“My Hero Academia†is fast-paced and enjoyable! The characters and their powers can be a bit way over-the-top but its unpredictability and enjoyable storyline, makes “My Hero Academiaâ€, an anime series on Blu-ray worth checking out!
Image courtesy of © 2014 by Kohei Horikoshi. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: My Hero Academia: Season One
DURATION: Episodes 1-13 (325 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, DTS-HD Master Audio: English and Japanese 5.1, 2.0 Stereo, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: April 18, 2017
Originally Created by Kohei Horikoshi
Director: Kenji Nagakasaki
Series Composition: Yousuke Kuroda
Character Design by Yoshihiko Umakoshi
Music by Yuuki Hayashi
Art Director: Shigemi Ikeda, Yukiko Maruyama
Anime Production: BONES
Featuring the following voice talent:
Ayane Sakura/Luci Christian as Ochaco Uraraka
Daiki Yamashita/Justin Briner as Izuku Midoriya
Kaito Ishikawa/J. Michael Tatum as Tenya Iida
Kenta Miyake/Christopher R. Sabat as All Might
Nobuhiko Okamoto/Clifford Chapin as Katsuki BakugÅ
Yuuki Kaji/David Matranga as ShÅto Todoroki
Aoi YÅ«ki/Monica Rial as Tsuyu Asui
Eri Kitamura/Caitlin Glass as Mina Ashido
Hiroyuki Yoshino/Sonny Strait as Present Mic
Inuko Inuyama/Morgan Berry as Thirteen
Junichi Suwabe/Alex Organ as Shota Aizawa
Kaori Nazuka/Felecia Angelle as Tooru Hagakure
Kei Shindou/Trina Nishimura as KyÅka JirÅ
Kiyotaka Furushima/Christopher Bevins as Hanta Sero
KÅsuke Kuwano/Joel McDonald as YÅ«ga Aoyama
Kosuke Miyoshi/MikeMcFarland as Mashirao Ojiro
Kouki Uchiyama/Eric Vale as Tomura Shigaraki
Marina Inoue/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Momo Yaoyorozu
Masakazu Nishida as MezÅ ShÅji
Ryou Hirohashi/Brina Palencia as Minoru Mineta
Takahiro Fujiwara/Chuck Huber as Kurogiri
Tasuku Hatanaka/Kyle Phillips as Denki Kaminari
Tooru Nara/Cris George as RikidÅ SatÅ
Toshiki Masuda/Justin Cook as EijirÅ Kirishima
Tsuguo Mogami as Noumu
Yoshimasa Hosoya/Joshua Grelle as Fumikage Tokoyami
It’s an exciting age of heroes, where most people develop supernatural abilities known as Quirks. Bright-eyed kids like Izuku Midoriya—Deku for short—dream of the day they become champions of the people. There’s just one little problem standing in Deku’s way. In a world full of heroes, he’s Quirkless. Crushed, but not down for the count, this superhero-fanboy dedicates his time to studying the pros in hopes that he, too, can join a prestigious high school for heroes. In the face of despair, Deku’s courage catches the eye of his ultimate idol, the symbol of justice known as All Might! With special training from the big guy himself, Deku and the talented first-years of the academy may finally have a shot at achieving their dreams. But these amateurs are put to the test of a lifetime when routine training becomes a battle against real villains!
From Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of “Omagadoki Dobutsuen†and “Barrageâ€, came his manga series “My Hero Academia†(Boku no Hero Academia).
Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2014, an anime adaptation began in April 2016 through June 2016 (for the first season) and a second season begain in April 2017.
The anime series is produced by BONES and is directed by Kenji Nagasaki (“Classroom Crisis”, “Gundum Build Fighters”, “No. 6”), series composition by Yousuke Kuroda (“Battle Girl High School”, “Fire Emblem”, “Gundam Build Fighters”), music was composed by Yuuki Hayashi (“Death Parade”, “Haikyu!!”, “Robotics;Notes”), character designs are by Yoshihiko Umakoshi (“Air master”, “Boys Over Flowers”, “Heartcatch Precure!”) and art direction by Shigemi Ikeda (“Battle Athletes Victory”, “Afro Samurai”, “Bastard!!”) and Yukiko Maruyama (“El-Hazard: The Wanderers”, “Macross Delta”, “Active Raid”).
And now the first season (featuring the first 13 episodes) is available on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation.
“My Hero Academia” is a story that revolves around Quirks (people who begin to manifest special abilities) and all of a sudden people in the world began to have many people who became superpowered individuals. Some who use their powers for good, some who use their powers for evil intentions.
Because the government is not equipped to deal with these superpowered thugs, a special group of heroic superpowered individuals came together to protect the people and keep the peace.
The series revolves around a boy named Izuku Midoriya, a boy born Quirkless and looked up to the world’s top hero, All Might. And hoped that one day he could be a hero, despite not having a quirk.
One day, All Might received a near-fatal wound and now, he is losing his powers. When Izuku proves his bravery, All Might decides to transfer some of his power on to Izuku and now, Izuku must train to learn how to use All Might’s quirk and must prove that he has the skills to attend the prestigious U.A. High School.
“My Hero Academia” focuses on the following characters:
- Izuku Midoriya – A shy and timid boy who dreamed of becoming a superhero like All Might. Often studying superheroes, when he steps up to save his childhood bully/acquaintance Katsuki from a villain, All Might chooses to transfer some of his quirk to Izuku. And now Izuku has the opportunity to attend the prestigious U.A. High School. He has a crush on Ochako.
- Katsuki Bakugo – Izuku’s classmate and bully. He possesses the Quirk Explosion which allows his palm to sweat to become nytrolglycerin and explode. He is egotistical to people he deems are lower than him.
- Ochako Uraraka – A girl who has the Quirk Zero Gravity, which makes any object she touches float.
- Tenya Iida – The president of class 1-A who has the Quirk Engine, which gives him super-speed via jet engines in his legs. Often seen as serious and scary.
- Shoto Todoroki – A student in class 1-A and has the Quirk Fire and ice, which allows his left side to control fire and his right side to control ice. He is the youngest child of Endeavor, the second top hero after All Might.
- Toshinori Yagi/All Might – The top superhero in the world. But only Itsuku knows his secrt that five years ago, he was severely injured in battle and now he is losing his power and can use it only for three hour a day. He is a teacher at U.A. High School and his Quirk One For all allows him to transfer his power on to another.
VIDEO:
“My Hero Academia: Season One” is presented in 1080p High Definition and the anime series is respectful to the original character designs by Kohei Horikoshi. Animation is vibrant and characters are well-drawn and shaded, art backgrounds are also well-done.
As most TV series has a bit of softness, “My Hero Academia” looks fantastic on Blu-ray. I didn’t notice any banding issues or artifacts during my viewing of the series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“My Hero Academia: Season One” is presented in Japanese DolbyTrue HD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Both soundtracks are fantastic and are well-acted. dialogue and music are both crystal clear through the center, front and surround channels.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“My Hero Academia: Season One” comes with the following special features:
- Anime Expo 2016 Interview with Kenji Nagasaki and Wakana Okamura – (12:46) Featuring director Kenji Nagasaki and producer Wakana Okamura at AX 2016 and with the duo being interviewed and having fun at AX.
- My Hero Academia: Meet the Characters – (6:24) An English introduction to the characters of “My Hero Academia” (Funimation promos).
- AnimeFest 2016 Interview with Ayana Nishino – (8:42) Featuring an interview with animation director Ayana Nishino.
- AnimeFest 2016: Artist Sketches – (6:29) Featuring a sped up art feature of the artists of “My Hero Academia” drawing a sketch of various characters.
- Anime Expo 2016: My Hero Academia Panel – (36:34) Masahiko Minami of BONES, producer Wakana Okamura, director Kenji Nagasaki and English dub actors Clifford Chapin, Justin Briner, Christopher R. Sabat.
- Anime Expo 2016 Interview with Christopher R. Sabat & Justin Briner – (19:16) FUNimation interviews Christopher R. Sabat and Justin Briner.
- Anime Expo 2016: Interview with Masahiko Minami – (8:08) FUNimation interviews BONES Masahiko Minami.
- Inside the Episodes – Short Omake sketches that were featured at the end of each episode
- Textless Opening and Closing Song
- Trailer – Funimation trailers.
EXTRAS:
Both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the “My Hero Academia: Season One” are included on this Blu-ray release.
At first, I was wondering if “My Hero Academy†will be like another “X-Men†style storyline of humans vs. mutants and the world fearing mutantkind. In this case, humankind fearing Quirks.
What I enjoy about this series is the fact that our heroes are not exactly what you expect in terms of heroic characters. Whereas superpowered individuals in American comic books often showcase a character that is ripped, muscular, charismatic or gorgeous, “My Hero Academia†features regular characters and its main protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is wide-eyed and looks far too innocent and unlikely to be a hero.
It’s heroes vs. heroes as the focused on a yearly sports festival in which the heroes must succeed and move up in the ranks and prepare themselves for whichever challenge comes their way. We also get to see a second competition featuring one-on-one battles as Izuku Midoriya of the Hero Course takes on Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies. And also, Hanta Sero of the Hero Course vs. Shoto Todoroki of the Hero Course.
Also, Midoriya and friends in one of the most challenging battles they have ever faced as they must take on the League of Villains Hero Killer Stain.
Meanwhile, the Academy is having its Practical Exam and must be paired to take on a Hero, but with Midoriya and Bakugo, they find out they must take on All Might.
And all this and more in the first season of “My Hero Academia”.
As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is vibrant and BONES did a wonderful job with this TV series as not only did the animation compliment the manga series in terms of overall design but the series looked great on Blu-ray and softness was not overly evident. The English soundtrack gets the better lossless 5.1 soundtrack and subtitles are in English.
I also have to add that this is probably one of the better FUNimation special features included with actual full panels and interviews included with both Japanese crew and English dub talent from Anime Expo 2016 and AnimeFest 2016. I was pleasantly surprised to see FUNimation putting much effort to have these special features and definitely adds to the enjoyability of this Blu-ray release.
Overall, “My Hero Academia†is fast-paced and enjoyable! The characters and their powers can be a bit way over-the-top but its unpredictability and enjoyable storyline, makes “My Hero Academiaâ€, an anime series on Blu-ray worth checking out!
