Boku no Hero Academia
My Hero Academia

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There's something to be said about watching a series you've grown up with end. It's a cathartic moment that almost feels like closing a chapter of your life. I have kept up with this series for nearly a decade and it contains some of my favorite moments in the medium. The emotions, the messages, I have found myself thinking about the sheer heart this story has when it comes to looking at it as a whole. While it's not without flaws, particularly the latter half's pacing, throughout its entirety there are times it has me feeling something seldom like many other media.

The ending specifically, I've ... seen some talk over, and I have to say it brings the story full circle in a way that feels realistic, but also inspiring. It brings home the theme that you, yes you, the reader can be a hero in anything you do.

This manga is a journey not only in following the students in their quest to become heroes, but also in the highs and lows of story telling. BnHA starts out strong. The characters are likeable and engaging. The story has a lot to say and invests as much time in its villains as its heroes, creating a complex world with complex problems. The first about half of the story is the best part of the story. It has decent pacing, engaging content, and a need to know more. The second half is unfortunately not like that. The pacing is a little wonky in places, though ... it's better as a binge read than a weekly read. There are some really great moments but there is some clutter and speed runs in-between. Yet, the themes presented in the first half persist and so there's still a drive to know more about the characters and story. This kept me reading even during the wonky portions but the payout just evaporated when the time came for it.

One of the more interesting things about Horikoshi's writing is he likes to subvert expectations, but this is also one of his weaknesses. The ending really let me down to the point I'm not going to finish the anime because I have no interest in watching the final arc after reading it. The epilogue was nice but because of the disappointment in the climax of the story, I have trouble enjoying it.

When I first started reading this title, I rated it an 8. When the second half got wonky, I rated it a 7. Now I'm giving it a 6. It's a decent story and the characters are characters that I'll carry with me for years to come, but the ending was just not my bag, but it wasn't technically a "bad ending," just extremely disappointing given what seemed to be the themes of the story. However, some subversions in the epilogue were good and I'm glad for those choices. It's really a mixed bag of an ending to a manga that started out pretty strong and engaging.

If you like standard Jump stories and enjoy epics reads, then I would really recommend checking this title out. Even though I didn't really like the ending, it might work for other people. If anything, this manga is worth it to get to know the cast and think about how things could have turned out instead.

Art: the art of this manga begins with a cartoony style but goes through a substantial upgrade early on to become one of the best ever in WSJ, although it at times feels overly blocky and sterile. Over time it becomes more detail heavy and choppy and feels like less a manga and more a series of illustrations each seeking to be as impactful as possible, the fights scenes may be confusing for some readers especially later on due to the unorthodox paneling.

Plot: The plot starts out as the epitome of a trope heavy shonen story done right, later devolves into periods that drag endlessly, ... feel rushed, fake outs and dropped plot threads, and just a feeling of huge wasted potential. It also becomes extremely self referential with regular flashbacks. The plot does not go in the direction most are expecting so it is unpredictable in that sense avoiding major tropes usually found in super hero stories or battle shonen, but what replaces them isn’t particularly gratifying.

Characters: The characters start out likable and well written if a bit one note, however over time most become relegated to the side lines with more and more introduced that get little to no development, the characters that do get focused on often become empty shells of themselves or just constantly grovel and apologize in the case of heroes, and becoming tantrum throwing self parodies with meaningless development in the case of villains.

Themes: The story injects many philosophical points seemingly inspired from classic American comics such as discrimination, what it means to be a hero, mutations, the morality of killing, corruption among heroes, freedom to use powers, etc. but generally most of these are rushed and explored poorly while ultimately giving mixed messages.

Overall: this manga starts out very strong for the first quarter or so, it starts to decline but still has its moments, but by the last third ranges from mediocre to truly awful.