My Hero Academia – 02

While on their brief flight through the city, the bottles containing the goop villain fall out of All Might’s pockets, and Kocchan kicks one of them, releasing the monster in a shopping district. Meanwhile, just as Izuku is hoping for inspiring words about how he can become a hero even without a Quirk, All Might deflates into a grotesque husk of his usual public self.

Turns out, this is his true form—more heroin than hero—the result of a near-fatal injury sustained in a battle years ago that limits him to three hours of heroic duty a day. Like the doctors and mother who told him about his limits, Izuku gets another grim dose of reality from All Might, who can’t simply say he can be a hero.

Kocchan, being tougher than Midoriya, is able to stay alive far longer in the villain’s clutches, but he can’t defeat the thing, and none of the heroes who show up have to proper skill sets to defeat it either.

I love the practical snags that result from the super-specialization of these heroes, be it the guy who only shoots water, the tree guy who can’t be near fire, or Mt. Lady, who doesn’t have enough room to work.

When Izuku and the emaciated All Might arrive (seperately) at the scene, things are bad; everyone is waiting for someone to show up and save the day. Then, something happens to Izuku that apparently happens to a lot of heroes early in their lives: he moves without thinking, after seeing fear in Kocchan’s eyes and what he thinks is a wordless cry for help.

There’s very little Izuku can do besides run at the monster, scream, and throw his effects at it, but it doesn’t matter, it’s his heroic gesture that inspires All Might to pump himself back up, rescue Izuku, and knock the villain out with a right fist so hard he creates a pocket of precipitation above the city.

Afterwards, All Might gets all the credit, Kocchan is praised for hanging in there…and Izuku is scolded by the other heroes for acting so recklessly. But both Kocchan and All Might know who is really responsible for saving the day, and it’s Izuku.

Kocchan may not have been trying to look desperate, but he did, and All Might wouldn’t have acted had Izuku not acted first. He doesn’t thank Kocchan, but you can tell he’s pissed about Izuku being more than just talk and kiddy dreams. That being said, All Might can’t keep this up much longer, so the obvious thing to do is to train Izuku to be his successor.

There are no guarantees, as Izuku still has no Quirk of his own, but he’s gotta try, and if nothing else, Izuku’s crazy actions proved to All Might that he can be a hero, with a little help. And then, as a little surprise, Izuku’s voiceover informs us this is actually the story of how he became the greatest hero. So he won’t be weak and unheralded for long.

My Hero Academia – 01 (First Impressions)

A world where humans develop superpowers and a government-sanctioned hero industry that battle villains? With a comedic bent? We’ve seen this premise before. We’ve even seen this art style applied to this premise before, with One Punch Man, a bona-fide future classic covered by Zane last Fall.

Of course, that might be a dumb statement: most premises of new anime are premises we’ve seen before. Anime’s been around a while, and there are some premises that endure and continue to be relevant as long as there are talented people to put a new twist or their personal touch to them.

Does the well-worn familiarity hamper the freshness of My Hero Academia a little? Yes; that’s unavoidable. But if it doesn’t contribute anything new or groundbreaking, is it at least diverting entertainment? Most assuredly; and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

We’ve seen weird heroes fighting weird villains before (and heroes fighting each other for the credit). But we haven’t seen these weird heroes and villains, vying for attention through the use of brute strength, speed and maneeuverability, or plain ol’ sex appeal.

The most “conventional” superhero also happens to be the top hero in the business, All Might, an amusingly grotesque Superman caricature who is blonde, burly, and perpetually grinning from ear to ear. This is the guy who inspires our protagonist, the pint-sized, “quirkless” Midoriya”Deku” Izuku.

He wants to be like All Might. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the genes. A third-year in middle school, he still has no powers, and doctors have told him not to hold his breath. Still, he takes careful notes of all hero/villain clashes and studies hard in hopes that he can enroll at the prodigious U.A. High (which no longer prohibits quirkless).

Izuku doesn’t just have his lack of powers to contend with, but also the universal general awfulness and cruelty of his peers, chief among them Bakugo Katsuki. Your typical bully with his corps of toadies, Katsuki wants to be the only one from his school to get into U.A. High, so threatens Izuku to forget about following him.

That’s a nakedly petty position that is sure to set up a scenario in which Izuku somehow ends up with the power to oppose/surpass his Katsuki (or possibly lead to the two developing a grudging friendship).

The first brick in the foundation of Izuku’s rise is laid by an unexpected (and thoroughly disbelief-suspending) encounter with All Might himself. Izuku is wobbly-kneed in his presence, but is still able to grab on for dear life as Might flies away to his next gig.

Here, we see All Might cough up some blood, suggesting A.) his heroing days may be numbered and B.) Izuku is uniquely positioned to possibly succeed him. We must be content with this first brick, for My Hero Academia chose not to convert its loser MC to hero status in the first episode. But it’s a very promising first brick in what looks to be a fun Spring romp.