Boku no Hero Academia [Archive]

Buffalobiian

Sun, 04-24-2016, 07:15 AM

http://i.imgur.com/jmYZEqN.jpg

Alternative title:
My Hero Academia
僕のヒーローアカデミア
Genres: action
Themes: school life, special abilities, superheroes

Plot Summary: Mankind has developed superpowers known as "Quirks" with 80% of the population having some kind of superpower. These new abilities see the rise of both superheroes and villains. A prestigious school known as the The Hero Academy trains superpowered hopefuls into the heroes the world needs. Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he's part the 20% without a Quirk. Unwilling to give up his dream, he plans to take the exam and be accepted into a high school for budding heroes. Through a series of serendipitous events, he catches the eye of the greatest hero, All Might, who agrees to train him. -ANN

Links: ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=17786), AniDB (http://myanimelist.net/anime/31964/Boku_no_Hero_Academia), MAL (https://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=11739), Official (http://heroaca.com/).

Downloads: HS (https://www.nyaa.se/?page=search&cats=0_0&filter=0&term=horrible+hero+academia)

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It only took 4 episodes to get the ball rolling, but we're finally here. I almost dropped the show after the first episode due to how depressing it was. In a way, that made it a great episode if conveying despair was the aim of it.

Thankfully the author delivered some hope; I really needed that.

Episode 04 was great, even if it was predictable. Just as our MC said, it's so satisfying to finally see him be able to act on his sense of justice.

And bless his chubby mum. She felt so guilty for ruining her son's dreams through no fault of her own. :')

shinta|hikari

Sun, 04-24-2016, 07:26 AM

Chubby moms suck. Youkais ftw.

Ryllharu

Sun, 04-24-2016, 07:29 AM

No, his chubby mom was adorable in this episode.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 04-24-2016, 07:38 AM

Come to think of it, All Might is actually in a worse condition than Izuku. Now they're going with "your body is used to it" instead of being fit vessels.

And the OP's sung by a group called "Porno Graffiti"

edit: so quirks are all physical really. You can augment them with technology, but they're fundamentally physiological. Then.. where does thingo's "laser beam" come from?

It's too low to be the umbilicus, and too high to be the urethra. It's like he's shooting out of a suprapubic catheter (http://i.imgur.com/HUcPITN.jpg).

Munsu

Sun, 04-24-2016, 07:54 AM

I've enjoyed the series from the get go, flaws and all, but episode 4 was certainly a step in the right direction.

The instant healing ruined it a bit for me, would've loved some more scenes with Izuku's broken body.

Ryllharu

Sun, 04-24-2016, 08:29 AM

edit: so quirks are all physical really. You can augment them with technology, but they're fundamentally physiological. Then.. where does thingo's "laser beam" come from?

It's too low to be the umbilicus, and too high to be the urethra. It's like he's shooting out of a suprapubic catheter (http://i.imgur.com/HUcPITN.jpg).
And spoil the ambiguity?

Uraraka throwing up from overexertion was also adorable.

The instant healing ruined it a bit for me, would've loved some more scenes with Izuku's broken body.

With regards to the instant healing, it is a necessary evil. The school as a concept couldn't really exist at all without that or something similar. I assume that once she kicks the bucket, if they don't have a replacement, the school will close down.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 04-24-2016, 03:11 PM

Watched episode 4, and I'm still finding it hard to see what makes this any different from the usual shounen stuff, except maybe the slow pace and annoyingly dumb and jittery protagonist.

I liked the release of his power. The sound and animation were cool in that scene.

It's probably a good execution of the shounen story. The problem is, if you've seen enough of those, this is just like watching a replay. This reminds me of overdrive and that other geek biking story. Even the "twist" about him passing, if anyone can even call it that, could be seen by those new to the genre a mile away. In fact, it makes me question the intelligence of the other "hero candidates" who just left a girl to be crushed. Isn't that worthy of being failed? Are they just gonna leave someone to die in the real world if it isn't convenient for them?

And what's the big deal about this academy? I know many awesome heroes graduate from it, but wouldn't you be able to do good without being a harvard hero grad? Look at Saitama. He saved the world as an unknown hero a few times. Is this story promoting the reward of being recognized over the actual act, the precise opposite message of OPM? But then again Izuku got recognized for being heroic despite having no power... It's a bit of a mixed message.

The chubby mom didn't suck as much this episode because she didn't put down her son, but she did nothing worthy of praise either. She's... normal. And fat.

Munsu

Sun, 04-24-2016, 03:34 PM

And spoil the ambiguity?

Uraraka throwing up from overexertion was also adorable.

With regards to the instant healing, it is a necessary evil. The school as a concept couldn't really exist at all without that or something similar. I assume that once she kicks the bucket, if they don't have a replacement, the school will close down.

I don't mind the instant healing, I just didn't want to see it happen right away after.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 04-24-2016, 08:13 PM

It's probably a good execution of the shounen story. The problem is, if you've seen enough of those, this is just like watching a replay. This reminds me of overdrive and that other geek biking story. Even the "twist" about him passing, if anyone can even call it that, could be seen by those new to the genre a mile away. In fact, it makes me question the intelligence of the other "hero candidates" who just left a girl to be crushed. Isn't that worthy of being failed? Are they just gonna leave someone to die in the real world if it isn't convenient for them?

I don't think anybody else saw the girl. They made no mention of it when they talked about him. The speed guy saw Izuku and left him sitting there. That's the same as not helping the girl.

UA is like a police or military academy I suppose. You can become great without it, but going there boosts your chances since they train you.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 04-24-2016, 10:44 PM

Let me rephrase then. Everyone just ran away and left Izuku to be crushed. He certainly wasn't making it out of there alive at the rate he was going. To top it all off, everyone else thought he was crap, so they knew he wouldn't be able to survive that robot.

I guess I'm too jaded with shounen and automatically cringe when tropes are repeated carbon copy. I generally prefer shows that subvert the tropes or make fun of them at the very least. That isn't to say that this show is bad. It's just not my thing anymore, at least at this point. I'm still hopeful it'll surprise me later. Preferably with more lolis and waki.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 04-25-2016, 01:01 AM

Preferably with more lolis and waki.

But there's Nice Person!

Let me rephrase then. Everyone just ran away and left Izuku to be crushed. He certainly wasn't making it out of there alive at the rate he was going. To top it all off, everyone else thought he was crap, so they knew he wouldn't be able to survive that robot.

That's true. I'll assume everybody else saw him even though only Speedy-kun (Applicant #7111?) is the only one we can confirm.

I do think that there is a difference between Speedy (not) saving Izuku and Izuku saving Ochaco though.

1) Izuku was frozen with fear, not a cement block. Arguably it doesnt' matter, but it gives the impression that it's "psychological" and that one can "get over it".

2) Izuku was further away to the machine than Ochaco. He was in less immediate danger.

3( Izuku feels he has personal responsibility towards Ochaco. She saved him from falling out of the kindness of her heart. He feels obligated to reciprocate that. I'm sure his hero complex would have driven him to help out anybody regardless, but nevertheless it's there and speeds up decision making.

Speedy-kun sees Izuku as a rival, and this whole thing as a competition. Not performing simply means you're not good enough. You chose to take this exam, after all.

The assumption here is that Ochaco would have been gravely hurt or even die by that machine. I'm not sure what the death toll of these exams are, but if the perception is that "she'll be fine" then a lot of this can be explained.

After all, I let my squad and other players die all the time in games since "they'll be fine" in the real sense. You wouldn't shouldn't bait your squad members in real life. Actually, you can bait them but it's not nice to let them bite.

neflight86

Mon, 04-25-2016, 01:40 AM

Really enjoying this, but as a manga reader I'm biased. I'm not worried about cliches in shounen anymore so long as they are delivered entertainingly. The slow pace is a tragedy if no second season is confirmed soon, but this one is doing itself right.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 04-25-2016, 08:06 AM

@Buff - The exam death toll shouldn't really matter. The mere possibility of someone getting hurt or squashed should move these wannabe heroes to help them. Heck, even normal people are somewhat expected to do that by law in certain countries. The hilarious thing is they just watched the broken Izuku like a strange animal. That scene was really weird, even if they knew that a nurse would show up to heal him (which they didn't, at least not all of them).

By the way, glasses guy did see nice girl trapped because he commented that Izuku got hurt saving her. He might have seen her a bit late, but he still didn't do anything when he did. He even made an excuse, and in the process realized the highest scoring potential in the test is saving those in need. I mean... they're heroes. What did any of these kids really expect..?

NeoCybercoin

Tue, 04-26-2016, 01:33 AM

I like how they didn't change their rules when they saw that their biggest machine got wrecked. Zero points is still 0 points. This ain't freaking Hogwarts where they give out points on a whim.

Buffalobiian

Tue, 04-26-2016, 03:04 AM

Glasses guy saw Ochaco after Izuku acted I reckon. She was under the rubble and was pretty far back. He only saw Izuku because he ran past him, and saw her when he was at a safe enough distance to actually look back.

I don't think that it's a given to save someone if it's a competition and you're meant to die trying, which may have been the rules for this type of exam. See Hunter X Hunter for the brutality that can go on during exams.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 04-26-2016, 07:48 AM

But this clearly isn't that type of exam. Hunters are different from heroes.

About glasses abandoning people, I think it's pretty much established he did so willingly. He even commented about it himself, saying he would've acted differently if it weren't an exam. Whether he abandoned kind girl or cry boy isn't as important as the fact that he abandoned someone.

@Neo - Only they hid a huge rule from everyone. Izuku became one of the top rankers just because he saved that girl. And judges DID give out points on a whim. Izuku passed because of the points given to his heroism, a mechanic none of the participants knew about (which they should've if they had any common sense).

Buffalobiian

Tue, 04-26-2016, 08:40 AM

1) It's an exam situation. I don't help you out with your maths question in an exam because the whole point is to show how well you do in exams. I'd be more willing to help you if that wasn't the case.

Yes, Glasses abandoned Izuku. It's import to know why he abandoned him. Because it's an exam. Because he doesn't qualify.

Izuku thought She needs help. She helped me before.

He didn't care about the exam and helped her. Glasses thought about this in the context of an exam, with them being rivals. You don't help rivals.

It's different than say, Glasses running to his exam but found some helpless person on the way to the exam room.

Kraco

Tue, 04-26-2016, 08:56 AM

@Neo - Only they hid a huge rule from everyone. Izuku became one of the top rankers just because he saved that girl. And judges DID give out points on a whim. Izuku passed because of the points given to his heroism, a mechanic none of the participants knew about (which they should've if they had any common sense).

They should know about it from the earlier generations, especially since it's an elite school in Japan. I mean, there's a whole huge industry in Japan arranging extra courses for students for the single purpose of getting into the next school in their studying career. It got treated like nobody knew in this episode, but that's bullshit. Maybe, and just maybe, in the heat of the moment and with the strict time limit, the emphasis on the villain points, and the large amount of (fake) villains, it's psychologically quite plausible that nobody really paid attention to it or remembered it. Plus it's a lot harder to try to catch situations where you could save someone compared to just beating one of the hundreds of robots.

I do find it quite funny that a hero who can control gravity or levitate objects, whatever it is, was pinned down by random rubble on top of her feet. Kind of like a fish trapped in wet water, huh...

I still hate the MC. I can't help it. I don't know how he could have kept dreaming of becoming a great hero his whole life but is such a scared and nervous crybaby all the time. He was bullied, but not that badly. The fact he can still talk and interact with his childhood acquaintance means the bullying wasn't so brutal. But I'll keep watching for Nice Person's sake. Or something.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 04-26-2016, 10:00 AM

@Buff - Like I said, it's a hero exam, which as the name implies, tests your qualifications to be a hero. These wannabe heroes should've known better. But they didn't, and it cost them. Some of the weaker ones could've passed if they figured out the hero point mechanic. So in that sense, everyone except Izuku screwed up.

It's like a trick question in an exam.

So I'm not only faulting their lack of heroism. I'm also faulting their lack of insight. It's like these kids haven't read a single shounen manga in their life despite being in Japan. And they wanna be heroes for crying out loud.

Buffalobiian

Wed, 04-27-2016, 03:51 AM

@Kraco: She may need to slap it. At the very least she needs to concentrate to use her powers.

@Shinta: Heroes have many qualities which they assessed: intelligence, threat elimination proficiency and selflessness. The last bit needs to be hidden from examinees, which was the case here. It doesn't work if you have perceivable gains from your actions.

What shouldn't have happened was to have All Might talk about the secret part of the exam to a candidate.

You don't have to be self-sacrificing to be a hero, which is why there's no minimum score.

To answer your original question: "Isn't that worthy of being failed? Are they just gonna leave someone to die in the real world if it isn't convenient for them?".

No, it's not an automatic fail. You can still maintain peace without being entirely selfless.

NeoCybercoin

Wed, 04-27-2016, 05:49 AM

Buffalobiian

Wed, 04-27-2016, 06:03 AM

@Neo: You're totally not supposed to let them know.

I don't do agree that being selfless (and there are degrees of selflessness, it's not an absolute attribute) is something a hero should have, and is arguably the hardest thing to find in a person. It's not the only attribute however, and isn't really a per-requisite either in the strictest sense.

Kraco

Wed, 04-27-2016, 06:14 AM

Heroes are supposed to help and rescue people. These kids don't know what a hero means. I figure most see it as a way to get rich and famous. Do you have to tell them they can get points for helping people? That's what a hero should do regardless but I am not sure these kids understand that. So being a hero is more like a super powered celebrity. Yes, if they told them, then they would have helped others because in the end it would help them gain points. But can you really call yourself a hero if you expect a reward?

Isn't it work for them? You can't expect the numerous villains to use their super powers to gain profit, yet the good guys to be pure volunteers who risk their lives for free to fight the bad guys. It would also be exceptionally strange for there to be numerous academies training heroes if there were no rewards involved. Most people wouldn't want to go through it. They would just use their powers to their own benefit, amusement, and to protect those important to them, not strangers. A hero has to eat as well. Preferably also live somewhere decent, not under a boat.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 04-27-2016, 07:43 AM

@Buff - Just wanted to clarify, but did you want to say that you do agree that selflessness is something a hero should have? You wrote don't agree, and your last post kinda confused me.

I do agree that it isn't a prerequisite, just like righteousness is in no way a prerequisite to becoming a cop. Being a hero is a job in this story, and a lucrative one. However, innate heroism goes a long way into keeping the quality of work within the industry itself. Without it, "heroes" are just people prone to abusing their power, and given a license (money and fame too) to do so. That's why it got so many points from the secret judges in the exam. I actually am fine with that judging criteria.

My only issue was is why these hero candidates didn't realize something so simple. If you're not as dumbly heroic as Izuku, you better be smart enough to be useful as a hero. They were neither. I'm not even asking them to be selfless. Just don't let a fellow human being get squished by a giant robot. What do any of them lose by doing so? A few seconds? Some of them, glasses guy included, got so many points that saving one or two people wouldn't even matter to their future. Despite that, they were so focused on points they forgot the point of becoming a hero.

Kraco

Wed, 04-27-2016, 08:27 AM

Despite that, they were so focused on points they forgot the point of becoming a hero.

It's the most elite hero academy. There will be exceptions, like Nice Person immediately demonstrated, but most going there, according to manga/anime traditions, would be elitists who are used to looking down on others and only think of themselves. Even when they would save someone, they would be thinking it's their duty as a superior, more fortunate person to save the weak, less fortunate commoners. You don't need to look further than Izuku's childhood acquaintance to see what sort of people are foremost going to that school. The whole class at their old school also shared that attitude: They thought it ridiculous Izuku would try to get in, but natural the douche, arrogant Kacchan would.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 04-27-2016, 08:28 AM

I get that. I just find it hilarious, and not in a good way.

Munsu

Wed, 04-27-2016, 10:17 AM

I'm surprised this small scene has generated so much discussion.

Not complaining, just amusing to see.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 04-27-2016, 10:29 AM

And civil non-aggressive discussion. That's pretty new in recent GW. I'm very happy about that.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 04-28-2016, 06:21 AM

Thanks for the correction Shinta. I meant that I believe (to a degree) selflessness is a quality that heroes should have.

I think of it as a tradeoff. Lots of resource go into making a Hero, and it'd really be a waste of resources for each of them to die saving someone crossing a road, for example. They need to know when to self-sacrifice and when not to, to be an effective hero. Of course, most would see this form of discrimination as being very not-hero-like.

Edort4

Thu, 04-28-2016, 06:52 AM

If you dont act like a hero then is just "injustice: gods among us". Any classic hero would trade their lives to save 1 person. Anyways in that examen they got points from both attacking and rescuing so I guess they also value the "efectiveness" of neutralizing the threat. I would guess they asume that heroes could fill different roles. Ones that do the hitting and ones that focus on reducing the effects of the conflict. It would be nice to see a bunch of sapper heroes to for rebuilding purposes. All very professional army squad like.

Kraco

Thu, 04-28-2016, 07:18 AM

How many villains are there at loose? I assume a lot. If lots of people have super powers, then lots of people will turn rotten, even more so than in RL because a super power would give them a feeling they won't get caught. Thus there's certainly a big market for heroes who are willing to fight villains, within reason (that is, fight battles they have a decent chance of winning), but who necessarily aren't heroes like in fiction who would without a second thought throw away their own life to save a stranger. They would just be like police officers with paranormal powers instead of a 9mm. Not all cops would jump between a bullet and a bystander or in front of a truck in a desperate attempt to push a civilian to safety.

If only utterly selfless, perfectly virtuous people would be accepted as heroes and the rest would be treated as lawless vigilantes, there would be very few heroes to keep an eye on villains who would be even more numerous.

What's going on in this show is pretty realistic in my opinion. Also keeping in mind there must be plenty of heroes who aren't really fit for combat. Hard to say how many would be attending this elite academy, though, especially considering that entrance exam.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 04-28-2016, 07:52 AM

Edort4

Thu, 04-28-2016, 10:22 AM

But he wasnt the only one that got a nice bunch of rescue points (even though he seems to be the most points earner one) so I guess that even if they didnt know that they were being tested for that it was somewhat natural for some of them. The difference is that MC is the only one that went totally out of "his way" to rescue while others did minor helping, like the laser guy, wich actually is the reason that he passed. If robot p1 would have hurted him on forced him to auto-destroy himself to survive and get 1 point he wouldnt had passed.

So yeah. Penis laser boy made this anime possible.

Munsu

Thu, 04-28-2016, 04:58 PM

The only unrealistic thing I found is how these candidates didn't realize they are being tested for how they behave as well, and not just the results.

But that's a minor gripe. It has to happen to separate Izuku from the rest, and this story isn't really about intelligent characters from the get go. I just prefer characters in the story to behave more smartly than they usually do.

Meh, guys really over-thinking this.

It's like if you go to take a calligraphy school entrance exam, they tell you you have to answer True or False questions to grade you, and you don't realize that the way you write your name and your answers will also figure into your grade.

This whole "should've known" is nebulous at best.

Any other instance they could've gotten zero points for their heroics, and rationalize it as "as a Hero, you also have to learn to follow rules and direction".

So once again, meh on this.

I do agree with the general assessment of what you would've preferred to see though. As in maybe a candidate here and there might've wondered about other potential aspects besides point that they be judged on, but as a general observation as a given? Yeah, overthinking it a bit.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 04-28-2016, 07:07 PM

It isn't really a criticism as opposed to a "it could've been better" comment.

Like I said from the get go, I'm jaded with generic shounen (which generally requires not overthinking) and give points when they take it (the twisting of tropes, subversion of cliches, execution, style) one step further. That's one step I would've appreciated (among others).

Trick exams are age old in shounen, so having at least some people realize it and break out of the mold a little makes the series feel less generic.

Munsu

Thu, 04-28-2016, 07:24 PM

Trick exams are age old in shounen, so having at least some people realize it and break out of the mold a little makes the series feel less generic.

Yep, I agree with some of that. That said, someone figuring out the trick exam to make that character standout as special is also age old in shounen, and quite generic.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 04-28-2016, 07:50 PM

That's why I was hoping for everyone to figure it out, as I mentioned in my first post. Now that would've been a nice subversion to the trope.

Munsu

Thu, 04-28-2016, 08:02 PM

That's why I was hoping for everyone to figure it out, as I mentioned in my first post. Now that would've been a nice subversion to the trope.

Yeah, that would've been cool too see.

Kraco

Fri, 04-29-2016, 01:36 AM

Uhhuh... What is there to figure out? Like I said many posts ago, there's no way this wouldn't be public knowledge. It's the most prestigious hero academy. How on Earth would none if these people try to prepare at all before going to the entrance exam? The most obvious part would be to read about the basics of the exam. What happened here equals to taking the entrance exam of a regular university faculty without checking out which books you are supposed to study and merely reading some random books or trusting that maybe by sheer luck your high school covered the stuff. Not to mention this is Japan and people go to those cram schools.

There's no figuring out anything. This plot was purely artificial, and, like Shinta said, it's 100% generic shounen.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 04-29-2016, 07:20 AM

Do they reveal the criteria to the applicants? Maybe Izuku is special because he is a cheat character who got taught and given imba power by the most powerful character in their world, who also happens to be his examiner and a VIP teacher at the school.

It's also possible the applicants aren't allowed to speak about it even if they do find out. Maybe the school only explains the criteria to those who passed and then asks them to keep quiet about it for the future of the test lol.

Kraco

Fri, 04-29-2016, 09:04 AM

Participants would know quite accurately how many villain points they should be getting. Yet the end result of who got in wouldn't directly reflect that. Especially those who thought they would make it but didn't would want to find out. Considering Izuku had a zero villain score and the only thing he did was a single act of rescue, it doesn't take much to deduce something.

It's true absolutely nobody would tell if they were asked not to. But, you know, there's always that anonymous guy in the internets who reveals juicy facts just to make himself look more important.

Edort4

Fri, 04-29-2016, 10:29 AM

Im sure they all sign a non disclosure agreement :D

shinta|hikari

Fri, 04-29-2016, 10:35 AM

Is that even legal for minors?

Edort4

Sat, 04-30-2016, 05:55 AM

In a world that at age 5 they can blow things up? Who knows. Many questions arise in that kind of world. But Im sure the school could have court signed documents prepared to remove the "disability" of being minor and not being able of signing contracts along with the NDAs.

MFauli

Sat, 04-30-2016, 06:15 AM

Buffalobiian

Sat, 04-30-2016, 07:23 AM

Think K-ON but hero-themed.

MFauli

Sat, 04-30-2016, 07:48 AM

Ok, thx, pass.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 04-30-2016, 07:54 AM

Wait, what? Why K-ON?

Think Overdrive/Yowamushi Pedal and Soul Eater's bastard child. It's shounen to the core. Apparently it gets better later on so I'm currently staying on until then.

MFauli

Sat, 04-30-2016, 08:28 AM

So what now?

K-On = cute girls doing cute sutff

Shounen = exciting fights and coherent story

Which is it?

Kraco

Sat, 04-30-2016, 08:34 AM

So far this has been highly generic shounen with a total underdog main character who needs to work 10 times harder than anybody else to produce results. But he also has some luck and destiny on his side, like shounen heroes do. I don't like the MC, so I don't like this show as much as some do, but I'll keep watching for now, so it's not terrible.

I don't really know how K-ON fits in here. Bill must have been drinking as much as that Tiramii creature in his avatar pic.

Munsu

Sat, 04-30-2016, 09:41 AM

If somebody could answer me without spoilers: Is this anime good? Tbh I never gave it a try because at first glimpse it looked like some moe harem crap. Yesterday, a friend who´s casually into anime, mentions how he likes this anime, which got me thinking about it. What´s the general mood of this? Is it a serious story?

Combination of goofiness and seriousness in a pretty much standard shounen action series.

Entertaining so far, but not much more than that. Main character is annoying so far, but he figures to improve.

No harem.

neflight86

Sun, 05-01-2016, 04:26 PM

Episode 5

__________

If the parallels to shounen anime weren't strong enough before for you to pick up on (specifically Naruto; swap jutsu for quirks and a scarecrow teacher's book for a sleeping bag), this episode should set the scope of the remainder of the series. Its a formula that works for me, but I can certainly see people being put off by a fairly unoriginal mish-mash of tropes unless they are able to root for Deku and enjoy the dramatic overcoming of his obstacles. The pacing is painfully slow as well.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-01-2016, 05:02 PM

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-01-2016, 05:42 PM

I think that's not so much a subversion than just another character with another opinion. The trope is alive and well in All Might. It's not anything fresh either. In many shounen stories, there's always that moment when someone stronger, like a teacher or a rival, gives the protagonist (or his friends) a wake up call, saying that their shounen heart isn't enough to save the world.

This episode was good overall. Not being avant-garde isn't a bad thing. It just means... not being avant-garde. Again, that's only up until the latest episode. That may change, and I'm looking forward to that possibility.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-01-2016, 06:10 PM

I found the message of this episode to be in stark contrast to the vast majority of shonen series. Considering he is their teacher, he has a valid point, one we'd already seen proven.

Deku saved Uraraka, but in doing so, he would have died if not for her in turn saving him. What's the point of saving someone if you're just going to die in their place? It's a death either way. A hero can do more good by surviving and saving many more people.

Eraserhead was saying that a hero who is self-destructive is only a liability later. The usual shonen will have their hero/heroine pushing themselves beyond the limit, a broken tattered thing, before being saved by one of their allies at the last moment in dramatic fashion.

Eraserhead is saying that kind of behavior is unacceptable for their profession.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-01-2016, 06:27 PM

Sure, but All Might was saying the exact opposite and praising Izuku for being selfless just an episode ago. So it's just one of the messages in the show. In fact, if that was the main message of the show, Izuku wouldn't even be the hero because he was a quirkless guy who just got power because of his shounen heart.

A subversion would be something like Izuku failing the exam, becoming a vigilante, suffering from his lack of power, sacrificing his shounen heart to gain power, and then actually getting love and recognition after that. Y'know, like a less emo and miserable Archer.

Or just failing the exam. That alone would've been Madoka level subversion because of the show's title LOL.

Maybe he can apply as a janitor and become the strongest janitor alive after learning from many heroes in school outside of class.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-01-2016, 06:42 PM

What exactly does "subverted trope" mean to you?

It isn't take trope and do the literal opposite. It's merely bait trope setup, but do something different.

The expectation is that a sacrifice is heroic. The realization in this series is that it is viewed as worse than doing nothing.

All Might has that view point because he is so strong that it doesn't ever really happen. Eraserhead and the other teachers obviously believe otherwise. What Izuku did in the exam was reckless. What if the school nurse wasn't around? Izuku would be in traction for months, then rehab for years. Her existence is to allow students to cut loose. The teachers have a different viewpoint once the students are enrolled.

Don't forget that All Might is teaching there for the first time. The other teachers are veterans.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-01-2016, 06:52 PM

That's what I meant by subverted trope. Make people think he's gonna pass, then fail him. Make a story with Academia in the name, but the hero isn't a student. It doesn't have to be opposite, just different.

Sacrifice is heroic. As I said, All Might realized that because of Izuku. I think none of these heroes really behaved like heroes from the get go, as shown in the earlier episodes. They were like efficient workers, just doing their job the safe and right way. In that aspect, the trope about sacrifice you are talking about has already been subverted from the very beginning.

The problem is, Izuku defied all that by actually being able to gain immense power and attend that school through self-sacrifice.

Moreover, I think that detail you mentioned is quite minor compared to the number of tropes that the story does hit, making it almost irrelevant.

I actually don't think it matters much, really. Whether or not Academia subverts anything does not detract from its (current) appeal. It's a shounen story done right.

neflight86

Sun, 05-01-2016, 11:41 PM

And yet you didn't notice the series subverting many of the shonen formula tropes?

Foremost this episode being the assertion that a hero that hurts themselves overdoing it is completely worthless. Most shonen series will make such an action the pinnacle of heroics as some form of noble sacrifice. This one states unequivocally that if the hero themselves has to be rescued, they're better off simply not being in the field in the first place.

I would disagree with you here. Firstly, the series does not unequivocally suggest that 'heroic sacrifice' leading to a exacerbated need to rescue is worse than inaction. Eraserhead does. In the second episode, All Might praised Deku for trying to save Kacchan from a quirk user (slime) he had no hope to defeat. There was no way he could expect to get out of there without great harm to himself, yet good somehow came from it. Silly or not, that line of thinking (moved before I could think about it) worked out.

What Eraserhead is saying is that fully disabling yourself every time you use your quirk because you can't control it is unsustainable as a professional crime fighter. I think his delivery is a bit 'school of hard knocks', and merely sounds like he is Jaded against underdog overachievers.

Deku never planned to destroy himself after each attack (his image training shows this), but Eraserhead has no way of knowing this. Not knowing the circumstances, he sees a boy unable to control his quirk that will not make an effective Hero unless something changes. It would be irresponsible to certify him as a hero (or waste school resources fixing this fundamental problem) to the same degree All might said it would be irresponsible to tell him he could be a hero without power.

In short, I strongly believe the shounen 'noble sacrifice' trope to be in full effect in this show, even if sensei Eraserhead won't tolerate Deku requiring noble sacrifice for every little thing he does.

But we're on the same side here. I think we both enjoy the show.

Kraco

Mon, 05-02-2016, 06:30 AM

Eraserhead is simply biased because of his own power, erasing. In front of him, nobody is special because he can erase their quirk. So, one person is the same as the next one. However, when Eraserhead isn't present, there could be a villain who could slaughter ten thousand people. If a hero sacrifices himself stopping that villain, the hero has saved ten thousand people and lost one (himself). If he does like Eraserhead suggests and doesn't sacrifice himself, he saves a single person, himself, and loses ten thousand people. Eraserhead simply can't see this as due to his personal power, the villain wouldn't be able to murder any more people than any random joe from the streets, so any cop with a gun could stop the powerless villain.

It's really troublesome to have a teacher who can't see beyond his own limited point of view.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 05-02-2016, 07:03 AM

If a hero sacrifices himself stopping that villain, the hero has saved ten thousand people and lost one (himself).

Not quite, he's also losing everybody else in the future he could have saved, but won't (because he's now dead).

The point also, was that when you do such heroic acts you force others into danger into saving you. It might be your intention to die honorably, but they'll come to your rescue anyway because you ran out like that. That was his point here.

The exam didn't quite make sense. Did Deku have to come last in every test to fail? Or does he just have to come last overall (even though there's no % grading)? He beat Nice Person in the sprint already, so he certainly wasn't going to come last in everything.

Ryllharu

Mon, 05-02-2016, 02:52 PM

Deku and Iida should both assume this is also part of the test.

Iida believes he failed the entrance exam because he didn't realize the point was about saving others instead of selfishly getting points. Deku thought he failed because he didn't get any points. They shouldn't take this at face value either.

Eraserhead might fail whoever is on the bottom. Or he might just be trying to get them to break under pressure.

Munsu

Mon, 05-02-2016, 06:16 PM

Didn't care much for this episode, looking forward to more action-oriented tests and/or villain encounters.

Kraco

Sun, 05-08-2016, 11:24 AM

Episode 6 - HS

- - --- -

Skintight (female) hero suit banzai!

I really hope Deku learns to control his power soon. It's kind of meaningless this way. At least he's not totally helpless even now due to his recent spartan training. If the opponent doesn't have a quirk with high melee potential and martial skills, he might potentially have decent chances. In that sense this could be a valuable experience for Deku, but it doesn't change the fact he's not supposed to be attending that school if he can't use a quirk. But then again, maybe this will actually help him learn the control.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-08-2016, 05:02 PM

He has 10 fingers. He should've used his pinky on his enemy's foot or arm after knocking him to the ground, NOT watch him stand up while shivering like an idiot. A mangled limb vs pinky is a good exchange, and it won't kill the person. Serious injuries are no big deal because of that nurse lady, and even All Might, their teacher, gave them permission to go all out.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-08-2016, 05:26 PM

Deku is a good person though. He knows that if he uses One for All at his current level of control, he will kill someone, regardless of whether it is a full punch or a mere pinky. It's all on or all off, nothing else.

The difference is that Deku focuses on the limitations of a person's quirks. He doesn't need to use One for All when he can predict how they will play out a standard encounter.

I love that the reason Bakogou is so upset is at least in part due to the former worship that Deku provided him. Now that Deku is a peer, Bakugou can't handle it, and gets upset. It's quite the interesting dynamic.

At the end of this episode, Deku basically declares that he will beat him because he idolized him enough to study his powers and usual tactics. He's complimenting him while declaring that he is superior. That difference only makes Bakugou angrier.

Also, how can one not love Uraraka? Her permanently cheerful expression, her absentmindedness resulting in a skintight costume, and her equal manner of determination.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-08-2016, 05:38 PM

How can you kill someone (in a shounen anime) if you destroy one limb? Izuku destroyed three of his, but he was fine a few minutes later.

I can understand him being a nice person and that he doesn't want to hurt fellow students, but that doesn't have anything to do with actually killing anyone. The killing comment he made was just an excuse to move the plot in the mental battle direction and to limit his OP powers.

There are ways to use his power to win without wasting that first strike initiative. Heck, even if he didn't use his power, he should've mounted and pummeled the hell out of the enemy. But that's not the geek hero boy Izuku.

I'm just venting because I hate his type of character. That said, the show is overall too good to skip just because of that.

Munsu

Sun, 05-08-2016, 11:51 PM

Much better episode this time around than the last one.

I like Deku's costume, Frank Anderson:

http://i.imgur.com/z8CXznZ.jpg

Too bad it lasted all of 3 seconds in the battle. Hope it gets fixed since I think it's a good look for the future. I bet the show will want to show Deku's face as much as possible, but I'd like to see a return of the mask in the future as well.

Another point of interest, more Yaoyorozu please:

http://i.imgur.com/QFjOERP.png

Kinda wish she'd became the leading lady, but we'll have to wait to learn more of her to see if she's worth the time. But on looks alone, I'd love to see more of her and more interaction from her and Deku. Doubt it'll get there with Uraraka already getting the focus, not that I mind her so far.

As for Deku controlling his powers, well I kinda dig Deku destroying his body throughout the battles, so I'm of a mind that I don't care for him controlling his powers at the moment. I'm sure that at some point I'll get tired of that gimmick, but for the time being I rather he keep progressing steadily while still keeping the angle of him destroying his body doing it.

As for him being cautious about killing people, well I think it's a very solid rationalization and the rationalization also works when it's only about injuring people. From what we learned from the doctor in this episode, it does seem that her healing is not a cure-all and it carries it's own set risks. Of course, we don't know why Deku is actually holding out (protecting himself or protecting the opponent), but both angles work to explain it away.

Further more, in a battle simulation such as this one, we don't know to what extent Deku can actually control his powers. Will he be able to focus All for One in just one finger in the middle of the fight? Will focusing on his powers slow down his reaction time to the point that he becomes too slow to actually fight effectively?

Too many variables until we learn a bit more. But health worries are a good explanation as any; his and his opponent's.

Kraco

Mon, 05-09-2016, 01:49 AM

Is Deku mentally capable of destroying a classmate's leg or arm, fully knowing it would be destroyed if he used his power? It wouldn't be just bruises, not even a simple broken bone. The result would look like something that went through a meat grinder. That probably isn't his image of a hero's behavior.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 05-09-2016, 06:36 AM

Using All For One also cripples Deku. He mentioned this episode that despite crippling only one finger, he couldn't actually use All For One again due to the pain. It was just his ingenious moment that satisfied Aizawa enough to not expel him. He still ultimately came last.

I see the rationale for not hurting someone with his quirk, but I actually think it'll do less damage to use it intentionally. That's because the consequence of consciously not using your power is to corner yourself so much that you unconsciously bash them in the face with full force because you thought you'd lose.

Ochaco <3. Mondays are now so much more bearable.

Ryll mentioned how Bakogou's dislike for Deku comes from losing Deku's admiration towards him. There's also the other part where he thinks Deku should "know his place" by not challenging people he has no hope of winning against. There's possibly two lines of thought as to why that's the case:

1) Being weak yet trying motivates others into trying. Even that weak guy over there is protecting someone. You with the awesome Quirk, what are you doing?. That's more of that "Deku is showing me up" mentality there.

2) It also brings back what Aizawa said about Deku's actions forcing other people to help him. What if Bakogou didn't feel like volunteering, but Deku jumps in the fray to do so? Bakogou ultimately needs to help him out anyway (if they're friends).

Deku makes Bakogou feel like he needs to be charitable when he isn't. That's.. actually gets you pretty pissed off if you're locked into thinking Deku should be beneath you.

Kraco

Mon, 05-09-2016, 06:56 AM

Kacchan has now one more reason to hate Deku: He believes Deku had the considerable power all along, the power that could one hit destroy the huge robot that sent most people fleeing during the entrance exam. Yet Deku hid such a power from Kacchan, instead all the time acting as if he was a quirkless person yet still all the time talking about becoming a hero. Kacchan is obviously highly proud of his own quirk, to the point of absolute arrogance, so it makes sense he's annoyed by someone who seemingly has no power whatsoever but still talks about going to the most famous hero academy, a place only suitable for those with a high level quirk. And now, finally, as far as Kacchan knows, Deku was just majorly trolling and making fun of him by revealing he does in fact have an asskick power (once he learns to control it fully).

This is a 100% valid gripe in my opinion, Kacchan's douche general attitude aside.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-09-2016, 07:28 AM

I'm surprised people are trying to understand the bully's reasoning for being, well, a bully. Kacchan can die right now for all I care. A superhuman with no understanding of noblesse oblige is nothing but a tyrant when allowed to wield that power freely.

Kraco

Mon, 05-09-2016, 08:43 AM

There are even people out there who make a career out of trying to understand what goes on inside psychopath serial killers' minds. Trying to understand a bully's motives is small business compared to that.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-09-2016, 09:24 AM

I meant that a bully's mind is so simple it isn't worth the typed characters. They are a dime a dozen everywhere in the worlds, be it real or 2D, and they all do it for the dumbest, self-esteem deprived reasons.

A killer's mind is far more fascinating in comparison.

Ryllharu

Mon, 05-09-2016, 04:56 PM

Kacchan is more than a simple bully though. He is one now, sure, but he wants to be a hero as much as Deku does. Kacchan wants to be as good as or better than All Might. They both talked about it in a flashback earlier.

The problem is Kacchan was so strong from the start. He was powerful when he was four. The other kids saw him as the strongest. The adults saw him as incredibly strong. Worse, the adults told him that. He got puffed up, arrogant. They showed happier times with him and Deku, where he was playing the noble hero and Deku was following, cheering him on.

They both always dreamed of being heroes.

They both just go about it in opposite ways. Deku matched All Might's heroism. It's why he inherited One for All. The self-sacrifice. The whole mark of a hero: "My body moved on its own."

Kacchan took the constant praise to heart and it turned him the other way around. Kacchan dreams of being as powerful as All Might. Or stronger. He knows he has it too. So he goes for pure destruction: "Crushing Evil."

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-09-2016, 05:56 PM

A bully is never just a bully. That person also has a job/school, family, friends, dreams, whatever.

Doesn't change the fact that he's a bully.

If he wants to crush evil, he better start with himself. Hurting the weak is way up there on my list of despicable acts.

Kraco

Tue, 05-10-2016, 12:05 AM

If he wants to crush evil, he better start with himself. Hurting the weak is way up there on my list of despicable acts.

Nah. A world where super powers are common is not one for such pure idealism. It might work for some but not for all. There are tons of villains misusing powers, so there must be plenty of people defending the weaker individuals and masses from those villains. Kacchan should be able to do that just fine, even if he acts like a douche. In the first place if you are all about fighting, it's more likely to have an edgy personality than that of a buddha. Lots of testosterone doesn't make a jesus.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 05-10-2016, 07:12 AM

Kraco

Tue, 05-10-2016, 11:07 AM

He should just become a villain then. His personality fits that way more.

Just imagine a bully like him, who keeps saying he wants to destroy things, wanting to become a police officer in RL. Does it sound like a good idea? I don't think so. Abuse of power and neglect of duty (like saving victims) are lurking in the next corner.

I don't think the society wished for anybody to become a villain. Kacchan has a really dangerous power, so he would make an annoying villain. He would wish for him to become one? He won't probably ever be the kind of hero teacher will refer to as exemplary nor be called to situations requiring rescuing of civilians, but he'd be perfectly fine if there's a villain of considerable strength on the loose.

Slightly out of topic, what does edgy personality mean? Just curious because I've read the term a lot recently.

Lots of sharp edges, not all mellow? Always on the edge, that is, with high-strung temper?

shinta|hikari

Tue, 05-10-2016, 11:31 AM

Internet says it's 'avant-garde' or something. You used it. Why are you so unsure lol?

You're saying Kacchan is like some kinda mercenary or something. Then he should become that instead. Heroes, ideally, should be heroic.

Kraco

Tue, 05-10-2016, 02:29 PM

Internet says it's 'avant-garde' or something. You used it. Why are you so unsure lol?

Never thought I'd need to check a dictionary for something like that, but what the hell:

From dictionary.com:
adjective, edgier, edgiest.
1. nervously irritable; impatient and anxious.
2. sharp-edged; sharply defined, as outlines.
3. daringly innovative; on the cutting edge.

You're saying Kacchan is like some kinda mercenary or something. Then he should become that instead. Heroes, ideally, should be heroic.

I thought we had this conversation already... It's not our world they are living in, so our definition of the word "hero" obviously doesn't apply. It's an official word in that world with plenty of hero academies and media coverage.

Ryllharu

Tue, 05-10-2016, 02:54 PM

@shinta:

You really ought to use UrbanDictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edgy) for cases like this.

edgy

the act of being edgy is basically teenage kids that think theyre cool. hardcore kids seem to think theyre the fucking edgyest things everr.

"why are you wearing that bandanna out of your pocket," says 9th grade homeroom teacher.

"because i'm effin edgy biotch," says asshole.

"Edgy" has been consistently used in an ironic way since about 2010, like some sort of hipster revolt against it. In the 90s, making things "edgy" was deemed to be the way to success by Hollywood, and it worked then. But what worked in the late 90s was considered stale by the general audience by the 2000s, as a pathetic way to cash in by a collection of out-of-touch executives. But they kept doing it anyway because they're adverse to change and don't bother consulting their audience. Sometimes it works still, see Nolan batman trilogy. And then they think it is still valid and copy it everywhere, invariably failing.

A "dark and gritty" reboot of a more traditional franchise are "edgy". Think Shadow the Hedgehog. Or chuunibyous.

Buffalobiian

Wed, 05-11-2016, 06:17 AM

I don't understand this any more after reading your explanation Ryll.

I thought "edgy" meant easily irritable.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-11-2016, 07:58 AM

I thought we had this conversation already... It's not our world they are living in, so our definition of the word "hero" obviously doesn't apply. It's an official word in that world with plenty of hero academies and media coverage.

But All Might, the most popular and possibly most powerful hero in their world, shares our definition of being a hero. That shows how the concept of being a hero is also idealized in their universe. Maybe most people forgot it after so many heroes kept popping up, but self-sacrifice and classic heroism was definitely the foundation of the hero occupation. Heck, All Might became popular precisely because of his heroics in saving people.

Going back to what I said (the line you quoted), I did include the word "ideally." I do agree it's possible for assholes to become heroes in their system. But they shouldn't. A bully like Kacchan doesn't deserve the power and fame he'll get when he graduates and gets a license. He'll probably abuse the hell out of it, like how those asshat heroes in OPM picked on newbs or pushed civilians around.

Munsu

Wed, 05-11-2016, 08:18 AM

I don't understand this any more after reading your explanation Ryll.

I thought "edgy" meant easily irritable.

As always, depends on the context your're using it.

Not the first time a word had multiple definitions and/or uses.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-11-2016, 08:28 AM

Munsu

Wed, 05-11-2016, 08:50 AM

So...

Kraco meant edgy as irritable, not avant-garde.

Ryll actually gave the avant-garde (in a bad, overused way) explanation, so I'm guessing you think (or at least believe that Kraco thinks) Kacchan is edgy in that way.

Did I get that right?

If so, I agree with you both.

Well, going by the context of what Kraco said... someone who's not mellow.

So, we can infer that he means someone who is intense, aggressive, is wired up, can easily get excited, etc.

Any of those would fit.

Ryllharu

Wed, 05-11-2016, 03:00 PM

I don't understand this any more after reading your explanation Ryll.

I thought "edgy" meant easily irritable.
You're thinking of the idiom, "on edge," which has the same meaning as "touchy".

English wooo~! The language with no fucking rules!

On edge or touchy describes Kacchan in most contexts. His costume choice, while thematic, is a bit on the "edgy" side. Same with the guy who has gears on his shoulders for some reason.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-11-2016, 03:28 PM

I, for one, am not a fan of Izuku's costume. He looks like a fucking pokemon.

I want cool heroes, not geeky mascot kids.

Munsu

Wed, 05-11-2016, 05:01 PM

I, for one, am not a fan of Izuku's costume. He looks like a fucking pokemon.

I want cool heroes, not geeky mascot kids.

Well I like it. Well, I guess what I like is the idea I have in my mind of it: a creepy bunny in the mold of Frank Anderson.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-11-2016, 06:08 PM

Oh... I get where you're coming from. That wouldn't be too hero-like, but I like it. Izuku's version is likely inspired by it but took too many turns into pony land.

Kraco

Thu, 05-12-2016, 12:15 AM

I found his costume funny in a creepy way. It perfectly suits his personality, which is creepy as well. I doubt I will ever forget the early scene where he was sitting at the computer eagerly waiting for the All Might video, with that usual insane expression of his and rocking himself back and forth like some mechanical doll. He has an unhealthy hero complex combined with the sickly nervous timidity and shyness of a bullied person with a crushed self-confidence.

A full mask suits a shy personality because he can hide behind it. The rabbit theme suits a cowardly personality because rabbits are extreme cowards due to being the favourite game of pretty much any beast living in the same area. Then there's finally the permanent, wide grin, which is the creepiest part of it all. After all he has gone through, you'd think he had no reason to keep being positive and smile, yet he does and it's not even hollow and forced, like a bullied person would sport to placate the bullies. It's the genuine happy smile of a person who was pushed over the limit until something broke in his mind.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-12-2016, 12:38 AM

LOL, that's an interesting take on Izuku. All this time I thought he was just a cliche shounen geek, but it turns out he's a borderline psychotic, obsessed with a messiah-complex. I hope he snaps and starts killing people all of a sudden, starting with Kacchan. He can certainly do it with All Might's power.

NeoCybercoin

Thu, 05-12-2016, 02:49 AM

That in fact would be an interesting twist. All Might giving the kid this power to be his successor but the kid snaps and becomes a villain.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 05-12-2016, 05:00 AM

They'll have to kill Aizawa first. His eyes are death to any hero.

Unless they've got a chafe bomb.

Or a water pistol.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-15-2016, 05:21 AM

[HorribleSubs] Boku no Hero Academia - 07 (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=811926)

Hype is real.

------

I'm certain everyone else will start discussing the (awesomely animated) fight between Bakugou and Deku, or Deku's side of their childhood "friendship" which even reused a lot of the scenes we saw from Deku's view.

But I want to highlight the other part of this episode that made it truly great: Iida and Uraraka.

Iida's earnest craziness and Uraraka's brightness made a perfect counterpoint to the GAR-style fight between Bakugou's superiority complex and Deku's inferiority complex. There was a levity to the other scenes that allowed the savagery of the Deku-Bakugou scenes to shine.

Iida practicing his evil laugh, because his family business is heroics and he's afraid he otherwise wouldn't be convincing. Uraraka laughing at it and giving herself away. Iida's next "evil" deed is to clean the entire room to a spotless shine so Uraraka can't use anything to attack him, hahaha. Uraraka hugging the pillar and lifting a leg pinup style (http://trendland.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gil-elvgren-pinup_6.jpg).

The whole thing. Perfect counterbalance to the rest of the episode.

I'm also a fan of the thought that goes into the costumes. I know they detail them extensively in the back of the manga volumes, so I hope the anime does the same. Bakugou gave Deku the short version of his own, storing all the palm sweat to...dramatic effect. But if you watched carefully, you also saw that Uraraka's horseshoe pattern heels are squishy. Given that she's starting flinging herself around with her power, you can see that her costume has enhancements that work similar to Chell Boots (http://theportalwiki.com/wiki/Long_Fall_Boots), even if they look like hockey goalie pads.

edit:
Perfect casting on Uraraka by the way. I can't imagine anyone else playing her since Sakura Ayane is doing such a good job. This show has great casting in general.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-15-2016, 08:55 AM

Kacchan is indeed an ass, as expected. His flashback only showed how he is even more of a shallow ass than I thought. I could somewhat understand it if he was just a muscle-brained jock, but if he was this so-called brains and brawn genius, he should've realized how much of a bully he was and how his hatred was utterly misplaced.

Not only that, why was he so surprised about Izuku not being able to use his powers? Didn't he ask for details from ANYONE in his class? Everyone else saw Izuku's power's feedback. I mean, he already asked about the events. Didn't anyone give him any details? Didn't it occur to him to ask one more question, like what the fuck happened after? That's some convenient plot-purposed ignorance right there.

The logic behind Izuku and Uraraka splitting up, at least Izuku's version of the explanation, was utterly stupid. Fighting Kacchan with the two of them apparently means they'll run out of time, so his solution was to fight Kacchan alone and win, and then support Uraraka, who had to go ahead because, let's face it, it's shounen. That makes no sense. If you can't beat an enemy with two of you fast enough, fighting him alone won't make it any faster.

He didn't have to beat Kacchan at all, despite him putting that as a prerequisite at the start of the episode. In fact, they won with Izuku losing the duel. When will this trope disappear?

There are many other ways to justify them splitting up, one they actually used in this episode. He should've just said their best chance was to let Uraraka deal with the bomb alone because Speed dude was too heroic and wouldn't hurt her, something she could take advantage of (and she did in the end).

Now onto the fight.

I agree with Ryll, but I'm taking it a step further. I actually think the Uraraka fight is much better than the Izuku fight. It made sense for the most part, and the heroes didn't act like Supermen immune to getting slammed on concrete, or blasted by nitro on the body directly.

The Izuku fight was typical shounen fluff.

1) Izuku just stood there while Kacchan was explaining his new power and aimed his arm at him. Wasn't he a hero otaku? I figured out it'll shoot a projectile of some sort the moment Kacchan spoke. Why didn't he? Why didn't he jump into the corridor conveniently beside him?

2) Izuku must be immortal or something. Taking explosions on your back and a beam of fire (albeit "indirectly" in a narrow corridor as conveniently explained away by Kacchan/All Might) should kill humans. Did All Might's gene make his body inhumanly tough? Except that makes no sense. Kacchan didn't know his quirk, and he clearly said he didn't intend to kill him, so he must've "toned down" his explosions to make them non-lethal. Right...

That said, it was really good shounen fluff.

One has to understand that to enjoy shounen fights, you have to throw away logic to the bin. Shounen logic and battle tactics are there to entertain, not to make sense. With that in mind, this fight was a winner. It had the GAR of shounen heart and the smarts of a geek hero winning the battle. It pushed all the right buttons (and provided awesome music) to make the audience's hair stand on end.

I guess this shows how self-sacrifice really is the message of this show. Izuku's team won because of his self-sacrifice, after all. He would already be dead in a real world scenario after what he did. Even the comments from the audience showed how heroes are idealized in their world too. Dry-eye sensei was an odd duck in his views.

This is definitely no HunterXHunter, but as standard shounen goes, this is good stuff.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-15-2016, 09:15 AM

The logic behind Izuku and Uraraka splitting up, at least Izuku's version of the explanation, was utterly stupid. Fighting Kacchan with the two of them apparently means they'll run out of time, so his solution was to fight Kacchan alone and win, and then support Uraraka, who had to go ahead because, let's face it, it's shounen. That makes no sense. If you can't beat an enemy with two of you fast enough, fighting him alone won't make it any faster.
Actually the plan was for her to run off and find Iida and the bomb, because the hero team on this exercise doesn't know where it is when they start. Then Deku would lose Kacchan in the corridors and quickly back up Uraraka and get the bomb, mission complete. Bakugou would lose simply because he's too focused on getting back at Deku.

When Uraraka screwed up because Iida's antics made her laugh, they both had to abruptly change the plan. Bakugou's secret weapon also changed things even further. Deku was still under the assumption that Bakugou was only dangerous up close. With his new costume, Bakugou is far more dangerous at mid-range. Deku couldn't flee to meet with Uraraka, he'd be annihilated, and he was forced to keep Bakugou focused on him.

Unlike Bakugou and Iida, Deku and Uraraka were in constant communication. They acted as a team. While Bakugou was having his flashback and getting reprimanded by All Might for nearly killing Izuku, Deku and Uraraka reformulated their plan and improvised their way to victory.

Deku's team won because they can both think on their feet, and worked together. They should have lost, but Bakugou is too pigheaded and Iida is too obedient to be properly evil or shout down Bakugou to stfu and let him do the interference while Bakugou guarded.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-15-2016, 09:22 AM

That wasn't their original plan. Re-watched the planning scene just to be sure. 8:00 to 8:10.

Izuku clearly said he needed to beat Kacchan. He specifically mentioned it was a prerequisite for him to support Uraraka.

I do think having Uraraka find the bomb alone was a good idea. The logic behind Izuku beating Kacchan and chasing behind Uraraka to help her was the illogical part.

I have no issues with how they improvised. Well, except for how Izuku conveniently ended up right between Uraraka and the bomb after all that fighting. You can't be that exact from just instructions via earpiece.

Does he have photographic memory to memorize the blueprint of the building and an inhuman sense of direction and distance? If he does, I wish they mentioned or implied it at some point. I'm kidding. Like I said, it's shounen.

Kraco

Sun, 05-15-2016, 03:13 PM

A good enough fight. The setting was sort of perfect for Deku and Nice Person in a sense because it was given Kacchan would ignore everything else and concentrate 100% on Deku. It didn't mean only staying away from the bomb as long as Deku wasn't there, but it also meant forgetting the villains' mission. It looked like it never visited Kacchan's mind that Deku might be planning to use his power to solve the bomb case, not the fight against Kacchan. If Kacchan has the wits, he should learn a lot from this fight.

I also liked more the Nice Person vs Iida match. It wasn't tainted by stupid personal hatred, but instead we got Iida's funny villain acting and Nice Person's cute but quite competent fighting. Neither actually forgot their own mission nor the fact this is just a mock battle between students, which is 1000% more than Kacchan could credit himself for.

I hope Iida doesn't steal Nice Person away from Deku. He was able to impress her positively with his villain acting, after all.

Kraco

Sun, 05-22-2016, 01:15 PM

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-22-2016, 02:29 PM

A rivalry that is abrupt and makes little sense, too.

Izuku's goal was to become a hero. Now it's become surpassing Kacchan. Why would he need to do that? He doesn't need to beat a bully at anything to be a great hero. Heck, the bully he is trying to surpass is a failure as a hero at this point. Their rivalry feels forced and is just there to imitate Naruto.

The recovery magic limitation feels so artificial. It "uses" stamina? Well, so does walking around in a cast. Dying from healing too fast makes little sense. Just heal him and confine him in the hospital bed to rest. I would've appreciated a more logical limiter, like granny being unable to use it because she gets exhausted.

I like the other characters, especially the girl who raised her hand. Finally someone who actually uses their head (and waki). I don't count Izuku as one of those types because he failed to take the most efficient and logical path many times now.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 05-23-2016, 04:39 AM

Kraco

Mon, 05-23-2016, 06:08 AM

Izuku just told someone his power was acquired. You're not meant to do that.

From now on, everything to do with Kacchan being exploited by villians and All Might being a "fake" hero now will be because of this fuck-up. Well done Izuku.

Let's hope Kacchan offhandedly spreads the info, someone notices All Might give Deku the extra attention, and people put two and two together, making all of this public information. Maybe that would teach Deku the consequences of revealing big secrets to a chronic bully.

It won't necessarily happen, though. Kacchan hardly pays attention to anything Deku says, so that bit as well might have simply been ignored and forgotten as soon as he heard it.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 05-23-2016, 06:32 AM

Oh, it'll come back to bite him. You can bet your entire shounen collection on that.

Munsu

Wed, 05-25-2016, 05:18 PM

Episode 08 - HS

- - - - -

This show is trying hard to surpass One Piece in the amount of useless flashbacks, it seems, with the dismal difference One Piece started to do it after hundreds of eps, this from the very beginning. I doubt there's any viewer left who's still in the dark about Deku and Kacchan's history, yet the show sees the need to remind of it every 5 minutes.

It didn't really feel like awfully lot would have happened in this episode. Perhaps the next episode will again turn better. It ought if it concentrates less on Deku and Kacchan's rivalry.

Though I agree with the general idea of many flashbacks, I think you're exaggerating here a bit. We didn't get any Deko/Kacchan flashback in this one... only the last episode summary at the beginning.

We did get though a rehash of the All-Mighty transference of power.

And I also agree, this was a fairly empty episode, but at the same time it was an excuse to introduce us to some of the side characters and see some of their abilities.

A rivalry that is abrupt and makes little sense, too.

Izuku's goal was to become a hero. Now it's become surpassing Kacchan. Why would he need to do that? He doesn't need to beat a bully at anything to be a great hero. Heck, the bully he is trying to surpass is a failure as a hero at this point. Their rivalry feels forced and is just there to imitate Naruto.

The recovery magic limitation feels so artificial. It "uses" stamina? Well, so does walking around in a cast. Dying from healing too fast makes little sense. Just heal him and confine him in the hospital bed to rest. I would've appreciated a more logical limiter, like granny being unable to use it because she gets exhausted.

I like the other characters, especially the girl who raised her hand. Finally someone who actually uses their head (and waki). I don't count Izuku as one of those types because he failed to take the most efficient and logical path many times now.

Not sure what the problem with stamina is. Sure, not a sexy explanation, but not as problematic as you're making it particularly if you consider the inverse and the dangers of fatigue (we don't know the extremes the healing process goes through). Stamina itself is a faux term, incredibly ambivalent, but the general idea remains true though. Trying to parallel it to "using" stamina walking around in a cast seems quite a stretch.

I fully expect though that we'll get some very flimsy rationalizations to avoid overusing this power, I just don't see the problem with what you're depicting right now overall.

And as I said a few episodes ago -

Another point of interest, more Yaoyorozu please:

http://i.imgur.com/QFjOERP.png

Kinda wish she'd became the leading lady, but we'll have to wait to learn more of her to see if she's worth the time. But on looks alone, I'd love to see more of her and more interaction from her and Deku. Doubt it'll get there with Uraraka already getting the focus, not that I mind her so far.

Hope they don't ruin her just to make Uraraka more desirable or something.

As for Izuku's goal, yeah I'm with you. Not going to overthink it though, people have to put milestones for themselves to motivate themselves to get to the end goal. Not that Izuku needs it, but I don't see the much of a problem with a person trying to surpass another when the result should inevitably be that your own improvement as a consequence.

Izuku just told someone his power was acquired. You're not meant to do that.

From now on, everything to do with Kacchan being exploited by villians and All Might being a "fake" hero now will be because of this fuck-up. Well done Izuku.

Hopefully the mouse-principal is boss.

Yeah, that was a bit stupid. We'll see how All Might takes it.

That said, the after credit scene is promising we might be on the verge of entering a bigger stage than the Academia drama. We'll see how it goes.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-25-2016, 06:48 PM

Munsu

Wed, 05-25-2016, 06:55 PM

About the stamina, why couldn't they just limit the granny's power than limiting it to the individual being healed? Dying because you're healing too fast is a little ridiculous. It's not like you're regenerating your cells over and over and over again, enough to use up your telomeres. You're just doing it faster.

This then brings up the issue of injuries/illness that you can't heal from naturally, like amputation or cancer. Will granny's power work on those?

Honestly, I don't mind if they simply don't put a limit to the healing. Just heal him whenever he gets hurt until people get pissed at how irresponsible that is.

It's not "just doing it faster", it's using resources from your own body. That resource is called in this anime as stamina, and whatever encompasses stamina. So the believe here is that it's dangerous to force the body to go through a healing process that uses up some of these resources maybe to a point of depletion or something.

In a way it's like being put on a machine that forces you to run a marathon and you're only have stamina to withstand just 1 mile of running. What would happen then?

Again, we're talking about hypotheticals here and using the term stamina which is not all that scientific and intrinsically vague. That's why I introduced the other side of it, fatigue and then consider when your body goes beyond what it can handle fatigue wise.

That's how I'm seeing it.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-25-2016, 07:07 PM

I'm not a fan of vague (and inaccurate) labels. Nen is supernatural and acceptable in the context of the HxH story. Stamina is something we know in real life, so defining that as some kind of expendable fuel that will kill you if you run out (read: life force) is something I'd rather not see.

If Izuku could walk home after the treatment, he should've had enough "stamina" to at least fix his broken arm, especially if he can receive treatment again the very next day. It's not chemo.

I would've actually been impressed if the side effect of repeated insta-healing is cancer. That would've actually made sense.

Ryllharu

Wed, 05-25-2016, 08:36 PM

Well, they kind of glanced over it (it is explained much more clearly in the equivalent manga chapters), but they did explain it early on right after the first time Deku obliterated himself during the entrance exam. Recovery Girl doesn't actually heal a person, her quirk is to activate a person's natural healing ability all at once, that's where the "stamina" comes into play. Aoyama (belly-button beam guy) explains her quirk at 15:30 in episode 4.

Heal from too grievous an injury or too often, and they'll just die anyway, because they will have exhausted their reserves. It's like taking a 3 month convalescence in a hospital but doing it in an hour. Your body takes energy from everywhere else to heal itself. It will eat muscle and fat extremely rapidly in real life. Significant weight loss is typical. That's why Izuku feels exhausted from just having his finger healed and she gives him candy.

Think of her quirk as more like giving blood. You end up dizzy and weak while your body starts rebuilding the blood cells and plasma. Sugary foods help. If Izuku kept "giving blood" to heal his injuries without enough time in between, or too much at once, he'd run out of blood and simply die anyway.

She explains this in episode 6, starting at 7:40. The anime just doesn't give it the real weight it deserves. The author balanced her powers right from the start.

This is why Aizawa was prepared to flunk Izuku. If he didn't learn to control One for All, he'd end up killing himself. She can only heal someone that reckless so many times.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 05-25-2016, 08:44 PM

I get your explanation, but the delivery doesn't do it justice.

That explanation would've been easier to swallow if granny didn't let Izuku walk home right after treatment. If he really was in bad enough shape to be unable to continue treatment of his fracture (a fairly serious and incapacitating injury which should be fixed asap), then he shouldn't be allowed out of the hospital bed and should be kept on an IV drip. There should be real and visible consequences to this "stamina" drain outside of preventing Izuku from abusing One for All. Y'know, something that prevents him from getting fixed the very next day.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 05-26-2016, 05:09 AM

This then brings up the issue of injuries/illness that you can't heal from naturally, like amputation or cancer. Will granny's power work on those?

It'll be very liberal. Izuku's leg was twisted after he smashed the big robot, but Recovery Girl's healing actually twisted it back into place without requiring manipulation. If we take her explanation literally, his leg should have healed in a twisted position, since normal healing doesn't shift bones back into anatomically correct positions.

If you suffered full thickness burns, accelerated healing would just mean instant scar tissue, since you've lost the basal layer for generating proper skin cells.

If stamina was just energy, then as Shinta said, a dextrose infusion should suffice, maybe along with some insulin, parental nutrition and what have you.

But that's no fun. Better to have her explanations interpreted loosely so there's a story to tell.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-26-2016, 07:48 AM

Then they should call it life force lol.

Munsu

Thu, 05-26-2016, 08:33 AM

About the stamina, why couldn't they just limit the granny's power than limiting it to the individual being healed?

I'll just address this point at the moment. Stamina aside, the idea is that it would've required little effort from the user and would've allowed her to service every student since all the juice for the healing to happen would have been contained in each individual instead of X reserve she might've carried herself.

And then if you give her enough juice in herself to heal everyone, then she would've had enough juice to heal a single character infinitely.

Of course, other excuses could've been introduced then. But I think that's part of the idea.

I don't think we need overthink that aspect.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-26-2016, 09:18 AM

I understand the logic behind that, but it makes more sense for her ability to be less OP than to have a mislabeled and mysterious stamina factor. It's already ridiculous that she can just heal anyone at anytime with no real consequence to her. Even genius surgeons and the like get tired. But I digress.

I wouldn't mind it if they simply said that her healing ability had other negative side effects period. They didn't need to rationalize it as the recipient dying because they got tired from healing too fast. And if they wanted to do that anyway, they need to stick with it and not let Izuku heal up the very next day.

Ryll's blood transfusion analogy makes sense if Izuku needed a few weeks or so to recover before being subjected to insta-heals again. Resting for one night and then being able to avoid death from exhaustion from the heals right after just feels lazy.

EDIT:
I remember Ryll mentioning something about the danger of over-explaining things in fiction in the Heavy Object thread. I think this falls into that category. Had they simply said that granny's heals were limited because you'll die, I'd have accepted that at face value because of all the supernatural stuff happening in this show. However, the moment they tried to explain it with pseudo-medical science, it becomes vulnerable to analysis.

Sure, I can just turn off my brain after seeing the inconsistency, but I try to avoid doing that with shows that I have a certain degree of respect and expectation for.

So, no, this show isn't really any worse because of this aspect. Minor issues like these simply stand out in above average stories, so I couldn't help but mention them.

Kraco

Thu, 05-26-2016, 11:46 AM

I don't think it was mentioned anywhere the healer lady herself wouldn't get tired. It was just said the patient themselves wouldn't necessarily have what it takes. So, there's no proof as of yet the lady could go around healing a hundred people as long as the people being healed didn't run out of stamina. However, looking at that cold/hot dude, I don't think personal energy is of much issue in this show's world when using the super powers. Freezing and thawing that whole building so fast should have taken quite a staggering amount of energy. Obviously more than a fit looking person would have in his adipose tissue.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-26-2016, 01:03 PM

Ryllharu

Thu, 05-26-2016, 03:18 PM

Limits are the best part of super powers series imo.

Can't be great without a corresponding flaw to them.

Sanderson's Second Law: "Limitations > Powers" A character's weaknesses are more interesting than his or her abilities.

But I'd take it even further. Superman is still boring because his weakness is a rock (one incredibly overused by lazy writers). Superman becomes interesting when writers make his attitude (always doing the right thing) the weakness that his enemies exploit. In contrast Zatanna needs to be able to speak to use her abilities. Wild Tiger can only use his powers for five minutes, etc. That kind of thing.

Izuku is a lot like Black Bolt now. Really strong, but using his power to the full extent is too harmful to use around others or to himself.

Hakagure has to be totally naked to use her powers fully, Uraraka apparently pukes when she uses hers too much, and so on.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-26-2016, 04:31 PM

I agree. That's why Granny's powers are ridiculous. The limitation is from the target, not the user. That's not even a valid limitation.

I also disliked the ice guy. His powers are OP, and I'm 92.4% certain the writing is gonna fail to do that justice. That's the problem with writing powerful characters. It's so hard to create believable conflict without it seeming artificial or the result of the said character's stupidity/inability to maximize his abilities.

Ryllharu

Thu, 05-26-2016, 04:35 PM

No, the limitation is that is she overuses it on an individual, the subject she's trying to save dies instead. If they're hurt too badly, they die anyway. That's a pretty valid limitation. The damage to her is emotional.

In trying to save someone who could truly benefit from her quirk, they burn themselves out healing. She's resulting in their death anyway. With someone who gets frequently hurt like Izuku, she'd actually be killing him, when he would have otherwise survived after a few months in the hospital.

I'm 87% certain you're mistaken about this series. I know this because I was too.

The author has already done some pretty powerful characters well. Izuku, All Might, and Bakugou. One can't handle it yet, and the other has been a fraud for some time. A good-intentioned fraud, but one nonetheless. The last one thought he was hot shit (no pun intended) until the ice guy displayed his powers. Losing to Izuku isn't what just broke Bakogou's pride. It was having years of everyone around him tell him he was super strong, proving it during the entrance exam (#1), but after a thorough struggle against Izuku, Bakugou gets to witness Todoroki (ice guy) achieve victory in seconds. Wounded pride indeed.

I'd say it is safe to say that that author knew how to handle powerful characters and give them actual depth.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 05-26-2016, 04:44 PM

What are you even talking about? I've repeatedly said that this show is good. I already know what kind of show this is. There's nothing to mistake.

Granny's "limitation" is not a limitation of her powers. It's the limitation of her targets. That's clearly different from Izuku and Gravity Girl, who suffer directly from their use of powers. That's what I'm talking about. A real, physical limitation, not some conditional, emotional deterrent. Even if I do accept that rationalization as a proper limitation, her powers are still OP. Just like Ice dude's.

Though I say 92.4% certain, I'm still hopeful that my expectations will be betrayed. It's just better to expect less and be surprised positively, than to expect more and be disappointed. Who knows? Maybe Ice Guy will actual abuse the hell out of his infini-ice ability and brutalize enemies left and right.

I already got disappointed thinking that this show was gonna be unique and subversive, which it isn't, but that's not a problem. It's charm is in being traditional, so I'm moving forward expecting something like that.

EDIT:
To repeat, most of what I'm saying are all minor gripes, ones I won't even bother mentioning in worse series. The only real complaint I have is the NarutoXSasuke rivalry going on, which I feel detracts from Izuku's original goal of being a hero. Other than that? Just nitpicks.

Buffalobiian

Fri, 05-27-2016, 04:07 AM

I think so too. So far, only All Might (because of his injury) and Izuku (because he is, wait, what exactly does his body not being ready even mean? No amount of training will ever allow him to withstand smashing a building to pieces with his fist) have limits.

That's an inconsistency I've brought up before. All Might looks like a twig but is still able to use his powers fully during his transformation.

On the other hand they've done a good job of not explaining that. Is his reduced state his real, pre-powers state? Or was he previously all muscular and got reduced to that post-injury? It's up in the air, and makes this plausible.

Munsu

Fri, 05-27-2016, 07:56 AM

That's an inconsistency I've brought up before. All Might looks like a twig but is still able to use his powers fully during his transformation.

On the other hand they've done a good job of not explaining that. Is his reduced state his real, pre-powers state? Or was he previously all muscular and got reduced to that post-injury? It's up in the air, and makes this plausible.

Well, it's only inconsistent because, since you mention, it hasn't been explained yet. So, guess we'll have to see if they address some of that in the future or not.

It does lend to the believe that this might not be all a physical limitation per se (body strength), but part control and maybe part the body "atuning/synchronizing" itself with the power. Or something along those lines. We've barely begun the school term though.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 05-27-2016, 08:04 AM

It's stamina.

DarthEnderX

Sun, 05-29-2016, 03:01 AM

Watched all of this today.

New as soon as they said the robot was worth 0 points and there was no reason to fight it exactly how that exam was going to unfold. Endless shounen has prepared me too well.

He didn't care about the exam and helped her. Glasses thought about this in the context of an exam, with them being rivals. You don't help rivals.Unless you're, you know, a hero. If you're a true hero, you help people regardless of the situation.

Not quite, he's also losing everybody else in the future he could have saved, but won't (because he's now dead).But the alternative being presented is that they simply not be a hero at all. Meaning they won't be saving anyone else in the future anyway, because they won't be a hero.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 05-29-2016, 04:07 AM

But the alternative being presented is that they simply not be a hero at all. Meaning they won't be saving anyone else in the future anyway, because they won't be a hero.

The original context was this:

If a hero sacrifices himself stopping that villain, the hero has saved ten thousand people and lost one (himself).

Not quite, he's also losing everybody else in the future he could have saved, but won't (because he's now dead).

The question being discussed is "what is the price of a hero sacrificing himself to save someone?". It's about the mentality going forward in this career.

It wasn't about:

"I should sacrifice myself to get into this academy, because there is no alternative anyway."

edit: HS - Episode 09 (https://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=815997)

-------------------------------------------------

I like this new development. Now Izuku doesn't have forever to play around. He's got to become worthy successor to fill in for All Might soon. This sense of urgency is what we need. All Might having his back was starting to feel too safe.

Kraco

Tue, 05-31-2016, 04:29 PM

Yeah. Although there has always been something going on, lacking any sense of filler content, I still think we should have had a scene of Deku desperately trying to train and meditate alone to understand the control over his power. Now it's like he's just living his school life normally hoping that one day he will automatically and magically understand the power, despite the fact he has to go to considerable lengths to avoid using it. In the first place I reckon he doesn't actually need to ruin his body to train the power. There seems to be that charging up phase that probably does yet break his bones and muscles. He just can't control that at all, so it's always 0% charged or 100% charged.

This show has quite interesting characters. The author has gone to some lengths to avoid generic heroes and villains, I think.

Kraco

Mon, 06-06-2016, 09:57 AM

Episode 10 - HS

- - - - -

Pretty clear the Pervert hero's quirk was born out of a desire to trap girls and bind their arms and legs to the floor or a wall so that he could molest them at leisure. It really is a good question why he joined the hero academy and not that League of Villains. Perhaps he was just too cowardly to face other villains. However, the application of his power in this fight was quite effective.

I wonder when Deku finally grows tired of broken body parts and tries to control his power.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 06-06-2016, 10:06 AM

I can't be the only one who facepalmed when the villain politely explained his/her main goal to the heroes, right?

And Izuku's comment that Dry Eye sensei is a good fit for many vs one combat when he can only erase one power at a time makes no sense. If you have more than a dozen fighters surrounding one enemy, erasing one of their powers isn't gonna affect their teamwork. Team sports prove that much. Dry Eye sensei is built for one vs one.

That scene felt like a forced explanation to show how "badass" Dry Eye sensei is rather than a natural conclusion from the nature of his powers. It would have made more sense if Izuku was impressed how someone who was built for 1 on 1 like sensei could handle the mob with just his physical prowess and experience.

The music in this show is awesome. It always kicks in at exactly the right moment.

neflight86

Mon, 06-06-2016, 02:20 PM

Love the character design on frog girl. Her voice isn't what I imagined it would be, though. she sounds much older, like she could be sharing a voice actor with recovery girl.

DarthEnderX

Tue, 06-07-2016, 08:57 PM

Love the character design on frog girl.Eh, Eruka Frog from Soul Eater is better.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 06-12-2016, 06:53 AM

Episode 11

--------------------------

Nomu seems impervious to Quirks. That's the only explanation I have.

If the impact happened anyway however, then Izuku's arm should still be damaged. There's no way a freaked-out attack was controlled. Given that it still produced a massive amount of force, there should still be consequences to his arm.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-12-2016, 09:57 AM

Nomu isn't impervious to quirks. It's just a genetically engineered monster as strong as All Might.

Izuku managed to do a proper smash this time, so his arm didn't break. It wasn't about muscle training or anything. It was all about controlling this mysterious One for All Power, which is as intangible (and unintelligible) as "stamina." I guess his junkyard beach training was all just to make him overall more fit and resilient because those are needed to be a hero anyway.

Why the hell is Eraserhead still alive? I really hate scenes like this. You have a monster that can break arms like twigs riding on your back, but for some inexplicable reason, it doesn't just pull off your head the first chance it gets. It's... juvenile.

And if the villains did have Nomu from the start, what the fuck was it doing the entire time? If it was built to fight All Might, there was no need to waste time with the mob. Just friggin' sic Nomu on Eraserhead and kill him in like 10 seconds...

The warp guy is also hilarious. Why the heck would you chase after a speeder from behind when you can warp yourself (including your real body) right at the door, thus preventing anyone from escaping? Why? Plot, I tell you.

Why the fuck did astronaut teacher not stop her power when it started eating her from behind? That scene seemed long enough for her to realize that, uh, I should stop killing myself.

And why did all the enemies just stop themselves from killing Izuku and the others just because the door fell down when in .01 second they could've? They would've lost no time whatsoever and delivered a devastating blow to All Might...

At least Ice Guy knows how to use his powers. I hope he doesn't turn out to have a random weakness that doesn't make sense given what we've seen him do (and his bragging) so far.

The only thing I liked in this episode:
1784

Ryllharu

Sun, 06-12-2016, 11:58 AM

Sounds like you hate shonen.

/just sayin'

Kraco

Sun, 06-12-2016, 12:04 PM

Nomu doesn't seem to be a totally successful genetic engineering product. Something went wrong and left his brain exposed. Even if he avoids physical damage to the bare brain, it's much harder to avoid infections. Not to mention he still has a funny danger of having his brain drop out of the skull cup during high deceleration, such as if he's sent flying backwards and then hits a wall. The brain might just continue flying while the body stops.

But yeah, that was a jolly good part, Shinta. I suppose one could say as expected from a girl who willingly chose such an attire to begin with, when for example Nice Person was lamenting her (awesome) choice.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-12-2016, 12:18 PM

@Ryll - I don't. I just dislike certain aspects of them because they ignore logic, practicality, and consistency. Being in a genre isn't an excuse. There's HxH after all. I bring up parallel complaints in shoujo shows despite those issues being prevalent in the genre.

That said, I appreciate the other things shounen shows bring, like great action, music, and the high when they get it right. They didn't get it right this episode.

Just because it's also done wrong by the rest of its contemporaries doesn't make it right.

Disclaimer:
It's a pet peeve of mine when villains are idiots just because they are... villains.

@Kraco - That brain design was hilarious.

NeoCybercoin

Mon, 06-13-2016, 03:57 AM

You're talking about how it looks weird that his brain is sticking out when we have a guy that has 6 freaking arm-like wings sticking out of him?

Buffalobiian

Mon, 06-13-2016, 06:29 AM

Izuku managed to do a proper smash this time, so his arm didn't break.

"Proper smash" is all about control (and/or endurance). He screwed up his fingers last episode when he threw everything into conserving himself and it didn't work.

Five minutes later he freaked out and only thought about smashing fuckface to save Tsuyu, and somehow that got his control right? I don't think so.

I also think it's about training his body. It's not about strengthening in the physical sense, but having it get used to its effects (whatever the hell that means). If it's just about "controlling", then that means One for All can only be weaker than Izuku's "all or nothing" punch. That's sad.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 06-13-2016, 08:38 AM

I'm thinking it's simply like timing a 1 frame combo in a fighting game. You just have to practice it enough to get it right most of the time, and sometimes you just get lucky, like he did this episode. Holding back won't affect the success or failure of the execution. It's either you get it right and break nothing, or get it wrong and break whatever you used for the smash. One for all lol.

To be clear, I'm not defending the concept. I find it flimsy at best because of all the mixed messages of what One for All is since the start of the show.

@Neo - Extra arms make sense to get an advantage in combat. Having the most vulnerable part of your body sticking out in an engineered fighting machine, well, is another story,

DarthEnderX

Tue, 06-14-2016, 09:11 AM

Why the hell is Eraserhead still alive? I really hate scenes like this. You have a monster that can break arms like twigs riding on your back, but for some inexplicable reason, it doesn't just pull off your head the first chance it gets. It's... juvenile.Weird. It's almost like this is a show for young boys.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 06-14-2016, 10:19 AM

It is? What are we doing here then?

Kidding aside, I meant juvenile in terms of writing quality, not content. If they didn't want to kill Eraserhead, there are tons of ways to change that scene without making it seem so scripted and illogical. But you probably knew that.

NeoCybercoin

Sun, 06-19-2016, 04:54 AM

EP 12 is out!

And quite awesome.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 06-19-2016, 05:39 AM

EP 12 is out!

And quite awesome.

Nearly every week, the testosterone surge makes my day.

"In each of our hearts" sounds ominous. All-Might's way too awesome to kill off. Don't do it.

Kraco

Sun, 06-19-2016, 07:42 AM

It's unbelievable how much Deku is looking down on All-Might. Almost as unbelievable is that nobody was targeting that exposed brain. There's quite a difference between regenerating an arm or a brain. For the arm you need nothing but the DNA, but a brand new brain would contain no information, rendering the whole monster next to useless. I'd have preferred a scene where the brain was destroyed, but it would have turned out to be a bait, with the real brain located somewhere else in that big body.

A good ep, all in all.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-19-2016, 09:33 AM

The brain design, as expected, was retarded from the start, especially if no one even tries to hit it. I wish it were some kinda trap to lure all might into hitting it, and then causing some kind of poison/weakening effect/suicide bomb attack when he does. But no, we get an exposed vital untouched in a fist fight...

But that's not the dumbest thing in this fight. Ice dude, as I predicted from 2-3 episodes ago, failed to make use of his imba powers. Why didn't he freeze the entire bird brain dude right after All Might got free? It takes him seconds, maybe less, to use his power. With the entire body frozen, including the exposed brain (lol), regeneration and shock absorption are both meaningless... He is like the ultimate enemy of bird dude, yet he just stood there chatting with everyone, waiting for the enemy to recover. WTF. Why? Plot.

Also, why didn't Bakugo blow up the teleporting villain, arguably the lynch pin of the villains' plan, when he had like a minute to do so? He even game him a few warning shots, showing he could do it. THEN JUST DO IT. You don't need to kill him. Heck, if spacesuit lady was still alive with half a (hollow!?) body, a black goo can survive a half blown-up main body.

The best part of this episode, as it always is, is the activation of One for All. Every guy likes to watch a gar fist fight, and that's what we got. Again, with awesome musical timing and great animation, and a nice hero space punch finisher trope to top it all off.

That said, All Might is just being stupid here. The best way to overcome the situation was to make use of the unique talents of the kids behind him while he was able to fight. Just grab bird dude for a moment and let the ice guy freeze him while Bakugo keeps teleport dude busy. Izuku and the other guy can go ahead and distract hand dude. This entire exchange should only take 5 seconds, judging from how fast they all moved.

Then with bird brain all frozen, he can just use the rest of his minute to pulverize the remaining 2 villains who aren't fit to fight him. But oh well. This is a hero story after all. You gotta get into a pinch first before being forced to Toguro 120% your way out of it. The excuses matter little from the creator's POV, apparently. This plan wouldn't even be necessary if Ice and Fire kids did the most logical thing in the situations earlier, but whatever.

If All Might dies here, the villains don't deserve any credit. It's all going to be on the heroes side, where every single one of them overestimated their abilities, acted arrogant, and didn't take the situation with the gravity it deserved.

EDIT:
Has it ever been explained why granny nurse can't just cure All Might? He's missing organs, sure. But then he could just get a transplant and use his "stamina" to recover from the operation. It may have been mentioned, but I don't recall.

Kraco

Sun, 06-19-2016, 10:04 AM

Fancy strategies and intelligent tactics aren't usually in favour in shounen shows. Villains may try to use nefarious plans, but the heroes just smash those apart and push forward.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-19-2016, 10:17 AM

How is completely freezing a threat on par with All Might a fancy strategy? How is irreparably damaging a teleporting villain when you finally have them in your clutches an intelligent tactic? How is not touching an exposed brain in a fist fight even called a "plan?"

I won't blame kids for not being geniuses. They're still in hero school. But these mistakes are common sense mistakes. Anyone with a decent brain, and they all do, having passed the UA exam, should've been able to figure that out.

I'm a fan of gar fights, like I said. I just don't like it when heroes act dumber than they should. There are better ways to present this, trust me. I never complain/nitpick about anything without an alternative in mind.

A few simple fixes to stress my point:
1) Bird dude escapes, ripping his frozen limbs off, immediately after being frozen, ravenously rushes away from the heroes, and then regenerates. Instinct compels a creature to retreat to recover, not display a vulnerable state in front of the enemy.
2) Bakugo actually does try to blow up shadow dude. But shadow dude survives the blast by instantly warping himself downward into the floor when Bakugo was distracted (plenty of moments for this). Shadow dude takes damage but doesn't get killed.
3) All Might actually tries to hit the brain, and does, disabling bird dude. But then the bird dude still recovers with a new brain and a proper skull this time, adding to his recovery power a subpower of adaptation. The creature seems to operate on instinct anyway. This might make him even stronger without the limits of rationality.

See? Simple changes that nullify all the lapses in logic or dumb character decisions we saw this episode. And despite all these changes, it still connects perfectly to All Might going berserk. His students tried their best and failed, so he needs to step up to protect them.

Another thing I really hate about shounen shows in general is all the standing around and dialog during fights. That's why HxH was so good. They opted for a proper narrator to explain the events instead of relying on overused narrative devices like villain declarations and monologues.

I just don't want to excuse all these flaws as "hey, it's shounen" when we all know it could've been done better. This show does a lot of things extremely well. Why did they have to slack off in the logic department?

neflight86

Sun, 06-19-2016, 10:10 PM

Sorry the tactics, or lack thereof, aren't to your liking, but I really enjoyed this climax. Good buildup not wasted on a well animated fight. Looks like one episode to go?

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-19-2016, 10:55 PM

It's not the tactics but the delivery. Some of the strategy in this show is excellent, such as the whirlpool+sticky ball combo last episode. I just don't think talking is a free action, or that people should just let downed opponents get back up. Those are both sickening tropes for me.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 06-20-2016, 03:20 AM

It's unbelievable how much Deku is looking down on All-Might.

He's not looking down on him. No one admires All-Might more than Deku.

It's only that everyone else thinks All-Might is invincible. Deku knows exactly how close All-Might cuts his heroics. He's seen All Might cough up blood. He's seen All Might scrawny as hell. He knows that at any moment All-Might will collapse from over-exertion.

The day he does that in front of an enemy is the day villains no longer fear All-Might, dead or alive.

Deku's concerns are real.

Kraco

Mon, 06-20-2016, 03:39 AM

Yes, he is looking down on him. Just how long has All-Might been a hero and how many villains has he beaten, some probably far worse than these guys? Deku is treating All-Might like some geriatric who has no business being on the field anymore, especially now that the mighty Deku has entered the stage. He thinks he knows all about All-Might already and since he's one of the few people who know the big secret, he feels he's all the more entitled to decide what's good for All-Might and what's not, how All-Might should live the rest of his life and what kind of things to avoid.

He's totally looking down on All-Might, albeit without any malice. But some of the worst deeds in the history of mankind have been done with the best of intentions.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 06-20-2016, 10:11 AM

But wouldn't All Might be dead already if it weren't for Ice dude?

I think Izuku's concerns are real too.

Kraco

Mon, 06-20-2016, 02:06 PM

But wouldn't All Might be dead already if it weren't for Ice dude?

The Ice dude and Kacchan weren't there to help All Might. They were there to kick villain ass and to prevent All Might from hogging all the glory. It's just a happy coincidence they actually did save him, perhaps. I wouldn't actually badmouth Deku at all if that had been his attitude as well. It just annoys me he ran there thinking All Might surely can't pull it off without his n00b assistance.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 06-20-2016, 02:57 PM

I don't think he thinks that highly of himself. There was just no one else there to help All Might, at least, he didn't think so. That doesn't change the fact that All Might needed help, and that Izuku was right.

Kraco

Mon, 06-20-2016, 04:55 PM

Yeah, my lines referring to Deku's prowess were sarcastic. He doesn't think highly of himself, but he instead thinks little of All Might's might. It's like he worships All Might's shadow, but doesn't ever want All Might to do the only thing the man wants to do, in fear of his greatest, undefeated hero of justice actually not being able to pull through. That's remarkable lack of faith resulting in hypocrisy. He believes in All Might's message but not the man behind the message.

But then again, I guess that goes along well with the personality of a bullied person with little self-confidence.

Kraco

Sun, 06-26-2016, 02:29 PM

Episode 13 Final - HS

- -- -- - - --

Quite a good last episode (of the first season). This battle and arc was wrapped up sufficiently and things to come foreshadowed. Nice Person being worried about Deku enough to wait for him was a nice touch, even if the class president was there c-blocking as well, but Deku being so oblivious anyway, it's not going to matter much.

I got just a single complaint about this episode and it was how the Hand man tried to block Deku. Considering Deku is as fast as All Might when powered up, there's no way the Hand man could have attacked Deku first even under those circumstances. Deku would have simply needed to shift his target from the more distant Warper to the hand being offered right in front of him. Using the full power, as he was about to, there wouldn't be even molecules left of the hand, just loose atoms. I'd say that would have slowed down the villain quite significantly. So, in reality Deku wasn't in any danger even if he had lost his original target and had to be content with the secondary one.

neflight86

Sun, 06-26-2016, 02:59 PM

Delightful ending. Here's to the second season.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 06-26-2016, 05:39 PM

@Kraco - You forget something about your handyman comment. Stamina.

The best part of this show was the music. It always manages to get my blood pumping at exactly the right moments. Without it, this would've been just a little above average as far as shows go.

Munsu

Thu, 06-30-2016, 09:16 PM

Just watched the final 4 episodes of this first season. Solid shounen series that for sure, something that's been seemingly lacking for me in the past years other than Nanatsu. Looking forward to the next season, and the seeming villain at the after credit scenes looks like it'll be badass.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 06-30-2016, 09:20 PM

I hope Izuku kicks some ass in the next season. I'm not a fan of weak ass good hearted protagonists.

Munsu

Thu, 06-30-2016, 09:27 PM

I hope Izuku kicks some ass in the next season. I'm not a fan of weak ass good hearted protagonists.

Same....

MFauli

Wed, 08-03-2016, 03:41 AM

Finished this series in 2 days. Really addictive. Although it´s really the cheapest kind of plot, which is also why I only gave it a 7/10 on MAL. Imagine taking the chunnin exam, condensing it into 13 episode, condensing it even further so that there´s room for introducing the hero, and it´s not that hard to present an exciting show. But it´s lacking depth, both in characters and the world. When I watch HXH, Naruto, One Piece or Bleach, I´m introduced to a believable world. Here, the world doesn´t feel real, it´s only a backdrop to put those super-heroes in front of and let them use their powers. Which is fine for what it is. But it could never compare to any of the aforementioned series.

Now I just have to decide which girl is hotter. Frog girl or insect girl. Hm.

Edit: Also, Deku reeeeally whined too much. He instantly reminded me of Tsukamoto from DAYS ;/

And also: I feel/felt so sorry for the mom :( She feels so miserable about somewhat giving up on her son. Even after all these years, it´s obvious how terrible she feels for what she´s done. Probably got fat from depression, too. I want to hug her so badly :/

Edit 2: What also keeps this anime from being truly great/memorable is that nobody dies. It just cheapens the entire event. You have all those eeeeeevil villains attacking inexperienced kids. And none of the kids bites the bucket? Mhm. When it looked like Hand guy killed frog girl by turning her to dust, as much as I´d have hated her of all people to die, THAT would have given the anime the long needed drama/tragedy. Ideally there´d be even more dead students that we only find out about after the battle had ended. Not having any such deaths makes this a real kid´s anime. It´s unfortunate.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 08-03-2016, 08:09 AM

Now you like fat girls?

MFauli

Wed, 08-03-2016, 08:21 AM

Now you like fat girls?

When they´re sad moms, yeah. Also we know her "potential" :P

shinta|hikari

Wed, 08-03-2016, 08:27 AM

So you're the type to demand girls to slim down for you? Weren't you fat too?

I'm just kidding around. Don't get hurt now.

MFauli

Wed, 08-03-2016, 09:52 AM

Takes a lot for me to get hurt, I´m used to it </triggeringmyshounenheropast>

I´m still fat, though. But that´s got nothing to do with it. Watching Deku´s mom feeling so miserable over her words from years ago ... that´s sooo sad. And there´s nobody who tells her "It´s okay.".

Also, while she´s fat, she has a certain cuteness. And as we all know, cuteness is justice.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 08-03-2016, 09:58 AM

The only fat things that are cute are cats, pandas, and teacup pigs. And some pokemon. Oh, and babies. Basically, it's exclusive to animals.

DarthEnderX

Sun, 04-02-2017, 11:19 PM

14

---

Nothing happened!

neflight86

Mon, 04-03-2017, 01:48 AM

Yes, but they said something was going to happen, so that almost feels the same.

MFauli

Mon, 04-03-2017, 05:15 AM

At least I like that it continues where it left off. This anime just needs to keep going, it´s fine. :)

neflight86

Sat, 04-08-2017, 09:44 AM

15

And the sports festival is on! Typical shounen pacing, but plenty of good action and set pieces on display here. Can't wait for next week.

Ryllharu

Sat, 04-08-2017, 09:47 AM

I am sorry, there is only one important development in this episode.

Hatsume Mei appears for the first time.

MFauli

Sat, 04-08-2017, 10:13 AM

Was a nice episode, although also very clearly an introductionary one. I wonder how Midorima is supposed to fight others. He cannot control his powers, yet. Even if he risks hurting himself ... he´ll end up killing his opponents, lol.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 04-08-2017, 10:33 AM

I thought they said that as long as you stay on course, all rules are out.

Kraco

Sat, 04-08-2017, 11:01 AM

I don't quite get why noboby else pushed forward when the robots when frozen. It's as if there was some extra rule that forced them to wait politely, and only try to proceed using their own means. That looked very unnatural.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 04-15-2017, 08:27 AM

HS - Episode 16

--------------------------------

The idea that you get hybrid powers from your parents might go either way. You could inherit the strengths of both and be stronger, go half-half and be just as powerful-but-different, or become weaker overall with slightly added utility.

Anyway, for the episode itself, I came out feeling pretty good. I'm just so used to watching Izuku struggle with his life that him pulling ahead so early on never came to my mind.

The perv is great.

MFauli

Sat, 04-15-2017, 08:49 AM

Great episode, albeit this and Attack on Titan always feel SO short :/ Honestly takes away from my enjoyment because of how fast time flies while watching these. Oh well.

Agreed, the creep was nice. It was hilarious, not only because he was totally harassing the hot girl, but also because he clearly was beaten up by her, but kept clinging onto her, lol. Dat creep-dedication.

Midoriya´s victory defies all laws of physics, but whatever, it felt good to see him win against the two big shots. And he acknowledges that he got lucky by finding the metal shield. Looking forward to what he does next. As I said: I wonder how he can use his power without killing someone, lol.

Asui continues to be best girl. she´s quite skilled, but doesn´t give a shit about Midoriya passing her by. Good sport. Midoriya x Asui <3

Oh, the support class girl was SUPER annoying. Can´t stand her voice and arrogance.

David75

Sat, 04-15-2017, 10:59 AM

But Midoriya beats everyone once again without even using his ability.
You could argue Bakugo was his usual tsun brawler type and didn't use much of his powers and brains, but Todoroki was really trying hard and quite cleverly too. And his powers really are awesome, versatile and powerful. Even his physical condition is top class.
But he's been beaten by the MC, who is average and never used his power.

Somehow I felt it lessened the awesomeness of the others. They should have shown Midoriya using his powers when the bombs exploded to explain why he can take the massively killing acceleration he suffered and again when he crashes.
But using no powers at all is the dumbest idea they could come up with. Just makes you think that all in all, everyone from this prom is weak and those powers are for show, but useless.

Ryllharu

Sat, 04-15-2017, 11:17 AM

Oh, the support class girl was SUPER annoying. Can´t stand her voice and arrogance.
I have no idea why, they gave her a really ugly-sounding VA. She's also new, this series is her debut (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=48512).

That isn't remotely what I expected her to sound like. Give it time, her personality is great. But holy shit, what a voice mismatch.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 04-15-2017, 01:13 PM

Hahah, man, I never get tired of anime contests with bullshit rules.

Midorya is next rounds Golden Snitch, because he just wasn't willing to come in 3rd and just HAD to drag himself ahead of the others. :p

The teams have to be at least 2 people though, so SOMEBODY has to team with him.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 04-16-2017, 08:20 AM

The obstacle course had no rules other than staying on course right? Why didn't Todoroki just freeze everyone in the tight tunnel starting area..? Sure, he might accidentally kill some of them, but the teachers are there to save them before too many kids die. At least that filters most of the contestants.

Izuku winning with no powers was nonsense, but that has been consistent with the rest of this show. I've always complained about how events are logic defying and don't even follow the rules the story sets for itself (Insta-heals, Bakugo fight, and now enduring explosions that can throw you hundreds of feet), but I have come to accept this as the show's style. It's not an oversight but a willing sacrifice to make cool and heart-pounding scenes, and as long as it is able to achieve that, I can overlook it.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 04-16-2017, 09:41 AM

DarthEnderX

Sun, 04-16-2017, 11:02 AM

The obstacle course had no rules other than staying on course right? Why didn't Todoroki just freeze everyone in the tight tunnel starting area..? Sure, he might accidentally kill some of them, but the teachers are there to save them before too many kids die. At least that filters most of the contestants.More importantly, given that Bakugo's power essentially allows him to fly, and all of the obstacles could easily have been flown over, why didn't he just fly the whole way?

Izuku winning with no powers was nonsense, but that has been consistent with the rest of this show. I've always complained about how events are logic defying and don't even follow the rules the story sets for itself (Insta-heals, Bakugo fight, and now enduring explosions that can throw you hundreds of feet), but I have come to accept this as the show's style.That "style" being, "a clever plan will beat huge magic powers". And that's a style I'll always get behind.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 04-22-2017, 04:12 PM

17

---

Fun stuff.

I'm curious if blond guy's quirk is allowing him to effortlessly steal everyone's headbands, or if everyone is just being inexplicably oblivious.

MFauli

Sat, 04-22-2017, 04:24 PM

Am I the only one who finds this whole "cavalry game" super ... weird? Carrying others and running around like that .. wat.

And it kinda feels bad seein Asui competing against Midoriya. That´s my ship, goddamit!!1

Anyway, cool episode. Although I´d like to know why black Falco Lombardi so easily agreed to join Midoriya´s team.

neflight86

Sat, 04-22-2017, 05:56 PM

I wish there was more to talk about, but there were some good elements this episode. I like that other classmates get an opportunity to shine.

MFauli

Sat, 04-22-2017, 06:15 PM

Speaking of shine: What exactly is that one guy´s ability again? You know, the one who thinks he´s a super star but apparently has no useful ability?

DarthEnderX

Sat, 04-22-2017, 06:37 PM

Speaking of shine: What exactly is that one guy´s ability again? You know, the one who thinks he´s a super star but apparently has no useful ability?You talking about the guy who shoots a laser out of his stomach?

MFauli

Sat, 04-22-2017, 06:38 PM

Was that it? Wonder why he didn´t use it so far.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 04-22-2017, 09:19 PM

[quote=MFauli[Wonder why he didn´t use it so far[/quote]

He gets stomach aches. Judging from the he's carrying, he's been using it plenty.

Falco was fine joining teams because he wasn't hung up on beating Izuku. Remember what they said this episode about "Sometimes you have to peg each other down a few notches, and sometimes you have to work with those you don't necessarily like?" He figured there's more to gain by working with Izuku than against him.

I reckon ice guy not using his left hand (flame) is going to be his downfall here.

Ryllharu

Sun, 04-23-2017, 11:27 AM

Falco was fine joining teams because he wasn't hung up on beating Izuku. Remember what they said this episode about "Sometimes you have to peg each other down a few notches, and sometimes you have to work with those you don't necessarily like?" He figured there's more to gain by working with Izuku than against him.
It's because it proves that Izuku respects him, and Hatsume. They both get a chance to show off defending the person who is going to be attacked the most. Ochako is simply nice...but her jealousy of Hatsume is funny.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 04-29-2017, 05:18 AM

Episode 18

--------------------------------------

I've never played cavalry before, but when the bands are all stacked around your neck, surely it's easier to grab them all than to single out particular ones (if that's even possible).

I'm still confused about Deku's powers. I chalked his limb breakages earlier to be from not "using his powers properly", but more and more we're being told that it's about him going either 100% or 0% with no grey area in between, such that his body can't take the reciprocal forces. That's what was reinforced today where he went 100% against air without major injuries.

So then how does All-Might beat the shit out of villains? The human body can only take so much force on its own. You can't fight at 40% forever and expect to get good. There has to be some insane (read: superpower-esque) type of body adaptations going on that will let Deku fight like All Might. Simply putting brakes on his power isn't the whole story.

MFauli

Sat, 04-29-2017, 07:28 AM

Good episode. Black Falco continues to be my favorite hero. Can I please have a video game with him as the hero? Thank you.

I liked how none of the three favorites succeeded in the end. Bakugo didn't get first place. Ice-Burn wouldn´t have gotten a band strap without Lida´s help. And Midoriya would have been Game Over without Black Falco.

Looking forward to single activities, though.

NeoCybercoin

Sat, 04-29-2017, 07:17 PM

Yeah Midoriya's body just isn't used to that power. I think All-Might once said that it takes a long time to get a body that can handle it perfectly. Right now he has the super human strength without the super human durability. Sure you can destroy a wall with a punch but you'll also break your arm.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 04-29-2017, 08:37 PM

I like how Bakugo's personality, which was infuriating to me when he was portrayed as almost a villain in the early episodes, has become hilarious to me now that he's a frustrated good guy.

Kraco

Mon, 05-01-2017, 12:36 PM

That's what was reinforced today where he went 100% against air without major injuries.

I'm not sure he went 100%. He can't actively control his power (and I wonder if he ever will considering he's not even trying), but I believe he might auto-control it subconsciously as long as there could be a human victim (he's not a human himself but a deku, so his own wounds don't count). If he had use full power just on empty air so close to half'n'half's face, we would have seen a dude bleeding from his ears at the very least, probably worse.

I was already hoping Midoriya would drop out, but when he finally got over himself and used his power, I was again hoping for his success. It would have been such bullshit if he had bullshitted himself through without using a quirk at all, against such competent competition.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-01-2017, 01:26 PM

@Buff - The fact that Deku didn't grab them all is another example of this show's drama over logic tilt. It was intentional, not an oversight.

The stupidest part is that the enemies actually bragged about switching the positions of the bands...

MFauli

Mon, 05-01-2017, 01:55 PM

Deku didnt grab the wrong one. Ice-Fire guy intentionally played the band straps differently.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-01-2017, 02:46 PM

What do you mean played the band straps differently?

MFauli

Mon, 05-01-2017, 03:00 PM

Placed. sorry

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-01-2017, 03:05 PM

Yeah, I already said that in my initial post.

The stupidest part is that the enemies actually bragged about switching the positions of the bands...

My complaint is the same as Buff's. Why did he have to grab only one band? It would've been easier to grab all or at least a few of them because they were already bunched up.

lelouch

Mon, 05-01-2017, 04:20 PM

Yeah, I already said that in my initial post.

My complaint is the same as Buff's. Why did he have to grab only one band? It would've been easier to grab all or at least a few of them because they were already bunched up.

Would be harder to pull off multiple at the same time -- more resistance.

DarthEnderX

Mon, 05-01-2017, 04:34 PM

Not for Midorya. Rip that fuckers head clean off!!

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-01-2017, 05:12 PM

Neither of them are weak enough to be hindered by cloth strips...

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-06-2017, 07:03 AM

Episode 19

----------------------------------

What a dumb fuck. No one is that dumb. The writer just had to do that because:

-Mr Hypnosis has to show off his power
-Ojiro has to talk about his power as a commentary from the grand stand
-Ojiro not telling Deku would appear mean, so he had to
-So the only way for the trap to work despite Ojiro giving advice was to make Deku into a dumbfuck speak.

Deku's one of the most intelligent, strategic minds in this show. The writer fucked up. All so Deku can walk to the edge of the stage and break hypnosis with sheer will.

Ryllharu

Sat, 05-06-2017, 09:22 AM

Negatory.

Deku responding to one of his friends being insulted, especially for an honorable act, is perfectly in line with his character. Deku isn't going to stand still to that kind of shit. He finds value in everyone, because he's been that quirkless loser, and hates that kind of elitist stance. He got baited, because jerkface knows how to get under the skin of someone self-righteous like Deku.

Deku is smart, that's true, but he's also extremely emotional.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-06-2017, 10:19 AM

Emotional huh?

Ojiro gives him a rundown on the dude's quirk. Deku then spends an hr or so thinking about how to deal with this (as Deku does).

The guy then shits on your friend, and the first thing you do is speak? You had one job.

That's like.. cerebrum-can't-suppress-your-midbrain emotional. I call that being a dumbfuck, and it isn't Deku. Bakugo maybe.

Ryllharu

Sat, 05-06-2017, 03:01 PM

That's the difference between Bakugo/Deku and Tadaroki right now.

They care.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 05-06-2017, 07:15 PM

You're also assuming that answering wasn't somehow part of whatever plan Midoriya came up with.

Ahhh...a straight up elimination fighting tournament. God bless 'em. I hope it doesn't get interrupted like 99% of anime tournaments do.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-07-2017, 08:24 AM

I agree with Buff. Talk with your fists if you can't speak normally. That scene made me cringe.

If that is the guy's only quirk, then Izuku doesn't need a plan. He just needs to rush the guy and beat him up. He is extremely athletic even without his powers, after all. And if that isn't enough, throw out a 5% punch, which should be enough to kill a person if it hits square in the head, so do a body blow.

The strangest part about this entire thing is how someone who can mind control people en masse if they just talk to him is in the general class...

NeoCybercoin

Sun, 05-07-2017, 09:24 AM

Because he failed to get into the hero course?

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-07-2017, 08:07 PM

But how can he fail with such an amazing ability? Just talk to all the participants before the event begins and use them to win...

Buffalobiian

Sun, 05-07-2017, 11:34 PM

Maybe he's shy.

David75

Mon, 05-08-2017, 12:09 AM

His ability probably works only one person at a time. And probably has a long cooling time after being used on someone.

neflight86

Mon, 05-08-2017, 03:15 AM

The way the entrance exam was structured, mind controlled people would still end up scoring points for themselves even if controlled to assist. I don't find it hard to imagine this fellow unable to place in the practical exam.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 05-08-2017, 08:06 AM

The ability works on multiple people as shown in the cavalry battle.

If he controlled a bunch of people to deliver damaged robots to him for a final blow, he would've passed easily.

Kraco

Mon, 05-08-2017, 01:03 PM

Deku is a hopeless hero fan, so he likely grew up watching a thousand shounen shows. In every single one of them the hero and the villain talk and chat incessantly through all of their fights. Talking shit when he should be fighting is a second nature for him, undoubtly. I congratulate the opponent for realising that.

I guess Deku will do the traditional thing and break a finger or something to snap out of it. It's pretty common to use pain to shed mind control. At least I hope he'll do that much and not just rely on his shounen spirit alone.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-13-2017, 05:12 AM

HS - Episode 20

--------------------------------

Yep, this guy is dumb/impulsive/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. All for the sake of story - which went pretty much exactly as planned.

He should have lost as well, since he was essentially "immobilised". Ah well. Next.

Ryllharu

Sat, 05-13-2017, 07:51 AM

I think you're dismissing it too much. As a mini-arc,, this is great. He has a horrifying quirk, said it himself, one that automatically makes people assume he can use it for evil. His looks don't help much in that regard. But he doesn't want to be viewed that way. He wants to use it for good, and he wants to be a hero.

The only reason he's not in the hero course already is because it is biased towards physical powers.

Just think about it, even if he doesn't go the hero route, he'd make an awesome cop. Criminals wouldn't be able to help themselves insulting him back.

He's much in line with Eraserhead. He just needs the right gear and skillsets to back up his power. He doubts himself, that's why he lost.

Yeah, Midoriya got off easy. But he is one of the most headstrong characters in the series, despite all the crying he does. He knows what he wants, and never looks back trying to get it.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-13-2017, 08:53 AM

Yes, the comparison to Eraserhead is apparent. He's a good guy. The bias was shown that even General Studies guys can be useful as well, just not in the traditional sense. Also yes to Izuku showcasing that he's slowly mastering his power.

The problem? The writer made Izuku speak in order to have this all happen. That's the problem.

Seriously, get any 8 year old off the street and explain "If you speak, you lose" to them. Anybody serious about winning your game won't speak, no matter how impulsive. Anybody who does is either intellectually impaired or decided their emotional outburst was more important than winning.

Deku is neither, but to make story happen he got written this way - in such a way that I could not suspend my disbelief.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 05-13-2017, 09:38 AM

Absolutely agree with Buff. There were more elegant ways to handle this. The random outburst was the worst of them.

For example:
1) The guy's power has some other condition, like touching the opponent, but that method has more limited use and can be broken by will power.
2) The guy intentionally takes a hit from Izuku and then pretends to be seriously injured. Izuku might just accidentally let an "Are you alright?" spill out because he thinks he's already won.
3) Make the taunting more drawn out. The guy should insult far more than just one random acquaintance, like Izuku's mom for example.
4) The power works on interjections, so even an "Ah!" from Izuku will get him caught.

None of these are that difficult to think of, and they certainly aren't the best excuses either, but they are far better than what we saw here.

MFauli

Sat, 05-13-2017, 09:57 AM

It´s so boring that half the season will be wasted on a standard tournament :/

And Allmight literally explained Midoriya´s victory with "your feelings overcame the mind control". Great. Now we´re at the point where the typical shounen-power upgrade is used as a legit in-series explanation.

And it sucks double, because the idea was exactly what I thought. Using his ability to have his own body "explode" from power. But then he HAD TO mention that his plan didn´t come from himself, but an "outside source". sigh

DarthEnderX

Sat, 05-13-2017, 04:33 PM

It´s so boring that half the season will be wasted on a standard tournamentFuck you! Tournaments RUUUUUUUULE!!

To bad they never get to actually finish anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw a tournament in an anime that didn't get interrupted halfway through by some disaster.

Kraco

Sat, 05-13-2017, 05:14 PM

You guys have forgotten during the pause between the seasons that Deku isn't wholly mentally stable. He has that small fragment of insanity within him. While it might sometimes give him extra strength as it would allow him to believe when all sane people would already give up, it also means he can't always control himself even as well as that random 8 years old from the streets. Thus, I can accept how it happened. I wouldn't with some other MC than Deku, but with Deku it's fine.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 05-13-2017, 07:17 PM

I can't think of any shounen hero that I would qualify as "mentally stable".

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-20-2017, 05:10 AM

HS - Episode 21

--------------------------

Uraraka's plan should be to make Bakugo weightless, let him think he can fly around outside (or throw him outside), then dis-engage gravity.

Tokoyami winning was a pretty big upset. I had him locked as some weak-ass guy.

As for Harden-vs-Harden, one of them must have had a real unlucky run in the entrance exam to miss out on Hero class.

David75

Sat, 05-20-2017, 07:40 AM

Bakugo knows how to fly with his power and seems to have great reflexes. So trying to drop him out of bounds probably isn't the first thing to come to mind.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-20-2017, 11:01 AM

Bakugo knows how to fly with his power and seems to have great reflexes. So trying to drop him out of bounds probably isn't the first thing to come to mind.

That is true. You'd only get one go at it. You'd have to bait him into coming close, then lighten up and freak him out into flying away from you for a second. He'd fly a lot further than he expected and would then reflexively turn down his trust. That moment is when you drop him to the ground by disengaging.

That said, it sounds unlikely since it Bakugo has no reason to back off. I can't think of anything else though, other than breaking off heavy tiles from the stadium and hurling them at Bakugo.

MFauli

Sat, 05-20-2017, 11:35 AM

Rather lame episode, but it´s what you expect from the lower ranks. I wonder how pink acid-girl is planning to fight seriously, though. And usage of her acid would instantly disqualify her as a heroine, lol.

As for Urara, hm ... maybe she can invert her powers? So making Bakugo insanely heavy instead of making him lighter.

Kraco

Sat, 05-20-2017, 12:45 PM

If she can make Bakugo lighter, it will become difficult for him to use his explosions as they would make him fly all around, due to the third law of machanics. He would every time need to compensate. It wouldn't be that much of a problem if he's right in the middle of the field, but if she can drag the fighting near the boundaries, it could mean trouble. Still, the problem is that she needs to touch the dude, but it's quite suicidal to get so near him. On the other hand she doesn't have that great offensive abilities. She's more or less limited to getting him to step (or fly) out.

It's weird Bakugo had such a murderous expression on his face. He should be looking down on Uraraka, but his grimace makes you think he was facing Deku or a mofo like the fire&ice dude instead.

DarthEnderX

Sat, 05-20-2017, 01:25 PM

Just a bunch of straightforward 1-on-1 battles? Fantastic!

Was not expecting weapon girl to choke like that.

MFauli

Sat, 05-20-2017, 01:44 PM

btw im glad Falco won easily. It sucks that creation-girl had to lose, but falco is the coolest character with the most badass quirk, so im glad they didnt pull any shenanigans and had him lose.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-20-2017, 07:25 PM

Just a bunch of straightforward 1-on-1 battles? Fantastic!

Was not expecting weapon girl to choke like that.

For all her talk about requiring time to make her offensive weapon, it really didn't take much time at all.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 05-20-2017, 09:11 PM

Because it was a useless stick. I don't even get why she is sad. Her quirk is made for teamwork, not soloing. Just have Izuku buy time by vanguarding while she summons a Terran Battlecruiser.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 05-20-2017, 09:18 PM

Because it was a useless stick.

But she made it anyway. I didn't get the feeling she compromised to make that stick.

"Oh, I've got time now. Let's do that thing I had planned." That's the vibe I got from her.

edit: Disregard what I said about TetsuTetsu, he's Hero-stream as well it seems. lol @ him being essentially a different skin.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-21-2017, 05:40 AM

I don't even get why she is sad. Her quirk is made for teamwork, not soloing.
She's sad because she didn't get to show off what she can do. You can't think of this is as normal fighting tournament. You don't even have to win.

Creepy eyes lost to Izuku, and still got compliments. Mei spent 10 minutes stringing Iida along, demoed all her current batch of babies, and walked off the field, mission accomplished. She showed off all her toys, impressed corporations, heroes, and citizens alike. She could have obviously beaten him early on, but taking that much time means she doesn't have to risk anything else, or waste any more of her time fighting the rest of the day. She can kick back, start making business contacts, or go back to her workshop.

It's a very clever way to have the four different types of students at UA show off their talent, and most importantly, impress future employers.

All Yaoyorozu got to do is show she can make one type of shield and a stick. To the audience, she's no better than tape-elbows, but the school and her class knows she's one of the most useful heroes in Class A.

That's why the important part this episode is that Uraraka refused Deku's help. Her own pride doesn't want her always being helped. She wants to be a hero too, and needs to stand on her own. If she can come up with a plan that at least holds off Bakugo for more than a few minutes, and shows off her abilities, she'll still better off than Yaoyorozu.

edit:

I wonder how pink acid-girl is planning to fight seriously, though. And usage of her acid would instantly disqualify her as a heroine, lol.
They showed it a bit before last season. Mina can vary the strength and viscosity of her acid freely. She can go from melting clothes off here, expending the energy before it gets to skin, or she can melt holes into concrete in seconds.

She's a ditz, so she's not really as serious as the other girls, but Mina is probably one of the top 4 girls in skill in Class A. Only Tsuyu, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu are above her, and a lot of that is because they get shown more.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 05-21-2017, 08:57 AM

She's a ditz, so she's not really as serious as the other girls, but Mina is probably one of the top 4 girls in skill in Class A. Only Tsuyu, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu are above her, and a lot of that is because they get shown more.

But aren't there only 6 or so girls in Class A? The two below her may be earplug-girl and Invisible-girl. I can't think of anyone else.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-21-2017, 09:16 AM

Personally, I'd put Mina as top 2 because her quirk has no weaknesses like Uraraka's does because she gets nauseous, or Yaoyorozu, who has to have skin exposed.

Tsuyu is obviously number 1, in skill and our hearts.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-21-2017, 09:23 AM

@Ryll - If what you say is true, then it's clear how terrible the academy's curriculum and event handling are. First, they have a totally physical exam to get into hero course, disadvantaging other types of amazing powers. I found that so ridiculous I couldn't accept that was the case until bandage dude said the exact same thing. Second, they have a one-on-one battle format for the climax of a huge event, knowing full well a lot of heroes shine in groups or have absurdly powerful but situational powers.

It just seems too biased towards Bakugo, and yes, Izuku types, and yet, the academy seems to be completely fine with this. How many years has this school been ongoing? Has no one realized these flaws that even a child could see? Why are people talking about it as if it's some kinda "secret" flaw (i.e. bandage-sensei) when it's so glaring and fixable?

A simple 2-on-2 format would've resolved most of these issues. Soloists can do fine with one other person, after all. They don't lose much, if any, efficiency. In contrast, support types can only do anything with another person. 2 vs 2 is much less of a group effort than the very restricted cavalry battle, allowing people to show off their skills more, yet at the same time doesn't disadvantage other less caveman powers.

Ryllharu

Sun, 05-21-2017, 10:59 AM

Kraco

Sun, 05-21-2017, 11:26 AM

If the most critical part of a hero's job is to fight against villains, then it makes perfect sense to have a fighting tournament. A pure support character can just try to gain the agencies' attention elsewhere. I'm sure there are opportunities if there's demand for support types. Nevertheless it would be reassuring for the fighting heroes if the support can defend themselves at least a little bit.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 05-21-2017, 02:19 PM

It's almost that's like a theme of the series!

I meant it as a criticism towards the poor setup/writing. It makes no sense for such an established organization to have such glaring flaws, that for some reason, only a few recognize. Moreover, those who do speak as if its not a well-known fact when in fact it should've been changed ages ago.

Then again, the U.S. has the electoral college, so yeah, maybe it does make sense in that humans are dumb everywhere.

If the most critical part of a hero's job is to fight against villains, then it makes perfect sense to have a fighting tournament. A pure support character can just try to gain the agencies' attention elsewhere. I'm sure there are opportunities if there's demand for support types. Nevertheless it would be reassuring for the fighting heroes if the support can defend themselves at least a little bit.

I didn't say to remove the tournament. I said do a 2vs2 format, which allows both support and independent power types to shine, which according to Ryll, is the main goal of most in the tournament (to appeal). I mean, why the hell not? Even in 2vs2, you still have to defend yourself, so it's not like it eliminates the value individual skill completely.