My Hero Academia First Impressions

My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) is the most hyped and biggest anime of this Spring season. It won't be the longest running, but man oh man have people been talking about this one for a while. Leading up to the launch a couple weeks ago, Funimation was running a big event on their website and with some other anime YouTubers. It's a series about super-heroes, and its manga has skyrocketed into fame already. 

This was a show I would've checked out regardless of all the campaigning and hype going around it considering how its embedded in super hero mythology. I'm a sucker for these things. The concept isn't the most original, but it seemed colorful and fun.

My Hero Academia focuses around junior-high student Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a super-hero. This, theoretically, isn't a far-off dream. See, in this world, 80% of the population has what is known as a "Quirk," or something that gives them super-powers. Some can create fire, some have incredible strength, and some are made of wood with stretchy arms. Super-heroes are essentially celebrities in this world and instead of the civilians running away from fights because of the danger, they run toward them to see what hero is fighting what villain.

The heroes are also categorized and many of the greatest heroes discover their Quirks at an early age so that they can manifest their abilities and join up with the other heroes, possibly to team up or just become well-known public figures. Izuku dreams of becoming one of these heroes, even filling up thirteen journals of notes on all the heroes and villains he's come across so that when he encounters them, he already knows what he has to.

His big problem? He doesn't have a Quirk (shocker in an anime, right?). This is sort of where we get our first major pitfall of the series, one that many could see coming. Nothing special about him? Well I doubt that'll last long. It breaks the suspense. While it will be cool to see him learn how to be a hero without the powers and apply it, it just seems weird. But it's not like it hasn't worked before. One of the most charming factors about Captain America: The First Avenger is that Steve Rogers wanted to punch Hitler in the face regardless of powers. He didn't care, he just wanted to do good.

Izuku feels like he's almost there, but not quite. He is a good person, and lovably dense, but he seems to initially operate under the mindset that you have to have powers to be a hero, which is complete crap. Police officers, firefighters, and doctors are the most well-known examples of day-to-day heroes there are, and anyone on the street can perform a random heroic act. It's not necessarily a flaw in the character, it's just something they could have done better.

Despite this, I am liking the series. There were some unexpected elements thrown into the mix in Episode 2 that I really like and the episode also helped establish the tone of the series: fun, but with an epic and intense underscore to it all. It seems like it'll just be a show where I can kick back and turn my brain off for a solid twenty-five minutes to have a good time.

Izuku is a fun character. Some of the funniest parts of the show have been with him as a child, though it's also tragic and you feel bad for him. His biggest dream was absolutely destroyed and he's had to live with that ever since. He's still a funny kid, though, in his mannerisms. His knowledge of all the super-heroes, I would say, is a bit convenient if not for the fact that this kid lives for the heroes. And that's okay. From Izuku's perspective, I can buy the realism of his situation.

I don't really understand the rest of the Earth's, though. In Episode 2 there's a pretty dangerous battle that rages and yet there's just a crowd of people standing there watching. They're not in the way, but it's strange for me to see that people aren't running around in terror and are instead looking out for the next hero to save them. The show establishes, too, that heroes don't want civilians interfering in the fight, but they could at least run off to find help from other heroes with a suitable quirk.

Outside of Izuku, we've so far only met two major players: Katsuki, aka Kacchan, and All Might. Kacchan is your cardboard bully for Izuku, though the fact that they're childhood friends will no doubt open up the door to development. All Might is a fun hero to watch and is the main inspiration for Izuku to want to become a super-hero. He has some good secrets about him that help strengthen his character rather than just make him a hollow beacon of hope.

On a technical level, the show looks great. The art in some shots feels ripped straight out of a comic book and the fights are over-the-top fun. It's also very vibrant and colorful, though not too much that it strains the eyes. It matches the tone that the show is going for.

So far, I'm a fan of the opening. Just your typical Japanese rock-tune so far. The soundtrack itself is great, with lighthearted quirky music for the downtime and the really epic instrumental stuff when the action and heart of the show kick in.

I get where people are coming from that say this series is something awesome. It definitely has that potential, and would be unfair for me to judge it as a whole this early on. Is it original? No, not really. But it is a ton of fun, and if you're looking for something to just have a good time with this anime season, I'd say this is a good one to check out.

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