Reviews Manga / My Hero Academia

I realize this is an older review, but I’m curious about two things: 1) Do you have any new thoughts on the series now that time has passed and things have changed? And 2) What exactly do you dislike about tournament arcs? I’ve only recently started getting into shonen-type stories, and I’ve noticed several people complaining about tournaments, but never really saying why they’re bad.

I don\'t necessarily agree with all the remarks on this review (particularly about Naruto), but I can explain why many people dislike tournament arcs. For one, tournament arcs are almost always the climax of sports manga, but battle manga have the option of doing something else for their stories. DBZ had Goku fight Frieza on an exploding planet, which was followed up by Gohan fighting Cell on a flat, plain, fighting square. A combination of a dull environment aesthetic and a predictable plot structure makes tournament arcs rather reviled.

Tournament arcs can be inventive, but it is done very rarely. I found Fate/Zero\'s Holy Grail War one of the more captivating arcs, as the rules implemented by the Magi Association that are suppose to referee the event, are very different from the rules the Holy Grail actually enforced, meaning many of the competitors found different ways to cheat or kill, in a tournament could have been run more peacefully (only the Servants had to die, and all of them were revanents that had died before, so losing really just meant losing out on a wish). A battle of morality, perceptions, and codes were waged among the participants, as opposed to the knock out your opponent, or knock your opponent out of the ring you find in shonen everywhere.

With exception of Yu Yu Hakusho, most shonen manga\'s best arcs have nothing with tournaments because shonen have the chance to be more inventive. They could visit another world, travel through time, protect a city from invasion, etc. You read the Stain arc, wasn\'t that more thrilling watching a bunch of kids fight in a distilled protective space with no major reward or consequences toward losing? Tournament arcs lack tension because there is generally no major stake beyond the disappointment of losing to your opponent.

This is the main point. It\'s not so much an issue with tournamet arcs themselves, but how by the numbers they tend to be. This one despite being very predictable (with the exception of Izuku vs Todoroki and Todoroki vs Bakgou, you pretty much knew who was gonna win any fight involving those 3), it still went beyond that by barely going into most battles (look how many happen in one chapter, #35), basically saying, these are the fights that matter.

I also agree that Bakugou is a poorly written character and that the world is poorly explained. As for Izuku, I think full cowl was a terrible change that breaks a lot of the tension.

(Minor) I honestly would have liked to see Izuku try to be a hero through determination and hard work instead of having the power handed to him. (Like in any other shonen) It was sort of a cop out in my opinion.

Meh. Aside from the fact Batmania makes me sick of Badass Normal protagonists and that Muggles Do It Better is a trope I loathe, I feel that would have made the protagonist blander in a show where diverse superpowers are the big selling point. Nobody would want to follow a normal guy in a setting where everyone has cool superpowers (again, excluding Batman, but even he has something helping). Also, the story makes it really blatant that with the level of some superpowers in that setting, a regular human would genuinely have no chance. Suspension of Disbelief can only go so far.

This is a rather shallow review. Most of your cons aren\'t even explain well at all. It\'s simply \"I don\'t like X\" or \"this is bad\" without explaining why.

Poor review.

Kyon says, "Hi" 'cuz he was Haruhi Suzumiya's second most popular character, despite beng the only member of the SOS Brigade without any powers.

Nobody would want to follow a normal guy in a setting where everyone has cool superpowers.

I don't get it, you yourself wrote Badass Normal so you know it exist. Hell, the most popular character of the spin-off is Knuckle Duster, who doesn't have a quirk.

@Marcel

He is a Badass Normal who only gets by through sneak attacks, excessive brutality, backstreet dealings being constantly doped up with painkillers to keep the ache of his battered body at bay and his former training as a Pro Hero with a Quirk.

Context matters and Izuku would not have been able to become the hero he wanted to be without a Quirk.

@reppuzan

context matters

And he\'s a fictional character, he would had been changed acordingly. What\'s your point? In fact, until full cowl, we saw Izuku get by mostly by his wits, since he couldn\'t just use OFA willy nilly. He even managed to get all the way to the final phase of the sports festival without using it.

...not that any of this matters as the point wasn\'t that he wouldn\'t be able to become a hero (even though there are several no-power in a superpowers world badasses), but that people wouldn\'t want to watch/read one.

@Marcel

It's explicitly stated by All Might of all people that trying to become a Quirkless hero is nigh-impossible. Knuckleduster isn't a hero, he's a vigilante who quit for the most part once his main goal was accomplished.

Yeah, Izuku is a bright kid. But those things you talked about are in a controlled environment where he's at no real risk of death. But that was his remarkable trait: he was a scrawny weakling with extreme self-confidence issues until All Might trained him and gave him his blessing.

Plenty of people would like to read non-powered heroes (as evidenced by the plethora of wish-fulfillment Quirkless hero Izuku fics), but My Hero Academia in general continually deconstructs the notion of a Badass Normal in a society where almost everyone has a superpower.

Even Stain, who is held up as the epitome of Charles Atlas Superpower in the series, only gets by thanks to his ability to paralyze his foes with his Quirk. His prowess is just a means to get that lick in so he can stab his helpless victim. Without it, the playing field would be much more even and he's eventually overwhelmed once he goes up against three of U.A.'s best first-years since he doesn't have his instant win button available to him.

It's explicitly stated by All Might

and? Like you said, Charles Atlas Superpowers are a thing on this world, not only that, but also Badass Bookworms (the department of support). That already means Batman and Ironman are possible, we've already seen this play out elsewhere, so unless there's a special reason, that statement is just not believable.

Eraserhead usually works (and prefers) alone, including against enemies that aren't affected by his quirk; Mirio was able to hold his own against a top class villain "after" he was quirkless, still "drunk" and trying to protect Eri. You didn't even rebute Knuckleduster, just stated facts about him as if they prove something in some way.

My Hero Academia in general continually deconstructs the notion of a Badass Normal in a society where almost everyone has a superpower.

When? plenty of quirks are support and the heroes/villains still need to use their physical skills to get by. Toga, Mandalay, even Ojiro's power is having an extra apendage, hence he learned martial arts.

I'm not a fan of "bullet point" reviews, which list what the author likes and doesn't like about the series, but doesn't always elaborate on it. This review sometimes has the opposite problem, as it's a bit redundant to mention your problems with Bakugo and the worldbuilding, then go into detail about them a few paragraphs later.

That being said, I do agree that Bakugo is somewhat inconsistently written, particularly how his flippant Suicide Dare to Midoriya in the first chapter is forgotten about. As divisive as Endeavor is, I think he's significantly better-written; the narrative doesn't downplay the severity of his actions, some people still can't forgive him, and after changing for the better, he's still a bit of a jerk.

I also don't think that Midoriya necessarily got his power "handed" to him. Even apart from how he showed he had the heart of a hero by trying to save Bakugo, One For All is a difficult to use Quirk, and he's only started using it, so mastering it is an uphill battle. The same goes for the six other Quirks he's gradually gaining access to, which is why I'm not as critical of that plot development.