Just Another Hero (AKA Hiatus Time)

Now, I’m not saying that My Hero Academia is the best shonen manga/anime in the history of the genre and demographic -- or if not that, then at least in recent years -- buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut…

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…I can’t think of a non-incriminating way to finish that sentence.  So I’ll just embed a clip of All Might and leave it at that.

Let’s discuss All Might.

I want to start this off by saying, yes, I like My Hero Academia.  I like it a lot.

I’m not just saying that because it’s popular, or because other people like it.  This anime (and the manga by extension) is legit.  Scarily so.  It’s not hard to see the machinery behind it, and its attempts at emotional torque -- but the execution here is generally at such a high level, it almost always works.  I’ve gotten the chills.  I’ve stifled the gasps.  And I’m about two steps short of starting a tally of how many times I tear up.  It’s getting pretty high up there.

Am I being emotionally manipulated?  Probably.  Am I an easy mark for this sort of thing?  Probably.  But until proven otherwise, I’m happy to say that, well, I’m happy with My Hero Academia.  There are plenty of viable reasons to point to -- to identify as successes -- with the chief one being the horrifically-lovable cast.  Certainly, All Might is among them.

But here’s the thing.  The deeper I go with the anime, the more I realize something.  I like All Might not because he’s Not-Quite-Anime Superman.  I like him because the more I think about him, the more I suspect he’s actually the worst…which is why he’s the best.

Shower Thoughts with My Hero Academia (Season 1)

You know what?  There’s a version of My Hero Academia out there in another dimension, locked deep within the darkest confines of the multiverse, where Midoriya never got his Quirk.

Like, I’ve been thinking about it, and I realize that if All Might had never run into Midoriya, and/or if neither one ran into that green blob villain -- which is feasible, given the slim odds of their encounter -- then the Symbol of Peace would have gone on as planned, given his Quirk to someone else he deemed worthy at U.A., and left our hero to be…not a hero.  

I won’t lie: there’s a part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing that story play out.  Maybe have Midoriya enroll in U.A. anyway in the support class?  Have him develop gear for heroes (in-training or otherwise) while providing support as their mission control?  Let him find ways to build armor/equipment that simulates useful battle Quirks?  Or -- and here’s the real kicker -- have him team up with Bakugou so at least one of them can make it to the top.  Bakugou’s got the talent and power, but Midoriya assists and conditions him so that the fire in his belly gets directed instead of scattered in all directions.  An uneasy alliance, sure, but a BEST MATCH when the two truly learn to work as a team.

But you’re not here for hypothetical situations.  You’re here to find out who is best girl in My Hero Academia (besides Iida, as discussed).  And the answer is…drumroll pleeeeeeeeeeeeease…

On God of War and Narrative Transparency

Let me jump ahead of any comments and say this: when asked by my brother what I think of God of War (2018), my response was “Yeah, s’pretty good.”  Admittedly my concentration was split at the time since I was in the middle of an enemy skirmish, but it seems like a pretty apt descriptor.  I’m still not going to call it GOTY 2018 yet, or slap a 10/10 on the box; that said, it’s a good game that’s a worthy addition to any gamer’s collection.

There.  Now that I’ve made that clear, I’m at a much lower risk of ruffling tail feathers with my next statement: boy, the devs did not even try to hide their intentions with this game.  There’s pulling back the veil, and then there’s using a veil made of saran wrap.

But that might not be a bad thing.  Well, except when it is.

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…Except when it isn’t.

The 900th Post: My Hero Academia (?!)

Hello, and welcome once again to Cross-Up, your one stop shop for dozens of Kingdom Hearts posts all sorts of posts on video games, movies, TV shows, and more.  And in this case, “more” happens to include anime.  And manga, by extension.  So let’s not delay any longer.  My Hero Academia has been making waves for a while now, and it’s time I use this milestone celebration -- the 900^th post here on this blog -- to take a closer look.

Here we go.  These are The Top 5 Best Girls of My Hero Academia.

…Oh, wait.  No it isn’t.  Never mind.  Continuing on.