My Hero Academia: Naruto’s True Replacement

In America, there are so many different stories being told in television and theaters. The most successful stories told usually involve superheroes. Growing up, something like this was a dream that I continuously wished would come true. I really wished there was a way to get more people into some of these deep and riveting plots. I just longed for a way to share my opinions on this topic without being ridiculed for being different. Little did I know, there happened to be someone else who felt the same way and decided to create a manga based on superheroes.

In Japan, you always hear great stories about super powered beings who fight super powered villains but you rarely hear about or see influences from comic book super heroes. My Hero Academia is a perfect mesh of a comic book super hero story with the shonen style that Japan is accustomed to. To best connect these dots I would like to show you the cover of one of it’s manga volumes.

As you can see this looks like it was made and released through Marvel. The story does divert to being more of a shonen manga versus a comic book at many points. But before I move forward I should give you an explanation on what this series is about.

My Hero Academia takes place in a world where having super powers is the norm. It’s something you are specifically born with and develops when you grow to be a certain age. These super powers or “Quirks” are also genetic. It can be passed on from generation to generation. Our main character, Izuku Midoriya, has longed his whole life to be granted these powers since his parents inherited quirks. He is given the unfortunate news that he was not given them and he is passed the point in his life for them to develop. When he encounters the number one superhero, All Might, he is given the opportunity to ask him the questions he was given the answer “no” to all his life.

The beginning of series completely hooked me just seeing how much heart Midoriya had. All he wanted to was to be a hero and help make the world a better place. He is knocked on his ass repeatedly but continues to search for his way to a quirk. There is an emotion scene specifically when he is given the news that he will not gain a quirk. His mother enters his room to check on Midoriya to make sure he is okay. She comes to find him in a dark room repeatedly watching a new report showing All Might saving people with a smile on his face.

“Can I.. be a hero too?”

This showing of heart from the main character at the beginning of the series can only be rivaled by Naruto Uzumaki. They both had no friends, aimed to do something great, and was told they did not have the ability and could not do what they set the dreams to do. It is also great to see that the mangaka of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto is such a fan of My Hero Academia. When Naruto was ending, this panel was drawn specifically to pass the totem to My Hero.

That is all I have to say about the story before I start spoiling things. This series is worth the watch. It is definitely great to fill the void if you were a fan of Bleach and Naruto. Dragonball Super and One Piece aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

My Hero Academia is animated by Studio Bones, one of my favorite anime studios. Some of my favorite series from Bones seems to have a very similar formula. Great extended and animated fights, humor and delivery. One of the fights in My Hero has become one of my favorite fights of 2016. Action-packed, fluid with great direction. Every angle and close up done specifically to keep your eyes moving but retain focus on objective they have set. Wonderful animation as always, Bones!

With My Hero Academia season 2 premiering on the day of this article’s release, I strongly advise catching up. As much as you die hard fans of shonen may start Boruto, I urge you to put it on hold. I am pretty sure if Masashi Kishimoto had the choice of having Boruto running in a different season of My Hero Academia, he would. This story is full of heart that will keep you longing to watch Midoriya meet his goals in becoming the number 1 superhero surpassing All Might himself!