After some sneaky promos teasing us, the My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) anime is finally here with about 5 episodes already aired I thought it was about time to check it out on AnimeLab. So far the anime has been incredibly loyal to the original manga, with almost scene for scene animations it’s quite nostalgic if you haven’t read the first few volumes in a while. They have even animated some of the subtle character movements you might not have noticed in the manga and I was flicking back through pages to see if it was there in the first place.
The first two episodes cover the introduction to Midoriya and his quirkless life in Middle School. Being bullied by Bakugo and having his dreams laughed at by the class starts with a bit of a downer, and you really feel for him. When meeting All Might for the second time, the feels are heavy when the hero he has admired for his entire life tells him he can become one, and it’s one of the pivotal moments of the first volume and executed wonderfully. After the ‘Beach Cleaning Physique Building’ montage we get to see some more Quirk action about episode 4 and 5 when the entrance exams and classroom physical tests begin.
All Might is as magnificent as he is in the manga,with his unwavering fearlessness and overly powerful physique he is still drawn with flat black shadows keeping in his ‘America Comic’ style. The voice actors are great in their roles and really bring the characters to life, and it’s always satisfying when a voice fits your imagination. All Might chucks in some awkward English every now and then (which is kind of funny anyway) and most of the gags are really well done.
There are a few scenes that were a little disappointing, they seemed to drag on needlessly or just weren’t animated quite right which took away from the suspense or mood but they were few and far between. The manga style art really works well in animation, it’s clean and unique and I always like when they don’t need to change the artists personal style too much. I am really liking this series so far and I really hope they keep up the quality. Highly recommended My Hero Academia to fans who dabble in the likes of One Piece, Naruto and Fairy Tail.
