Boku no Hero Academia: Training of the Dead

*** REVIEW FOR ANIME , NO MANGA CONTENT OR SPOILER INCLUDED ***

First of all, I would like to start my review by complementing the Production House. Frankly speaking, I loved the job that the production house have done. Previous year, they released season 1 and this year season 2 with double the episodes of 1st season along with this OVA too, unlike attack on titan.

FYI at this point we know in the animated series, UA Sports Festival has just ended and all the UA students have gone to complete their internships under different agencies.

The name of the OVA and the trailer gives us the glimpse about what's going to happen. It's very normal but different in way. Zombie Apocalypse/Attack on Heros (You will know why in just starting 5 minutes of the episode - Not a Spoiler, don't worry).

Story : For an OVA, it's a fine and a crisp story. Comic timings are just great. There are few things in story which will feel unnecessary, but bearable.

Art : Art is just like the ongoing anime. No extra blends just like Funimation do in their most of the movies. Make sure you try to watch it in 720p or better.

Sound/Character : Just like the ongoing series, just few characters added, which is mainstream, as they always do add some extras in every episodes.

FINAL VERDICT : I would recommend you should watch this OVA after the internship is completed in the ongoing series as I think after watching this OVA, there are some elements which would have a better explanation(just a few) if you watch this OVA after the internship part. High chances that production house may add this OVA in the end of their anime OR anime would be over after the HERO INTERNSHIP. So, i repeat, overall OVA is good, but i would recommend you should put this anime in ON HOLD section and watch it later.

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*********This review contains minor spoilers of the OVA*********

So first of all, currently the anime is up to episode 13 of season 2. This OVA contains minor spoilers for something that will happen later in season 2. I still recommend watching this though because it is very enjoyable.



The art and sound are both pretty good (8), but nothing to major (EXCEPT the part where Izuku uses full cowl, I loved the animation for that part)

The story is interesting(9) since it shows more tough training that the students of class A have to undergo, in order to become better heroes. The training is also very good foreshadowing for later arcs.

The character development is exceptional(10), since it dives deeper into the character of Asui (sorry Tsu-chan), as well as showcase how well class A knows each other.

I very much enjoyed the OVA(10): it's funny, it introduces new quirks and characters and overall it was just great to watch.

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*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 6/10 It was fine. Nothing new from the original anime series and was about the same quality. Art style was modern type. Anatomy of human type characters and overall proportions checked out. Some minor impact shots. No expanses of any type showcasing art skill, nature, etc.

Animation: 6/10 Since this was a 90% anime original story it was nice that this was pretty much "new animation." They didn't cop out and actually animated things decently. For example, they animated Bakugo's whole fighting sequence as well as other action scenes. Some shortcuts were taken such as reusing that one running animation for Bakugo, framing most of the movements and running to cut off at the torso so that there would be less to animate, and a few cut shots. The movements were a bit choppy and didn't have as many frames as normally would be but it didn't look too bad to be a negative.

Characters: 6/10 This felt like an experiment. I think they were testing the waters in trying to go even more mainstream and see whether or not the series could continue without borrowing from the source material. As such, I felt they took a fairly risk-less route in trying to appeal as much as they could by including every single "main" character even if it was something like a 10 second appearance. This could have been an original side story like the Tsu internship story with the manatee guy and it would have been fine too. Well anyways, this was okay. It was nice that they decided to focus on that one story bit of Tsu's relationship with the mongoose girl and expand on it. The new characters were somewhat interesting but the class president pretty much was just there to look pretty, act like Iida and be a receptacle to a Mineta joke. The zombie-quirk guy was also just a copy/paste Bakugo and only really just there to be a receptacle or reason to give Bakugo substance during that episode. Otherwise, Bakugo's fit of rage during that episode would not have had any mode of actually flying. The zombie-quirk guy was pretty much there just so that Bakugo could have a reason for being Bakugo. The only interesting ones of the new characters were missile boy and mongoose girl but that's pushing it already.

Music: 5/10 No new music or bgm. I guess soundboard was a bit new with the missile boy's quirk. Sound design not applicable. Everything the same as the original anime.

Plot: 5/10 An anime original story that expanded on a short bit on Tsu's background. It was nothing crazy in the main story's plot development and was a pretty risk-less move. You can not watch this and not miss anything at all.

Development: 5/10 Turned out fairly how I imagined it would. Can't exactly do anything crazy with a first-time dedicated episode to an original story in which the studio doesn't know how the public would react. There's no development plot or character-wise to warrant putting this on anything but a low priority list. You can skip this episode entirely and not miss anything. This episode is great for those who just want that extra bit of exposure to their favorite characters because this episode takes the safe route and uses the very surface of each character's personality to drive their interactions in this show. For example, Mineta's surface personality drove every single interaction and line he had in this episode. Mineta either said something pervy or did something pervy. That's it. Bakugo's surface personality was used in the same manner. Bakugo was either mad because zombie-quirk guy existed or screaming because he was mad that zombie-quirk guy existed. That's it.

Conclusion: 4/10 Eh. A conclusion that didn't conclude anything really. There wasn't even anything to really conclude. They pretty much started back at square one. This conclusion sort of just solidified that you have the option of totally skipping this if you want to.

Overall: 5/10 I'm going to give this a 5 rather than a 6 because although I felt that this was a nice original addition to the MHA universe. I wasn't really impressed by the content itself. The aspect that killed this original story for me is the bit I talked about on how only each character's surface personality was used to drive their interactions. I appreciate the existence of this episode, but I would have rather preferred something that added a bit more character to any particular character. For example, Tsu's whole internship story with the manatee guy. That added a whole lot more substance to her character than this particular one did. They showcased too many characters in this episode which ultimately detracted from this episode's plot or character development value.

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I don't think I've ever enjoyed a BNHA episode as much as this one. Yeah, if you take this seriously then this is nothing special, but I had a permanent smile on my face all the way through! The main story wise this doesn't offer much, just some background info about Asui and some random things that happen that they don't show in the main series. Just some harmless fun, exactly what an OVA is supposed to be (at least to me).

If you want to watch your favorite U.A. kids in trouble (in a fun way) then watch this! The characters did stay in characters and didn't go OOC which I've seen happen in few OVAs - so that was a good surprise.

Had a fun little plot twist concerning one of the student's quirk which, at least to me, opened the world of quirks a lot more.

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