This is my first review so take it easy, but the reason I'm choosing this manga is because I happened to pick it up from the very first chapter's release because I was enjoying Horikoshi's previous works Sensei no Bulge and Oumagadoki Zoo (if you haven't read the latter, do it, there are some cameos in BnHA and its enjoyable). I will try not to be biased due to author/artist favoritism.
Story:7
This is a story all about how a wimpy nerd without a superpower("quirk") in a world chock-full of heroes and how he wants to become a great hero too. A simple and good premise for
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any Shounen, almost a reverse telling of a stand-alone X-men comic. The main character through a twist of fate meets his idol, the greatest hero, All Might, a flashy near invincible superhuman with immense speed, strength, and smiles. Our MC Midoriya seeks his guidance and looks to become not only a great hero, but the greatest hero like his idol All Might. Without spoiling anything, I can gladly say that the pacing of this manga is surprisingly fast, certain arcs can happen in 20 chapters or less without you feeling unsatisfied or finding yourself skipping pages of text just to get to the action all while still finding the time to flesh out the world.
Art:10
The backgrounds look great, the characters are so expressive and in design are interesting looking even at a glance without making characters look too complicated. No man draws hands like Horikoshi, it all shows in Iida how much he loves to use it for expressions. The best thing about the designs of these characters is that it helps with the story telling. You could honestly look at two panels of one character and know practically everything about the character's mannerisms other than their quirk unless that part is glaringly obvious. The characters in a world inhabited by mutants and superheroes have to look diverse and interesting but the important part of any manga is to not make characters look too complicated but still have them make an impact just by their body language and designs alone. The balance is there. Oumagadaki Zoo and Sensei no Bulge are pretty manga definitely but I would be lying if I said there weren't some over-complicated designs. The hero suits and villain outfits look ridiculous and cool. There is one character who has freaking grenade gauntlets. You get so used to them but when you look at them and their design with that guy's outfit it's like they were made for each other. There is another hero who's costume is badass and it's based off of a tape dispenser. A TAPE DISPENSER, it's ridiculous but in aesthetic and actual design it's completely cohesive.(no pun intended) Finally, and sure some of you may roll your eyes but I find this important. Horikoshi draws girls healthy looking, and they look great. I'm a big fan of One Piece and various anime that do draw women like they're straight out of an ecchi manga and it's just refreshing to see a manga where girls are drawn in this way, I wouldn't mind that trend continuing. Also, I wouldn't be doing any justice if I didn't talk about the Western Comic influence that is small but definitely there. Multiple names and special moves are exclusively written in large English lettering straight out of a Western comic book and All Might's face and costumes are very much so influenced by the golden and silver age of American comicbooks.
Characters:8
There's a lot of characters and you get to see them all pretty consistently. It mostly follows around a class of students and their interactions with one another are always enjoyable.
Let's talk tropes though. You've got your rival character, your class president character, your love interest, your pervert, and of course your main character who wants to be the very best like no one ever was, but they're all just so likable in combination with their designs, personalities, and special abilities that it makes it feel fresh even though it's got the designs of a typical shounen.
Much like how Dragonball Z characters are all named after vegetables, instruments, etc. Boku no Hero character names usually consist of Japanese puns that give away what kind of quirk they have and/or personality they have. If you like Japanese aptronyms, this series is for you. (You can probably guess what a character named Tetsutetsu's power)
As far as who becomes what in the end or who is just temporarily filling a role is hard to tell, I'll just have to keep reading, but as of this review things have been consistent since the first couple of chapters the current cast of characters has been introduced. Hopefully more unique and interesting things happen to them in the future.
Enjoyment:10
I just dig it. I can't stop reading it, I read it every Thursday, I watch the episodes that are coming out while this review was made and I look forward to it's future. Keep it going Deku, you absolute Madman.
Overall:9
It's dope. If you liked the anime, read the manga. If you like Western Comics, give the manga a try. If you are already reading the manga but not watching the anime, watch the anime dumb dumb it's being animated by freaking BONES.
Apr 20, 2017
Boku no Hero Academia
(Manga)
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This is my first review so take it easy, but the reason I'm choosing this manga is because I happened to pick it up from the very first chapter's release because I was enjoying Horikoshi's previous works Sensei no Bulge and Oumagadoki Zoo (if you haven't read the latter, do it, there are some cameos in BnHA and its enjoyable). I will try not to be biased due to author/artist favoritism.
Story:7 This is a story all about how a wimpy nerd without a superpower("quirk") in a world chock-full of heroes and how he wants to become a great hero too. A simple and good premise for ... |