I've been into anime far longer than I have manga. My manga love didn't kick in until the early 2000s when I bought my first four graphic novels of Dragon Ball. However, just as my love for comics did some years ago waned, so too did my my love for manga. I am way behind on manga I was buying in the mid to late 2000s. The last volume of One Piece I bought was 8. Here in America, we're on vol. 84 now.
As usual, I am late to the party when it comes to My Hero Academia. This is an immensely popular series. However, that's not what drew me to it. My Hero Academia isn't even something that was recommended to me. I was not aware of just how big this series was until I'd gotten into it. And just how did My Hero Academia grab my attention you ask? Wait, what's that, you aren't asking? Well, I feel like telling the short tale anyway, so I'm gonna.
I was browsing the manga section in my Barns & Nobles with some JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga in hand. In the M section, the spines of the My Hero Academia manga caught my eye. Usually the spines of manga graphic novels are all the same color with some exceptions such as Naruto part one having white spines and part two having black spines. There are other examples but I found it unique that each volume of My Hero Academia each has a different color regardless of the story arc. It was enough to make me give the cover of volume 1 a look. Turns out it wasn't just the spines that stood out. The covers themselves are done in the same style of western comics. All Might standing proudly with that huge grin looked like he came right out of a silver age comic book. A few episodes into season one of My Hero Academia on Hulu and before I know it, I'm buying the manga, familiarizing myself with the characters and I'm all caught up with the first two seasons.
For those of you that aren't in the know, My Hero Academia is a super hero manga. It centers on the tale of how 15 year old Izuku Midoria becomes a great hero. You know how the X-Men are mutants and compared to the rest of the population, their numbers are small but they are feared and hated? Well, in My Hero Academia, those with powers are the overwhelming majority with 80% of the world's population being born with what is known as a quirk. The remaining 20% are quirkless so having powers has come to be accepted as the norm. However, summing up My Hero Academia as "reverse X-Men" doesn't do it justice nor does it even come close to scratching the surface.
With more than half the world's population having powers, this naturally changes how society functions. Sure, there are heroes all over the places but My Hero Academia is a large deconstruction of the super hero trope. Unlike say, Spider-Man, who saves the world but never sees a dime for his heroic deeds, heroes in My Hero Academia can make big bucks in the hero game. That may seem selfish or shallow, but many heroes in this series are famous and enjoy plenty of wealth. Are all of these heroes fine, upstanding citizens? Nope. Just because My Hero Academia is bursting at the seems with heroes, that doesn't mean every single one of them are a swell chaps. Some of them are kinda of tremendous A-holes. After generation after generation of super powered beings growing in numbers, the term "hero" doesn't have the same meaning it once did. In this series, being a hero is the same as being server at a restaurant, a teacher, an office assistant. In short, being a hero is a job, a profession and a very common one.
Another thing that makes this series so interesting is the restriction it places on hero work. No hero is allowed to act without a license. Case in point, Izuku, Ida and Todoroki are the ones responsible for defeating Stain, a hero killer. However, since all of them are students without a license the truth of their hero work is covered up, with only a select few knowing the truth. This helps prevents the encouragement of acts of vigilantism in the same way, you wouldn't let a doctor operate on you without a license.
Having a quirk doesn't mean you can just spam it to your heart's content. Since quirks are physical abilities, this places a limit to how much you can use it. Early in the series, Izuku breaks his bones and in one fight, one of his hands is damaged so badly that it won't heal. It Uraraka overdoes it on her zero gravity, she'll throw up and as someone that absolutely hates vomiting, I feel that is one of the worst drawbacks to a quirk to have. Still, it is nice that the quirks don't make the enpowered people unstoppable. Even the *ahem* mighty All Might is forced to retire.
If you're thinking of getting into My Hero Academia, it comes highly recommended from yours truly. I couldn't be happier that I stepped into this series. I originally had a lot more to say but I'll save that for another post.
Oh and Izuku's mom is just TOO precious!
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