Before I relapsed into a “weeaboo”-hood, there is this series that has been ringing My Hero Academia on my ears quite often. Others include hearing about it from some of my other weeaboo friends or when one of the YouTubers that I follow gets sponsored by Crunchyroll. Honestly though, even when I started getting back into anime, I never paid much attention to it. It’s just another Anime show to me and nothing else. I dismissed it as a fanboy hyped overrated series after watching season 1 all the way through; and to be honest, it still stands true today! If you ask me directly, I never saw what was so great about the show; not even the characters could change my mind no matter how hard they tried.
Neither was there anything special in My Hero Academia for me. Even trying out a full season did not make me appreciate this statement any better than before. To be honest with you guys, despite having seen every episode of season 1 from start to finish, up until now I still don’t get why people are obsessed with it like they are. Because when you have a generic main character like Izuku Midoriya with cliché goals, dialogues and backstory thus boring does not even cover half of its condition.
Even Katsuki Bakugo the other protagonist who is basically just an insufferable little brat that is begging for a whupping from yours truly could not save this anime (Keep Bakugo and Midoriya in mind. They will be important in this review later on.) When it comes to these last two characters however, i.e., Shota Aizawa and All Might who happen to be teaching class 1-A – only them alone have impressed me as far as this story is concerned! Except for those two teachers my thoughts towards other individuals were pretty bad because they were just extras to me.
Initially, I was not sure about continuing with the show as I didn’t like the first season. But after convincing myself and my friend who loved it, I realized that giving My Hero Academia another shot wouldn’t be a bad thing. And now this is the part where I apologize to the series, to the author Kohei Horikoshi-sensei and to you, if you are ever a My Hero Academia fan. In fact, I should have not been so mean to the series in that first paragraph; therefore, all of these things are truly well meant. After all, these are my honest thoughts about the show, and frankly, I’m more than happy that my first impressions didn’t last long. At last but not least here is a full review of each My Hero Academia season coupled with some of my thoughts/opinions on it.
At this point in the second season however (which means we’re already halfway through), things start getting interesting because other characters finally start showing up on screen–I get to know them better. Besides that even their stories are starting to gradually become more entertaining for me personally! It was really cool how they developed Fumikage Tokoyami aka “best bird”, Tenya Iida aka “nerd Genos”, “coolest hottie” Shoto Todoroki and best girl Kyoka Jiro during sports festival arc but Stein’s interaction with our main cast in Hero Killer arc saved it all for me as far as this anime is concerned at least at this very moment! All things considered though since there were things like Todoroki x Momo Yaoyorozu also in play when Bakugo started changing slowly right from there going forward so then obviously someone might be able to say we’re not barking up such empty trees.
The second season of this show has done a lot to redeem the entire series for me, and I’m finishing it up with a bunch of good vibes. However, obviously there is something to criticize. But what really sticks to my mind are the League Of Villains especially Tomura Shigaraki, whose motivations have always been so small-minded and immature. The fact that he remains a petty and quite childish villain till now is true. His character as a villain just doesn’t work out. Moreover, this tagline #LeagueOfVillians is stupidly worthless on my part since it’s only reflecting some superhero story made by Marvel yet written by Japanese person—maybe I am wronged here.
Another nitpick that I would make is concerning our protagonist Izuku Midoriya who hasn’t really become someone that appeals to me in any way whatsoever. On paragraph one, I stated how much I hate clichés and with Midoriya being full of them he has become boring.
These criticisms however don’t mean that I did not like this season because it was the most important one for all time in terms of my watching My Hero Academy journey. This season changed my opinion about this series but everything will be better during its third run.
It’s only been a few episodes into Season 3 and I’m already loving every bit of it. Maybe the training camp arc wasn’t too strong but it helped introduce me slowly to Midoriya as he inspires Kota –a brat who despised heroes until meeting our protagonist-. But then again, how could you not mention two of the most iconic arcs in all of Boku No Hero; All For One’s return and All Might’s last stand wherein he reveals his true form once his quirk starts fading?–One For All-This marks one of the most poignant moments in Boku No Hero which henceforth proves why All Might is one of if not the best-written character in the series. It just goes to show that people really do love our Number One Hero for who he actually is, so I call this one “United States of Smash” moment certified by my feels.
Another thing in this season is Midoriya and Bakugo’s growth. The fact that I felt sorry for him when he talked with Midoriya before they started beating each other up is what cemented his redemption for real. Just keep being yourself, Lord Explosion Murder.
In general, this season met my expectations and watching Bakugo and Midoriya grow has been the best thing ever while watching My Hero. Pro-hero licensure exam being the only critic that I can point out since it had so many highlights – maybe not just Joker’s first appearance; then there was that Joker sequence at least. Nonetheless, Season 3 of My Hero Academia was a blast. My anticipations did not puzzle me for the fourth season, and oh boy am I unprepared for it!
The fourth season of this series is without a doubt the best season of all that I watched. However, my opinion as to why it is the best BNHA season is due to the Overhaul arc which has been considered by many as one of the greatest arcs in the series. This arc blew my brains out completely and God Almighty. If All-Might’s retirement broke your heart, then the end of this arc will grind the pieces of your broken heart into fine dust. For three seasons before that, I thought that there was no death in My Hero Academia at all including villains. That changed when Sir Nighteye died smiling and it’s in my opinion most emotional moment among all My Hero Academia–an experience I won’t forget.
As well, misunderstood villain was introduced afterwards. Though he barely gets any screentime, Gentle Criminal really is the best written villain in My Hero Academia according to me. Unlike other villains whose aims are basically to kill or cause destruction for unknown motives, his goal is much more unique and innocent and their relationship with La Brava made me love him even more—probably one of MHA’s most underappreciated characters ever. After everything that happened in The Overhaul Arc and Gentle Criminals, Culture Festival came as a breath of fresh air because it was lighter compared to these two episodes.
Kyoka Jiro finally gets her spotlight both literally and figuratively Eri, the girl Midoriya, Togata, and Sir Nighteye saved finally learns how to smile. Then Endeavor becomes a new Number One hero while taking care about his family pretending everything’s alright after such an amazing season.
Undoubtedly, this fourth season of My Hero Academia is its best. It stands on par with some of anime greatest seasons released up until now especially considering what I felt whilst watching it – something that truly left an everlasting impact emotionally for me as an anime fan even until today. I can’t pinpoint something to criticize other than Sir Nighteye being underutilized and lasting for just only half a season and Gentle Criminal arc being short but even then, the way Horikoshi wrote them had more than made it up for me to get attached to both of them.
I am glad I was wrong about my first impression of this show. While I might still find the entire story unappealing or Midoriya as an ordinary protagonist, that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have enjoyed this series because in my opinion, its biggest strength lies in making all its characters endearing. Whether they were funny or serious, their interaction among themselves is so entertaining and is what made me like it from the start. It’s overrated rightfully so because it’s a genuinely great series and sometimes we need things like that in life that will make us happy. Surprisingly, I used to think that shows with clichés and generic plots are bad but it has changed after My Hero Academia by Bones Inc., Horikoshi-sensei etc.
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