Like many people I don't follow every single weekly manga. Admittedly the only ones that I make sure to read are One Piece and Naruto (Fairy Tail let us all down). But, Naruto is over. I needed to fill that void. I took a look at a few other manga and most of them weren't things I enjoyed. Then I came across a post on Reddit. They were complaining about a relatively new manga. They were complaining that the manga was "Too American." I like to form opinions myself so I decided to check this manga out.
The name of the manga is Boku No Hero Academia. It follows the story Midoriya Izuki. A teenage boy obsessed with super heroes. In a world where many people are born with abilities known as quirks (Think X-Men) he has none. None the less he desires to be a hero more than anyone else. His favorite hero is All Might.
One day after an encounter with All Might he learns that All Might was also born without a quirk. This is shocking because if your quirk doesn't appear by age 4, you just don't have one. All Might reveals that he's dying and shares his quirk known as "All for One" with Midoriya and takes him on as a successor.
Alright, All Might is a Superman ripoff, wears red, white and blue and all of his attacks are named after cities in the United States. Other characters look just like American characters like Clayface and Black Canary. The author obviously loves DC Comics.
So they were right, it's heavily inspired by American comic books. But it's not the first time something from Japan has been inspired by something from America and vice versa. It usually leads to something great. Big O wouldn't be Big O without borrowing the style of Batman The Animated Series. Avatar: The Last Air Bender is often looked at as a great anime, but it's 100% American. What I'm saying is don't let the fact that it's very American turn you away from something great.
The main character's name is Midoriya but he's been called Deku as a putdown since age 4 when he was the only child without a quirk in his neighborhood. He's an interesting character. He sweats a ridiculous amount, people make fun of his fro, he gets beat up constantly, his mother doesn't believe in him, it's implied his father walked out because he kept wanting to be a hero with no abilities and he cries in every chapter.
Even with all that, he's my favorite character. He always puts himself in the line of fire to save people. In one scene a dozen heroes are standing still while a guy who beats him up daily is being killed. He runs in with no powers and almost gets killed. He's weak, that can't be denied. But it's stated that he's just too stupid and caring not to rush in and try to save everyone. He's also determined to prove his worth. His entire life he's wanted to be a hero and everyone has told him no but he keeps trying. When he's finally told that it may be possible he gives it his all. It's becoming rare that the main character is the most likeable. He even took the demeaning nickname Deku as his hero name and told people it means "never give up."
The art in this series is ridiculous. Everything is drawn in intense details. Almost every other chapter you'll get to see an image of the city from a different angle with intense detail. But it's not just the scenery. Every detail on every character is drawn in every scene. Even the background characters are drawn in great detail.
Usually I would try to compare the art style to something else but I can't compare it to anything else. It's an extreamly clean art style. There aren't any rough edges. It's all drawn sharply with heavy smooth outlines. It's beautiful.
Boku No Hero Academia is an incredible series in it's infancy and hasn't even reached 20 chapters yet. Now is the perfect time to get into the series before you end up 600 chapters behind like One Piece. It may not be your thing but it's worthy to fill the void in your life that Naruto left.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD
One day after an encounter with All Might he learns that All Might was also born without a quirk. This is shocking because if your quirk doesn't appear by age 4, you just don't have one. All Might reveals that he's dying and shares his quirk known as "All for One" with Midoriya and takes him on as a successor.
Alright, All Might is a Superman ripoff, wears red, white and blue and all of his attacks are named after cities in the United States. Other characters look just like American characters like Clayface and Black Canary. The author obviously loves DC Comics.
So they were right, it's heavily inspired by American comic books. But it's not the first time something from Japan has been inspired by something from America and vice versa. It usually leads to something great. Big O wouldn't be Big O without borrowing the style of Batman The Animated Series. Avatar: The Last Air Bender is often looked at as a great anime, but it's 100% American. What I'm saying is don't let the fact that it's very American turn you away from something great.
The main character's name is Midoriya but he's been called Deku as a putdown since age 4 when he was the only child without a quirk in his neighborhood. He's an interesting character. He sweats a ridiculous amount, people make fun of his fro, he gets beat up constantly, his mother doesn't believe in him, it's implied his father walked out because he kept wanting to be a hero with no abilities and he cries in every chapter.
Even with all that, he's my favorite character. He always puts himself in the line of fire to save people. In one scene a dozen heroes are standing still while a guy who beats him up daily is being killed. He runs in with no powers and almost gets killed. He's weak, that can't be denied. But it's stated that he's just too stupid and caring not to rush in and try to save everyone. He's also determined to prove his worth. His entire life he's wanted to be a hero and everyone has told him no but he keeps trying. When he's finally told that it may be possible he gives it his all. It's becoming rare that the main character is the most likeable. He even took the demeaning nickname Deku as his hero name and told people it means "never give up."
The art in this series is ridiculous. Everything is drawn in intense details. Almost every other chapter you'll get to see an image of the city from a different angle with intense detail. But it's not just the scenery. Every detail on every character is drawn in every scene. Even the background characters are drawn in great detail.Usually I would try to compare the art style to something else but I can't compare it to anything else. It's an extreamly clean art style. There aren't any rough edges. It's all drawn sharply with heavy smooth outlines. It's beautiful.
Boku No Hero Academia is an incredible series in it's infancy and hasn't even reached 20 chapters yet. Now is the perfect time to get into the series before you end up 600 chapters behind like One Piece. It may not be your thing but it's worthy to fill the void in your life that Naruto left.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD
Tags:
Anime/Manga
This series sounds pretty dope, I'll have to check it out soon. Maybe in a year of two the series might get an anime adaptation.
ReplyDeleteNo need to wait for an anime. It's perfect right now lol
DeleteI love this manga, glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the best things I've read in a while.
Delete