My Hero Academia

[Spark Of Spirit]

Bones knocked it out of the park. That was one of the best fights in anime. No wonder Horikoshi was so impressed.

I mean, look at this:





People are understandably freaking out, and they should be. This is the exact moment that MHA hits its groove, and Bones didn't hold back at all.

Midoriya's goal from moment one was to wake Todoroki up and save him. The match was secondary to his goal. And at the end, he finally achieved what he set out to do. This is why he's All Might's successor, and why he's one of my favorite shonen protagonists.

I also like that they kept the title card for the end like in the manga. It's a way of acknowledging that this is Todoroki's moment of becoming a hero and his proper origin. What came before was nothing compared to what he will become.

[gunswordfist]

Thank you, Based Yutaka Nakamura. I recognized his work due to Boros Vs. Saitama having very similar animation at one part.

[Spark Of Spirit]

New OP theme named and Gran Torino officially cast.

The OP is called "Sora ni Utaeba" (If I Sing in the Sky) by amazarashi. Don't know when it'll premiere, but I'm assuming this week since it's the start of a new arc. If not it won't be for two weeks since there is no episode airing after the next one.

Also, Gran Torino is being played by Kenichi Ogata who played Genma in Ranma 1/2.

I'm pretty hyped since the next arc is still one of my favorites in the series, and I'm really excited to see how Bones animates it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Mother's Basement did another video involving MHA (and OPM) about the increasing popularity of Superhero anime: https://youtu.be/LmRfmJqE0kM

I do agree with him more on this one than in the last video he did about MHA, and I've generally noticed this for a long time now, in that MHA and OPM are clearly both paying tribute to and satirizing Western style super heroes, but through the perspective of Japanese society and story-telling conventions.

Both series present a uniquely Japanese outlook on superheroes in that in their respective worlds, like all other things, being a pro hero is a career choice rather than something one does for the sake of it. In MHA's case I feel as though the point us for people like All Might and Deku to show everyone what the true essence of being a hero is. Whereas with OPM, the Hero Association is no different from any other corporate BS in which you have to make your way up a hierarchy yet will ultimately be no happier for your achievements. And in Saitama's case he already is the best which actually makes climbing the hero association even less appealing to him since there is no challenge (and thus no real meaning) to any of it. Yet the few brief moments in his life in which he genually dies experience happiness is when he's doing things completely unrelated to the Hero Association with people who are his friends.

I'm either case, the characters are clearly inspired by American superheroes, but they are placed in the setting of societies with distinctly Japanese mentalities.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Nobody posted the preview for the second half of season 2 yet?

It starts in two weeks (this coming week there's no new ep)

Spoiler

It's easy to forget that the attack on Hosu takes place at dusk and night since it's so difficult to see the skyline through most of it. But it does look pretty fantastic here.

[close]

There's a preview of the new OP there, too. Sounds really fitting for what's coming.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The wait for Stain has been killing me. Can't wait to see that fight finally animated!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I know that for most people, All For One is the arc where MHA really brought out it's A-game. And while that arc is superb, the Stain arc was where I personally feel that Horikoshi really managed to grab me in a way that he hadn't done before, and it was just a great ride ever since that point. More than anything, though, Stain as a villain really made me realize that, beyond just being a really fun shonen battle series, Horikoshi actually has something to say with this work, and that really hit me when Stain finally entered the picture.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So leaks are out now.

Spoiler

Stain arc will be 5 episodes long.

S2 EP 15- Midoriya and Shigaraki
S2 EP 16- Hero Killer Stain vs. the Students of UA
S2 EP 17- Conclusion
S2 EP 18- The Aftermath of "Hero Killer Stain"

Umikoshi will be directing an episode again, specifically episode 17 which should be off the chain.

I guess this means they'll be fleshing out the final exam more, and probably fully adapting up to chapter 71, ending with meeting the Pussycats.

[close]

So yeah, no worries about pacing here. The next few episodes are going to blow up online.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Wow, that's faster than I expected, but seems appropriate given the material. I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks. The MHA manga has already shot up in sales significantly if Bookscan is any indication thanks to last month's episodes, and I can only imagine this arc will only fuel the fire. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Volume 14 has been the first volume to pass half a million in sales while remaining in the top 30 the entire time. I suspect when volume 15 comes out in August it will do just as well.

So far the Field Training arc is being adapted perfectly. Really eager to see how the next few episodes turn out. This is gonna be great.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm hoping this is the cover art for season 2's BR/DVD:



Such a great arc.

[Markness]

I ordered the limited edition of Season One's first set from Right Stuf due to their birthday sale cutting the price in half. Can't wait to officially start watching it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

And the ratings for the anime hit an all time high with the recent episode by a full point. Well deserved. The anime staff went all out on this like they did with the Midoriya Vs. Todoroki fight.

Spoiler

For season 3, Umakoshi really needs to handle Midoriya Vs. Muscular, All Might Vs. All For One, and the second Midoriya Vs. Bakugo. Those are all story pivotal moments, and deserve the incredible animation on par with the big episodes.

[close]

It looks like after the next episode, episode 19 will be a filler episode that shows what happened to the other students during their Field Training, and episode 20 will be the big talk with All Might. That means the last 5 episodes will probably be adapting the last 10 chapters to end the season on chapter 70.

Good stuff. Bones really has knocked it out of the park with season 2.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

REALLY great video on what makes Stain such a great character: https://youtu.be/yZbHVQw4B-M

It always irritated me whenever I'd see someone blindly label this show or manga as over-hyped generic fodder simply because it wasn't ever especially dark like Hunter X Hunter or all that out there or unique like certain other shonen that don't automatically get hated on for the genre which they are a part of. I have always advocated for how well-developed and nuanced it's characters are, and this video about Stain and his affect on the series goes a long way towards proving it, IMO.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It was hard biting my tongue before this arc when people watching the anime were going on about how the series doesn't have good villains. They only had to wait a bit longer. It was difficult pointing out a few things.

1. That's Shigaraki's whole arc. He starts out being bad at what he does like Midoriya and improves.
2. Stain.
3. Someone showing up very soon.
4. The League villains who have very well thought out reasons for doing what they do.
5. The traditional criminal underworld and how they adapt to the hero world.

The characters in MHA are really well developed throughout. Sometimes it takes longer to get around to others, but Horikoshi knows what he's doing. I'm glad this season has really skyrocketed the series in popularity.

Now here's hoping season 3 will do the same. There's some excellent material coming down the pipe.