Welcome back to a brand new anime review! Wow it has been a long time since we’ve done one of these, but I promise that I do have some more planned out for the coming months so that’s something to look forward too! Now last time we did one one of these was with fittingly season 1 of My Hero Academia, which if you haven’t already I would recommend reading that review before reading this one. In that review I stated that I really enjoyed it and made a comparison to the first X-Men since they were both similar in terms of quality as table setters for the franchise, and both did a great job of setting up the world, and characters. Sure there were a couple things that could’ve been done better but still I really liked it and it got me invested in the series. Now we have season 2 which I would probably consider as the proverbial X-2 and if you’ve read my X-Men movies ranking, you know that that is absolutely a huge compliment! So let’s go ahead and see what makes this second season click!
Taking place in the aftermath of the villain break in at the end of season 1 all of the many hero students are still recovering from that surprise attack in particular Izuku Midroyia (AKA Deku) who is of course still training under Number One hero, All Might. But even with what’s been going on, U.A. High school is still going through with their annual Sports Festival which is essentially an opportunity for put their training to the test but to also show off their quirks to heroes looking for sidekicks. With his powers decreasing more and more All Might sees this as the perfect way for Deku to show off his value and thus he agrees to participate. But of course things aren’t going to be easy what with extensive training, and new rivalries are emerging along with his current rivalry with Backugo, with fellow student, Todoroki, challenging him as well. But those aren’t the only big things going on as there is also a mysterious hero killer on the loose as well as final exams for the classes too. If I’m trying to sound vague its because there are quite a few big things that happen throughout and I would hate to give some of them away (though there will be some spoilers down below).
In my review of season I compared it to the first X-Men movie where it set things up very well and is successful in getting people interested in future adventures. So in that sense this second season right here reminds me of X2, and for those who’ve read my X-Men movies ranked post from a while back you know very well that that is a huge compliment. Now that we have all of the set up mostly out of the way we’re essentially thrust into the thick of things and the stakes get higher, and the conflicts start ramping up which increases the tension as we see how things play out and not going to lie there were quite a few outcomes that were actually surprising like the outcomes of the different parts of the Sports festival, and the final exams. It also improved upon one of my biggest issues with season 1 which was the pacing where there times it would drag and it took a while for things to truly get going and maybe there could’ve been a bit more done in certain areas. Here however I felt like each episode was paced excellently and that we spent the right amount of time in each story arc. As for the arc themselves they are all really compelling. The sports festival arc continues to show Deku’s progression into a hero and him gaining more confidence as he competes nicely continuing his underdog like story from the initial season. It also has some great development for the likes of Ochaco, and Todoroki as we get to learn more about their respective goals, and pasts (more on that later), and like I said before there is lots of good tension mined from the different one on one battles which is very exciting and there is a lot of fun humor as well. The Hero killer arc is probably the most interesting though as it is a pretty dark storyline and it further develops the world and even delves into some complex themes like are super heroes really necessary and on if people depend on them too much for the worse and who exactly is worthy of carrying the title of a hero in the first place? All of this is really interesting stuff and it helps shape the motivations of not just Stain but the League of Villains as well who are teased to have a bigger role in later seasons and are utilized well here. Even the final exams are a lot of fun since we get to see the different students team up and work together using their different abilities and there are also some surprising outcomes there as well. Throughout it all we get some more insight into how this hero society works like with many having their own agencies and how the students would intern for them and serve as their sidekicks and I liked how that aspect was portrayed. Of course there’s plenty of the emotion present here with a lot of powerful scenes that not only can be quite devastating but also very inspiring as well like when Deku starts to figure out how to harness his power better. So yeah this season keeps what really worked about last time while also improving on what could’ve been done better which to me is a sign of great follow up season.
This can also apply to the animation quality as well in some degree. Once again it is done by Bones who has done work for many other manga to anime adaptations and they continue to outdo themselves here. Since we have many new characters introduced we get to see some more cool designs for both the heroes, and the villains and their flashy yet colorful costumes that really do represent their personalities, and quirks (Stain in particular is a stand out with a very memorable look), and the movements are smooth and fast paced whenever there’s a big action scene going on. The backgrounds are also nice even if again there isn’t anything particularly noteworthy about them in general as they are mostly just places like a stadium, a city, or a training center. No the truly incredible stuff is what is going on in these different environments because when it comes to the many fights that come about, the crew really outdid themselves here! Whereas season 1 only had a handful of full on action beats, this season really ramped that aspect up with tons of memorable battles throughout from all of the different tournaments in the Sports festival (Not just the one on one fights but also the race, and the team battle as well) to the fight between Deku, Iida, and Todoroki against Stain, to the final exams where we get to see the most unlikeliest pairings team up against the teachers which was fun. All of them have impressive fight choreography, are very creative in terms of imagery, show off the powers really well (Todoroki’s ice powers in particular are impressive), and most importantly are very emotionally investing since we’ve grown to care about these characters and we genuinely want to see what happens to them which I feel elevates the proceedings. This can also ably to the soundtrack which is once again a blast to listen to as it is equal parts epic, and exciting, and sad, and inspiring when it needs to be depending on the scene. This time there are both two new openings, and credits that are also really good. The first opening set to the extremely catchy, and inspiring song, “Peace Sign”, performed by Kenshi Yonezu, is fun and does a fine job of teasing the sports festival while the credits set to “So Your Not Alone” by Little Glee Monster, is cute as it showcases the female students of Class 1-A spending time together. As for the second ending, its even better in terms of symbolism and teasing what is to transpire and while I personally like “Peace Sign” more the accompanying song (“Sora ni Utaeba by Amazarashi) is still very powerful and fits the mood well. Oh and the third ending is also really fun, and light hearted as we see the characters in a medieval setting (heck I actually wouldn’t mind seeing episodes or a little movie concerning it). Just like the writing, the technical aspects continue to head things in the right direction for this show.
Like I said last time, the aspect that really makes this series tick is its instantly recognizable cast of characters and this season once again proves that. I think why that is, is because despite having these extraordinary their all just really relatable characters and them being kids make the proceedings even more interesting as we get to watch them grow, and mature as heroes over time with quirkless kid turned All Might successor, Deku, who does go through a great amount of change here. We get to see him become more confident in himself and learn to how use his powers with his wits, and strength which makes him a very compelling protagonist and it was kind of neat seeing him compete in something akin to a sporting event as this really is an under dog story at heart. I also thought what was done with his relationship with former childhood bully, Bakugo was also really interesting. Yes he still yells and puts Deku down at times but he proves to actually be a very smart individual and I like how he wants to win yes, but on his own terms. We also see that he does have an affection torward All Might and it was really cool seeing him, and Deku fight him in the final exam. Speaking of which he too continues to be a strong mentor figure to Deku further pushing him to reach new heights and we also get to learn more about him and his power, One for all which was really cool and it provides some answers. Another aspect that I loved about this season is how we get to spend more time with some of Deku’s classmates more so than before. Uraraka, and Tenya in particular are both very well fleshed out here with the former trying to win the sports festival so she can make her parents hard working proud and so she can become a hero to help them get the money they need to live a good life while the latter wants to live up to the reputation set by his pro hero brother, Ingenium and there are some great moments with them that are just emotionally devastating at times, and I felt like out of all the side players they got the most amount of development here. But that doesn’t mean some of the other students didn’t get any chances to shine as some of the more prominent ones like Momo Yaoyorozu (who despite being very intelligent isn’t as confident as some may think), Kirishima (who forms a fun friendship with fellow hard skinned student, Tetsutetu), Asui (who actually gets her own entertaining episode dedicated to her internship), Tokoyami (whose one of the coolest in the series due to his dark shadow quirk), get plenty of screentime along with some of the newer student characters like the deceptively clever, Hitoshi Shinso, and the eccentric inventor, Mei Hatsume (who got some of the bigger laughs of the season). But the stand out is easily Shoto Todoroki as he goes from being this cool looking ice/fire guy to a fully dimensional characters who is dealin with a lot of trauma from his past (largely due to his no good father, Endeavor, who is the number 2 hero) and grows a lot throughout this season and is a very compelling character. As for some of the pro heroes well we get to meet All Might’s former teacher, Gran Torino (also the name of a Clint Eastwood movie funny enough) and he gets some good laughs and serves as a wise old mentor type akin to Yoda to Deku and teaches him so good lessons, and even the teachers at U.A. had more to do this time around with the dead panned Mr. Aizawa (who I forgot to mention in the prior review), and the energetic, Present Mic, having great chemistry with one another as they both serve as commentators for the festival. Oh and the villains here I felt got much more to do with not only Shigaraki and the League of Villains slowly building their way up as major threats, but also the hero killer, Stain’s, actions actually inspriring them showing how big of an impact he is leaving despite only having one major arc dedicated to him. He himself is a truly threatening baddie who is willing to do what he can in order to make the hero world as he sees fit and he does have some sort of moral compass which makes him more interesting than it would be if he just murdered any hero (he’s also really creepy at times). All in all this series continues utilize its cast as much as it can and like I say many times that is no easy feat to accomplish.
My Hero Academia continues to knock it out of the park with this second season which reminds me of X2 in that it keeps what fans loved about season one and not only makes it better but also improves on other aspects as well. The arcs are all fun, and compelling in their own ways, the emotion is still there, the animation is very strong, perfect pacing, the action sequences are absolutely spectacular, the mythology continues to expand, the stakes are getting higher, and the characters are still great and get even more to do. It does a great job teasing what will occur next in the series and its just awesome storytelling that fires on all cylinders and is likely my favorite season of the show so far. But next time before I head on to season 3 I will actually be discussing the first movie that came out in 2018 so look forward to that review very soon.
Rating: A
Leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 