The Cambridge Geek

My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is set in a superhero-heavy world, in which most people have a "Quirk", effectively a superpower, though there is no small variation in power or usefulness.

Izuku, our protagonist, is one of the unlucky few who are Quirkless, but is still determined to go to the hero academy, and follow in the footsteps of his inspiration, All Might. This does tend to result in his getting rather beaten up by his classmates, even particularly his rival, Katsuki, who has a rather impressive fire-based ability.

Luckily, he runs into All Might mid-rescue, and manages to show his true worth as a potential hero. So All Might, in stereotypical mentor form decides to pass on his Quirk, givng Izuku incredible power, but leaving him unable to properly function until he learns to control his power without tearing his body apart.

And so begins a fairly traditional hero training show. Izuku has to learn how to be a hero with his classmates, while facing off against both real supervillains and his childhood rival, who tends to get a bit annoyed about being rescued by someone he considers a lesser.

It's surprisingly good, for something that sits so middle of the road in terms of premise. The hero's main drive to be the best is a little silly, and the rival is rather over the top, but the rest of the world and cast is interesting enough to make up for it. There's something of the X-Men about the classroom, with a range of powers including speed, fire, being a frog and having sticky balls.

Luckily, the ensemble isn't just a backdrop for an overblown rivalry, and it means that there's always something going on. Especially interesting is All Might as the aging mentor who has slowly failing powers, and what that means for his famous career.

If you're a fan of Naruto, you'll almost certainly enjoy this.

Recommended.

Tagged: Anime Action Schooldays Superhero Funimation Dubbed