Boku no Hero Academia has one of the worst shounen setups

TJHooker said:
I love that about the series. The real world isn't fair, why would this world be fair?

Maityoman said:
It doesn't need to be the same, it breaks the mould of the happy-go-lucky everyone can be the greatest bullshit by giving a sense that life ain't fair. Deku is lucky to get what he has, that's why his dream is to become the greatest hero, as a sign of thanks to those who believed in him.

MonkeyDJasper said:
Yeah I know how you feel and while I do think it’s unfair , at the same time you do have to remember that this world works on superpowers and even in marvel most superheroes have powers that are stronger than others but I think what marvel does better or other superhero shows is that it’s not really about genetics and so I do agree with you that it relies too much on genetics . My biggest problem is the female characters get reduced to support characters majority of the time . I’m not saying they don’t get little moments here and there but it’s never on the scale of the boys . The only girl that honestly dominated and had a huge moment of victory was Momo , ochako , tsuyu do little support things and have little moments but they don’t really shine . Invisible girl , Mina and jirou don’t really get to do anything either . I love MHA but it feels like naruto all over again in the aspect of the females pale hugely in comparison to the boys , only Momo has really solidified themselves as a top student that’s a girl .

SeaBreezy7 said:

People such as Bakugo, Todoroki, and Izuku have pretty powerful and comewhat OP powers in general, but it was established pretty early that instead of just becoming a hero like most others do, they want to become the best hero similar to All Might. All though it seems a bit unfair, it makes sense that in a world where you have to work to attain your dream for yourself, those with more powerful and flashy quirks desiree to go beyond the average goal of wanting to simply become a pro.

Nou-Tan said:
I don't think that's a problem
it's about Luck
let's say Bell Gates , the richest man in the world , he didn't work hard to be the number 1 , while his classmates did , yet they work in his company while he owns that company, it's a about luck
so out of all characters , the mangaka chose Midoria as the one who is lucky , and gave him all of that , don't forget that Midoria already worked hard more than them all , he is admirable , they might have worked with their bodies , but he worked harder with his body and his mind , he actually suffered the most , so he deserve the most , All Might had to give that Kosei to someone anyway , and Midoria was the chosen one , I think , that's one of the best Shounen stories?

Maityoman said:

He has the OP quirk because he himself was the person deserving enough to attain it. The quirk is only OP through hard work and years of training, in the process he has broken himself over and over again. As All Might says in episode 2 "It was none other than the quirkless YOU at the scene that allowed me to act". Without a quirk Deku already inspires the greatest hero, All Might to act, therefore he doesnt need his classmates quirks, he deserves One For All and there is no argument about it.

It's not about genetics as All Might says, he personally picked Deku because he was the best candidate to be the successor. One For All isn't a ticket to the top and you were a manga reader you'd already know that.

In Naruto, he has the power of the fox sealed within him however that is not a "ticket to the top" because he has to overcome hatred in order to be able to make use of his power.

In Bleach, Ichigo was given the power of Shinigami by Rukia however that is not a "ticket to the top" because he had to train hard and nearly die in order to achieve his bankai so he could even stand a chance in fights.

In One Piece, Luffy just eats a devil fruit which gives him strong power however that is not a "ticket to the top" he has to train as a child for MANY years to be able to use it properly.

Now tell me how Midoriya gaining One For All is different. In all these anime, regular people don't have the same power as each other. Regular ninja don't have tailed beasts within them, humans don't have shinigami powers, regular pirates don't have OP devil fruits. it isn't about genetics it is about who they are as a person and why they are the protagonist. Don't spout this "worst setup in shonen" when 99% of others do the exact same.

SeaBreezy7 said:
I see what you mean and the show even addresses the phenomenon itself. During Shinso's match with Izuku, its clearly shown that people with flashy and "powerful" quirks have it so much easier to make it to the top and become heroes then others. Aizawa even touches upon it by saying of how the entrance exams are flawed because it focused on combat quirks.

Its not saying that simply working hard can fufill your dreams, but that the possiblity becomes much better for those that do. People with useless quirks need to work at their quirks tirelessly like muscles and become smarter with them in order to open up more possiblities.

The fourth best hero, Best Jeanist, his quirk is that hes able to manipulate the fibers of clothes. If a different person with different ambitions had that quirk, they'd probably just become a sewer for a clothing company.

It may be unfair that those with less usuable quirks have to work harder, but its similar to if someone from a third world country with no talent wanted to become an NFL football player. He can dream and work hard to achieve, but he's gonna have to try a whole lot harder than someone born into a family with an NFL coach for a dad.

NightKing said:



My main problem is that the MC by pure luck met All might and got the most op quirk. He has the biggest advantage to become strongest hero then anyone in the anime. He isnt in this position by hard work or training he simple was lucky, he would never be able to achieve this without that quirk. And that is what pisses me off like you cant possibly say that DEku doesnt have biggest advantage and is not predetermined to become the best. How can i appreciate when he become the best if he has the strongest power in the anime and he got it by pure luck, like no matter his hard work he wouldnt be able to do sh1t without that quirk, like everyone else, you need to have strong quirk potential to be on the top. What i would like to see is him having an average quirk with hard work and persistence develop good fighting style and strategy to fight for the top. This way he just have so much advantage by defaulnt and it is not deserved. Like i said genetics play the biggest part, its how lucky you are to get good and powerful quirk, training and hard work is just not enough

TJHooker said:


So basically you don't like it because it's different? I really don't get what you're trying to argue here.

tiagra said:
By the way Luffy wouldn't be able to be Pirate King without the Conqueror haki . Which is an extremely pure luck to get.
So it's not fair to give a pass to Luffy but not Deku, am I right?

NightKing said:



My main problem is that the MC by pure luck met All might and got the most op quirk. He has the biggest advantage to become strongest hero then anyone in the anime. He isnt in this position by hard work or training he simple was lucky, he would never be able to achieve this without that quirk. And that is what pisses me off like you cant possibly say that DEku doesnt have biggest advantage and is not predetermined to become the best. How can i appreciate when he become the best if he has the strongest power in the anime and he got it by pure luck, like no matter his hard work he wouldnt be able to do sh1t without that quirk, like everyone else, you need to have strong quirk potential to be on the top. What i would like to see is him having an average quirk with hard work and persistence develop good fighting style and strategy to fight for the top. This way he just have so much advantage by defaulnt and it is not deserved. Like i said genetics play the biggest part, its how lucky you are to get good and powerful quirk, training and hard work is just not enough

NightKing said:


Srry i didnt read latest chapter of the manga, so i didnt now you need to have it to be pirate king?? i dont remember i read that anywhere, like i said maybe it was in the latest chapter i didnt read them, as i remember every pirate had the same chance and everyone was trying to become pirate king regardless of their haki

NightKing said:

No i dint like the setup because some characters have advantage over other characters pure by genetics and not their actions and struggles, also MC by pure luck got the best possible quirk how convinient.He has the best possible predisposition too become strongest.
What i am trying to say i would like for MC to have average and not op quirk and then to have him with his hard work and persistence, creativity develop fighting style and strategy to fight for the top, and not just have the most op power from the beginning. I dont like that setup because it gives too much weight to genetics, luck and other things one cant control and not their life decisions, actions, struggles etc, i dont like how you are predefined by birth

TJHooker said:


Characters having an advantage over others isn't a problem. The show explores the concept and doesn't ignore it. It hammers the point in over and over that the world is unfair. Also, just because a quirk isn't suited to be the strongest doesn't mean it isn't useful. I'd say the majority of the students don't intend to become the greatest hero in the world either.

Izuku was very lucky to get One for All, but he didn't get it purely by luck. He was given One for All because he inspired All Might to act. His heroic nature despite and luck resulted in him getting a quirk.

What makes MHA unique is that despite having the strongest quirk in the world, Deku still has to start from the bottom. Making it to the top is an inevitability for him if he works hard, but he does indeed have to work very hard to get there. The show isn't about if Deku can become the strongest hero, it's about how he becomes the strongest hero. You said you want an MC that needs to work hard, be persistent, be creative, and develop a fighting style. Deku has done literally all of that. The last battle showed us the if he continues to rely on brute strength he will be killed, so I'm going to assume he will start to get some combat training by the end of this season.

Going back to how you don't like that the world is unfair in the show, the world is unfair in real life. Some people win the genetic lottery some people don't. Not everyone is capable of becoming the fastest runner in the world. I don't care how much you train, you will never beat Usain Bolt in a race. It seems the show opted for realism instead of going the cheesy and bullshit "you can do anything if you try hard enough" route. Ultimately this is down to preference, but I'm very happy the show went in the direction it did.

NightKing said:

Its true that i will never beat Usain Bolt the world is harsh and i am limited, unless my dream is to be fastest man on the planet and one day in this realistic world i actually get the power to be the fastest man on the planet, lucky me :) , you will maybe have better luck in the next life

NightKing said:


No i dint like the setup because some characters have advantage over other characters pure by genetics and not their actions and struggles, also MC by pure luck got the best possible quirk how convinient.He has the best possible predisposition too become strongest.
What i am trying to say i would like for MC to have average and not op quirk and then to have him with his hard work and persistence, creativity develop fighting style and strategy to fight for the top, and not just have the most op power from the beginning. I dont like that setup because it gives too much weight to genetics, luck and other things one cant control and not their life decisions, actions, struggles etc, i dont like how you are predefined by birth

TJHooker said:


MHA being more realistic than other Shonen in one aspect doesn't mean it's realistic in general. It's impossible for quirks to start popping up in the real world. That much is obvious. In this MHA world the quirk to pass on quirks is not unrealistic.

So are you not actually going to counter my points? Does that mean I've changed your mind?

Anime_Critic said:
I think that the anime itself is focused on the ideals that it presents. Midoriya is presented as an op character cause he's the main protagonist. The main goal is to become a hero, not the strongest, so I think that the whole point. Training is just something so that they can become heroes, so I don't think that the 'training really hard to be the strongest' aspect should be focused.

Boku no Hero Academia shows amazing heroic scenes and strength comes secondary. Also, the dialogue doesn't focus on the years that the hero trained to get this far; they talk about their duty as heroes. But ye, Midoriya was practically given one of the most op abilities just by eating a piece of hair, but we can't forget about the strong ideas that Midoriya holds within his heart. Although his quirk is op and can't be compared with most of his classmates, the extent he goes to train is admirable. It's unfortunate that the other characters aren't as op as Midoriya no matter how much they train, but I'd like to think that the series is focused on the path to becoming a hero through heroic paradigms, not strength.

Personally, the problem is that there are a bit too many characters in the anime and the episodes don't fully show the extent of the story. The anime's purpose is purely for entertainment, so the action scenes are awesome to view. I believe that the manga better depicts the characters. So I would say this anime is shouneny, but I don't think that it's all shounen. But I definitely agree with the difference in power though, bit unfair, but at least those intense action scenes give you goosebumps!

xShinigami3125 said:
Yea that is true people like Todoroki ll always beat creati or uraraka in the begining that also really annoyed me but even tho most of the students are pretty much worthless when it comes to fighting they somewhat redeem themselves by helping in other areas. So they aren't compleatly useless unlike the supporting cast of most shounen battle anime. And you say mha has one of the worst setups because of its power system that might be true but many other shounen have pretty much ruined theirs and bade it equally unfair or even worse I mean just look at Naruto if you aren't the protagonist u need a super special eyeball or you re just irelevant. The best shounen powersystem in my opinion is Nen from hxh cuz there everyone can be relevant if they just think of a creative and useful ability.

NightKing said:


Yea i agree agrree, it just pisses me off that all of this characters that were unlucky to say get weaker quirks are pretty much limited for life, i mean no matter what they do and how hard they train they wont reach these characters with best quirks who got them just genetically. So we are stuck with basically most of the characters pretty much useless except few with strongest quirks who can actually do something. And i am mad because their powers were limited genetically they cant affect them, so they character development is limited, pretty much with birth you are mostly defined as what can you reach.

xShinigami3125 said:

While I also don't like it epecially when there isn't a single useful female character it's like that in pretty much every battle shounen just not as obvious there they just call it talented or whatever so they can justify some characters being relevant and others not.
But if you want to see a shounen where pretty much every nen user can win a fight and raw strengh rarely is the reason for someone winning a fight Go watch Hxh 2011 it's great.

NightKing said:


Yea i watched HxH and that is what i am talking about, that setting is better because characters are not that limited so you dont know in which ways they would go.
I would say Hxh and Fmab are the peak shounen

eurunik said:
I do not agree with your argument.
First .
Let's look at One Piece for a second where the main protag has a crap quirk . Rubber body , but he makes it work . And if you are smart, you can make any crap quirk work.

Second.
In MHA later chapters it is revealed that one of the best students has a crappy quirk that is also quite problematic, but he also managed to make it work and reached the top.

Third.
Let's take for example the Mineta. Though he is a gag character, if he develops his quirk /body he could be quite powerful.

NightKing said:
First of all i am not making this topic to bash the series, actually i think its pretty good would rate it 8/10, but i have one really big fundamental problem that pisses me off.

One of the main foundations for every shonen is that if you work really hard and persistent you have the chance to become the best or strongest. At least you can hope so.

Well in the MHA that is not really the case. This battle shounen most then any other is determined by genetics. What i mean is if you have sh1t quirk or no quirk at all you can just fck off no matter what you do. Which leads us to that our MC is in this situation first and foremost by pure luck. If he didnt meet All Might who gave him his quirk no matter what he would do he wouldnt have the chanhe to live his dream. And that really pisses me off.
If we look at all the strongest heroes or villain they all have pretty much op quirks, All might, ALL for one, Todoroki's dad is second strongest hero and his fire is pretty op quirk too.
So what i am trying to say is your quirk which is pure genetics has a basic role to determine your power ceiling no matter how hard you train.
If you have useless sh1t quirk you will never be the best no matter what you do. You can fcking train the hardest all your life no way you will beat someone with the op quirk. That feels like super unfair.

I mean some of the student in that class with stupid quirks can put same work or even more then lets say deku or todoroki, but they will never be that strong really no matter what they do.

No matter their hard workd they will never have the chance to make a difference. And that is what i dont really like I mean yes Deku works hard and all that, but others do too, and they will never be that strong. I mean he got the most op quirk of all and have the highest potential from the start. But that is the point just hard work and training wouldnt be enough he just had luck to get that quirk.

ANd so genetically it is already determined which role will which person play, that is something you cant affect with your actions, so i get the impression real hard work is devalued. Sure all characters will get stronger with time, but those with sh1it quirks will never have the chance on the highest level.

Username23489023 said:
Name one shounen where the main character didn’t inherit their power.

Gon’s father is like the best hunter.
Ed and Al’s father is the most powerful alchemist dude.
Naruto’s father was the best ninja.
Goku and Vegeta are the last of the saiyans.
Yusuke inherited his power from his whatever grandfather.
Dude from AoT’s father literally gave him his power.

Haaah said:
Wait till Mirio Togata(Manga) comes along and makes you swallow your words 😂.