The Decline of My Hero Academy Part 1: Season 2

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(SPOILER WARNING FOR HUNTER X HUNTER, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, AND NARUTO + SHIPPUDEN)

Sports Festival

Season 2 starts off strong, with the best arc in the anime, the Sports Festival. Admittedly, a lot of why I like it is because it reminds me of my favorite arc from Naruto, the chuunin exams. Regardless, the Sports Festival is honestly pretty great. Tons of action and drama, a tournament of 1 on 1 fights, and most importantly: no villains around to distract Horikoshi. Let's quickly run through the first 2 stages so we can get to the part I like:

Stage 1: Obstacle race

The first stage is pretty good, but the least interesting stage overall. Deku, Todoroki and Bakugo dominate this stage, settings things up for the cavalry battle.

Stage 2: Cavalry battle

Groups of 4 fight each other in weird formations. Need to grab other participants’ headbands to get points and pass. The higher you placed in the obstacle course, the more points you’re worth in this stage, meaning the bigger target you are to the other students. Deku finished #1 so he’s worth 1 million. This stage is also pretty good, except for this stupid part where some of the students retire from the festival because their memories of it are gone.

But where it really gets good is stage 3: the 1 on 1 tournament. This was the best part of Naruto, and I think its obvious Horikoshi took heavy inspiration from Naruto (Naruto was stated as being his chief inspiration/influence for MHA) for this arc. In fact, some of the fights are basically copied from Naruto:

Like how Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu ends in a draw after both contestants knock each other out with punches to the face, aka the same way Sakura vs Ino ends.

And Bakugo Ururaka is basically Neji vs Hinata. Aka: female side character that's interested in the main character romantically tries to fight off arguably the strongest student, is inspired by the main character and fights on and on even when they're overwhelmed, and they end up collapsing.

I think this part of MHA outshines the rest of the show for a number of reasons, but the main reason is because it’s the most focused Horikoshi has been through the entire first 4 seasons of the show. Without poorly written villains running around to distract him, Horikoshi is able to focus not only on the strengths of what he’s created (characters, drama, setting), but also the strengths of the battle shounen genre itself (stakes, fights/action, worldbuilding).

You have characters informing the action, like Todoroki using his fire powers against Deku, and losing because he refused to use them against Bakugo.

The world building is informing the action, like Mei using her fight against Iida as an advertisement for her inventions. The action is informing the character development, like Yoarouzu despairing because she lost so easily. Which becomes a plotline going forward. It all comes together at once to create easily the best arc of the show, and also leads to the best fight of the show: Deku vs Todoroki.

If I had to compare it to another fight, I'd say this is MHA's Rock Lee vs Gaara. Deku's ability is actually pretty similar to Rock Lee's, where using their ability damages their body and overusing it could prevent them from fighting again. And Todoroki has always struck me as MHA's Gaara, what with his overwhelmingly strong ability, seemingly invincible defense, and how both characters hold back their full strength in every fight thus far, never being pushed enough to use it. Which is what makes the 2 fights exhilarating. For the first time, you see someone actually get to them. In both fights, the challenger (Rock Lee and Deku) is forced to overwork their bodies to dangerous degrees to level the playing field.

And then, it happens. The thing we were told would never happen, happens. Gaara gets hit and is forced to use his real ability. Todoroki snaps and uses his fire.

And this moment, right here, is My Hero Academy’s peak. It is the moment where all of its strengths converge into one incredible moment.

This moment is great, but its the last time My Hero Academy reaches anything close to such a high. Because this is where the decline of My Hero Academy begins.

After this arc ends, the first signs of a recurring problem the show has yet to solve through season 4 pop up: Horikoshi declaring stakes and then retreating to a safer option that's easier to write around.

1: Stakes

So. This is class A’s chance to show off their stuff for potential internships and hero agencies, as the event is broadcast across the nation but also tons of scouts are present. If you thrive, everyone will witness it but the same is true if you fail. It could hurt your reputation going forward.

Class A is also threatened with the possibility of being demoted to a lower class if they underperform. This one is interesting, as it adds a lot of pressure to the fights with class B students. After all, if a class A student loses to one from class B, there’s a high chance those 2 will be switching places. The problem with this one is Horikoshi doesn’t follow through with it, as only class A students end up advancing and no one from class B is promoted.

In Naruto, all 3 of the sand ninja end up advanced to the finals of the chuunin exams. I liked this because it established the strength of the other nations, and indicated clearly that they're just as strong as Konohagakure and pose a very real threat to it. Which uh, yeah, turned out to be the case.

With MHA though, that doesn't happen. Now, I am not saying that this decision is bad because MHA didn't do what Naruto did in a similar situation. It's bad because MHA does this consistently, creating stakes for a situation and then retreating from them, which constantly deflates tension and handicaps the potential for viewers to get invested in the drama in later arcs. It's not a huge deal here, but as you'll see when we get to season 3, it becomes a very large problem the series has yet to solve through the current season.

2: Deku's body

Despite being told many times that Deku is risking his body by using his power the way he does, Deku never actually suffers any long-lasting consequences like permanently damaging his body, or being sidelined for a while so he can actually recover. Quick stop to the hospital and he's good to go next episode! This is again, not a huge deal now. But if you're going to create that subplot, you have to actually follow through with it somehow eventually. And Horikoshi never does, which again we'll get to in more detail in season 3.

Stain

So. The series is riding high after the sports festival arc, and I started becoming convinced that My Hero Academy could actually live up to its endless hype. After all, Horikoshi and Studio Bones proved capable of drawing out the show's strengths to overpower its weaknesses for one great arc. If they can keep doing that, the series is bound for greatness. But like I said earlier, the decline of the series begins after the sports festival arc. And that decline starts with the show's next big villain, Stain.

Now, Stain himself is fine. Stain isn't a fan of current hero society. He believes that hero is a title that should only be bestowed upon those who accomplish good deeds. He thinks that the world has become overgrown with fake heroes, and that greed and fame have tainted what it means to be a hero. The first time I watched season 2, I was confused by Stain and didn't understand what statement Horikoshi was trying to make with this arc, but couldn't really put a finger on why. On re-watch though, this line made me realize why Stain felt off:

Okay, now think: how many heroes can you think of that fit that description? How many heroes have we seen that are greedy, that will take bribes, that are willing to compromise their beliefs for money, or became corrupted by money? That's right.

There aren't any.

And this is why Stain as a villain doesn't work. None of the heroes of MHA align with the way Stain sees the world. His reasoning make sense, but its rather difficult to think of any that represent why what he's saying is a bad thing. All the heroes in MHA are too morally upstanding to reflect Stain's criticisms of society. The worst hero I can think of in terms of behavior is Endeavor, and he's the worst by a LOT. He definitely checks the box for being overly obsessed with fame via aiming for the #1 spot, but at the same time he is the only example of this. Ideally, you want your villain's criticism of society to be something that resonates, where you look everywhere and see it. With Stain, you have to squint to find any examples of what he's talking about.

As for the money thing, the only characters that come close to validating Stain's claims are Uraraka and Mt Lady. Uraraka's motivation to become a hero is to make money, making her the only hero to have the motivation Stain is criticizing. And in her case, the money isn't even for her. Its for her parents. She wants money to take care of her parents, which hardly sounds like money-worshipping and doesn't stand to prove what Stain said correct.

As for Mt Lady: there are several instances of her acting like a jackass, but these scenes don't seem to be written in a way that criticizes her behavior. Horikoshi seems to be writing it as charming. And if Horikoshi is trying to say fame-chasing and the over-commercialization of heroes is bad here, then that message is contradicted by this moment in season 4 when Deku wins over Nighteye because he knew some absurdly specific fact about an All Might poster.

And just generally, quite a bit of hero society feels over-commercialized but A LOT of it is played straight, rather than more deliberately critical. I can think of many scenes where the celebrity status of heroes grosses me out, but none that I can think of and immediately say "oh yeah, the show is very clearly portraying this as a bad thing."

So for money-chasing, you have 1 example that sort of works and another that completely contradicts it. Not exactly an ideology that resonates strongly.

Stain's problem is that not enough effort was put into making his claims about society ring true. The show isn't consistent in how it treats fame-worshipping and over-commercialization, and there aren't enough examples of either problem in the show for either issue to feel systemic rather than isolated. And before you dismiss this as nitpicking, this particular issue is something other good battle shounens don't usually have a problem with.

There's a reason you feel some empathy for Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist. Because we know exactly why he's attacking state alchemists, and we know that there are bastards in the military that ENJOYED slaughtering his people, the Ishbalans. Beyond just that, thousands of other officers like Roy Mustang turned the other cheek or didn't take a stand. In a way, they're all guilty and deserve to be punished. Point being, we know what Scar believes and understand why he believes it because what he opposes is systemic in the world he inhabits. This just isn't the case for MHA. Stain is effectively opposing a strawman, a non-existent class of greedy heroes that we as audience aren't shown. As such, his words ring hollow. There's potential here, but you have to be willing to take risks like making more heroes less than perfect. Endeavor was a good start but you need more if you want a villain like Stain to work.

With all this in mind, its no surprise that Deku's takeaways from their encounter are nonsense.

Why is that? Stain left everyone alive! He failed to kill anyone! This ties into another issue I have with Horikoshi refusing to kill heroes. It isn't obvious he left Deku and the others alive for a reason rather than killing them, because we have yet to see him kill anyone. I don't want to dig too deep into this particular issue yet, so for now let's move on to Deku's other takeaway.

He also says something about in the end Stain was the only one standing against his opponents, which um??? Deku did that when he approached Stain in the alley? Deku's body moving on its own when someone is in danger or a hero is needed and so on is one of his signature personality traits. It’s THE THING that convinced All Might to pass One for All to him. So Stain having the courage or resolve to "stand against his opponents" isn't something Deku can or needs to internalize. It is his signature strength. Ideally, you want the main character to learn a lesson that they needed to at the end of an arc. They acquire some knowledge or learn something that changes them. This one is half-assed and isn't relevant to the character's growth.

Him being unafraid to stand against his opponents is literally his greatest strength. His takeaway from his encounter with Stain is meaningless! He already does that same thing, more so than any other hero! He's always done it! It's nonsense!

Deku not taking away anything from this arc due to Horikoshi's bad writing ties into another problem the show has: Deku as a main character. And yes, I did say I liked him as the protagonist in season 1. But that’s only in the context of season 1, ignoring the rest of the series. Now, there are things I like about his character like his thing where his body moves without thinking, and the way he inspires change in people reminds me a bit of the way Naruto does the same thing. But like in terms of him as a person? He isn't very good. There isn't much to him as a person after he gets One for All, they spend more time developing his powers than him as a character, and he has very weak interpersonal relationships with the rest of the characters except for All Might and maybe Bakugo. But the problem I wanted to cover relative to Stain is that he doesn't believe in anything.

Deku Doesn't Believe in Anything

As you can probably guess, I have an issue with Deku's belief system. That is to say, there isn't one. And no, "doing bad things is bad", "you should always try your best", and "never give up" do not count. I think Deku is most similar to Naruto as a protagonist, so that'll be the comparison I use to illustrate my point.

In Naruto, it is obvious what the writer identifies as the bad parts of the shinobi world. It is war.

The event that caused Naruto's parents to die was an act of war. An attack by Tobi to get the nine-tails to attack the leaf village. Most of the villains are in some way raised by war, or the circumstances they currently face are the result of it.

Haku was an orphan due to an ability he inherited from his mother: Due to a war prior to Haku's birth, many in his clan hated and feared this ability, due to its association with the war and the fear that its existence would mean more war. These circumstances resulted in Haku's entire clan being wiped out except for him. He is now an orphan as a result of war. The same is true of Zaku later. He was taken in by Orochimaru after being found on the streets. And ultimately, Zaku was sacrificed as a means of another attack: the Konoha crush.

Neji's belief system of people being unable to change their fate is a result of his father's death, which was a cover-up to protect the family after a Kumogakure Head Ninja visiting Konoha took advantage of a peace treaty and attempted to kidnap Hinata in order to gain the secrets of the Byakugan.

Nagato ended up an orphan after his parents were killed by shinobi from the leaf village, and was forced to leave his village and search for food and shelter after killing those shinobi. After nearly collapsing from hunger, he met Konan and Yahiko, orphans like himself. They shared dreams of a future where they were in charge and could use their power to eliminate war. This group became known as the Akatsuki. They grew in numbers blah blah blah, and eventually the leader of Amegakure (Hanzo of the Salamander), felt threatened. Hanzo pretended he would work with the Akatsuki so that he could ambush Yahiko and Nagato, with support from Konoha's Danzo. Some shit went down, Yahiko dies, and Nagato severs all ties with Amegakure. Yahiko's death ultimately convinced Nagato that his philosophies about achieving peace were foolish; the world would never willingly end the cycle of death and hatred it had operated on for so long. Only through direct experience of war and all the losses and agonies it brought could anyone truly desire peace.

The scars of war are inflicted on many characters throughout Naruto, and Naruto himself embodies the things that the shinobi world needs to change, such as a willingness to forgive those who don't deserve forgiveness (such as the villagers who shunned him as a child) and compassion even towards your enemies.

The fact that Deku doesn't have a similar level of depth is for a lot of reasons, but a large part of it is that the villains lack an ideology that is followed up and/or informed by the world around them.

Deku doesn't represent a change needed in hero society. He just wants to be like All Might. The villains all say there are problems with hero society, but none of them actually have a point. When you look at what Pain says about continuing the cycle of death and hate, you understand what he's talking about. Because you've seen it in tons of characters. Naruto having to live in a village that hates him for something he can't control and having to grow up alone because his parents were killed during his birth. Sasuke's entire clan was wiped out. His entire existence is based around getting revenge and killing the person responsible. Tons and tons of examples.

And when I examine MHA's world in a similar way based on Stain's ideology, there's very little there. The things that the villains claim are just that, things that Horikoshi wrote for them. They aren't based on anything Horikoshi worked into MHA's world. As a result of all this, the villain arcs of MHA feel hollow. The pieces are there, but by not having opponents or a world that challenge the protagonist as a person, there isn't that emotional core they need. I really wish Horikoshi would just change his approach to writing villains to something more simple, as he never puts in enough effort to make a villain like Stain work.

Or alternatively, write a villain based around your protagonist. Remember when Deku didn't have a quirk at the beginning of the series and it frustrated him to no end? Write a villain around that. You could very easily write villains that abuse their powers and don’t appreciate what they have. That's something that would naturally infuriate Deku given he knows what it’s like to not have a quirk at all. I thought this is what he was going to do with Overhaul, but the show never touches on the idea.

Before I go further, I'd like to clarify this so my point doesn't get misconstrued: Stain isn't bad because he isn't Scar, and Deku isn't bad because he isn't Naruto. Stain doesn't work because he requires the world to be written in a certain way, and Horikoshi's failure to do so has a negative impact on Deku's potential development, and that impact is best illustrated by other, more effective protagonists like Naruto and better villains like Scar.

Conclusion

That's about all I have to say for season 2. It’s harder to judge than season 1 because half of it is great and the other half is...sloppy. Overall though I think its decent, and has yet to hit truly bad.

The next part is season 3, which is where it starts to be truly bad.