While My Hero Academia now has more than 100 episodes and three feature films under its belt, it’s far from a perfect series. My Hero Academia continues to chronicle the growth of Izuku “Deku” Midoriya and his fellow budding heroes-in-training, but the stakes have grown bigger with each passing season.
The past decade has been full of new anime series that have completely taken over the fandom, but few can compete with the meteoric rise of Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. Coming around at the perfect time, the entertaining shonen series leans into superhero staples for a creative riff on the combative genre. However, certain decisions have been made over the course of the series’ run that continue to haunt the property.
10 Midoriya Obtains A Quirk Too Quickly
My Hero Academia explains to its audience that more than 80% of the world’s population is in possession of superpowered Quirks. There’s some compelling conflict in the first episode as Midoriya idolizes All Might and the other Pro Heroes despite how he lacks any Quirk of his own.
The anime wastes no time before All Might transfers his Quirk over to Midoriya and makes him his heir. Midoriya’s growing control over his One For All Quirk is consistently entertaining and feeds into his character arc, but there’s greater drama to be had from his early feelings of helplessness and inferiority.
9 The Emphasis On Quirks For Heroism
The society in My Hero Academia takes great strides to govern its superpowered individuals so that some sort of order can be maintained. There’s an infrastructure put in place to pump out new heroes into the world, though it’s not always a logical process.
Society in My Hero Academia forces those with Quirks to apply themselves as heroes and turn to combat or rescue. This is a very limited application for superpowers. Those with Quirks could use their powers in all kinds of ways that benefit society without focusing on heroics.
8 Not Enough Attention Paid To The Class 1-B And 1-C Heroes
The early seasons of My Hero Academia almost exclusively focus on the ins and outs of U.A. High as Midoriya and the next generation of heroes prepare themselves to face the League of Villains. Class 1-A is made up of U.A. High’s most prestigious prospects, but there are also dozens of important students in Class 1-B and Class 1-C.
These unique characters are essentially ignored except during school-wide competitions like the Sports Festival or the Joint Training Competition. Class 1-B and 1-C characters stand out in these showcases, but they lack genuine depth because of how they're always overlooked.
7 The Pointless Existence Of Quirk Erasure And Quirk Stealing
For most of the characters in My Hero Academia, their respective Quirks are one of the most important things in their lives. My Hero Academia introduces the terrible possibility of a character losing their Quirks, either through special bullets or through volatile powers that allow individuals to steal and store the Quirks of others.
Characters like Mirio Togata have their Quirks erased and must learn how to be a hero without their standard powers. However, the series backpedals on this with Eri’s Rewind Quirk, which can reverse this problem. There are also several villains who can steal Quirks, which makes this danger more generic.
6 All For One Isn't Eliminated And Keeps Coming Back
It’s common for many anime and superhero series to incarcerate their major villains rather than execute them and permanently take them out of the picture. Admittedly, My Hero Academia isn’t averse to deaths, but they haven’t been able to say goodbye to one of their earliest foes, All For One.
All For One is held in Tartarus, only to later launch a bold escape where he commandeers Shigaraki’s body for his own evil purposes. It feels like Shigaraki could evolve without All For One still being in the picture and My Hero Academia can bravely look forward instead of clinging to its past.
5 The Cast Is Too Big And Continues To Grow Bigger
There are such diverse and exciting Quirks to explore in My Hero Academia that more characters with fresh abilities keep getting introduced. There are hundreds of important superpowered individuals in My Hero Academia, which has gradually grown more daunting than exciting.
My Hero Academia narrows in on such a select group of heroes that many worthwhile characters get turned into fleeting background figures. Greater restraint and fleshing out the existing characters before turning to fresh faces would do My Hero Academia a lot of good.
4 The Mystery That Surrounds Midoriya's Father
Legacy and family are important themes in many anime series. Much of My Hero Academia is focused on the surrogate family that Midoriya builds for himself at U.A. High, but it's not as if he's an orphan. Brief glimpses of Midoriya's home life are seen, which includes a protective mother and absentee father.
The question of who Midoriya's father is and what happened to him isn't a central mystery to the series, but it's a loose thread that's occasionally distracting. It doesn't seem as if this will amount to anything major, so continually holding it over the audience's heads can come across as contrived.
3 The Introduction Of The Hero Billboard Chart JP
Any series that's obsessed over strength will indulge in data that explains exactly where everyone ranks against each other. Firm information is appreciated, but it silences debates over power scaling and sometimes the results just don't make sense.
My Hero Academia features the Hero Billboard Chart JP, where the Hero Public Safety Commission ranks the top Pro Heroes. These results don't seem to serve much of a purpose other than to frustrate fans. Some of the top-ranked heroes haven't even received showcases in the series.
2 Some Of The Biggest Moments Are Relegated To The Movies
It's not unusual for the biggest anime to celebrate their success with feature films. My Hero Academia has put out three movies by the end of its fifth season. The first film, Two Heroes, is meant to be a standalone story that doesn't alter the greater scope of the series.
However, the second movie, Heroes Rising, is set far in the series' future and depicts the big climax between Midoriya and Bakugo. Similar heights are experienced in the next film, which has left the anime's audience divided on whether these movies are canon and mandatory viewing.
1 Midoriya’s Female Friends Are Pushed To The Sidelines
Part of the fun of the first season of My Hero Academia involves meeting all of the new friends that Midoriya makes as he enrolls at U.A. High. Midoriya is naturally affable and students like Uraraka, Asui, and Iida become some of his earliest allies.
Midoriya slowly gets more focused on improving his Quirk and becoming the next Number One Pro Hero, which puts him more on Bakugo and Todoroki's level. It’s disappointing that some of Midoriya’s first friends feel like cameos in the series' later seasons. Midoriya never turns his back on them, but the friendship feels increasingly strained.