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A review by vexcrest_113
My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 by Kōhei Horikoshi
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Breezing past the stock shonen manga tropes like an underdog hero who is given unfathomable power, a school for special teens, a vanilla love interest, a mean rival, etc., this first volume is already so comically sexist in both blatant and subtle ways that Mineta doesn't even need to be introduced for it to already feel gross.
This story is so lame. It had potential, that's for sure, but all of it is wasted on bad ideas and worse characters. Midoriya, or Deku, is an incredibly pathetic and annoying main character whose defining quality is that he is a crybaby. I am not kidding when I say that in this single volume he cries at least 16 different times. Yes, I counted.
16 times.
Do you realize how absurd that is?
This boy cannot get a grip for more than a couple minutes and the only thing preventing him from being completely obnoxious is that, what with this being plain text, he isn't voice-acted.
Deku's story as a boy with no quirk, in a world where nearly all people have quirks, is easy to compare to that of a story about disability. He may be normal by our own standards, but by the standards of the story, he is considered disadvantaged and sad. He is told by multiple characters, especially his bully, that he can't achieve his dreams because he was born deficient and he always will be. The first chapter builds up this idea that Deku, even with no quirk, will beat the odds and become a hero because he has the heart and passion of one. Maybe he will become like Batman and use his brains to be on the level of all the natural-born heroes.
It was setting itself up to be an inspiring story about not defining yourself by your weaknesses.
And then Deku gets powers.
He just gets powers. His disability is magically fixed and he becomes just like everyone else.
Well, shit. There goes that theme. Goodbye, inspiring story setup. Why would we want that?
This is just a generic superhero shitfest now.
Why was that setup made in the first place if the creator had zero intention of using it??
To waste our time!
Bakugo is even worse than Deku, of course.
He's an unbearable brute with no depth and pure malice. He isn't interesting and his bullying is so exaggerated it's not funny nor fun to hate. He's just aggravating to look at and the continued presence of him in an environment where villainous behavior is supposed to be looked down on is confusing.
Then we have the women. Oh, the women. It's only the first volume and MHA is establishing it does not like women. Well, it loves their bodies. But that's it. The first female character to get named is introduced ass-first and that same ass is even on the back cover of the book. You don't even get her name before you are told to sexualize and objectify her. This, of course, is the obvious sexism.
And no, there is no excuse for the sexualization of the female cast.
The very last page of this book happily states, bluntly, that the staff behind the manga are all perverts.
The motive isn't even hidden. Don't give me that "Momo needs a revealing outfit to better use her quirk" crap.
What is less obvious sexism is how, already, Ochako is being set up to be a flat character in comparison to the boys around her. Ochako's only relevance in this volume is in relation to how she supports and motivates Deku, who already has a crush on her.
It's the little things.
Like how Deku, Bakugo, and Tenya all are stated to have favorite foods while Ochako is given nothing.
Deku likes katsudon.
Bakugo likes really spicy food.
Tenya likes beef stew.
Ochako... she sure does eat! She sure is a person who eats food. What's her favorite? Oh, who cares? She's Japanese so she must like Japanese food. Because that will totally narrow it down.
It's such a minor thing but this level of laziness in regards to something so simple says a lot.
The creator could not be bothered with her.
This is lazy. When it isn't being bad to women, the manga is by-the-numbers and painfully generic with little to make it stand out that isn't purely negative.
This story is so lame. It had potential, that's for sure, but all of it is wasted on bad ideas and worse characters. Midoriya, or Deku, is an incredibly pathetic and annoying main character whose defining quality is that he is a crybaby. I am not kidding when I say that in this single volume he cries at least 16 different times. Yes, I counted.
16 times.
Do you realize how absurd that is?
This boy cannot get a grip for more than a couple minutes and the only thing preventing him from being completely obnoxious is that, what with this being plain text, he isn't voice-acted.
Deku's story as a boy with no quirk, in a world where nearly all people have quirks, is easy to compare to that of a story about disability. He may be normal by our own standards, but by the standards of the story, he is considered disadvantaged and sad. He is told by multiple characters, especially his bully, that he can't achieve his dreams because he was born deficient and he always will be. The first chapter builds up this idea that Deku, even with no quirk, will beat the odds and become a hero because he has the heart and passion of one. Maybe he will become like Batman and use his brains to be on the level of all the natural-born heroes.
It was setting itself up to be an inspiring story about not defining yourself by your weaknesses.
And then Deku gets powers.
He just gets powers. His disability is magically fixed and he becomes just like everyone else.
Well, shit. There goes that theme. Goodbye, inspiring story setup. Why would we want that?
This is just a generic superhero shitfest now.
Why was that setup made in the first place if the creator had zero intention of using it??
To waste our time!
Bakugo is even worse than Deku, of course.
He's an unbearable brute with no depth and pure malice. He isn't interesting and his bullying is so exaggerated it's not funny nor fun to hate. He's just aggravating to look at and the continued presence of him in an environment where villainous behavior is supposed to be looked down on is confusing.
Then we have the women. Oh, the women. It's only the first volume and MHA is establishing it does not like women. Well, it loves their bodies. But that's it. The first female character to get named is introduced ass-first and that same ass is even on the back cover of the book. You don't even get her name before you are told to sexualize and objectify her. This, of course, is the obvious sexism.
And no, there is no excuse for the sexualization of the female cast.
The very last page of this book happily states, bluntly, that the staff behind the manga are all perverts.
The motive isn't even hidden. Don't give me that "Momo needs a revealing outfit to better use her quirk" crap.
What is less obvious sexism is how, already, Ochako is being set up to be a flat character in comparison to the boys around her. Ochako's only relevance in this volume is in relation to how she supports and motivates Deku, who already has a crush on her.
It's the little things.
Like how Deku, Bakugo, and Tenya all are stated to have favorite foods while Ochako is given nothing.
Deku likes katsudon.
Bakugo likes really spicy food.
Tenya likes beef stew.
Ochako... she sure does eat! She sure is a person who eats food. What's her favorite? Oh, who cares? She's Japanese so she must like Japanese food. Because that will totally narrow it down.
It's such a minor thing but this level of laziness in regards to something so simple says a lot.
The creator could not be bothered with her.
This is lazy. When it isn't being bad to women, the manga is by-the-numbers and painfully generic with little to make it stand out that isn't purely negative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content