(L) My Hero Academia

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Dengar

My problem is the thing I bolded in the above quote cannot be found in the episode itself. You can deduce it from the opening, maybe the next episode preview, or maybe even some good old-fashioned genre savviness, but the episode itself only contains hints of failure and baseless optimism.

Yes. Yes, it does. They're counting on the hype (and/or basic patience) to give them at least two episodes to get to the "good part", instead of half of one. Is it so weird?

[Dengar]

It's not weird, it's just not a very effective first episode.

To me, personally, anyway.

[SinsI]

I wonder why no one told the bully that he is not a Hero material, but a perfect Villain candidate...

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by SinsI

I wonder why no one told the bully that he is not a Hero material, but a perfect Villain candidate...

Most of the class doesn't seem to have the guts to say anything to him. Also despite being a bully and a jerk, everyone knows that he is serious about being a hero. Not every hero starts out being the most pleasant person.

[kgrodriguez]

Originally Posted by Dengar

My problem is the thing I bolded in the above quote cannot be found in the episode itself. You can deduce it from the opening, maybe the next episode preview, or maybe even some good old-fashioned genre savviness, but the episode itself only contains hints of failure and baseless optimism.

I won't argue with you. As someone who read the manga, i'm pretty sure there are things that we are seeing in the first episode that the anime-only viewers are not seeing. I can actually see your point, and if I were an anime-only viewer, I think I might feel the same way that you do.

Originally Posted by SinsI

I wonder why no one told the bully that he is not a Hero material, but a perfect Villain candidate...

Well, there a lot of heroes in popular culture that are not exactly role models, but are more like bullies.

[chaos_animagic]

Yea, Bullies tends to create more Fear in both Allies and Enemies, so Bullies can actually take care of things easier than others. Plus most bullies tends to be strong so they can be bullies else they won't be bullies... and in this Hero society, you gotta be strong to be a hero.

[Dengar]

Besides, some of these other heroes aren't very heroic either. Like that girl who uses her ass to get popular.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by SinsI

I wonder why no one told the bully that he is not a Hero material, but a perfect Villain candidate...

In the world of MHA, "Hero" is a job, a career choice. That's the impression Episode 1 gave me, anyway.

Most comic book superheroes and a lot of sentai heroes are typically vigilantes, essentially. In other words, they don't get paid to do this.

While vigilantism is often criticized, one of the positives of vigilantism is that it attracts people who put "the cause" first. Who put being heroic first. Who put saving lives first. Because vigilantes are not monetarily rewarded for their heroism. If anything, they tend to sacrifice a significant amount of time and money in order to be vigilantes. You only do that sort of thing if you seriously believe in "the cause", such as saving lives and protecting the innocent and bringing criminals to justice.

But by "Hero" being a job, it'll attract all sorts of people, including many that don't particularly care about other people and just want fame and fortune.

In the world of MHA, "Hero" is like "Police Officer" but with added celebrity. Just as there are some good cops that really do care about protecting the innocent, I'm sure that there's some good Heroes that really do care about protecting the innocent. But for some cops, it's just a good way to make a living, and that's probably true of some Heroes (and Hero hopefuls) in this show.


You're right that Deku's rival here is much more like a villain than like a hero, given what the word "hero" tends to mean to people. But a lot of that is showing how turning volunteer work into a paid profession can have a corrupting effect. There can be a downside to it.

[quigonkenny]

@Triple R:

Interesting take, but much of what you mentioned about how heroes work in this world has yet to be made explicit in the show. Do try to let the anime-only viewers put it together themselves, please.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

@Triple R:

Interesting take, but much of what you mentioned about how heroes work in this world has yet to be made explicit in the show. Do try to let the anime-only viewers put it together themselves, please.

I'm an anime-only viewer myself. I am not familiar with the source material for this show.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

@Triple R:

Interesting take, but much of what you mentioned about how heroes work in this world has yet to be made explicit in the show. Do try to let the anime-only viewers put it together themselves, please.

I believe Tripe R is an anime only viewer, and is giving his impressions of how he believes the world works based on what the first episode has shown us, and I'm inclined to agree with what's been seen so far. Rather similar to the OPM universe.

[Triple_R]

Yeah, MHA's first episode also reminded me some of One-Punch Man.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

In the world of MHA, "Hero" is a job, a career choice. That's the impression Episode 1 gave me, anyway.

Most comic book superheroes and a lot of sentai heroes are typically vigilantes, essentially. In other words, they don't get paid to do this.

While vigilantism is often criticized, one of the positives of vigilantism is that it attracts people who put "the cause" first. Who put being heroic first. Who put saving lives first. Because vigilantes are not monetarily rewarded for their heroism. If anything, they tend to sacrifice a significant amount of time and money in order to be vigilantes. You only do that sort of thing if you seriously believe in "the cause", such as saving lives and protecting the innocent and bringing criminals to justice.

I think you're idealizing vigilantism. Like, a lot. Sure, they're not greedy, but they may not be what we'd call "heroic" either. It may be more about beating people up than protecting anyone.


And in MHA, I wonder how much of a choice it is, for some people. I mean, yes, nobody's forced into it, but since "everyone" wants to be a hero, the pressure to be one when you have the right quirk must be intense.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I think you're idealizing vigilantism.

I never said that vigilantism is necessarily good, or that the criticism it receives is unwarranted. I'm just saying that it also can have positives compared to a paid official job position.

So no, I'm not idealizing vigilantism.

[Dengar]

Vigilantism usually is more about being self righteous rather than righteous though.

[Triple_R]

I probably should clarify that I'm focusing on how vigilantism tends to play out in fiction. I'm honestly not aware of much vigilantism in real life, so that wasn't my focus here. But sure, real life vigilantism is likely messier and far less ideal than Batman is.

In fiction, vigilante (super)heroes are usually in it for "the cause", and usually the cause is good. So that results in a commonly-held concept of what a "superhero" should be like.

That concept probably doesn't hold as strongly/commonplace in this show due to fame/fortune likely having a greater impact here. That's my impression/suspicion anyway. So that's how you can get "Heroes" and "Hero" hopefuls like Deku's rival.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I probably should clarify that I'm focusing on how vigilantism tends to play out in fiction. I'm honestly not aware of much vigilantism in real life, so that wasn't my focus here. But sure, real life vigilantism is likely messier and far less ideal than Batman is.

In fiction, vigilante (super)heroes are usually in it for "the cause", and usually the cause is good. So that results in a commonly-held concept of what a "superhero" should be like.

That concept probably doesn't hold as strongly/commonplace in this show due to fame/fortune likely having a greater impact here. That's my impression/suspicion anyway. So that's how you can get "Heroes" and "Hero" hopefuls like Deku's rival.

I tend to agree with your point on this. While it's something a bit messier in real life, for the sake of fiction you at least can say there is that dedication to the cause. After all those people are putting themselves at risk without the obvious benefit of money. Sure some don't need to be paid (like Batman), but regardless money isn't part of the equation.

This being a job does change the dynamic a bit. Just looking at the opening fight shows that well enough. There was no reason for Mountain Lady to kick that guy. He was going to be captured safely and with less damage. But because your fame and attention is an important factor....there's a benefit to undercutting your allies and getting in the way. And even making a bit spectacle of yourself after taking down the criminal.

Although that might not greatly change things with the bully here since his motivation seems to be surpassing All Might. Might have still ended up an anti-hero.

But yeah since this is a career path you can probably have some warped and borderline terrible people that can accurately call themselves "heroes." Or just people who don't care either way, but since they have a good quirk they'd rather use it to make money than do some other career.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I'm an anime-only viewer myself. I am not familiar with the source material for this show.

I'll take your word for it, but it sure sounded like the kind of posts where "anime-only viewers" tend to "speculate" about (yes, those quotes are pronounced) in these kinds of adaptation threads...

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

I'll take your word for it, but it sure sounded like the kind of posts where "anime-only viewers" tend to "speculate" about (yes, those quotes are pronounced) in these kinds of adaptation threads...

I'm an anime-only viewer, too, and I got the same impression. I mean, you usually don't have elite academies that educate you for your... hobby? Otherwise, it would be an education for the rich and bored only (though that might make an interesting show, too).

I wonder if there's a My Villain Academia, too?

[sayde]

Having never read the source material and having never heard of this anime until about an hour before posting this, I have to say, I like the potential here.

It's funny, it gave me the feels, and the soundtrack was amazing. So all that's left now is seeing how the MC develops. Not gonna lie though, a big part of the enjoyment for me was imagining how awesome an OPM crossover could be with this series. The scenarios just wouldn't stop formulating in my brain. I might have to animate an idea one of these days. It's simply too good to resist.