us. This isn’t supposed to be an ecchi-harem show, Kohei Horikoshi.
Trying to make us experience everything through Deku’s body only admits that he’s flat as a character. Normally, we’re supposed to put ourselves in the protagonist’s shoes, but to actually become the protagonist is lazy writing. This is just an excuse trying to make the character “relatable”. A character can still be flat even if they have an ambition, backstory, and development. Because execution is what matters.
Deku’s ambition and backstory are quite simple. He wants to be a hero like All Might, but he doesn’t have a quirk, unlike most people. He then gains powers from All Might by eating a single piece of his hair. This is all fine and all, but what about his development? He pretty much stays the same and has the same mentality throughout the whole two seasons. Being stronger and being able to control your powers better isn’t character development. What Kohei Horikoshi tries to do is make Deku break his bones over and over again just for the sake of looking “cool”. And then he breaks more bones in the second season, which tricks you into thinking that he developed as a character. But he has the same ideology and personality intact; only being able to control his powers, or rather All Might’s powers better.
I doubt the possibility that Deku will ever improve as a character throughout the whole show; he’ll stay the same; crying, speaking, thinking, and acting the same exact way he did at the start. The reason is simple: there is no room for improvement. Deku is, at first, actually what he should have developed into, not start with it. Only if he develops into an evil character — developing an ideology about heroes the opposite of the one he had before — can he be able to improve, or develop as a character. But the spoiler which Deku gave us at the beginning, and also looking at the genre of this show, there’s zero percent possibility. Having better powers, or controlling a power better, or creating your own proper power is often confused with character development. But it’s not.

Deku is known as a rare protagonist because he’s smart and analytical. But he’s stereotypically so. Putting your hand on your chin and thinking aloud while having words flying out of your head isn’t identified as being smart; it’s just an attempt at being one. It’s very easy to make other characters point at him calling him “smart”, when in reality, he’s only slightly above average. He actually reminds me of Sakamoto from Sakamoto desu ga — due to the fact that every character looks up to him, for the exception of some characters who hate him and want to surpass him, but end up giving up and acknowledging the main character’s superiority. But let’s not forget that Sakamoto was loved due to him being cool, meanwhile, Deku is liked for no justified reason whatsoever. Sure, he is strong. But don’t forget that he was a loser who was being bullied at first and viewed negatively by almost everyone. So there’s no way people’s view on him would change in such a short span of time just because he got stronger.

What about the girl he saved once which automatically made them very close friends — Uraraka? She’s very poorly written. She reminds me of Tenten from Naruto when she kissed Neji’s ass in the Chunin exam. Her main purpose is to be cute and support the main character. She shouldn’t be one of the main characters of the show, especially considering how weak her character arc was. Her backstory is basically having bad family circumstances, so she wants to become a “hero” for financial gain. She has about two or three personality traits. And that’s it. I can’t help but think that this show would’ve been fine without having her even appear in the show. There’s nothing to add on to her character because I feel like she’s even more underdeveloped than other side characters.

Avenger stories are, at best, fine. Iida’s whole drama about avenging his brother was executed poorly, and was extended way longer than it should have. The best way to realize if a character is three-dimensional and has depth, is to have the character pursue a certain motivation, but doesn’t see the need in explaining his or her actions to other people. Iida’s long monologue explained all of his motivations to Stain; his enemy. This is the best example of how you should be showing instead of telling. If a story tries to flesh out their characters by having them tell their ideology, instead of showing their ideology through their actions just shows the lack of the author’s writing ability to do so. Iida’s motivation is in and of itself fine, just done very poorly.
Another example of a fine character with a fine backstory, yet terrible execution — Todoroki’s whole character development is eventually decided by mister psychiatrist, Deku. Todoroki is a decent character, but was very inconsistent throughout the whole show. His personality changed through dialogue — meaning that he’s Todoroki in one scene, but a totally different person in another. His ideology, personality and perspective change in a very short amount of time, making him inconsistent. He started as a very promising character, but is slowly evolving into another one of Boku no Hero’s ordinary characters.

If you can remove a particular character from a story and can still have the story function as well as it did before means that the character should either not be there entirely, or write them differently so that he/she has a purpose in the story. If the author of Boku no Hero did this, then he would be left with a total of four-five characters that can actually function as an independent character. For a show praised by the way it handles its characters very well, it’s actually very subpar when it comes to characters.
The author wrote a character for the sole reason of being hated — Minoru Mineta, the pervert. Why? Was this used so that we hate a character so much that other characters feel like decent people compared to him? There is no doubt that the author wrote this character this way intentionally. Was he expecting people to like him? I doubt it, hence why I think my reasoning is correct. If the author himself doesn’t care about his own characters then why should we?
The characters in Boku no Hero remind me of IDubbbz; dressing in a very weird costume, and dancing around here and there, shouting, “I wannabe gay!” — If this analogy isn’t true, then I don’t know what is.
If the writer is eagerly trying to make me like the characters by using very cheap techniques, then I might as well admit the absurd fact that my, and also many other people’s emotions are being toyed by. I don’t see any positivity from this show — if the character’s are merely “simple”, then why use tricks such as melodramatic character arcs to further our bond with the characters? Doesn’t this contradict the simplicity of the characters?

The characters’ existence is for a sole reason: comedy. Whenever a comedic scene comes by — which is very frequent — I’m reminded of Black Clover because of the amount of screeching thrown at the screen. Characters are eventually used as a remark-factory in this case, as in remarks are the only things side characters ever say. Not only does this make for very cheesy comedy, but it also confuses my emotions. This show is ultimately a comedy, so when a serious and “emotional” moment comes up, I laugh, wondering why the characters are all of a sudden taking everything seriously. I’ve laughed more at sad and emotional scenes than I did in the actual comedy scenes.
When Deku finds out that he doesn’t have a quirk and goes home and plays the video about All Might on his computer, I was smiling, because that’s what this show wants me to do, right? I mean, look at Deku’s crying face. He’s crying with a hysterical smile. I automatically take this as the show trying to tell me not to take this seriously. If the show wanted me to take it seriously, then why have him smile instead of frown? I know a lot of people try to hide their actual emotions by smiling, but kids are straightforward with their emotions.

Uraraka’s character arc wasn’t supposed to be emotional at all, yet they somehow tried to make it emotional. Same with Momo losing her confidence. As I came upon this particular episode, I tried to watch the previous episode thinking that there was something I missed. But there was nothing. I was very confused as to why she’s even acting like that. It was apparently because she lost her battle in the tournament, but they went way over the top with her drama. The show can’t draw a clear line between comedy and drama. E.g. Showing a character’s breasts in the middle of a “horrifying” battle, Mineta gripping another character’s breasts while another character is on the verge of death, etc… And so when I come upon these overdramatic scenes, I no longer care what happens to the characters, since you can’t take something seriously when it doesn’t even care to take itself seriously to begin with.


People like to point fingers at other shows like Anohana and Kiznaiver and call them overdramatic. Yet Boku no Hero has as much, if not twice as much overdramatic events — a shounen having more drama than some other slice of life-drama show is very weird. What part of Boku no Hero is overdramatic, exactly? All of it, probably. As I said before, this anime is a comedy; a pure one in that matter. So when the show throws in these overdramatic emotional moments, I laugh off — not considering the possibility that the characters are on the verge of dying.

Since we’re talking about death, let’s talk about plot armour. I’ve heard many times from many people comparing Boku no Hero with Naruto, calling it superior. Even though Naruto had immense amount of plot armour with its main characters, Boku no Hero goes beyond the limit as to give every single character in the series plot armour. Plot armour is okay as long as it has the right amount of it.
Naruto is tragic, and had a lot of characters die. Meanwhile, Boku no Hero is a very carefree and a childish series. The kids were beating up the villians in ease. It’s like they’re so experienced in their first try. None of them even had any major injuries. If Naruto was Boku no Hero Academia, then Naruto would’ve become Hokage in episode four.
I would’ve fallen in love with Boku no Hero Academia had I been an eight year old, because that’s what children want: a fun series about heroes saving the day, which has no development or tragedy; something you watch on Saturday mornings.

I’ve got nothing against simplistic shows. In fact, I love a lot of shows which are very simplistic, and in some cases, generic. But that’s not how I view Boku no Hero; rather than finding it simplistic, I thought of it as bland and subpar.

Boku no Hero Academia isn’t generic. It’s actually subpar. This show is praised for having simple characters. But that’s my down point, because they aren’t even simple; they are so much simpler than simple. They are flat cardboard characters that are very hard to connect to. To begin with, one of the most important point of a story is to connect with the characters. Sure, there are shows and stories I’ve enjoyed and loved without liking the characters, but the possibility of that happening could be because of the superb storytelling. Does Boku no Hero Academia have that? No. The story is, at best, average. The world building is underexplored (Using my knowledge upon completing the first two seasons).
At the very least, I remember the names of about four or five characters from the series. As for other characters, I don’t even remember them in general, let alone their names. As I said before, the characters are dealt with simultaneously; like a chain reaction. Making all of them have the same personality traits and reactions to particular events. They speak, eat, fight, and react in the exact same way. E.g. when everyone in the class talks simultaneously.
The characters don’t each stand on their own because they aren’t even a fully fleshed out character to begin with. Characters are indeed the weakest part of the series — but the ideology is not only poor, but horrible.
Back to heroism, I don’t like the way heroes are viewed and treated in Boku no Hero Academia. Some of the most memorable heroes of anime aren’t characters that wear capes and acknowledge their heroicness, they’re rather the complete opposite. Okabe from Steins;Gate is, in my opinion, the most memorable hero of all anime. He went through more than a thousand wordlines, experiencing so much adversity, pain, and death just to save his friends. This is what it truly means to be a hero. (Not shounen, but still profits my point) Never did Okabe say, “This is a story of how I became the greatest hero of all time.” Admitting your own heroicness, no matter how good of a hero you are, defeats your title as a hero.

I can also say the name of a lot of characters from other series that can absurdly be considered better heroes than the characters of Boku no Hero ever were.
Put any hero in Boku no Hero in a situation where they have to choose between two options — those options being: Would you rather save humanity from a disaster that could potentially kill billions of people, but be considered evil by everyone, or save a single person, but be considered the greatest hero of all time; being admired all over the world, forever — most, if not all characters would definitely choose the second option. Basically, it’s Boku no Pride Academia, not Boku no Hero.

Now ideology aside, the underlying issue of this series is that, I don’t see this anime going anywhere. I don’t see any meaning for its existence. At the beginning, Deku says, “This is a story of how I became the greatest hero.” I, and many other people, know that the main character is going to be the best; prevailing over any other character in the series. But we still have a feeling of uncertainty at times. Deku confessing the future on screen, in the very beginning frame of the first episode, just removes the whole point of this show. At the very least, I wanted to experience the journey that Deku went through without knowing what’s to come in the future. There’s no point in watching this series anymore because I’ve basically watched the whole show now. And the problems of Deku’s character, as I talked about before, removes the potential of me caring for his journey.

I despise this show in all of its being. There’s a barricade wall between me and the characters; distancing us from each other and preventing any further connection other than merely knowing two bland personality traits of each character. Additionally, the thought of having my emotions toyed with by cheap tricks makes me feel disgust, combined with the fact that the second season was two-cour even though there wasn’t any strong necessity; not to mention how the dullness of the show made it feel like a sixty-four episode series.

The only thing preventing me from rating it a one out of ten is the superb visuals by Studio Bones. I respect this show as a piece of art, but no more fabric of the show do I admire.
I’m open to any criticism I’d get upon closing this review off saying this is one of my least favorite show of all time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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