BnHA Season 2 Review

I’ll try not to put as many spoilers as possible.

My Hero Academia has continued to impress me with its portrayal of characters, and being able to present an amazing continuation from season 1. This anime, being the usual shounen, does almost everything correctly to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats. Generating as much hype as possible.

To all fellow manga readers like myself. I can probably guess the amount of hype you may have had when the adaptation was first announced, more so season 2. The thought of having the most iconic manga chapters being animated made us have something to very much look forward to. I am glad I read this manga, but at the same time, not. This is because I would’ve actually liked to see both seasons blind, and experience this show to the fullest.

To start off, let’s be real for a bit, the story of BnHa is nothing new, we’ve seen this all before. Some guy is weak or powerless and then coincidentally meets strong guy, then gets power and then bam he’s cool and stuff. It’s been done before, but BnHa is one of those series that takes this on a properly executed type of situation. It may be a bit cliche with the story and sometimes how the characters are presented like the usual rival and how they aspire to beat the MC and stuff like that. But like I said, BnHa does it right when it comes to these usual things.

Even if it is your typical shounen like I mentioned before, it is still one of the best anime to execute these factors properly and stay within the shounen genre. The amount of goosebumps I get during some of the moments in this season was too much to count.

Despite all these things, this still proves to be one of my favourite series. Boku No Hero Academia (Despite all the “cliche” things I’ve said about it) is still up there in my favourites.

BnHA 2 happens after the events of season 1. Things are starting to calm down, while new situations may rise in the future. The students take the next step into what it means to be a hero. While that may sound fun, it requires a lot of vigorous training, as well as some big problems to solve. Our characters will then learn how to deal with it and how to become stronger from it.

Something I love about BnHA is how it keeps our cast of characters in mind, and leaves almost no one out of characterization. Sure some characters might seem one dimensional to others, which I guess is somewhat agreeable to a certain extent. Some characters do feel like they’re there to just be there a fulfill a certain role. But most characters in BnHa go through some sort of growth or some sort of development, take this along with good written characters and execution, it makes up for it.

Another thing I love about this series is the ability to keep me enticed and care for each character in the show, especially the villains. While that may have been a bit lacking in the first season, season 2 comes back and makes up for it for its beautiful character development.

Some main focuses of the anime are in regards to Izuku’s development, and him figuring out the true potential of his inherited One for All. With this, he becomes more reliable and less reliant as well as takes matters in his own hands and taking action to suit what most appropriate for the situation. Whilst of course trying to fix his relationship with Bakugo.

The season kicks off with a great arc: The Sports Festival. As though tournament arcs are indeed common, My Hero Academia keeps the intensity of tournaments in mind, and adds its own twist to make it as entertaining as possible, while keeping the hype at a maximum.

It does a good job of straying from the generic form of a tournament arc, while keeping each skill set of each character in mind and making each match’s result as fair as possible even though some match ups seemed that it shouldn't have been.

Of course the results of the arc made sense. It was an arc full of action, as well as helped some characters go through some MAJOR development, making them 100x more likeable (Although those characters were likeable in the first place anyway)

The thing about this anime is how very simple yet not simple it is, it portrays beauty in the plot presented and the factors that lead to an amazing series like this consists of the elements that most of us would want to see.

I’m sure some of us manga readers were counting each week, a countdown to a specific episode that you know will very much excite anime only’s and excite you because you finally get to see it on screen, fully coloured with an amazing soundtrack and the voice actors that put their passion into each character.

After all is said and done, more arcs come into play with more ways each character can find their true strength and learn different ways to help society as a true hero. While Izuku clearly shows his strength, we mustn’t forget about the other characters (which I’m really glad wasn't left out as I’ve said before) and their goals for the future. With this, we get a general understanding about the ambitions of the other characters thus being able to feel for them once things don't go a certain way. I will tell you right now that this season is indeed more serious and more violent than the last. It has more emotional segments and more action. Sometimes it may be predictable, but the end result still remains satisfactory for the viewer to take in.

The way they presented their Villains was spot on. Guess what, the villains in this anime, are actually THREATS?! Wow, a villain who does his job. Of course villains being threats aren't that hard to achieve. But i’m at a point where I’ve seen too much villains that are better off being called hero’s then anything else. Maybe I haven’t seen enough anime, but I wasn't able to find villains that proved deadly. But i’m glad this series was able to pull it off. While Shigaraki continues to plot some evil scheme, there is the problem of a certain villain, who is very deadly, and must be stopped at all costs. I recommend watching the anime to figure out who that is, for if you watch the initial introduction, you will probably love him more than knowing who it is prior to watching the series.

There’s no need to talk much about the quality animation that Bones put into this since I have too much praise to give it, but I am beyond grateful to them for taking this adaptation to heart and showing us each manga panel in colour and in animated form. I loved every single episode of this show and it presents a fine, simple story of people who want to get stronger and taking steps forward to becoming the hero they want to be. Of course becoming one is no easy task. Things must happen whether it has a positive impact or negative. There are then challenges along the way to achieve the goal they’ve always wanted, and I love the way these characters deal with it and handle these problems. Although some characters didn't get too much shine, the amount of character development we had for most of the main characters overtakes the lack of some.

The soundtrack was also amazing, presenting emotion and epic music for just the right situations and giving the scenes more impact. Without it, it definitely wouldn't have been as memorable. I loved both OP’s and ED’s for BnHa Season 2. I love the significance behind each opening and what they meant and how each characters are portrayed within the OP. It shows gradually how much development and struggles some characters deal with, along with how they would cope with it and use it to better themselves as a person and hero.

Overall, this season was phenomenal and presented what a hero story should look like. Working hard towards it with a cost of many hardships to come. For the Heroes, loss exists. There’s times where they feel a sense of defeat or dissatisfaction. Feeling Inferior and powerless against enemies, which is something I can appreciate. Showing that Heroes can’t win all the time. I’m really glad the adaptation for Boku no Hero Academia was put into the good hands of Bones. Every single panel + some original content was a pleasure to see on my desktop. Thank you Bones, truly. You’ve made the Spring/Summer Season for me.