My Hero Academia - Season 2

My Hero Academia is a Japanese anime created by animation studio Bones and based on the manga of the same name by Kohei Horikoshi.

The second season of My Hero Academia, an anime based on the successful manga by Kohei Horikoshi, shows that the Shōnen genre is not going anywhere. After a successful first season that was praised by many, a second season came as no surprise. Fortunately, I also really enjoyed the first season. But will you like season two just as much? We will see.

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Hero is a title given only to those who have accomplished great deeds!

In the second season of My Hero Academia, the students experience the impact of the previous attack on U.A. High School, but do not seem to suffer greatly from this. The announcement of the annual U.A. Sports Festival provides the only excitement as this tournament offers students the chance to impress 'Pro Heroes'. New, eccentric characters are introduced, while familiar characters Shoto Todoroki (Yūki Kaji, Attack on Titan), Ochaco Uraraka (Ayane Sakura, Psycho-Pass) and Tenya Ida (Kaito Ishikawa, One-Punch Man) are further highlighted. We also see how Izuku Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita, Psycho-Pass) manages to hold his own among all the ambitious students and how he deals with the mysterious aspects of his new Quirk. Of course, all students are going for gold, and an intense battle lies ahead. Yet there can only be one winner.

After the intense U.A. Sports Fesitval Arc continues the season with the Vs. Hero Killer Arc. Since the sporting event was such a success for some students from Class 1-A, these students are scouted by Pro Heroes who offer them temporary internships. These students include Midoriya, who is called upon to train with All Might's (Kenta Miyake, One Piece) former mentor, Gran Torino (Kenichi Ogata, Pokémon). Meanwhile, evil begins to stir in Hosu City, as the mysterious Hero Killer: Stain (Gou Inoue, Jujutsu Kaisen) begins to grow in popularity. Ultimately, this leads to a second confrontation with the League of Villains and three young heroes. Season two then ends shortly afterwards with the Final Exam Arc. In a rather surprising twist, the students have to compete against their teachers. In an epic exam, Midoriya and Bakugo (Nobuhiko Okamoto, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) must put aside their differences to successfully battle their idol All Might.

Motivations and the backgrounds of various characters were made clear through intense scenes that added even more depth to the story

After watching the first season of My Hero Academia I found it difficult to imagine how it could be better. It was an ideal introduction to the world of Quirks, superheroes and the bad guys. But apparently things can be better. This season we went even further. The world was further expanded with more Pro Heroes and matching Quirks. We saw how several characters, such as Todoroki, Uraraka and Ida, were further developed. Motivations and their background were made clear through intense scenes that provided even more depth to their story. But we also see All Might slowly grow into his role as a mentor to Midoriya as he accepts his limitations. All elements that give the world and the characters even more life.

All this is presented in a story that manages to find a good balance between character-driven moments and intense action scenes. Especially during the U.A. Sports Fesitval Arc, this is certainly visible. Now there are some filler episodes (think episode 32 or 33) that don't quite fit within the season. These episodes provide some backstory, but aren't really relevant to the overarching story. This made the story feel slow or less essential at times. Despite this, the pacing is really fine overall. The balance between the different types of scenes certainly contributes to the success (and especially fun) of the season.



Furthermore, the animation is again a pleasure to watch, even during the U.A. Sports Fesitval my jaw dropped several times in amazement. The well-animated and intense action scenes, combined with the animation quality, made the season very consistent and visually appealing. In addition, the voice actors had also done a phenomenal job. The acting, mainly during U.A. Sports Fesitval and Vs. Hero Killer Arc stood out. The voice actors brought the characters to life with passion and emotion. Particularly during several flashback scenes. But another good example of this is episode 23. In which Midoriya and Todoroki face off in the U.A. Sports Festival Arc. The animation is phenomenal, the voice work is fiery, not to mention the soundtrack. Simply epic!

Unfortunately, there are also lesser points in the season. Consider a lesser focus on some characters, both from the heroes and the villains. But also that some plot points were quite predictable. Too bad, but nothing to really write home about. Season two is actually a perfect follow-up to the first season and I like it even more than season one. So worth watching!