Still holding out for a hero
What They Say:
In the future, mankind is blessed with superhuman abilities called Quirks and in a response to the growing crime rate, superheroing becomes a viable profession. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya dreams of one day becoming a great hero like his idol All-Might, but he was born completely quirkless with no powers at all. However when Deku ends up having a chance encounter with All-Might in the flesh, it changes his destiny forever.
The Review:
Content(warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers): After a year-long absence, My Hero Academia returns to the airwaves with a brand new season. The first one was a pretty fun ride for the most part, but as a fan of the manga I was a little bit let down by its glacial pacing problems, and they hit the back half of it severely enough to keep the show from it’s full potential. This hit in expectations seems to have been noticed by the producers too, because they’ve doubled down on everything from the promotion to the episode count in order to make this one more successful, and have even gone so far as putting it a more popular timeslot. With all that taken into account, does this season show any early signs of outdoing the first?
So far that appears to be a no. The slow pacing of season 1 is still in full effect and arguably even more frustrating this episode as the first 1/3rd of it is dedicated to recapping the major beats of the first season (which given that they aired a recap special in Japan last week, feels more than a little confusing). As a result, not a whole lot really happens this week aside from setting up the next story arc and I’m kind of afraid this season might end up slowing things down even further, rather than picking up the pace. I’m hoping this is just a side effect of trying to properly space out the first episode more than anything else, but after how the last season went, I’m still a bit cautious.
Fortunately, the good news is that My Hero Academia’s core material is still more or less good enough for these issues not to completely derail it. After dealing with the fallout from the USJ incident, the kids prepare for the UA’s sports festival, a competition that’s regarded as highly as the Olympics, and one that gives the students an opportunity to be scouted by pro-heroes. While everyone gears up for big event, the show decides takes some time to give us a bit of insight into what made Ochako want to become a hero. It’s not particularly special as it turns out Ochako’s primary motivation is to make enough money for her parents to live an easier lifestyle, but it’s pretty cute nonetheless and having a goal that’s a bit more grounded in reality than the other characters does a lot to make her stand out from them, and helps in keeping the cast more diverse.
The rest is mainly going over Deku’s progress in his struggle to control One-For-All, which does feel a bit redundant thanks to some of the episode’s recapping, but it does get across the sense of urgency that it needs to. With his battle against Nomu having further drained his powers, it’s made more clear than ever that All-Might’s time in the spotlight is nearing i’s end, and now Deku needs to prove himself in the sports festival in order to take up the mantle as his successor. It’s a pretty solid set-up for what’s to come, but it takes up a lot of the episode and I still can’t help but feel that we didn’t need to spend so much time on it. With a longer runtime than the first season, there’s plenty of chance for this season to improve but this isn’t exactly the best start, and it seems that much like Deku himself, the show still isn’t quite the hero we need it to be.
In Summary:
My Hero Academia’s second season gets off to an unfortunately slow start, as a bit too much of this episode is spent recapping the first season’s major highlights. Thankfully what little new material does manage to pop out in this episode is pretty solid, and while a lot of it is mostly just setting things up for next week, it still manages to do just enough to keep from being a total slog. With the sports festival arc proper, actually kicking off next week, there’s a chance the pacing will improve from here, but with how much room for improvement there was from the first season, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that this one isn’t going full steam right out the gate.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Funimation, Crunchyroll, Hulu
