The story is something that was done a lot, or rather, the "kid wants to become the best at x but he's not good at it" aspect. Deku wants to become a superhero in a society where 80% of people have superpowers and he doesn't have any. But the manner through which the story executes its narrative and the character arcs of Deku are just well written, and despite using everything that is to be expected in this type of story, it's done in a way that presents most aspects in a really strong way. ..................
For instance, Deku is indeed the "IF I TRY HARD ENOUGH, I CAN DO IT!" character, he's got that attitude. However, the story starts from the point where Deku almost gives up on that view of himself, portraying a chain of events where he has to wake up to reailty. But even when he accepts it, he finds that when someone was in danger, he couldn't just sit around and he had to try to do something to help. And he doesn't generically get powers out of nowhere in this scenario, like some might expect. He is seen as a hindrance and pretty much suicidal for doing something like this. But this whole scenario and everything that led up to it show what type of person he is. He is someone who couldn't become what he aspired because he simply was unlucky, that dreamt of it all along, and was shown the reality of it. And then this course of action leads us as to why he wanted to become what he became. It's because he wanted to make a difference, to help the people who needed help in those dire moments, as he admired people capable of doing so. And as a last attempt at denial, at denying the reality he's in, he tried to do what the people he admired thought they'd do, and tried to help and put himself in harm's way. From a psychological perspective, not a selfless act, but from a bystander's, it is definitely one.
What I'm saying by describing the character arc Deku went through is that the series has good character portrayal, and knows how to flesh out its characters. I could explain why the character arc of Deku is even better written than I've already given it credit for, but I'd rather not give away more things about the series than I did unless essential to my point. Anyway, after this short character arc, we fully understand Deku's goal and ambitions, because he was strongly portrayed.
However, while the series does have strong character portrayal, I can say that in this season at least, it had strong character portrayal for only 3 characters, those being the main character and two other characters strongly tied to his development. One character is the mentor (of course the shounen protagonist needed a mentor) who is a genuinely good rolemodel, who despite all odds, people have taken a liking to because of how good he was at his job, but he secretly was injured and he is now struggling to keep up everyone else's expectation. He acts out as a symbol of peace and his mere existence keeps people from going nuts and causing chaos around the world. And the other character is his rival (of course the shounen protagonist has a rival) who is a character that is the complete opposite of the protagonist. He's an angsty teen with a superiority complex that wants to become a hero to prove he is the best and that he can always win, who bullies the protagonist because he feels like he challenges his superiority. What Iparticularily enjoy of him is how threatened he feels just by Deku's existence, to the point where I'd even say it even seems like he's almost scared of Deku. What's interesting about this is that the person who's got the most inflated ego, to the point he thinks the world revolves around him, is scared of the person he sees as the lowest of the low, to the point where he can't help but react impulsively whenever Deku doesn't fit the narrative he has had given him. These three portrayals are strong and do wonders for the story.
However every other character is just... there, and otherwise, Deku is a generic shounen protagonist. He's a kid who wants to be the best, who's incredibly determined to do so, is an underdog, he's shy around girls because they're girls and other such tropes would also fit him well. The villains are the worst part since they were portrayed as... I wouldn't say cartoonish evil, but as people who simply do petty crimes or just want chaos because HAHAHA, EVERYONE IS A BUNCH OF SISSIES AND SINCE WE HAVE POWERS WE SHOULD ABUSE THEM! Other students don't really have anything yet given to them except everything they need at the surface level to work as characters, some powers and some personality traits. There's plenty of time to flesh them out, but how one dimensional the villains felt, and how much worse they made the last arc kinda worries me.
You see, while I think for the most part Boku no Hero Academia had a good story, I think the final arc of this season was what most people are genuinely worried with about this show. I won't give any details that are specific to give anything away, but the last arc merely repeated some of the same points the series has already expressed and featured some onedimensional villains. And the whole arc's point was just to say "this job is dangerous and now the kids know it. there is evil in this world." But the "evil" is almost saturday morning cartoon-ish in motivation and the only way the job would prove dangerous is there would be permanent consequences to the character's health or existence, such as death, loss of power or a crippling injury. Which I can't say whether or not happens, because not even I know for sure since it's not a point of focus, it's only a possibility. The arc didn't really try to even capitalize on its own message, it merely just wanted to bring all the characters from one point to the next with as minimal consequences as possible.
At best, I think it was an excuse to have a lot of action, since it had a lot of people in a lot of fights in a secluded area, except there's a lot of jobbers involved with a lot of people with superpowers just eating ass and easily losing, making them feel incompetent and making the confrontations onesided. Which is a somewhat worrysome area in Boku no Hero Academia, since the power gap kinda makes this a constant possibility, where D-Listing could constantly happen and fights feeling onesided. Which doesn't always happen in the series, it does have some good action bits that are entertaining and hype to see, with the best being a 2 on 2 exercise where the characters have to capture a location from the opposing team, where it featured some strategical thinking and tactics. But there's a lot of the bits that feel onesided, where, I get it, some of it has to be there, but you can tell me around 100-200 people with superpowers are just gonna be cannon foddering jobbers in an organized attack.
In terms of comedy, Boku no Hero Academia, didn't really humor me because I don't see a lot of comedy in it. I see the attempts of making some characters perverted or shy around women because they're attractive but really... that's comedy? While the world is nonsensical, I found a lot of the things that are supposed to be aiming this to be considered a comedy to just be tools to make the series lighthearted due to how serious it takes portraying its theme. In all honesty, I don't think there's anything really comedic about this show. I find it to be a really serious show, that tries to be as lighthearted as possible, this sometimes being in conflict with its themes. And I wouldn't call a show a comedy just because it's lighthearted. I'm just addressing this since MAL tagged it as such.
While I may have complained about the show's action in terms due to the power gap, the animation is smooth and everything looks good. The artstyle is fairly simplistic and colorful, but nonetheless looks vibrant, fitting the show's aimed energetic nature to pull in the right atmosphere. The soundtrack of the show is mostly atmospheric, with mostly orchestral music and some electronic music influences. It sounds good for the most part, but it isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it serves its purpose.
That's pretty much what Boku no Hero Academia is. A shounen about heroism. It doesn't really try to distance itself from the same archetypes a shounen has, and that might turn off some people, but it does a genuinely good job in what it portrays. If you're not interested in shounens and detest their tropes, steer clear of this anime. However if you do enjoy them, Boku no Hero Academia is a good shounen. I'd say its execution is definitely good for its target audience, and it's definitely above the average shounen, but it still has the shortcomings that come with it, and not a lot of things to differentiate it from the others, despite its overall strong writing. I enjoyed watching it, because I typically enjoy action shows that stick to their point, and Boku no Hero Academia did do that. I think people who enjoy shounens and well executed themes can enjoy this show, but if the flaws presented are a particular hurdle to you, they are definitely gonna be a detriment to your watching experience
