My Hero Academia (Volume 1) - You Can Be a Hero!

Izuku Midoriya was born without a quirk which is a problem when eighty percent of the population has one and your dream is to become a professional hero. Can this quirkless fanboy make it to the top?

My Hero Academia (Volume 1) – You Can Be a Hero!

What happened?

Bizarrely people started to develop special abilities known as quirks. They grant the wielder special powers. Unfortunately, this led to a phase of terror where people abused their abilities for their own selfish needs. As the world governments tried to work out how to solve the problem, heroes emerged. Real-life heroes just like in comic books. Soon, they were offered professional status which came with money and fame. However, there was one hero who stood above all others – All Might!

Izuku Midoriya was a massive All Might fanboy. He loved everything about heroes and quirks in general, but All Might was special. It was a video of All Might saving hundreds of people from a tragic disaster that made Izuku want to become a hero. Unfortunately, he was one of the decreasing minority of people born without quirks. However, he refused to give up on his dream and planned on taking the entrance test to UA – the famous hero academy.

A chance encounter with All Might gave Izuku the chance to ask if he could be a hero without powers. All Might said no, however, he was dealing with his own issues. An injury had put him on the road to retirement. But then, All Might witnessed Izuku attempting to save a friend despite his lack of powers. That was when All Might realised he had found someone worthy enough to receive his power. Now, he just needed to pass the entrance test to UA.

My Hero Academia Volume 1 Izuku Midoriya UA Entrance Exam

What did you think?

I read the first fourteen volumes of My Hero Academia back in 2018 after watching the first three seasons back to back to back. You could say I got sucked in. I loved it. There was no other way to look at it. Then, I watched and reviewed the fourth season of the anime and found that I didn’t enjoy it as much. So, I’m coming back to the beginning to see if anything changes. After one volume, I can confirm that this is very much as I remembered it.

Midoriya’s story is not exactly a new one, but it is fun and incredibly emotional. That moment when All Might tells him he can be a hero is one of my favourite moments in anime. I also love the way the series looks at the impact of professional superheroes. Does that change the way they behave or even those coming through the ranks? I’d argue it does. Just look at Bakugou if you want an example of what they have become. Admittedly, he’s an outlier and the one thing that has always bothered me about the series.

Bakugou improves as the series goes on, but I can’t get past these initial interactions where he bullied Midoriya and told him to jump off the roof and hope to be reborn with a quirk. How are these the actions of someone that wants to be a hero? I get that they’re kids, but that doesn’t change the impact it could have had on Midoriya. It’s a shame because if he had just been competitive and aggressive, I wouldn’t have had a problem with him. It’s a great series with a Bakugou-shaped issue.