My Hero Academia

I absolutely loved this Shōnen and I believe that in Shōnen jump it accomplishes exactly what a manga is supposed to accomplish – friendship, hard work, and winning! I liked it, I'm glad for the second season and I think it really is a very high quality Shōnen. Better than all those Titans, SAO and Tokyo Ghouls combined. I liked it mainly because it was very good at conveying emotions. But I understand that this isn't everyone's cup of tea. Of course it has its weaknesses and you can definitely see that it follows the well-trodden successful formula, but for me it has the right spark I look for in a Shōnen. A weaker 5 stars. (30/06/2016)

This is a pure distillation of what you think of as shonen, with all its pluses and minuses. With the reviews of the first season of HeroAca, I often read or hear that its beginning is ponderous, boring, slow, as tired as a dog, and that Deku is an irritating main hero, while gradually things get interesting. My opinion is exactly the opposite: the beginning fully captured my attention precisely because of how pleasantly civil it presents an alternate world of superheroes, and pays close attention to the psychological development of the main character, who, moreover, has to really work for and earn his special powers compared to many other shōnen heroes. For me, this part is where the anime's greatest strength lay, and it is the reason HeroAca had my full attention. Unfortunately, after starting off at a superhero High School, the initially promising season devolves into the "shōnen hero at a weird school" trope seen hundreds of times, which means nothing more than interactions with weird classmates and weird teachers who are portrayed by the most over-the-top character types, that are simply not to be missed in a generic weird school anime - the bully, the heartthrob, the loser with an inferiority complex, the thug, the mysterious character, the star pupil, the class idol, the hero's admirer, and so on, no innovation whatsoever. The generic basic story about a strange school obviously demands characters, who look like mere copies of other anime, being thrown into completely tropey situations along with the protagonist. All of this stands out in the completely lifeless conclusion which I can no longer remember anything about, as there is no particularly interesting fight, there is just the ridiculous main villain. Out of curiosity, I also watched the first few episodes of the second season, which unfortunately only confirmed my fears that the show would continue in the same vein as the second half of the first season. If you are a die-hard shonen obsessive, or on the other hand have not seen much of them, then you are in the right place, but if you were expecting something more than just a generic show, then I would recommend that you go fishing in different waters. It did not offend me, but it did not excite me either. (30/07/2019)