BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA 2

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionBoku no Hero Academia 3
MANGA ActionBoku no Hero Academia
ANIME ActionBoku no Hero Academia
OVA ActionBoku no Hero Academia: Training of the Dead

REVIEWS

• 

  beanwolf

  90/100
  Masterful execution, great animation, and lovable characters prove that shounen tropes still have plenty of steam.

  I have never been a fan of shounen anime, but dear God if this isn't one of the best shows to come out in the past few years. My gripes with the genre are consistently made to seem completely unfounded every week as new episodes air. To have a shounen manga adaptation clip along at a decent pace is already an impressive feat, but to also include incredible characters, stellar animation, and great music is just a medium-shattering achievement, especially when the series came straight out of SHONEN JUMP. The last I remember having this much pure unadulterated hype and fun with shounen was with YuYu Hakusho back when it aired on Toonami, and there's something to be said for recapturing (and going above) that magic. Oh, did I mention yet that there's nearly no filler? Yeah, there's only ONE anime-original episode, and the only way you'd even pick it out was if you were an avid manga reader.

  It's been said to death by the anime community at large, but the secret to HeroAca's quality is in its perfect execution of what we already expect. You're going to get all of your standard shounen tropes here; HeroAca embraces them to the fullest degree. The difference is in HOW the show does them, and does them so, so, so right. Deku is the most compelling shounen main character I've encountered to date, with, for possibly the first time in shounen history, a believable reason to actually be considered an underdog. You can't help but empthaize with him in his struggles and be hype as all hell for his achievements, and the same can be said for the rest of the cast as well. So much obvious loving time and care was put into making our core cast feel like actual fucking characters instead of power-husk show-offs. Personality-rich, driven, and (most importantly) believable characters are the name of the game here, and I can't help but enjoy pretty much every character that gets any ounce of screentime.

  None of this is to say that HeroAca, and by extension this second season, is perfect by any metric. There are some misgivings with the plot and some of the general anime "bleh" that plagues all releases to come out within the past several years (high school setting, etc...). World-building is also a little suspect, and there's a clear requirement of being able to both suspend disbelief and to not question the lack of exposition regarding the character's environment. This issue is especially notable when the show likes to play with the idea of the "ideal" of being a "real hero", with some heavy handed messages about how widespread power has warped public perception about what being a hero really is and what sort of behavior they should exhibit. Although an interesting and compelling discussion for HeroAca, it's heavily damaged by this lack of meaningful exposition, and can come across as misplaced and even boring if you haven't properly "bought-in" to the series.

  Still, if we're talking in-genre here, and if you've been with me for this song-and-dance before you know we always are, you'll be hard pressed to find anything better than this. If you have ever been a fan of shounen anime, or you are just looking for an new pick-up with a fair bit of content on the bone, I implore you to check this one out. Whether you end up watching it or just dive straight into the manga, you definitely won't be disappointed.

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• 

  ItzToxic

  85/100
  This is how you do a perfect anime adapation.

  BnHA Season 2 Review

  I’ll try not to put as many spoilers as possible.

  My Hero Academia has continued to impress me with its portrayal of characters, and being able to present an amazing continuation from season 1. This anime, being the usual shounen, does almost everything correctly to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats. Generating as much hype as possible.

  To all fellow manga readers like myself. I can probably guess the amount of hype you may have had when the adaptation was first announced, more so season 2. The thought of having the most iconic manga chapters being animated made us have something to very much look forward to. I am glad I read this manga, but at the same time, not. This is because I would’ve actually liked to see both seasons blind, and experience this show to the fullest.

  To start off, let’s be real for a bit, the story of BnHa is nothing new, we’ve seen this all before. Some guy is weak or powerless and then coincidentally meets strong guy, then gets power and then bam he’s cool and stuff. It’s been done before, but BnHa is one of those series that takes this on a properly executed type of situation. It may be a bit cliche with the story and sometimes how the characters are presented like the usual rival and how they aspire to beat the MC and stuff like that. But like I said, BnHa does it right when it comes to these usual things.

  Even if it is your typical shounen like I mentioned before, it is still one of the best anime to execute these factors properly and stay within the shounen genre. The amount of goosebumps I get during some of the moments in this season was too much to count.

  Despite all these things, this still proves to be one of my favourite series. Boku No Hero Academia (Despite all the “cliche” things I’ve said about it) is still up there in my favourites.

  BnHA 2 happens after the events of season 1. Things are starting to calm down, while new situations may rise in the future. The students take the next step into what it means to be a hero. While that may sound fun, it requires a lot of vigorous training, as well as some big problems to solve. Our characters will then learn how to deal with it and how to become stronger from it.

  Something I love about BnHA is how it keeps our cast of characters in mind, and leaves almost no one out of characterization. Sure some characters might seem one dimensional to others, which I guess is somewhat agreeable to a certain extent. Some characters do feel like they’re there to just be there a fulfill a certain role. But most characters in BnHa go through some sort of growth or some sort of development, take this along with good written characters and execution, it makes up for it.

  Another thing I love about this series is the ability to keep me enticed and care for each character in the show, especially the villains. While that may have been a bit lacking in the first season, season 2 comes back and makes up for it for its beautiful character development.

  Some main focuses of the anime are in regards to Izuku’s development, and him figuring out the true potential of his inherited One for All. With this, he becomes more reliable and less reliant as well as takes matters in his own hands and taking action to suit what most appropriate for the situation. Whilst of course trying to fix his relationship with Bakugo.

  The season kicks off with a great arc: The Sports Festival. As though tournament arcs are indeed common, My Hero Academia keeps the intensity of tournaments in mind, and adds its own twist to make it as entertaining as possible, while keeping the hype at a maximum.

  It does a good job of straying from the generic form of a tournament arc, while keeping each skill set of each character in mind and making each match’s result as fair as possible even though some match ups seemed that it shouldn't have been.

  Of course the results of the arc made sense. It was an arc full of action, as well as helped some characters go through some MAJOR development, making them 100x more likeable (Although those characters were likeable in the first place anyway)

  The thing about this anime is how very simple yet not simple it is, it portrays beauty in the plot presented and the factors that lead to an amazing series like this consists of the elements that most of us would want to see.

  I’m sure some of us manga readers were counting each week, a countdown to a specific episode that you know will very much excite anime only’s and excite you because you finally get to see it on screen, fully coloured with an amazing soundtrack and the voice actors that put their passion into each character.

  After all is said and done, more arcs come into play with more ways each character can find their true strength and learn different ways to help society as a true hero. While Izuku clearly shows his strength, we mustn’t forget about the other characters (which I’m really glad wasn't left out as I’ve said before) and their goals for the future. With this, we get a general understanding about the ambitions of the other characters thus being able to feel for them once things don't go a certain way. I will tell you right now that this season is indeed more serious and more violent than the last. It has more emotional segments and more action. Sometimes it may be predictable, but the end result still remains satisfactory for the viewer to take in.

  The way they presented their Villains was spot on. Guess what, the villains in this anime, are actually THREATS?! Wow, a villain who does his job. Of course villains being threats aren't that hard to achieve. But i’m at a point where I’ve seen too much villains that are better off being called hero’s then anything else. Maybe I haven’t seen enough anime, but I wasn't able to find villains that proved deadly. But i’m glad this series was able to pull it off. While Shigaraki continues to plot some evil scheme, there is the problem of a certain villain, who is very deadly, and must be stopped at all costs. I recommend watching the anime to figure out who that is, for if you watch the initial introduction, you will probably love him more than knowing who it is prior to watching the series.

  There’s no need to talk much about the quality animation that Bones put into this since I have too much praise to give it, but I am beyond grateful to them for taking this adaptation to heart and showing us each manga panel in colour and in animated form. I loved every single episode of this show and it presents a fine, simple story of people who want to get stronger and taking steps forward to becoming the hero they want to be. Of course becoming one is no easy task. Things must happen whether it has a positive impact or negative. There are then challenges along the way to achieve the goal they’ve always wanted, and I love the way these characters deal with it and handle these problems. Although some characters didn't get too much shine, the amount of character development we had for most of the main characters overtakes the lack of some.

  The soundtrack was also amazing, presenting emotion and epic music for just the right situations and giving the scenes more impact. Without it, it definitely wouldn't have been as memorable. I loved both OP’s and ED’s for BnHa Season 2. I love the significance behind each opening and what they meant and how each characters are portrayed within the OP. It shows gradually how much development and struggles some characters deal with, along with how they would cope with it and use it to better themselves as a person and hero.

  Overall, this season was phenomenal and presented what a hero story should look like. Working hard towards it with a cost of many hardships to come. For the Heroes, loss exists. There’s times where they feel a sense of defeat or dissatisfaction. Feeling Inferior and powerless against enemies, which is something I can appreciate. Showing that Heroes can’t win all the time. I’m really glad the adaptation for Boku no Hero Academia was put into the good hands of Bones. Every single panel + some original content was a pleasure to see on my desktop. Thank you Bones, truly. You’ve made the Spring/Summer Season for me.

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• 

  RulerofPie

  100/100
  What does it mean to be a hero to you?

  OH BOY. I could talk about this show for hours on end. While the first season was good don't get me wrong it was a little too campy sometimes and is a little weighed down from its excellent use of a lot of tropes. I understand that the idea of the story is taking all the best parts of most shounen anime and polish them till they shine the brightest the first season didn't do it for me the same way this season did. After watching the Todoroki/Deku fight I ended up binging the entire manga before next weeks episode came out. This was something I've never done with an anime. This story resonated incredibly hard when I watched that fight and is probably something I will always remember. The thing that resonated with me was that this story asked a question. One simple tiny question: What does being a hero mean to you?

  This isn't something that one protagonist can tackle on their own as heroism means something different for every unique person and the show is using it's giant cast to provide story lines and personality tied answers to that question. It's this mixing pot of ideals and characters providing their answers to this question. Due to the nature of having a large cast of characters conflict is bound to happen either between the aspiring heroes of UA or when the League of Villains shows up and especially for Stain. That's the thing about this show, even the villains have their own answer to that question. Hell I would even go far enough to say that even the antagonists of the show aren't that morally wrong.

  I won't touch on the Leagues motives because at this point in the anime that point hasn't been explored yet and I wouldn't want to spoil that. Their means don't really justify the ends, but the ends are something that I can't fault them for. Being brought up in a society filled with heroes chasing the almighty (heh) dollar and losing their way as it were, was the reason Stain formed his ideals. He hated seeing selfish heroes only looking out for their own well being because a hero to him was someone who put others far above their own. So what does Stain do? He goes around killing heroes that go against his personal ideals of society. Again can't agree with the means of his ideas cause ya know, murdering is bad but that's his way of cleansing the stains on society (why is this guys name stain again?). That's the most important point of the show. Each character has their answer to the question and pursues them to the best of the abilities given to them.

  Characters with strong reasons for the actions they take are always bound to clash with someone who has a difference of opinion. Every single fight this season has this underlying narrative of how these two ideas go against each other. If I'm being honest, from a choreographically standpoint the fights are relatively bland. Hell, Naruto has more complicated fight choreography the MHA, but the complexity of the fights doesn't matter. The focal point of the fights in HeroAca is showcasing the ideals of each fighter and how they react to them. MHA at this point has shown it's true colors; a character drama using the guise of its flashy fights to be a shounen. When Midoriya fights off against Todoroki the fight and the show up to that point was purely about the fight. But the show uses subversion of the tropes it employs in great effect mind you, to change the tone of the fight and the series going forward to be about how these characters express themselves in the hero society.

  The other thing this show subverts it tropes is how it handles an age old technique of the mid battle power up. The way My Hero handles this is by having the characters tackle a mental block on their power or gaining a deeper understanding of how their quirk actually functions (this being explained a bit in season one but exploring that more in this season). Why shounens use this trope is probably to keep the action fresher by introducing new things the characters can do in the fights, gives your eyes something newer to look at. The execution of this trope is one of the coolest things it does to further push the idea that the show is not really about the really cool looking fight sequences and is primarily about the characters. Not to mention the immense amount of character development and payoff we get for these characters. Todoroki before the fight was built up to be this gargantuan hero who had zero flaws. But the reality is his entire existence is a flaw. He existed purely as a way for Endeavor to try and topple All Might as the number one hero and in one moment, in one fight Midoriya shatters all of these walls Todoroki had built up and get this intense depth to his character.

  Departing from the deep dive I took to explain the highlight fight of the season the other facets of the show got massive developments. More of the classmates and other side characters got a ton of developement, Uraraka and Lida being the highlights but even some of the more minor characters got their time in the spotlight, Yaoyorozu being one of my favorites of the season.

  My Hero Academia can be surface level for some and enjoyment can be had but below the surface of the show lies one of my favorite character dramas I have had the joy to experience. This series has become my all time favorite anime and I'm curious to see if something else is capable of taking it off that spot. I mean Gurren Lagann was solidly at that spot for the better part of 5 years for me thinking it was unbeatable. But with only 1 episode showing off so god damn much to show its true hand and completely blind siding me with something special. It's a deceptively simple show that has incredible strength in its simplicity and im always grateful for taking the dive into it.

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