Boku no Hero Academia : Season 1 Review

A dynamic, inspiring start to a great new series:

A friend recommended I watch 'Boku no hero academia' aka 'My Hero Academy', having not read the manga I had given it an initial uninterested passing glance in the Shonan Jump store. However, I'm glad I took the time to sit and enjoy the crazy twists and turns that follows the growth of the aspiring hero in the making, 'Izuku "Deku" Midoriya'. The initial episode left me somewhat wanting but before I knew it I had binge watched the final 5 episodes in tense anticipation of what was to come.
A very solid 1st season that blew away my preconceptions and left me eager for Season 2, due at the end of March 2017.

Deku dreams of becoming a super hero, having grown up idolising the hero, 'All Might'. Unfortunately he finds himself part of the 20% that can't develop a quirk (aka power or mutation). Despite this, after an unexpected rescue from non other than All Might himself, his circumstances change and he manages to attend the prestigious U.A. Hero Academy.

Deku fits the standard Shonen manga role of being a clear underdog amongst his super hero peers, yet has a strong heart and will to succeed through hard effort. This is in clear contrast to his natural gifted rival 'Katsuki Bakugou', an confident egotistical hothead with the quirk of creating explosions, matching his volatile personality. Initially one dimensional and easy to hate, the show does a great job of revealing his flaws, having you empathise with his poor pride and anger management, making him a much more rounded rival overall.

Boku no hero academia has such a diverse and quirky dynamic set of characters, everyone is sure to have a favourite. Ranging from the pure and innocent 'Ochako Uraraka', with the power of levitation, to 'Shouto Todoroki', the prodigy with the power to wield both ice and fire. One of my favorite classmates ended up being the calm and straight talking  'Tsuyu Asui' who resembles a toad in both her features and quirk abilities!

The fantastic character design helps flesh out the cast further with Uraraka and Deku's rounded and kind features that contrast strongly against the raging glare and sharp feature of Bakugou. Every hero has a distinct silhouette, attitude and voice that fits them perfectly. A personal favourite amongst the teaching staff is 'Shouta Aizawa', a scruffy unkempt and lazy teacher with bloodshot eyes. He later reveals himself to be a professional in his field and really proves his worth, he is also voiced by Junichi Suwabe who did a fantastic job as Worick in the GANGSTA series.

We can't ignore the greatest super hero of them all, the No. 1 All Might!, he is every part the muscle pumped American hero dream, complete with perfect smile, yet he also has a deep surprising backstory. Hiding a crippling secret, that reveals to us that even the strongest of us have moments of weakness where we need a helping hand. The bond he forms with the younger heroes is especially fun to watch, especially as he attempts to guide Deku through what it means to be a super hero. He often has a hand in the funniest scenes in the series.

The character interaction really helps to diversify the cast and highlight their relationships with one another, such as the Deku's mother showing her support, the teacher and student mentor bonding or the raucous banter between students. Occasionally broken up with comedic scenes and inappropriate behaviour from the tiny classmate Minoru.

The heroes were well thought out and explored, but sadly the main villains felt like wasted potential. Introduced midway through the season their appearance led to the story taking quite a dark and brutal turn. The main villain  'Tomura Shiguraki' has an interesting character design as well as an unhinged personality, it was a great chance to have a deep and twisted backstory for him but this was unfortunately only touched upon. The same could be said regarding the rest of his villain entourage. None the less, it is clear at the end of Season 1 that the villains will have a much bigger role in Season 2 but it would have made the already impressive concluding scenes have much more substance. The final fights in particular were intense, full of surprise and awe inspiring moments. 

Despite this, in just 13 episodes, they did a great job of developing a well rounded and developed protagonist in the form of Deku, with a strong supporting cast that could equally enjoy the spotlight. This gives the story a strong foundation to build upon and launch - all quirks blazing, into Season 2.
I look forward to seeing what obstacles and villains are revealed to challenge the upcoming heroes in Season 2, if the manga artwork is anything to go by, it will be well worth the wait!

Anime as advertisement : Telling a real story

The power of miso.

A few days ago I saw one of the new anime commercials for miso soup airing on TV and was inspired to write this post. However unlike usual anime tie-ins, such as DBZ advertising gum, or Attack on Titan promoting pizza, this was a promotion done using an original short anime story.

Anime, like any other form of film media is an effective way to create a narrative with impact within a short time. The quality of animation used for these commercials is high, very fine details can be seen on the products, scenery and storyline. In the case of the final commercial at the bottom of the page, it was created by Makoto Shinkai, who directed the phenomenal 5cm and Garden of words movies, where the attention to detail was mind blowing. If you haven't seen either of those films, I highly recommend you check them out!

Back to Miso, the brand Marukome has released a set of anime shorts to promote their miso soup, focusing on a strong 'family ties' theme, they are really effective at making you feel warm and fuzzy, just like miso soup does! Check them out below! Even if you can't understand Japanese you will be able to get the 'gist' of the story easily enough due to the good direction. I'll post a brief overview too!

料亭の味 カップみそ汁 夜食篇 Cup Miso: Late Night Supper. 

This is the latest, advertising cup miso. It shows the story of a high school girl and father who lament that they struggle to communicate together effectively.
After studying late at night she comes downstairs to find 2 rice balls and miso soup waiting for her, upon thanking her mum in the morning she realizes that it was actually her father who prepared it for her. She goes downstairs the following night and sees her father making more rice balls, "Do you want to eat together?" for late night supper. She drinks the miso and states "Dads miso soup is warm...". He asks her which flavour rice ball she wants and they play rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets it.
Its a cute way to show they can communicate again over a hot cup of miso.

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料亭の味　たっぷりお徳　母と息子篇 Economy Pack: Mother and Son. 

This commercial advertises the multipack miso sachets. It focus on a young salaryman who has left home for the first time to start his career.
He receives occasional care packages from home containing all sorts of goodies from home, including the multipack. When drinking the miso soup he imagines his mother sitting opposite him, giving him advice and motivating him to do his best. He encounters struggles at work, late nights, illness and overtime but through these troubles he always has his mother supporting him with these care packages. Things begin looking up and he receives a bonus, returning the favour by sending his mother a new sweater.
Despite distance the taste of home comforts can help inspire us and bring people together.

 

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 料亭の味　即席生みそ汁　単身赴任篇 Instant Miso Soup: Job Transfer away from home

This is my personal favourite out of the three. This heart warming story, follows a young father of two sweet girls who has been transferred away from home, a somewhat common thing in Japan for businessmen, albeit for a few years this can understandably put strain on both sides of the family.

However, one day his two daughters decide to pay him a visit. The daughters are keen to make it feel like home and practice with their mother to prepare one of his favourite meals, packing all of the ingredients with them. The father tries to help but they tell him to sit and wait, he father states "they really grew up..." as he watches. The girls, a little upset that it hadn't turned out as appealing as they hoped are instantly cheered up when their proud father takes a bite and claims "tastes just like home", which of course includes the miso soup!
Apparently this advertisement was proposed by one of the company's own employees who was transferred from Tokyo to Nagano. All of these miso commercials feel very relatable and close to home.

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東京ディズニーリゾート Tokyo Disneyland Resort

Ofcourse not only food companies use original anime shorts for advertising, some of the big brands have also created some fantastic stories to help push their services, including none other than Disney! I remember watching this last year as their promoted their Tokyo Disney Resort and being blown away by the quality. Despite only being 30 seconds long they managed to squeeze in a romantic story spanning a few generations. This one needs little introduction so sit back and enjoy the ad for "Where dreams come true."

   

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Cross Road - Makoto Shinkai 

The last and possibly most detailed offering, comes from the renowned director Makoto Shinkai. This anime was a promotional project for the cram school Z-Kai. Due to the difficulty of many University and High School entrance exams here, many students now go to cram schools in a desperate bid to make it into their first choice university. It seems to be a very bitter and stressful struggle involving many late nights, while also juggling day to day responsibilities and part time jobs.
Cross roads features a level of detail as expected of his previous work, the backgrounds and objects are absolutely gorgeous and bring life to their story and help us get absorbed into their world. Cross roads was released in 2 minute, 30 second and 15 second versions.
I especially like the moment where they open their exam papers in unison and the phrase いこう。どこまでも "Lets go/Go further. Anywhere is impossible". Its an inspiring message, regardless of what stage of life you are at.

   

Many outsiders to anime tend to look down on it, seeing it as nothing more as kids tales of beefy muscles, girls with huge eyes, panty shots, robots and power blasts. But this is one of many examples of how it can also be used to tell a heart warming, and very real story.