Visit a future in which 80% of the world has superpowers. It's now an everyday occurrence to witness heroes taking on villains. But it's also not unusual to have the guy taking your fast food order have some sort of 'quirk.'
Those without powers are referred to as 'quirkless'. One such powerless member of the dwindling populace is Izuru Midoriya. With parents who have powers, it's been Izuru's dream to become a superhero like his idol, All Might. Though Izuru is without powers, that doesn't stop him from practicing for the entrance exam to U.A. High School, the world's most prestigious training facility for turning Quirks into superheroes.
Without a quirk, Izuru doesn't have a prayer. But a chance encounter with a super villain gives Izuru a chance to play hero. That episode captures the attention of All Might. Seeing potential in Izuru, All Might reveals that he is dying and as a result, looking for a successor. Thus will begin an intense training session towards making Izuru's body capable of accepting All Might's powers. That's the easy part. The real challenge will be to get Izuru accepted into the next class of Quirks at U.A.!
My Hero Academia is a long running Manga by Kohei Horikoshi (Barrage). Appearing as a segment in the weekly anthology series Weekly Shonen Jump, My Hero Academia has produced over 34 tankobon volumes of collected reprints, numerous spin-offs, an anime series, several animated films, a pair of video games and literal tons of merch! There's even talk of a live-action TV series or film (or both) in the works.
This series has elements that are quite familiar to me. The setting of a school to train the next gen of heroes in a competitive nature reminds me of Hogwarts. The competitions themselves are set up like video games. In fact, during Izuru's entrance exam, there's a series of silhouettes taken directly from a Nintendo franchise that was just 'Super'. I also felt that Izuru being the odd man out in a society full of powers was a lot like the relatively obscure Jim Valentino satire, Normalman!
Manga isn't really my thing. But thanks to the reading challenge, I'm reading more than I ever expected. I'm getting used to the uneven artwork; knowing now that emotions might sometimes result in a totally different character being used in place of the emoting protagonist. I'm also doing okay going from right to left in flipping the pages. But it's the counter-clockwise fashion of the panels that I'm still having difficulty with. Kohei Horikoshi loves to experiment with the format of the page and it gets very confusing. Imagine Jack Kirby's plotting. Now hold it in a mirror and you'll know my struggle.
I read this book as it has been a frequent recommendation of a friend. He believes that My Hero Academia is the type of story to which all American comics should aspire to. I think that some publishers are already doing so. Gotham Academy and Strange Academy and Young Avengers all seem to have captured the young hero in training trope pretty well. What I think my friend is alluding to is DC and Marvel's hesitancy to create new series with completely all-new, all-original line-ups and not legacy characters. If that's the case, I can get behind that opinion. Though I doubt either of the big two publishers would ever take such a risk.
An interesting toe-dip in to a beloved Manga franchise. Might I return for the rest of the story? I don't really know. There's so much stuff on my to-read list. But I will say that I enjoyed what I read, even though I had some difficulties. Plus, I am itching to know what happens to Izuru and his pals next. So maybe once I get to the end of my reading challenge list, I'll jump back in the Manga pool. Regardless, this experience has made me appreciate Manga just a tiny bit more.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #3 (Recommended by a Friend) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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