Boku no Hero Academia

So picture this: You're Japan's greatest hero, your power is fading fast because of the terrible injuries you sustained while fighting your archnemesis while you were at full power. You know he's going to return and you need somebody to pass your powers on to so that they can stop him. Do you choose:

A) One of the top 3 best students in the best hero training school in the country with 17 years of practice handling a high difficulty ability that makes him nearly invincible, the attitude and drive of a professional and a recommendation and combat training from your trusted sidekick who can see the future
OR
B) A kid who threw his bag at a villain, ran into danger with no plan whatsoever that you met that day but he said he wanted to be a hero and cried about it despite not even putting in the effort to be physically fit.

If you answered B you have what it takes to be the number 1 hero in Japan according to this manga.

In case you were still unsure from that one example the characters in this are as flat as the paper they're drawn on and act in ways that are beyond my mere mortal understanding.

We have our main character Midoriya "Deku" Izuku a boy who was born without a quirk like around 10% of the total population in the HeroAca world. Instead of choosing to get a normal job he decided that because of a YouTube video he watched when he was like 5 he wanted to be a hero, not just any hero mind you considering all kinds of heroes exist in this world but a hero like All Might, the punchiest , liftiest hero in all of Japan. He plans to accomplish this through a strict regimen of doodling in notebooks while whispering to himself and crying until one of the strongest abilities in the story falls into his lap along with a free mentor character. The story also wants you to believe that Izuku is a very smart boy but it took him until much later in the story to realize that kicking was a thing. He moves the story along by doing nothing at all until the next arc finds him.
The rest of the cast are just as bad going from the background fodder who have like 1 character trait (read literally every U.A student that isn't a main character) to Endeavor the man who mentally scarred every single member of his family but it's cool now because he had an awesome fight scene.
The best character is Shigaraki Tomura the villain that is being built up as Deku's nemesis since he is the only person in the story who learns and develops as it goes on and has a clear motivation.

The setting of HeroAca is as baffling as its cast. Imagine if everyone in the world suddenly got superpowers, for good or bad society as we currently know it is done. Yet in this world the only difference is that there is a new job called "hero". That's it. No different infrastructure to accommodate the different kinds of people that have evolved, no tension from people with bird heads riding the bus with you, everybody is fine with needing a license to use their quirks except for the most extreme villains or unorganized street thugs.
The majority of the story takes place in U.A the hero school the main characters attend yet somehow we've only managed to see 3 senior students. Where the hell is Class 2A? Nobody knows.

The art is great and Horikoshi is a master of character design. The fight scenes are well drawn and if the characters had as much personality as their designs promised this manga would have been excellent.

The story is bland shonen fare and anybody that tells you " but it does shonen better" is wrong. If you like shonen you'll like this ( at least for a while till the inconsistencies and lack of depth get you). There are no surprises, no plot twists worth mentioning. The students go to school and do school stuff, villains do their thing, they fight, students win. Rinse and repeat with differing scale and a different person defeating the villain each arc and congratulations you have the story so far. I can't wait for the arc where the heroes lose, everyone acts sad for a bit and then they come back and win.

Overall it's a mediocre manga with great art, terrible characters with excellent designs and a world with as much depth as that generic fantasy world that every bad Isekai is set in.

Case 1: Naruto - I'll become the strongest Ninja ever *rasengan!*
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Case 2: Bleach - I'll become the strongest Soul Reaper ever *getsuga tenshou!*
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Case 3: One Piece - I'll become the strongest Pirate ever *gomu gomu no!*
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Case 4: My Hero Academia - I'll become the strongest Hero ever *detroit smash!*

It's the same old wine, now in a fancy new shining bottle. Standard main characters. Standard side-characters. Standard villains. Standard relationships. Standard power-ups. Standard plot. To justify this critique further, I encourage you to do a little thought experiment for me. Replace the Hero world with Ninjas, substitute Midoriya, Bakugo, All-Might and Akatsuki with Naruto, Sasuke, Jiraya and Villains respectively. Ta-daa! New manga series!

This isn't to say that the mere presence of these shounen tropes makes Boku no Hero Academia so mediocre. Far from it. If that was to be the case, then we wouldn't have so many versions of Shakespeare's Hamlet. What makes this series mediocre is that the author doesn't attempt to do anything new with his characters. It sticks to the power-ups and plot developments as if it was being written by an AI machine-learning robot. There is zero sense of anything exciting or new that would make a reader sit up and say "now, that's interesting!" The only place where the author did attempt to do so is with the character of Endeavor - a flawed superhero who seeks redemption. Sadly, given that this is a shounen-manga aimed at 12-18 year old boys - Endeavor is and will remain a side character not getting as much focus as I would have liked.

I understand the popularity of this manga amongst the current young readers who haven't either read or are still exploring older shounen canon like Naruto, Bleach, Shaman King, Hunter x Hunter, Rurouni Kenshin etc. However, as an older reader who has read and watched these series - I can safely attest that (as of chapter 275), there is absolutely nothing in My Hero Academia that is uniquely original or which hasn't been already been attempted in past shounen manga. The only positive aspect of this series as compared to older series is that it is well executed, highly polished and has an excellent marketing push from the Shueisha execs who are desperately trying to recreate the next money-spinner franchise given that the Naruto, Bleach and Gintama franchises are over.

This standard manga deserves a standard rating: 5/10.

CONTAINS SPOILERS. AS PER LATEST CHAPTER. SUBJECT TO ALTERATIONS

This is an update as per the latest chapters. Is it me or is the story and art getting every bit as chaotic as tangled wires? If not for the anime I cannot make half of what is going in on the manga. I am missing the old style where things made a lot of sense. While my initial impressions of major characters remain the same, I still feel burdened with having to remember millions of minor characters and the lack of a definite plot is nagging at me. Sometimes I feel its just fine to skip a chapter or two and I am pretty sure I might’ve have not missed out on much. Characters still lack personality. There is no actual development for MC but the villain has been getting OP upgrades while a desperate attempt is made at finding new ways of competitions for deku and company to participate in. Let’s see how things pan out

PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS TILL CHAPTER 182

The best thing about boku no hero academia is in its addictive story. Amongst big names like naruto, bleach etc BNHA comes out with a fresh and modern undertone for a shounen manga. Unlike older manga, bnha has less complicated dialogues and a more fluid art style. Its arcs are relatively shorter and has a decent pace attached to it. The battle scenes are crisp there by increasing the content. On the flip side, character backstory of the MC is rampant with repetitive flashbacks.

PLOT:
There is no want of interesting plot developments as each arc has unique and linear story line. There is coherence in the narration and speech bubbles contain minimum to no nonsense in conversations. It is an entirely fun read. Waiting for a seventeen page chapter every week can be nerve breaking as the manga is really awesome.

CHARACTERS:
BNHA has a unique quality of providing many characters reasonable plot space. We get to see multiple characters developing to aid the plot. This could be annoying as it becomes cluttered with too much info to keep track of. In this manga you see lots of character types ripped off from popular manga. BSD, Naruto to name a few.

Midoriya:
Izuku Midoriya is different from the run on the mill shounen protagonists. He
appears cute and sweet but is a tactician. In a battle, he can prioritize his course of action with the help of predictions. He studies his opponents behavior and is less reckless in events of pressure. Since this deviates a lot from what a mc ought to be, the author throws in a character flaw. Midoriya is a total wet blanket. He is such a good guy who will pull out the best in his opponent even if it means he loses badly. Theoretically speaking he has makings of hero but power wise, he is yet to prove why he should be the greatest. He does gradually transforms into a self reliant person so its only a few more years of serialization before you see midoriya as the greatest hero.

Majority of shounen manga is of the view that a MC is that powerless but strong willed guy who overcomes obstacles through sheer perseverance and hard work. They tend to be close range combatants. The second hero who is definitely several levels above the MC still comes a close second. The difference in skill set is obvious and through the power of "nakama", all the true efforts of the second hero fails in the face of the apparently cheerful and not to mention reckless MC. In that sense, deku is pretty powerless and when he does get powered up, he winds up getting severely handicapped by his quirk that he cannot survive without outside help. This situation gets slightly better when he takes his quirk up by a notch or three.
The frustrating part is that the author spends too much time polishing rest of the characters and Deku is left with so little screen time when it comes to battles. He either gets the last scenes or is finished off in the beginning. His power improvement over the span of 180 or so chapters is minimal. He possesses One For All which is a physical power boost quirk and yet he loses all the time or accomplishes so little.
He gets sidelined in a flurry of emotional and assertive dialogues. He does so little in most of the battles. He keeps saying he wants to get stronger but has not gotten stronger enough to go independently against anyone, much less bakugo and sadly he lost there too. In the recent chapters he is still cushioned by some one or other while he grapples to control the power.He was made to participate in a futile battle with a minor villain even if he did win, there was some talk-no-jutsu working its course in the background. It did not seem so right for a hero's starting line match.

Shouta Todoroki:
Ice and flames make him too awesome. His personality is decent. His backstory adds more depth to his person. He has the makings of a number 1 hero. His relationship with Deku is healthy. He has half a head full of red hair. that wins in my books. He is adorable and innocent especially in the provisional training course. In terms of abilities and capabilities, he is way above Deku and many other Pro heroes.

Bakugo:
If Naruto were to switch his personality with sasuke, the result is bakugo. He is powerful with cunning techniques but irritatingly loud. While being obsessed with power and fame, he shows his wrath on deku all the time. There is nothing special to him. There is an unhealthy rivalry flowing between the two. He is as feisty as his quirk. His interactions with children is hilarious to watch. It is not just his loudness that annoys readers. Its probably how he picks fight with Deku merely to channel his explosive thoughts. Occasionally he is understanding and all other times he bounces back to his one dimensional design.

Rest of characters:
Aizawa, All might, Froppy, Uarvity, Red riot, dark shadow, lemillion and so many others do one hell of a job supporting this story. We see them fully involved in every arc. Some are lucky to get a backstory too.

Villains:
Sad to say this but the villains are pretty colorless although they pretend to have depth. Shigaraki and his bunch of merry men are nothing but a ragtag group of misfits or psychos whose personalities are not fully developed. The chisaki group was a shade better but again potential was wasted. The entire arc had so much potential but they could not keep the momentum alive for long. I guess the Shigaraki team is meant to be the last boss as the manga snuffs out any other villain as soon it fires off one.

ART
Art in action scenes need to be less chaotic. Sometimes without the help of anime, it is hard to follow the fight scenes. Swift movements need better capturing. Character art on the other hand is really nice. Justice is done on Stationary objects and Backgrounds.

Since shounen is aimed at teenage boys, its often riddled with stories reiterating the importance of morals. It is not surprising if the hero reduces the villain to a good guy. In BNHA it is not so pronounced. Authors are prone to push their ideals of right and wrong onto the readers through his MC which could come of pretty strong. BNHA also has some idealism loosely thrown around the manga but its vehemence is mild as is the temperament of Deku . BNHA is just a simple story of Heroes Vs Villains. With simple moves, the story potential and character potential is kept stagnant. The heroes are bound to win, nothing more nothing less.

The shortcomings of a shounen manga are that they fall in to following the tropes unconsciously. If you look deeper there is no definite plot. The narrative is more like a record of events that led to deku's incumbent victory in the future. Since it is an easy read, we would have just breezed past 182 chapters. Then there are the characters who are growing along with the story honing their skills. Altogether its well created. This manga deserves a rating not less than 8 for quality of art style, storyboard, characters, narration and overall speed and developments.

Story:9
What does it mean to be a hero? If you are a Dc comics fan such as me, then you are probably going to say beings who sacrifice themselves in order to do good and vanquish all evil. But it's different in BnHA, as a hero is a profession. Something people look up to the same way you would a celebrity. in a world filled with supernatural beings and people with extreme talent, its really refreshing to see our hero obtains the most basic power and uses it in creative ways.
Art:9
The art work is one of the best in shounen jump. It is fantastically detailed(obviously not as detailed as berserk). The fight scenes are this mixture of energy, dynamic movements and utilizing one's quirks to their advantage.
Overall:9
The way it's going, in the future I can easily see this as being a 10/10. if you haven't read this and you display some level of interest in battle shounen you should definitely give it a go. it may seem generic at first, but it builds arc after arc and quickly turns into one of the finest pieces of entertainment i have witnessed.

I think that Boku no Hero Academia is quite unique as an Anime. The Mc deku isn't like any other shonen mc, he is the underdog and with hard work he gets to the top. I think that this anime repeats this moral over and over again and I have to say I agree. There are a lot of character such as Bakugo who is a very good deuterantagonist as shown in the most recent arc, he helps deku. He has developed so much from someone who looks down on other people and bullies Deku to someone who has really matured and has helped the ones he has hurt. There is also a lot of character developments such as with Deku as not only is he risking to save everyone but he could be developed more as he hasn't really changed as much since the beginning of the series. Nevertheless in the most recent arc it is clear that Deku is going to mature as something really bad will affect him such as maybe losing a really close friend that will cause him to mature. Also I love the story line with All might as he used to be quirkless too but he had those qualities of a hero and when he lost his master, he truly matured. It is quite enjoyable as the fights are well drawn out and are quite long which makes it quite enjoyable such as the fight with All for one. The story line and the plot keeps moving forward and now it is at its peak as we see the heroes all of them, fighting all of the villains and it is a great new arc and the following arc might be just as good as it is going to be about breaking out the villains in tartarus(my opinion and predictions). As for the art everything is decently drawn out and looks pretty good. Overall I rate it a 9 as I truly believe it is a unique and different anime and I think that everyone gets a chance to enjoy it.

I'd recommend you to try it out first and decide for yourselves since every persons opinion on this series differs. This is solely what I think makes this series good and worth reading/watching.

STORY: 7/10
I'm sure we've all seen hero schools used in some medium or the other before. The story starts out like every shonen does, to achieve the main character's dreams and motivations and this is no different. The execution and direction, however, can make or break a series like this and I do think MHA has taken the right path.
ART: 10/10
Horikoshi as an artist has been constantly improving and despite the initial art of the manga being good, he had some issues with consistent paneling and sometimes cramped up to much dialogue, but as weekly series' standards it was good.
These issues do not persist though, his paneling becomes very creative since the Overhaul arc and dialogue writing also improves. His action scenes, especially during the Villain Arc and War arc flow very smoothly and is easy to follow now.
One of the art's main forte would be in conveying emotions excellently.

CHARACTERS: 8/10
Now there is a lot of misconceptions about characters in mha. First of all, Class 1 A is not the main cast. They are background characters so it is only understandable not much attention to be put to them. Similar to how all students in Assassination Classroom are not always having the same screen time.

Now for the mc, Deku -
He fits right into his stories themes and messages. He contributes to and is a product of the flawed society of mha. And yet he retains his own personality, goals, ideals, strengths, weakness.
He's a product of a very prevalent issue in mha i.e. Quirk discrimination. Getting bullied and tornamented because he was born inferior to others. Him Gaining OFA further shows how no one is born equal in their world.
Side characters -
The villains Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga, and twice are all brilliantly written. Stain who appeared earlier on had understandable motives highlighting the issues of the hero society again. The other villains would need some work for they are very forgettable.
Bakugou is one of the most unique rivals to come out in jump, and he has a very gradual development throughout the series. Todoroki is a result of the flaws of hero society but even he grows and matures and I must add for an edgy character like him, he adds alot to the comedy lol.
Pro heroes Endeavour, Hawks, Miriko all have a charismatic personality or in Endeavour's case, the way his growth as a human being is being handled is praise worthy.
I feel like Iida and Uraraka need more spotlight and development since they both stopped their contributions at the Joint Training Arc which is a shame because I think they have a lot of wasted potential.

ENJOYMENT: 9/10
For someone who didn't really enjoy this manga at it's initial stages, it has improved alot and I have begun to enjoy it more and more as time passes. The current arc- Paranormal Liberation War Arc is very exciting moving the story forward and it piques my interest for the future of this series.

So I am writing this review because of all the people who are giving the anime 3 or 4 ratings.

The manga and anime are definitely worth it and those people haven't even read to the latest chapters. They're criticizing the manga just because you see other people on social media platforms saying bad things about this.

Mha has some of the best character development and the story is outstanding. Also the amount of hype moments or moments where you get goosebumps are unreal!!

Deku is a typical Shonen character with an overpowered technique/power. But most people love overpowered MCs. But Deku is not just overpowered he has an overpowered quirk but cant use it fully. That's why in the anime you can see so much character development. Some people are saying its repetitive and it is for sure not. Just because there are training arcs doesn't mean its repetitive. Mha story is like this:
Mc has a rough childhood, he gets a power, he trains to master it, he fights villains, he trains harder to beat the villains. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. How else do you expect him to beat the villain; by doing nothing and just using the power of friendship like most anime.

Overall, everyone who read and watches this to the end will for sure be entertained.

Another Jump Comics star that I am reading these days, but before, I have a question for you.
What did a hero do?
Boku No Hero Academy tells the story of Midoriya Izuku, a 14 year old student who lives in the world of all people has a super power, but he does not have it and admires All Might, your favorite superhero.
One day, in the back of the school, he sees your childhood rival, Bakugou Katsuki, caught by a monster and Midoriya goes to the monster to face him, but All Might saves him.
And he granted Midoriya the power of One For All, and he learned to be the best hero of all time. (THIS IS NOT A SPOILER, IT IS THE FIRST CHAPTER AND CONTEXT)
Go to U.A (School of Heroes) to train your power and professional heroes to be your teachers, for example Eraser Head and Midnight.
All the characters are very charismatic and funny, Tokoyami and Ochaco Uraraka for example, is the manga that both the characters primos and secundarys are very important and charismatic. Your motivations do not necessarily involve big stories or tragedies, they can be simple motivations, like giving money to the poor family, or saving people to your city.
Most important for the heroes is the villain, and friend, the villain is amazing!
If you are looking for good action and fun, find an excellent alternative.
[Español]
Otra estrella de Jump Comics que estoy leyendo en estos días, pero antes, tengo una pregunta para ti.
¿Qué hizo un héroe?
Boku No Hero Academia cuenta la historia de Midoriya Izuku, un estudiante de 14 años que vive en el mundo de todas las personas tiene un súper poder, pero no lo tiene y admira a All Might, tu superhéroe favorito.
Un día, en la parte posterior de la escuela, ve a tu rival de la infancia, Bakugou Katsuki, apresado por un monstruo y Midoriya se va al monstruo para enfrentarse a él, pero All Might lo salva.
Y concedió a Midoriya el poder de One For All, y aprendió a ser el mejor héroe de todos los tiempos. (ESTE NO ES UN SPOILER, ES EL PRIMER CAPÍTULO Y CONTEXTO)
Va a U.A (Escuela de Heroes) para entrenar tu poder y héroes profesionales para ser tus profesores, por ejemplo Eraser Head y Midnight.
Todos los personajes son muy carismáticos y divertidos, Tokoyami y Ochaco Uraraka por ejemplo, es el manga que tanto los personajes primares y secundarys son muy importantes y carismáticos. Tus motivaciones, no necesariamente envuelven grandes historias o tragedias, pueden ser motivaciones simples, como dar dinero para la familia pobre, o salvar a la gente a tu ciudad.
¡Más importante para los héroes es el villano, y amigo, el villan es increíble!
Si busca una buena acción y diversión, encuentre una excelente alternativa.

My hero academia is in my opinion the greatest Shonen story of all time, it's certainly not my favourite but I believe everyone should give this Masterpiece of a manga a chance.
The art is slightly lacking but the individual characters and personalities of the class 1A make a for a very enjoyable experience. It does lots of things right, like story motivation, Deku's motivation to become a great hero is not that far out like Goku's motivation to become the strongest in the Universe. It's also very tame unlike the more violent shonen like Hunter x Hunter or Demon slayer making it suitable for a large age range. It's honestly a 10/10. It kept me on the edge all the time.

An amazing series, everything you'd hope from a super power manga but with this like cool slice of life high school/bromance kind of twist. The way they example this sort of cast based gentrification between different classes of peoples born abilities, and how that's sort of shaped peoples responsibilities. Then how they take the MC who had none of that, a completely underprivileged boy, and put him along side but soon further than those born with the abilities he always wanted, then to have those he envied be the opposite of what he imagined they'd be. omygod I could go on forever! All these elements, and this progression, always constant and stuck to several but specific themes; yeah these guys are really gifted writers.

My only kink about it is that even in the official releases (mostly read fan-lations) is that their writing and type setting is just way too suffocating. Mostly block text, lots of run ons, no emphasising, and all around just way to many words on a single panel. I know im not one to criticize here, but I'm not an arts major either.

A picture's worth a thousand words, ya know?

As of typing this, I am currently on Chapter 288 in the War Arc

Horiksohi started this Manga as a fun idea that spiraled out of control due to the popularity, I can see why.

My Hero Academia is a series that takes ist time to develop, you can see this as a good or bad thing, in the end I believe its a great thing. If you dont look at the big picture and analyze in terms of stroywriting then you will miss out on a lot here. The story starts off rather basic with a strong premise regarding the world in which they live in. It starts off 2 dimensional and goes full on in depth. Characters have their own arcs dedicated to them that make you root for them unsuspectingly, as well as the execution of what happens is just amazing.

In terms of Art, nobody in the Shounen Jump Industry is better than Horikoshi, Yuske Marata is close but Horikoshis style is so unique and outstanding, his coloring is so different from normal Mangaka. I love it


Main character is Izuku Midoryia, a boy born in a world of powers without any of his own, this has been done before but the series gives this a twist. Instead of Izuku (Ill be calling him Deku from now on) being a determine, strong, and confident boy; he starts off as shy, quiet, and timid. People can easily fall into the "Deku is a crybaby" argument and drop the series because they dont want to understand the message here . The message here is that even if you are a weak, scrawny, and unconfident person, you can still be a hero which is shown in Episode 2 of the anime and chapter 2 of the manga. Dekus character is about development, just like the series itself, its not about Deku climbing the hero rankings as much as Deku improving as a character, to become a confident, and strong willed young man.


Look, I can talk about this series all day, people overhype it for the wrong reasons, its story is overlooked by many and the popularity can make people more prone to criticizing it harshly, MHA is one of the best Shounen anime to ever come out in Shounen Jump and I cant wait to see how this series ends because i consider it a true masterpiece

I think it should be noted that this is a shounen anime. I know some people might have extremely high standards, but they should not have the exact specifications for this genre. This genre is made to be a cash cow, so it is hard to do a good job while deviating from the formula. But honestly, I think Boku no Hero really did revolutionize this genre. I split my review in 5 parts.

Story:
HONESTLY, it is not that different from other Shonen. You have your MC who is trying to reach an overall goal, while also having mini subarcs that just build on top of the story. But what makes series shine is that each arc DOES have a meaning. In some anime's, you sometimes wonder why there is some arc, especially in the later parts of the anime. But, most arcs played a huge role in the story. They were so good, that it might even have you get some chills. Obviously, there is still a long time to go, and I could see the manga stick around for a couple of years at least, but most of the arcs are pretty good by there own standard.

Art:
The action scenes are insane. The artist really went for the combination of American comics as well as manga's when displaying the art, which I feel is pretty cool. I would say the action scenes in the manga are beyond amazing that it almost feels like you are watching it as a show.

Character:
So this was a hit and miss for me. There are certain characters where you see growth. Deku, Bakuguo, and Shouta. But the thing is, there are 20 more classmates in the show, and in my opinion, they don't really touch their growth. Hell, sometimes, you might even forget that a character was even part of this anime. However, the growth, albeit long, for these main characters makes it worth it.

Enjoyment:
Its shounen, so it was enjoyable for the aspects that make shounen popular.

(This is going to be mostly spoiler free)

Whether you love it or you hate, Boku no Hero Academia is arguably one of the most popular manga/anime series in recent history. I personally think that overall, it is a decent series but with a couple of issues that stop it from getting a higher score.

Story- 6-7
The story at times can be very repetitive and boring. There doesn't need to be a training arc in between every arc. I doubt anyone wants to see class 1A vs 1B for the 3rd time. But when My Hero focuses on the antagonistic force, that is probably when it is at its best. The later arcs are definitely where the story is at its best. Overall the story is pretty decent.


Art- 9
The art is amazing. The panels are very clear and are consistently up to this quality. The fight scenes are clear and portrayed very well. Overall I loved the art.


Characters- 6-7
There are a some good side characters that are well written. For example the antagonistic force is very good and there are some side characters that are also very good. But there are many characters that are sorta useless and don't add anything to the story. Besides about 5-6 characters in class 1A, the other members are kinda irrelevant. Furthermore the protagonist Deku gets outshined by many of the other side characters in the story. This may not be new in the shounen genre for the side character to be better than the protagonist. But when there is a character who could literally replace the main character and outshine the protagonist in 10 chapters, then there is a problem with your protagonist.

Enjoyment- 7
I did enjoy the series. It is a very fun read but some arcs are boring and repetitive such as the training arcs and the tournament arcs. But in the later half of the story , it does get better and I am enjoying the current arc.


Overall- 7
While My Hero does have some flaws, it is still a very solid shounen series. Is it the best shounen? No, it isn't anything revolutionary and there are other shounen series that are better. But it does deserve some praise within the manga demographic.

SPOILERS AHEAD !!


my hero academia has to be one of the most popular mangas in the modern anime / manga industry. I've always seen my hero academia as that one popular anime only. in terms of the anime, I feel like the anime itself doesn't give justice to this manga. there's more to the manga that isn't shown well. nowadays I can't help but get scared of what's going to happen with this manga.

the whole plot and summary sounds too normal in my opinion. when you watch the anime before the manga, I could actually feel like 'oh.... it's another shonen anime where it's a different world building' you know? but as the story progresses, it gets really better. it's too good. I feel like there's more but when I heard about the time skip... I knew that I didn't like it. I want a time skip for 2 months or just a year. I wanna see more and I feel like it wouldn't end well for me if they just made a timeskip THAT LONG. especially the WAR arc... it was drawn well. the characters are amazing and especially dabi's true identity as touya... it was TOO good. I saw dabi in another light thanks to that.

in terms of characters. I feel like a lot of characters are not appreciated enough. my favorite character is bakugo right now. the characters are very different individually and that's good. there's some characters that are always compared to each other but I just love how they're all so different. the world building is also good, but it's too flat? if you get what I mean? it didn't bother me tho. bakugo and todoroki's character development was amazing too... they were trying to change or to be better rather than other characters who changes gradually. I just love to see characters like them changing because they want to or they try to. it's very impressive.

in terms of enjoyment, of course I loved it. you should really read the manga especially when this is THAT good. but I want more. I need more from this series. it feels like a normal shonen but I gave it a ten because of how much I enjoyed it so much. it was good, it was enjoyable. there's some mangas or animes that has a really really simple plot or story but the twists and turns are good... it makes everything interesting. just like how coach ukai compared oikawa to a conductor you know. it's like creator to my hero academia. please do give this manga a huge try.

"My Hero Academia" definitely deserves all the praise it gets. Although it is an underdog story, a trope many people seem to think has grown state and worn out at this point, Horikoshi was able to make this trope work again. The characters are multilayered and complex. Character flaws are very visible and are not just swept under the rug to make characters look perfect. Most characters are likeable and easy to sympathise with, a very important part of having a good story.

One of the things that interest me the most is that the villains are not portrayed as just people who despise our main characters for the sake of the story. The reasons for their hatred and disgust towards the hero society and heroes themselves are not founded on something small and petty but are much larger than that.

This will be an in depth review so if you're looking for something to really read have fun with this. If you react to words like slugs to salt, please don't leave a frothing swan song about how many words there are before dying.

Soundtrack 5/7, perfect score

The music I listen to while reading is awesome.



Jokes aside…

Boku no Hero no Academia is going to be THE shonen manga to read along with One Piece (and not so much Fairy Tail). To those familiar with manga you'll understand that there is a stylistic flare that sets the mainstream shonen manga appart from others, and this is the oudou(king’s road). There’s several things that are seen as part of this oudou but it pretty much boils down to ‘hero heads out into some big world with some great power because he wants to change it’. The other thing that has always have to be true is that the main character must be a character that is fundamentally hopeful and good. To name some of these manga they’d be ‘One Piece’, ‘Dragon Ball’, ‘Naruto’, ‘Ruroni Kenshin’, ‘Bleach’, ‘HunterxHunter’...even ‘Bakuman’ might fit in here. As many of the great juggernauts of the shonen genre are either ending or becoming pretty bad or both(Bleach lol) I was actually wondering when Jump would come up with another BIG NAME to really get behind… or they’d just have to stand behind One Piece for the remaining ten years of its run.

That’s when Boku no Hero no Academia hit. I followed this manga since from about its ninth chapter and I kinda knew immediately that it might be huge, but with only a handful of chapters out I just had my fingers crossed and prayed that it would be good.

Art 10/10

The art was amazing right off the bat, with some visuals borrowed from American comics, and you can definitely see the influence on poses like the one deku makes in page 5 of chapter nine where his pose definitely seems a little familiar (*coughcough* spiderman *cough*) This is great because while Japanese manga depends a lot on background lines, explosion effects, and clever panelling to convey a sense of movement, American comics are very good at making pictures seem dynamic with only people in it. This was one of the few manga that really concentrated on visuals that were clean and dynamic with other front runners being One Punch Man(which is just kinda a comedy), and Shokugeki no Soma(dem sweet sweet doujin art foodgasms). The costume designs are also a treat with clothing that fits the personality and powers of each character immensely well, and some are just a treat to look at. Some are also little love letters to hero genres like Rikudou Satou seeming a little oddly like Kinnikuman, All Might being very obviously a lesser Superman, and just the simple abundance of leotards. Also grapes, cause grapes need a callout.
All this ends with a good artstyle where you can very obviously ‘feel’ the action intuitively, and the punches really have some weight behind them.

Story 9/10

The story is good, although there’s still not enough out there to really give it any arousing standing ovations yet… althought it deserves lots of clapping still. As a warning there will be very slight spoilers throughout this segment so if you don’t want any please skip to the next. The thing is the manga has just been slowly upping the tension without hardly ANY let since day 1… so we’ll have to see how it’ll all explode to really see if the mangaka can pull through or not.
The manga hits the spots it wants to effectively, but has yet to really hit the deep hits like *One Piece spoiler* when Ace and Whitebeard died, and it lacks the straightforward ‘-dattebayo’ speeches that the pre-timeskip naruto did well.
The story executes shonen tropes beautifully; the entrance exam, the strengthening of the main character, the introduction of the baddies, all these are done well. This isn’t to say the story is complacent as it keeps you on your feet, and it doesn’t let the plot get bogged down; burning through arcs at a breakneck pace. Each arc is only about 10 chapters long, and each one only leads to greater power, greater stakes, greater something. If one thing gets resolved two things take its place. My hands are tied as I can’t really spoil much here, but I’m really wondering how everything is going to be resolved for the first overarching arc… or even when this overarching arc will finish.( Anyone who wants to talk about it PM me?)


Characters 9/10

The first chapter alone is better for characterization than what a ton of manga have been able to pull off in their entire run, and does a very good job of making Deku relatable. What I really like is how the mangaka thought through the motivations of several characters, and made them real people. This is no small feat considering the sheer quantity of characters the mangaka is juggling. I think that this is acutally the first shonen manga that really does this well. If there is a gripe I have with it it’s that Todoroki’s background was taken care of a little too fast… but I’m thinking that there might be reasons as to why this was rushed.
The thing I really like is Bakugou… while he seemed to have triggered some bad memories of having been bullied in middle school for many dear readers leading to lots of initial hate they missed the point ENTIRELY. Bakugou is a rival character that’s hardly ever been seen. I’d say that the only ones that come close is Green in a lot of pokemon fan stuff (Read any translation of Festival of Champions if you can find) and maybe Vegeta, and perhaps pre-emo Sasuke.
Every character has a voice and personality, and you can see through the small omake pages that the writer really likes a lot of them. There’s lots of love there.


Enjoyment 10/10

What’s there to say? It’s a very fun manga that has messages but isn’t bogged down too much by what it has to say. The pacing’s fast, but good, and the resolutions are sometimes thrilling. The manga is easy on the eyes, and the plot is not convoluted or overtly contrived. The characters are easy to understand and like, and it even has some comedy.

Overall 10/10

If you like mainstream shonen you’ll love this one.

My Hero Academia, the next generation of greats shōnens?

After the end of mythical shōnens like Naruto or Bleach, the Jump publishes since 2014 "My Hero Academia". If you feel its potential right from the start, I admit that I was still doubtful.

A potential not yet exploited
I started with the anime and I thought why not: the characters are endearing, the context is nice, the powers are more or less original. I watch the first season then the second and I detect a potential but not yet fully exploited.

The tension is at its peak!
And then the third season comes and what a surprise! I think I should film myself when I watch each episode: I startle, I shout, I cling to my chair, I applaud. I've been waiting a long time for this, that a rather long shōnen (about 200 chapters for the moment) could give me so many emotions.
Horikoshi Kouhei is very strong! He develops his characters bit by bit, creates a hostile context between the heroes and the "villains", he sets up this tension to finally exploit it completely from season 3, episode after episode.

Patience, patience
Before reading the manga, I will wait the end of the third season. My only fear: to be so good at each chapter/episode, I'm afraid to get used to it and to be disappointed over time because let's be honest: many shōnens like Naruto or Bleach have shown flaws notably because of their length.

My hero academia is painfully bland. It has themes, like never giving up, people being rejected for being different, etc. but they are too vague and one dimensional to make any real statement. It doesn’t really have anything to say. The characters are very trope- y and barely have any depth. At least in other bland shonen the characters go through arcs, even though they’re unrealistic. Here, most of the characters just have a gimmick and that’s the extent of their depth. The morality in MHA is pretty black and white. There are problems with the society they live in, but it’s still pretty basic. . It’s not appalling, but incredibly flat and is similarly shallow to a lot of other mainstream media. I don’t think it’s completely made for money, the author definitely puts effort into it. The art is pretty good, even though it’s not really my kind of style. I still like it though. I watched the anime in sixth grade and found it kind of boring, but I sat through it hoping for something to happen. Nothing really that good did. My hero academia doesn’t have that much depth or nuance at all. At least there are hot guys. Thanks for reading :D

A really fun, straightforward, joyful shonen with all the stereotypical expecations of the genre, yet executed in such a way that it's hard not to enjoy it. The MC is quite generic and not necessarily the most compelling character, though that is very much the point of his character--he works very well within the story introduce us to the world. That said, my main critique of BNHA is that I would like to see him exhibit flaws more and that I wish the female characters were better written. However, the other characters, particularly Bakugou and Todoroki, as well as Shigaraki and Dabi as villains and All Might as a mentor figure, really shine. Their flaws are well written and realistic, their journeys compelling, and most arcs feel very satisfying in their conclusions. The more background characters also get moments to shine, and are compelling in their own right. The art is fantastic, and the creativity of the world building really stands out--a superhero power with earphone jacks? It's very unique.

The manga is very average and predictable.Even after 100+ chapters it doesn't show any improvement story wise causing me to drop it.I wont say I hate this manga but I wont say I like it.The class characters are too many (16) causing some characters shine brighter than others.(Also the girls seem to have same body syndrome,only their height is different).The heroes and villians don't seems to have any reason for doing what they are doing(except for shoto I supose)

I would recommend reading the manga rather that the anime if you are tired of the slow paste the anime have.

Between this and Black Clover I would definitely choose Boku no Hero Acedemia.

Although I don't care for Boku no Hero Acedemia I can't say I don't appreciate the mangaka's and his assistants' work.