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"I want to win like All Might. No matter what anyone says, that will never change!" - Katsuki Bakugou

What does it mean to be a "hero"? Is it someone who saves those in need? Someone who defeats all the bad guys? Someone who brings good things to the lives of others? All of these? Or maybe something entirely different? Maybe it's all a case of perspective. But what does it mean to be "the Greatest Hero"?

---Boku no Hero Academia 3rd Season---

Story: (9) - Art: (9) - Sound: (9.5) - Character: (10) - Enjoyment: (10)

Introduction: In July of 2014 a new series appeared on the pages ... of Weekly Shounen Jump titled "Boku no Hero Academia" (Eng: My Hero Academia). A story about superheroes authored by mangaka Kouhei Horikoshi, it quickly rose in popularity and received an anime adaptation less than two years later in April 2016, animated by Studio Bones (FMA, Soul Eater, Noragami). Created in the middle of the western superhero age of media, it's no wonder that it also became a popular series in the West. As it stands currently, the third Season of BnHA is the most popular anime of 2018 on MAL. The following are my very personal and biased thoughts on this entry in the series.

"Next, it's your turn." - Toshinori Yagi

Story:

Following the events of the 2nd Season, the students of Class 1-A are on their Summer vacation after taking their finals. What starts as a fairly standard Summer break quickly escalates into the most dangerous situation the students of U.A have been a part of yet. The events of the first half of this Season have consequences of utmost importance to the world and characters of the series. Not only Horikoshi introduces unique new villains in the story, but also keeps building on its concepts of heroism and villainy by making the series' protagonists and antagonists clash with fists and ideals. The fast pace of the Second Season is also present here, which keeps the action engaging up until the climax of the arc.

In the second half, things slow down substantially, and the story takes a backseat in favor of character building, but the writing is consistently good all the way through. Even though the show is light-hearted and comedic for most of the time, its humor doesn't ever get in the way of the narrative when portraying darker and more serious situations. It should be mentioned that, as with the previous Season, this one does contain filler. Episodes 1 (39) and 20 (58) are original stories not written by the original creator, and episode 17 (55) is mostly comprised of an original scenario. While not entirely bad, these episodes don't really have the amount of consistency and quality in its writing that comes from Horikoshi's.

HeroAca's take on the hero society is still just as interesting as before, and with every arc Horikoshi develops its world-building even further. Though the series starts with a pretty cliche outlook of Heroes vs. Villains , with every passing episode the shades of gray become clearer and clearer. We get to see how the existence of quirks and heroes affected the masses, and made the villains do the things they have. What looked like an exciting prospect at first starts to rear its ugly head.

"The image of victory I have inside of me is you." - Izuku Midoriya

Art:

As it is common with Studio Bones' productions, BnHA has consistently good animation, but you could say that the animation and art in this Season weren't *as* consistent as in the previous Season. This is due to the team behind the anime having been split up for most of the Season's production, with many of the staff's finest animators and storyboarders working on the movie that was released in August of this year. Still, the Bones' staff gave it their very best, and really made the anime look amazing when it counted.

"I wanted to try saying it just once! Plus Ultra!" - Inasa Yoarashi

Sound:

The OST in HeroAca is an integral part of the action. It manages to convey the excitement and feelings that the characters are having. The new tracks composed once again by Yuki Hayashi are all delightful. The atmosphere that they create is nothing short of incredible. Though I will say that some of the older, more iconic tracks from previous seasons are kind of underutilized, and the placement of some tracks is questionable.

The actors' performances this Season are even better than in previous ones, if you can imagine. The old voices are very comfortable with their characters at this point, and the new voices fit their characters perfectly. A notable actor this season is Nobuhiko Okamoto, the voice of Bakugou. His performance elevates his character throughout the whole season, something that is incredible to see (and hear).

"No matter how much I beat you up, you were always stuck to my back like glue...!" - Katsuki Bakugou

Character:

Now this is where Horikoshi excels at. He manages to juggle his cast of 20+ recurring characters all with different personalities (some more developed than others) and are constantly sharing screentime, without making the narrative feel bogged down with too many faces. The dynamics that are set up between characters are ingenious, and dialogue can be hilarious or chilling. The new characters are all unique in personality and quirk, and all of them serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things.

The protagonist, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, continues on his long journey to become the greatest hero ever, and he goes through substantial development this season. But I'd argue S3 belongs to the deuteragonist, Katsuki Bakugou.

Bakugou has the most character progression in the story (although at first glance it may seem like he's one-note). He is ever-changing and complex, and understanding his complicated feelings and relationship with Deku is crucial to the enjoyment of HeroAca's emotional substance. Their interactions are the crux of this season's story (and arguably the entire series). They're two halves of the same coin, and this season shows them what they both need to do in order to become the heroes that they aspire to be. Being two different types of people (and future heroes), but complementing each other perfectly: the Symbol of Hope and the Image of Victory.

HeroAca's themes of Legacy and its focus on the adventures of characters who are trying to live up to the previous generations' expectations and surpass them is very inspiring. It's a Next Generation story that doesn't completely show you what came before, and we get to see the struggles of the adults that protect the children who are training to take their place.

"Let's all work together and laugh together again!" - Ochako Uraraka

Enjoyment:

It should be clear by now that I enjoy BnHA immensely. I admit I am biased towards it, but it has had a very meaningful presence in my life. To me, all of its aspects combined just make up a very good show. I'm someone who grew up watching superhero films, Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) were my favorite movies back when I was 5/6 years old. Watching BnHA reminds me a lot of my childhood, and I love it for it. Experiencing it has actually improved my mental health, and that's something I can't ever repay. It has made me laugh, cry, and feel. And honestly, that's enough.

Overall Score: 10/10

TL;DR: It's great, watch it.