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**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**
(All of season one, not for later seasons)








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"All men are not created equal." --Izuku (Deku) Midoriya


Story: Boku no Hero Academia is a show that is painstakingly basic. Imagine this: There is a whiny young boy with very little base power who is taken under the wing of a mentor who is tough on him, but ultimately helps him to succeed. This mentor helps to bring out the hidden power and potential that the young boy cannot control. Am I describing Izuku Midoriya and All Might, or Son Gohan and Piccolo, or Naruto and Kakashi? My point is Boku no Hero Academia is nothing original, it takes a formula and tropes that have been beaten to death by shounen anime and proceeds to further abuse it to a bloody pulp. Boku no Hero Academia embodies exactly what One Punch Man exists to parody. There is nothing here that you couldn't find there. The only thing that salvages BnHA is comedy, a few running gags that show up now and then. Furthermore, the overall basis of the show goes unexplained. The only bone the story gives the readers to chew on is that "one day people just started getting born with powers, and eventually 80% of people had them". We are given no source as to why or how this happened, and what the consequences are outside of villains. Besides Deku being bullied, is there discrimination between people with quirks/without quirks? If 80% of people have quirks, why do villains still exist? Are most of the quirks useless in combat? These are questions the show fails to answer.
Overall, 3/10

Art: The art is one of two redeeming qualities about BnHA, I have no major complaints about it, nor is it anything special. I would say that it's 'above average' if anything. It's clear enough to depict the fight scenes without any visible confusion as to what's going on, but not overly artsy, unlike some romance anime.
Overall, 7/10

Sound: Remember how I said there was two redeeming qualities? Sound is the other one. The soundtrack during the fight scenes is actually pretty good, and generates hype for the fights. The opening and ending are also both very solid, as are the sound effects. I would say it is well above average for most shows.
Overall, 9/10

Character: Hoo boy. This is where we get into it. The character design is poorly written and consists of overused tropes. Deku is your average weak, whiny character who has to learn to control his powers. It is much like every other shounen protagonist. He's so helpless in the way he's bullied that instead of rooting for him, I just feel complete pity for him. He is rivaled by Katsuki Bakugou, a person that I can only describe as an edgy boy with the ability to blow shit up. The best analogy would be if you gave Karma Akabane from Assassination Classroom bombs and anger issues. Then there's your average love interest, Ochako Uraraka. A Plain Jane that only exists to asspull in tight situations the writers don't know how to get out of, or to give Deku somebody to actually save. All Might is the superhero who passes his powers on to Deku, and acts as a mentor, and later becomes his actual teacher. His power is hinted to be a culmination of many powers over several generations, but it's about the same as Star Platinum when I say it's only ever used to punch things, and its other abilities are never utilised. Shota Aizawa is the other major teacher at the school Deku attends. His ability to inhibit other people's quirks is one of the better ones produced by the show. Character-wise he's aloof in attitude and tough in practise, especially seeing how he acts towards his students and villains. Other than the main cast, the villains have no good motivation, and act purely out of desire to be evil. (lame) Due to very low originality, I would say that this category scores low.
Overall: 3/10

Enjoyment: I would say that this show has very little value in rewatching, but that's probably only because the extensive use of flashbacks and voice lines makes me feel like I've already watched it 3 times. The same sentences are repeated and drilled into the viewers head over and over, to the point of it being genuinely annoying. If I have to hear "Not gonna happen kid", "All men are not created equal", "I'm so proud of you", or any other line again, I'd tell you to put a gun to my head.
Overall, 5/10

To conclude this review, you'd be better off watching any other shounen anime that came out before BnHA, as they are the framework of the tropes that BnHA abuses. Like an Apple iPhone, anything you find in BnHA, you can find in other anime done before it, and at a way higher quality. All anime are not created equal.

My final rating: 6/10