From the get go supposedly what makes Deku the most qualified person is that he wants to be a hero despite not having power but in the show there's an entire police force of quirkless people that are motivated to serve others as much as Deku was so if All Might wanted to choose a quirkless kid there's really no reason for it to be Deku in particular. He could've just secretly chosen the best police officer since that just seems like the rational course of action if he was looking for a quirkless person with a strong sense of selflessness and civil duty. Deku's love for heroes doesn't really seem like a rare thing either. I'm pretty sure any young boy would also be obsessed with heroes and it's not like All might couldn't give his power to someone that already have a quirk so why not just give it to someone that has the proper motivation and could use All for One in conjunction with another power that compliments it well. Basically I don't really see Deku as an interesting or compelling character, I don't see any reason he was chosen in particular (other than it being forced by the narrative) and I don't care about his journey because he's just not an entertaining character.
Another thing that fucked the show is the contradiction in theme. In the first season one of the most emotional moments is Deku crying with the revelation that even he can be a hero. But really he could only become a hero because All Might chose him. The theme that anyone could be a hero is completely killed here. Anyone can be a hero if they're at the right place at the right time and the person that's choosing who gets the quirk pities them more than they care about doing the best they could possibly do with their duty. Fuck the police officers that probably went through a similar origin story to Deku and just came to terms with their lack of a quirk and decided to do the best that they could do within their limits I guess.
Yet another thing I dislike about HeroAca is Deku's power. We already know what the power can be used for, so there's no real intrigue. Because of this Deku's development isn't interesting we know he's going to use it until he gets good at it. There are no powered up forms that he can enter or new techniques to develop just brute force. Yeah powered up forms are a icky but it's marginally more interesting than having a power with no cool techniques.
There may be villains but we know there will be no real consequences since Deku becomes the number one hero anyway.
Glaring plothole break: If Deku needs to be a good vessel to carry All for One how the hell is All Might carrying it. Dude is as lanky as a stick bug. Unless the muscles that he has in his All Might form are his in that case how the fuck does that work.
The characters aren't even likeable in this show. They're all really simple, uninteresting characters. No one is asking anyone to reinvent the wheel with characters just make them feel human rather than husk-like. Deku wants to be a hero and is hardworking, Uraraka is also hard working and wants to support her family, Bakugo has a complex about being superior to everyone else especially Deku. Pretty much every character is really simple including the main character. I'm ok with side character's not being detailed in shonen of the focus is on the development of the main character but at least make the MC interesting. I'll compare this to something recent like Darling in the Franxx that while having characters that are generic the characters are at the very least written in a way that makes me care about them. Hiro is a pretty basic guy on the surface level, he wants to protect Papa and he cares about his friends. But his character reflects one of the central thematic conflicts of the story: Humanization vs Dehumanixation. In a world where children are assigned numbers he gives people names. Names being a concept that gives something a unique identity. Basically the children are treated like live stock while Hiro sees them as deserving of being treated like people. This idea contrasts with Hiro's ideals when it comes to piloting Franxx. He thinks that if you can't pilot you may as well be dead since you're useless to Papa. This conflict in his character reflects how he is affected by his interpersonal relationships and the society he lives in. His development as a character furthers the thematic conflict of the show which is what makes his character interesting. This, again, is compared to Deku who might reflect the societal ideal of having a cool quirk and hero, howerver, instead of defying this flawed ideal as a character he fully embodies it. When he had no quirk he was a worthless loser, now that he has a quirk he's a really popular hero (socially) only out-shined by Mr. Fire and Ice because he can use his power without breaking himself.
HeroAca has a few things going for it. The chaacter designs are pretty cool and I see no issue with the quirk being somewhat spoiled since I'm a believer in the value of how they use quirk being matters. One might ask why I bashed Deku's power for being predictable is not only is the nature of the power really limited on what can be done but since it's the type of power that's passed down All Might will probably teach Deku all the techniques that there are to learn although there isn't really many to be had anyway.
Another thing it has going for it is the theme of not all heroes are "good". Endeavor for instance is abusive and manipulative to forward his own goal of being the number one hero and Iida and his brother do what they do because it's a family thing. Point being that the motives for being heroes are selfish. Stain was an overdone but still quality villain.
Another side note: An official ranking system for heroes is fucking stupid. There's no use in explicating the most able hero a hero system would just need to know who's strong enough to handle certain type of scenarios. I can see an unofficial ranking system by fans or tabloids or something but there's no point in enumerating ability. Also the HeroAca system is never really explained is it based on ability or is it based on number of people saved? Is it a One Punch Man deal where your rank is upgraded by the level of threats you naturalize?
Anyway despite it's flaws the show doesn't offend me and is well put together visually. When I started this rant I originally gave the show a 7 because it was alright and I was putting funish harems at 6. This show is the second to make me consider fixing my rating system but I'm too lazy. Either way I'm thinkin this show is a 6 due to it's boring cast, bad premise theme combination and general plot holes.
