My Hero Academia is a popular superhero shonen anime series that features an ensemble cast, most of them being costumed pro heroes or students of the U.A. High School. That includes the protagonist Izuku Midoriya and prominent classmates such as Shoto, Ochaco and Katsuki Bakugo, but My Hero Academia also makes time for characters like Minoru Mineta.
Overall, it's pretty easy to dislike Minoru, from his notorious pervy behavior to how easily he's overwhelmed in combat. Then again, every MHA character has at least a few good points, and Minoru wasn't left out. Despite everything, there are still a few things to like about Minoru, and he took certain steps to boost his likability throughout the story.
8 Minoru Got Decent Grades In Class
Mineta may not be a star student like Momo Yaoyorozu and Tenya Iida, but when midterms rolled around, Minoru Mineta managed to score in class 1-A's upper half all the same. He was never seen studying, but he still ranked 9th in the midterm, which is not bad at all.
Amusingly, the class' worst student, Denki Kaminari, found this bewildering and thought that goofy kids like Minoru are "supposed" to be bad students, but Minoru proved otherwise. He also took some pride in his grade, and for once, his cocky attitude was merited.
7 Minoru Pushed Himself To Train Despite The Pain
During the forest training camp sequence, all 20 class 1-A students worked to train their Quirks, from Fumikage Tokoyami wrangling with Dark Shadow in a cave to Mina Ashido repeatedly using her acid on a rock wall. Minoru's training was straightforward, but also rather painful.
Minoru repeatedly plucked sticky spheres from his head to push his Pop-Off Quirk to the max, and get used to repeated use. Minoru was bleeding and in clear agony, but he didn't stop, because he knew his duty as a student. He hasn't gone Plus Ultra yet, but at least he can endure harsh Quirk training.
6 Minoru Outwitted Midnight
At one point, class 1-A's students had to fight their teachers in 2-vs-1 battles, such as Izuku's desperate fight with Bakugo against All Might. Minoru, meanwhile, was teamed up with Hanta Sero against the R-rated hero Midnight, and Sero soon fell to Midnight's sleep-inducing Quirk.
Minoru had his back to the wall, but he overcame his own fear and devised a solution. He used a piece of Sero's tape to block his nose and mouth to counter Midnight's Quirk, then used his abilities to trap Midnight in place and rush to the exit with the dozing Sero. It was an impressive surprise victory.
5 Minoru Did His Part For The School Festival
Minoru wasn't the star of class 1-A's rock concert, but he did his part without complaining, and that's all anyone can ask of him. Minoru usually tried to make everything about himself, but he set those feeling aside to humbly become a part of something larger than himself – the show.
Minoru gladly dressed up in his yellow and white outfit and took part in the onstage dance routine, perhaps after learning a few lessons from Mina Ashido, who is an expert dancer. Minoru must have had a great time during the concert, and he even kept his hands to himself for once.
4 Minoru Cooperated With Tsuyu & Mezo Shoji
Mineta isn't always the best team player, but he has surprised MHA fans a few times in that regard. A good example was the UA sports festival, when Minoru was on his best behavior while fighting alongside Tsuyu Asui and the six-armed Mezo Shoji in the cavalry event.
Mineta has an unfortunate habit of harassing the girls in his class, but not this time. Minoru and Tsuyu actually made a great team here, using Mezo's arms as cover while using their Quirks to slow down Izuku's team. Minoru's spheres even forced Ochaco to break one of her high-tech boots to escape, which hurt Izuku's team's mobility.
3 Minoru Helped Defeat Neito Monoma's Team
During the joint training story arc, classes 1-A and 1-B finally fought for real, and Minoru Mineta made sure to do this part. In the final match, Minoru was teamed up with Izuku, Mina and Ochaco, and while Izuku took on Hitoshi Shinso, Minoru helped the girls take on the rest of class 1-B's team in fierce combat.
Minoru made good use of his Pop-Off Quirk and helped his teammates trap Yui Kodai and Reiko Yanagi, which in turn allowed the three students to capture their opponent and contribute to the team's victory. After all, Minoru's Pop-Off Quirk is great for capturing targets, even if it does no damage.
2 Minoru Declared His Love Of Izuku Midoriya
It's not 100% clear what exactly Minoru Mineta meant when he told Izuku "I loved you!" in recent My Hero Academia chapters, but it can only be a positive thing. By then, Izuku was determined to fight all the villains himself, so his classmates rushed over to help. They had to engage Izuku in combat to make him listen to them.
Minoru, of all people, made a heartfelt emotional appeal to Izuku when he said "I loved you." Minoru made his intense fondness for Izuku clear, urgently hoping to convince the beloved Izuku to return home to UA and accept his classmates as allies. Minoru was definitely overdue to say something wholesome like that.
1 Mineta Used His Quirk Generously In The Provisional Hero License Exam
Minoru tended to impress My Hero Academia fans with his actions rather than his dialogue or emotions, since his personality isn't that great even in the best of times. Despite panicking in almost every battle, Minoru repeatedly proved himself useful in these scenes, and he knows exactly how to contribute to the team's effort.
An example of this was during the provisional license exam, when class 1-A reunited to take on their many foes. Minoru impressed everyone when he did his part, hurling his Pop-Off Quirk everywhere to immobilize his many enemies and buy his classmates more time to act. His Quirk is bigger and better than ever.