Don’t worry, it’s spoiler free.
My Hero Acadamia is one of the “must see” Anime of the last couple years. There are so many great things about this show. Bright colors, fun charaters, superpowers, heroes and villians. Here’s how I thought this show measured up.
Plot Rating: 5/5. It has a great plot, a kind of simple anime trope, I am going to be the greatest (blank) of all time. It’s easy, fun, and a story about kids working hard to become heroes. Along the way there are disasters, villians attacks, and challenges to make them all get stronger.
The plot is simple. My main complaint with My Hero Academia is PACING- and I know I’m not the only one to notice this. The pacing on this show is not great… (For example, how nearly half of season 5 was dedicated to a sporting contest between class A and class B. Yes, the first TWELVE episodes.) Some events are dragged on way too long, namely person to person battles or training sessions. After minutes or even episodes dedicated to the same thing it gets very old. Now… I understand directors who are adapting from manga work to create the best anime season without disrupting story arcs, but this is the clunkiest adaptation I’ve seen.
The pacing is an issue- but that doesn’t take away from the great plot, it just makes it a little harder to process.
Character Rating: 4/5. This is definently an ensemble anime, and I generally love animes with a larger cast, more characters to fall in love with the better (think Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Attack on Titan). MHA however, the cast is just a little too big for me.
There is hero class 1A, in which the protaganist, (Midoriya), and the main supporting characters, (Bakugo, Kirishima, Todoroki) spend most of their time. There is also hero class 2A, a second hero class that becomes more focused in on in season 5. There is also the ever growing cast of teachers (Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight), pro-heroes, (All-Might, Endeavor, Hawk, Best Jeanist), and the villians (League of villians, All for One, Meta Liberation Army).
The show never really changes from one group of characters to another, they just keep adding new ones. This isn’t necessarily bad in some cases, but there are characters that seem absolutely useless, that sort of have the same overall feel as the rest of the cast (eg. Tail Guy, Grape Juice, Invisible Girl, The Entire class of 2A excpt for Tetsutetsu and Monama.)
Variaty is the spice of life, I know. But- either differentiate the chararcters more or cut some. The villians, Dabi, Twice, Shigaraki, are much more interesting in this regard- which is why season 5’s My Villian Academia was the best liked story arc to date.
With this many characters it’s hard to dig deep- however Midoriya and his relationship with Bakugo, his best friend (or frienemy?) is something focused on as a storypoint, and this has great character development for both characters and helps move the story forward in a touching and deep way.
Intro/Outro: 5/5. MHA always has good intros, and the outros are great as well. Colorful, fun, and showcasing all the characters as well as what is going on in the show next. The outros seem a bit pensive, with pictures of the cast growing up and such, and I have always found them enjoyable.
Genre: As an action genre, 5/5. Superhero show, 5/5. It has everything you need in a show- comedy, a little drama, some slice of life and coming of age, but overall I would rate it top in action.
Overally score for this? 4.5/5. It’s a great show, and some may complain about the same things I have- some may not see these flaws at all. Overall I recommend it. There are great heroes, great villians, and the plot has steadily climed and I have high hopes for it getting more intense in the upcoming seasons as the characters age and the villians come out more into the light.
Agree or disagree? Let me know what you thought about My Hero Academia!
Another Review coming soon!
A Tiny Ray Of Light 