Vice and Virtue: My Hero Academia

Virtue:

My Hero Academia is some of the funniest anime that has ever been made. Point blank PERIOD. Watching this series with my twin has been so very much fun!! The characters are what make it worth the time, in my opinion. The main star of the show is the nerdy overanalyzing type, and his love for the number one hero in their world is matched by no one. And I mean it is capital L-O-V-E. Here’s his impersonation right here:

Oh, yeah, I think it’s pretty important to explain that the world of MHA has people with all kinds of wacky abilities called quirks. Anything you can think of, someone has the power for it. The show strikes an interesting commentary on how wielders of their powers are viewed in society, specifically on who becomes a hero or a villain. Each person is sympathizable and dislikable in their own regard, and I think it’s quite brilliant! An example of this is Bakugo, who is #coocoocrazy. Usually, heroes choose a catchy name, but he chooses King/Lord Explosion Murder, depending on the translation.

This show definitely has its moments, and surprisingly represents transgender people respectfully! Can’t say the same about women sometimes, but it’s leagues better than pretty much any other anime, so you gotta give it that. Still doesn’t make up for the purple ball hair pervert. God, he’s lame. If you’re gonna watch any anime, MHA is a great start, and if it ain’t for you, then no judgment.

Vice:

I love and hate My Hero Academia. Objectively, this anime is pretty lit, but I have some MASSIVE gripes that always make me really annoyed when I watch this anime. First of all, MHA is a shonen anime, meaning it’s targeted at men. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if this show weren’t surprisingly sexist. First off, this anime treats literally all the women like the side piece, relegating them to the background characters. Momo, Mina, and Uraraka are all women who are pawns used to prop up their male counterparts. I won’t even START on how ‘male gazey’ Momo’s hero costume is. But genuinely, this anime fails the Bechdel Test because of how often the women think, ‘Hmmm, what would that one man do?’ Like, please, think for yourself, have your own thoughts. Has anyone heard of female power!?!?

I. HATE. MINETA. Now, for those of you who have been lucky enough not to encounter the hellspawn pervert gremlin Minoru Mineta, consider yourself saved. He is the source of most of the sexism in this anime, making the girls’ discomfort a ‘joke.’ Every time he opens his mouth, I stop listening. This anime would be SO much better without him. I’m not sure if I can really talk about all the ways Mineta is the worst, but if you’d like to learn more, there's an amazing YouTube video called “Is My Hero Academia Sexist? Yes,” by LadyIneia, and she explains how this show is sexist way better than I can in The Rambler. Check her out!