My Hero Academia & Alice Academy: Differing Takes on the Superhero School Narrative

Alice Academy is a shojo manga that takes place in a large, city-sized academy made solely for super-powered students. These powers are known as "Alices" and the school was made to cultivate youths that were gifted with them. My Hero Academia is a shonen manga that takes place in a large, prestigious school made for training up-and-coming superheroes with powers known as "Quirks".

Despite their differing target demographic and the large gap between their publications, Alice Academy and My Hero Academia have a lot in common beyond their focus on super-powered schools.

Underdog Protagonists

The main characters from Alice Academy and My Hero Academia

The protagonists of both Alice Academy and My Hero Academia share many similarities. They both initially have no powers and are treated as outcasts for it, struggle to keep up with a more gifted childhood friend, and both of their lives change drastically after entering a new school. But while Izuku Midoriya's life steadily improves after he enters his new superhero school, Mikan Sakura's gets worse.

Mikan is initially a normal girl that's well-liked by her peers in her hometown. It isn't until she transfers to Alice Academy that she starts to feel out of place. Unlike other students, Mikan doesn't have any powers, so she's initially singled out by her classmates for this. Alice Academy also has a rating system that goes up to four stars.

This rating system essentially decides a student's worth based on their academic standing and powers: the higher a student's rating, the better their living conditions. Because Mikan has no powers, she's given the lowest rating possible, zero stars. This low rating only serves to further widen the gap between Mikan and her more privileged classmates, although things start to improve once she finally discovers that she does, in fact, have powers.

Mikan Sakura and Izuku Midorya from Alice Academy and My Hero Academia

However, some of her classmates still treat her with disdain even after she discovers her powers. This is partly because her power isn't a very flashy one. It's a nullification ability that only cancels out other people's "Alices". To make matters worse, Mikan isn't very smart, so she doesn't get much respect in the academics department either.

Like Mikan, Izuku also starts out Quirkless. However, in the world of My Hero Academia, everyone has Quirks, and he's one of the rare few that doesn't have one, which led to him being bullied for most of his life. Unlike Mikan, who had powers all along, Izuku gets his powers from another source -- his idol, All Might. By the time he's accepted into UA, his powers have already been activated and Izuku himself has grown much stronger.

Things start steadily improving for Izuku from there. He makes friends for the first time and is no longer treated as an outcast. His power is a flashy strength Quirk that draws a lot of attention, which, combined with his intelligence, makes him one of the best students in his class. Izuku's promising high school career is an incredibly stark contrast to his lonelier days in middle school and primary school, where he was often told that his dreams of being a hero were impossible due to his lack of a Quirk.

Gifted Childhood Friends

Hotaru Imai and Katsuki Bakugo are first introduced as the protagonists' childhood friends. Like Mikan and Izuku, they also share a great deal in common. They're both considered genius prodigies that are always at the top of their class, posses powerful abilities, and they are both well-respected by their peers. But while Katsuki treats Izuku with violence and harsh words, Hotaru is simply colder in her treatment of Mikan, although it's clear from early on that she cares deeply for her friend, she's just not an inherently affectionate person.

Despite his constant bullying and belittling of Izuku, Katsuki is Izuku's biggest inspiration and driving force for becoming a hero. Despite his hot temper, he has all the best qualities that make a good Pro Hero. He has a powerful, flashy Quirk called Explosion that is as, well, explosive as it sounds. Bakugo is also incredibly strong, and intelligent. Despite their history together, Katsuki no longer seems to think of Izuku as his friend. But by the time they both enter UA, they're finally on more equal footing, to Katsuki's frustration.

Hotaru's mysterious and sudden transfer to Alice Academy is what drives Mikan to follow after her and eventually transfer to the school herself. She's Mikan's opposite in every way possible. She's in possession of the Invention Alice which allows her to build an assortment of useful devices from robots to weapons.

With her useful ability and natural intelligence, she's given a three-star ranking upon entering the school, earning the respect and admiration of her peers. This only serves to further highlight the gaps in the two girls' abilities and social standing, making it difficult for Mikan to rekindle their friendship upon her arrival.

The Fiery Star Pupil

Coincidentally, the most promising student in both series is a male character with fire-based powers. Natsume Hyuuga has the Alice of Fire which, as the name implies, allows him to conjure up fire at will. Doing so comes at the price of his own life span and is noted to be difficult to control. Shouto Todoroki has the Half-Hot Half-Cold Quirk, which allows him to conjure up fire on his left side and ice on his right side. They're both initially introduced as quiet and aloof characters that aren't very social but start to open up upon befriending the protagonists.

After Izuku befriends Shouto, the audience quickly learns that he isn't actually as aloof as he initially appeared. He's just very socially awkward, largely due in part to his father's strict upbringing. But it's clear that he's a very kind person, and he quickly becomes a close and loyal friend of Izuku's. While they still maintain some level of rivalry, it's a very friendly one in contrast to the more heated rivalry that Izuku has with Katsuki.

Natsume is initially one of the students that antagonizes Mikan the most once she enters Alice Academy. He's rude, brash, and violent, plus, because he has such a high social standing in class, he's able to get away with his awful treatment of Mikan. In terms of personality, he has much more in common with Katsuki than Shouto, especially in the way that he harasses the protagonist. His one saving grace is that he treats his best friend Ruka very well.

Alice Academy being a shojo manga, Mikan never forms any sort of rivalry with Natsume. Instead, she forms a budding romance with him, though she's largely oblivious to his feelings for most of the series. Even after Natsume falls in love with Mikan, in true tsundere fashion, he still calls her embarrassing nicknames and pokes fun at her. But by then, his teasing has less bite and is often done in an obvious attempt at flirting.

Two Very Different Super Hero Schools

While both schools exist to cultivate the powers and talent of young super-powered individuals, their approaches to it are very different. Because Alice Academy takes place in a world where superpowers are still not widespread, it operates mostly in secrecy. As such, the students must follow much stricter rules. They are never allowed outside of school grounds until they either graduate or lose their powers. The only exception is if they get the highest scores on their semester exams, wherein they're allowed to visit their families for one week.

Alice Academy is also an elevator school that goes all the way up to high school, meaning that a student could conceivably grow up on school grounds without ever seeing the outside world until they reach adulthood. Students are allowed to communicate with loved ones through letters, but those letters go through a very strict screening process before being sent in and out. So instead of fighting off super-powered villains, the students must instead contend with the borderline abusive powers that rule over their school.

Students move into dorms on campus at UA

UA also has very strict security, but it's more for the students' safety rather than an attempt at imprisoning them. This is because it exists in a world where superpowers are commonplace, so there's no need to be as secretive. Its sports festival is even televised live and during this event, civilians are permitted to enter the school grounds.

While the students must adhere to certain rules, they aren't nearly as strict as the rules present in Alice Academy. Even after the students are required to live in dorms, they are still permitted to stay in contact with their parents and leave school grounds whenever necessary. The overall learning environment is not nearly as stifling as a result.

In a sense, Alice Academy shows what the world of My Hero Academia could have looked like when quirks were first starting to develop. Despite all the similarities shared between the two series, both manage to show a unique side of the superhero genre from equally unique viewpoints.