Boku no Hero Academia
Short Synopsis: A boy with no superpowers wishes to be become a hero.
For the most part I need to reiterate what I said in my said in my season preview about this show. There is nothing particular wrong with it as it does make at least a pretty decent Shounen. If I had to fault it for anything I would say it’s uninspired. There are a lot of aspects which reflect other shounen series and it feels to me like it’s following a formula. But what bugs me the most is that it goes for the less interesting story when it had a potentially greater story in it’s beginning. Midoriya is powerless and despite his desire to be a hero he has no realistic means of achieving it. What comes to pass in the next episode is that he is given a means to obtain a quirk(Aka power) but to me that undermines the lesson of the start. It would have been a far more powerful and interesting story if Midoriya had to make use of his intelligence and cunning to make a name for himself as a hero without a quirk. Which would make him an inspiration for all the quirkless. But instead we have him reinforce the class division and make it that he can only succeed by obtaining a quirk. Still if you can push aside that thought then this can be a decent shounen to watch as we do have some impressive animation on display and a decent hook. (Try not to compare it to One Punch Man. It only comes off worse for it.) It will be a fun little show to watch in between series.
Potential: 60%
Endride
Short Synopsis: A boy who loves crystals is dragged to an alternate world.
Well that certainly was something so bland it could be classified as a cheap 90s OVA that was made in the present. There is something about this that just has an aura of cheapness in it’s conception. The protagonist is run of the mill besides his fixation on crystals, the artwork is utterly generic and the setting screams that it is a cheap knockoff of other done to death settings. Even the animation is utterly lackluster as the fight scenes in this episode were determined to show anything other than the fight itself. Watch in awe during a fight as you see a boy with a strained look on his face while weapons clang in the background. The weapons as well just look bad with the main villains weapon resembling a safety pin with a spear stuck to one end. I would be exaggerating if I called this terrible but in truth it is something worse. This is forgettable. This is the kind of anime that is lost to the ages to never be remembered. It isn’t good enough to be recalled nor bad enough to be hated. It’s just…bland.
Potential: 0%
Kuma Miko
Short Synopsis: A girl wishes to go to school in the city but is stopped by her guardian who happens to be a talking bear.
This is pretty fun. It’s an enjoyable comedy with some good jokes and decent comedic timing. The chemistry between Natsu the bear and the miko is smooth and makes the nature of the screwball comedy work well. The artwork is bright and pops out while the character designs are easy on the eyes. Natsu’s transitions from bearlike to nonthreatening is nicely done. I liked the reference to Jaws in the beginning and the folktale that happened to sound like a bizarre hentai doujin. Though I must repeat that this likely isn’t going to impress you if you are looking for a laugh out loud comedy. I smiled but I find the show decently enjoyable at best. This isn’t something I see being top of the season.
Potential: 60%
Boku no Hero Academia’s premise reminds me of a fascinating little manga called Mx0. Where a character with no powers had to use his wits, bluffs and tactics to defeat people with powers.
Going by your description, Boku no Hero Academia seems to have chosen a more conventional shounen route.
Ah, Mx0. That takes me back. That was a good manga. Why was it axed?
Not popular enough I think. I think the main problem was being published in Weekly Shounen Jump. Other publications probably would have been a better fit for its less conventional style.
Actually he originally intended for him to stay powerless but that would not work for a series in shonen jump so his editor asked for him to change it (Bakugo was also completely different). He replaced it with something far more interesting anyway (which is what good mangaka do when editors ask for changes) I don’t want to spoil it (read the manga it’s only 85 chapters and it has a very fast pace) but the author did not just give the main character powers and called it a day. The overal plot is revolved around this and the details revealed are pretty freaking cool (at least I think so)
I read the manga up to date as well and I guess you are referring to how he needs to “adjust” to his power? I still think the Batman route would be better and they could have made it work. It’s just that would take more effort.
No I am referring to the main antagonit and how that relates to what happens to Deku. The author has stated that this was born after he changed his intentions with Deku. And again this is a shonen for shonen jump so him not having powers (in a world full of powers) would not work for a successful run in jump. And that was the correct desision considering the popularity of the manga. Him being powerless initially is still important to the story.
Liked the Kuma series far more than I expected. Nothing big but I like the atmosphere and the characters and it’s always good to see a series that rather deals with children or adults or both of them and rather than with teenagers again. Enride was kinda bad but I somehow enjoed the first episode although that might probably change soon. I couldn’t even survive the first 15 minutes of that Jump anime though, the first series of this season I really couldn’t stand at all.
But overall the season looks pretty good at the moment and some of the most intersting series are yet to come.