My Hero Academia Season 2 Review - Well, The First Half of It

My Hero Academia made its debut in the spring of last year and sought to answer the age old question of, “What would happen if Sky High was an anime instead of a forgettable Disney original film?” In the show’s universe, roughly 80% of the world’s population is born with some sort of supernatural ability called a Quirk, which can range anywhere from explosive punches to levitation to temperature manipulation and just about any other superpower you can think of. As you can imagine, some people have decided to use their Quirks for more nefarious and evil purposes, and as a result a very large demand has sprung up for superheroes to beat down the villains and bring them to justice.

Our protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is a student at UA High School, the premier school for aspiring superheroes such as himself. There’s only one issue with things: he’s Quirkless.

I could talk more about the show’s setup, especially considering this is a review for the second season, but that would mean revealing some spoiler-y information about the characters, and if you haven’t seen season one yet, - well, first off, what the hell are you doing reading this review to begin with - then I want to make sure that those reveals hold their impact for you.

So, I’m going to give you a chance, if you haven’t seen My Hero Academia yet, to click off of this review and watch the first season. It’s okay, we’ll wait. The review isn’t going anywhere. But I am going to continue writing this under the presumption that you have seen Season 1 and/or don’t mind me talking about potential spoilers for it.

Now, with all of that out of the way, let me give you my overall impression of Hero Aca on the run up to Season 2: it is really, really damn good. The obvious parallel to draw here is to One Punch Man in how both series take the superhero genre and completely turn it on its head. Only difference being, whereas the central joke in OPM was that Saitama was so powerful he struggled to find a bad guy who presented even a remote challenge to him, we’ve gone entirely back to the other end of the spectrum in Hero Aca, where our protagonist, by definition, has no inherent powers whatsoever. In doing this, Hero Aca sets itself up to present themes that we don’t get to dive quite as deeply into with other shows; support of others, conviction, and courage all make appearances in other superhero related anime, movies and TV shows, but if you asked me for an anime that really examined all of those things in detail, I’d point you to Hero Aca in a heartbeat.

So when I caught wind that Season 2 was in the works later that year, and that the first major arc would be a tournament arc, I couldn’t have been happier. Not only was I eager to see what Bones would do in terms of animation but, as multiple seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh! taught me at a very impressionable age, tournament arcs friggin' rock.

The characters of Season 2 kick off the first arc by competing in the UA Sports Festival, a day-long event wherein students face off against their classmates to showcase their Quirks and skills to hero agencies scouting at the time. And since we know from Season 1 that everyone has their own motivations for wanting to become a hero in the first place, it should not be surprising whatsoever that everyone has their own motivations for wanting to do well in the tournament. Consequently, Season 2 highlights some of the most interesting character development that the series has on offer, with Izuku (Daiki Yamashita, Yowamushi Pedal, Haikyuu! and Re:Creators) catalyzing the majority of it.

Notice what I said there, by the way: he’s the catalyst. Deku’s job in this arc is to allow the remaining characters in the cast, namely his classmates Shouto Todoroki (Yuki Kaji, JBA Part 4, High School DxD, Kiznaiver, Attack on Titan and Bananya no really), Katsuki Bakugou (Nobuhiko Okamoto, Blue Exorcist, Nozaki-kun, Haikyuu! and Kaichou no Maid-sama), and Ochako Uraraka (Ayane Sakura, Is The Order a Rabbit?, Battle Girl High School and eight or nine characters in KanColle), to undergo their own personal character arcs and provide context for us as to what exactly the competition means to them. Todoroki seeks to win the competition without using the half of his power he got from his father, Bakugou in his traditional fashion aims to be the undisputed champion of the tournament, and Uraraka I’m actually going to keep quiet about for now because her arc is arguably the most emotional of the three and I want to keep the surprise fresh for my readers.

Now, it should probably go without saying that this show looks absolutely beautiful, seeing as how it’s Bones doing the visuals and if the people on your art team are the same ones who did both FMAs and Mob Psycho 100, you’re in pretty good hands. What I wasn’t expecting was to be floored by some of the most gorgeous animation on display for the spring season. The arc climaxes with a showdown between Izuku and Todoroki (not a spoiler, it’s only very strongly hinted at in the OP), and narrative importance aside, it is easily the most impactful and stunning twenty minutes I’ve seen so far in the series.

Every clash in this arc is memorable in some way, whether it be in terms of characters or animation, and that’s easily the best thing to recommend Hero Aca on. There are plenty of shows out there that look amazing and are pleasing to look at, but not very many shows stick with us as time marches on and the season it aired in fades to the past. Hero Aca probably is not going to have that problem anytime soon; while I don’t like to throw around the phrase “instant classic” since I find it both pretentious and borderline meaningless, I’m genuinely impressed with how this season has turned out and that usually means I’ll be talking about it for some time to come.

The writing and direction both continue to be top notch, even if I feel like the show lingers on Todoroki’s background longer than it should at times. Also, Tokoyami is a badass character (and I’m not just saying that since he’s pretty much Falco Lombardi if he was in a Persona game) with a great Quirk and a refreshingly soft-spoken personality who unfortunately doesn’t get nearly as much screentime as I think he deserves.

Apart from that, however, and a few minor nitpicks I have regarding some of the duels' length, the tournament half of Hero Aca Season 2 is a resounding success on almost all fronts. It’s a direct continuation of where the first part left off, with everything we loved about Season 1 - interesting characters, great writing, and holy hell that animation - still at full operating capacity and still chugging along full steam ahead. Hell, with the second arc suggesting what I think it’s suggesting in its opening episode, I don’t think the Hero Aca train is going to be slowing down for anything anytime soon.

You probably don’t need me to tell you this series is awesome, since you’re likely watching it right now and you’d probably continue doing so regardless of what I said about it in the end, but I’m stating it again anyways. If for some reason the first season of this show wasn’t enough to get you to come back for seconds, then let this review be the tipping point for you. One of the definite highlights of the spring (and summer) season, My Hero Academia is certainly the show we both need and deserve.

THE VERDICT: A
Next time: Vacation week for me, but then giant cannibals