Boku no hero academia is rapidly becoming. (SPOILER WARNING FOR BNHA)
shounen jump's hottest title ,well I mean
it's still has a way to go before it catches up to One Piece
look at Super Eyepatch Wolf's video on the subject
but when it comes to the magazine
that basically defines what manga is
second place isn't bad ...right?
... well the characters in hero aca
might disagree with that notion
in one way or another, all of the series key players
are aiming to stand out
and it's three main rivals
are all vying to be number one
but they don't just want to reach first place
because it's first place
they want to do so as a way of asserting
their own strength and independence
a running theme throughout the series
is the idea of standing on your own two feet
and winning through your own power
the kids at UA high are taught
time and again that in order to succeed
they need to outdo their peers and even their friends
compare this to the old second place
series in shone jump, Naruto
Naruto's titular protagonist
also strives to prove himself by becoming number one
more specifically he seeks to become the ninja president, the Hokage
but in his journey to achieve this goal,
he learns ,time and again
that he can't do it on his own
Naruto's whole arc is about learning
that he needs the support of other people
to succeed
and then attempting to pass that lesson along
to his estranged friend Saskue
he and everyone around him
grow by learning to trust each other
whereas the series's villains
are mainly people who seek to
"carve their own path"
"define their own destiny" or
selfish use other to their own ends
and about half the time Naruto reaches them with his message of friendship too
making them see the error of their ways
or even rejoin society as product citizens
despite being notorious psychopaths and mass murders
the power of friendship conquers all
and apparently gives you a total acquittal in a court of law
friendship in hero aca in ,meanwhile is
is more of a motivator
the academy's hero help each other when
they team up sure,
but more than that they inspire each other
to try harder anddo better
just about everyone in Deku's class
aims to beat someone else in that class
almost all of them want to beat Deku
and that drive to win is what makes them A-class hero
in one of the early episodes of season two
we see this factor played in contrast
with the students of class B
who try to lose on purpose in the preliminary rounds
of the Sport's festival
in order to give themselves an advantage
in the cavalry battle
Ultimately, their clever strategy
is overcome by by Bakugo's simple and unquenchable
thirst for victory
the show posites
that a true hero always aims for the top
even when it seemingly hurts his chances
none of the heros in class-A would Ever settle for mediocrity
well, expect maybe Mineta
who is depicted as a shameless leech
and even goes so far as to ride on Momo's back
throughout the obstacle course
in the current arc
but Mineta is almost Always painted in a negative light
and his character arc seems to largely involve
again, learning to stand on his own merits
as a true hero
and stop being such a scumbag
if you've seen the best Pixar movie ever, the incredibiles
then you know the master plan of the main villain
Syndrome,
is to get revenge on the supers by
selling superpowers to everyone
because " when everyone's super
*evil laugh*
...no one will be"
this villainous plot which seeks to rob the superiority
of the rightfully superior
and distribute it to the masses
has caused many to peg the Incredibiles
as Libertarian propoganda
which is ABsolutely ridiculous
if the Incredibiles is anything 'arian'
It's Utilitarian
the supers of incredibles' universe
don't seek to rule or amass power and wealth
they seek to serve
their gifts give them a purpose, being heros
and the whole plot of the film revolves around
putting them back in the role they were always meant to fill
Some people were meant to do desk work
and Bob Parr is not one of them
I mean, the Villain of the movie is a
self-made billionaire with a private island
which he bought with the results of his own hard work and talent
whereas the inherently gifted heros are all
upper-middle class everymen and
who are perfectly happy leading normal lives
when they're not off saving the world
A libertarian superhero story
would be all about characters using their powers
to purse wealth and fame
oh
Hey there hero aca
My hero academia presents us
with the very world that Syndrome envisioned
everyone is super
but instead of that putting them on an equal playing field
some are inherently more super than others
and that's not just a matter of quirk disparity
although, yeah the Bakugos of the world do have a bit of an advantage
over the Minetas but , no
the that thing we see set hero apart
from other heros ,from the common folk and from villains
is their drive to succeed
their willpower
their desire to be better than others
and than their current selves
In hero aca's world, the people who don't have this drive
will always lost to the people who do
and the people who do ,they get rich
they become celebrities
hell , we see both things happen
right from the start of the show
with the up and coming hero Mount Lady
the world's greatest superheros also run the world
and most of Class-A
is motivated in one way or another
by the success that being a hero can bring them
even best girl Uraraka's main motivation
is to get rich
all be it so that she can support her poor family
So, is hero aca a piece of Libertarian propaganda
not really, because that reading ignores the most important people in the story
ALL MIGHT and Deku
Deku doesn't want to be a hero
for money or glory
he just wants to save people
he wants to be seen as a symbol of justice
yeah, but only so that he can
inspire other people the same way ALL MIGHT inspired him
and seeing this pure desire to do good
in Deku is what motivates ALL MIGHT
to pass on One for all to his new protégé
the greed and vanity of the hero in this world
is painted as a bad thing
something in need of reform
many of the series' villains oppose the sociable structure
and while they are villains
the manga posits for people like the Hero Killer Stain
it's their methods that are at fault, not their motivations
even as early into the story as we are now
selfish hero -like todoroki's father endeavour-
are being painted as reprehensible people
whose attitudes are in need of severe correction
Deku's ultimate purpose
seems like it may be to remind the world what the true role of a hero is
to help others
the key difference between this and Naruto
is that hero aca says they should do it with their own strength
this is something that Bakago, Todoroki, Ida and
almost all of their classmates strive to do
especially Deku
who constantly talks about how he needs to tame One For All
and make it his own power
and I mean, this is kinda obvious
but the theme of the story is right their in the name of his quirk
One For All
One person, using their strength to help everyone else
it's what both ALL MIGHT and Deku are all about
but then consider, oh by the way MANGA SPOILERS INCOMING
consider the head of the league of villains
named for his possession of the inverse quirk All For One
a power which lets him steal the strength of others
and use it as his own
or distribute as he sees fit
which , man there are a lot of parallels between him and the boss of C.L.A.W
from mob pyscho now that I think about it
but I'm getting distracted here, All For One
is a leech who has amassed power by stealing the talents of others
if this were a thinly veiled randien metaphor he'd represent the government
but instead the show paints him as a criminal
through and through
Either way though, he's unquestionable a big bad
which puts hero aca in stark constrast with Naruto
Kakashi Hatake is one of Naruto's main heros
and his whole thing is stealing other ninjas' techniques
He was given his sharingan by Obito
and he uses it to copy ninjutsu from basically everyone else
and all of the other ninjas spend their time
learning new techniques from their teachers
not inventing their own, the only people who really ever invent new jutsu
are some of the villains
they might put unique spins on those skills
but they aren't inherently their own skills
hell, even Naruto's greatest strength, his chakra, isn't his own
it's something that he borrows from the nine-tailed fox
in the hero aca universe, meanwhile
a person's quirk is a big part of their identity
characters gain power by training and
coming up with their own techniques
who they are, what they achieve and how they're able to achieve it
are all inextricably intertwined
you can see this clearly in their unique hero outfits
which are custom-designed to their specifications
to both enhance their powers
and convey what they're all about
now despite these differences, the shows' philosophies
aren't necessarily incompatible
hero aca is a lot more capitalistic and fuelled by individualism
but that's largely a result of its thematic connection to
to American comics
at its core you'll find very Japanese values
regarding ones obligations to society
notations that also drive the plot of Naruto
if I were to boil down the two series to simple aphorisms
Naruto is all about
finding the strength to let others help you
while hero aca is all about
cultivating the strength to help others
both series celebrate cooperation
and both series celebrate individual contributions to group efforts
they just approach these ideas
from opposite starting points
but those differences are interesting because
they might highlight a shift
in what Japanese youth value
Naruto's popularity has wained
while hero aca has exploded
a story all about working with a group for the good of the group
has been superseded by one
all about standing out from the crowd
through your own efforts
about doing your best and dragging the rest
of society up to your level in the process
maybe this is a result of the increasing
cross-contamination of ideas from the West
especially the Marvel movies
maybe hero aca is just cathartic
for kids who are stuck in the grind of
doing well in school so that they can do well
in the next level of school so that
they can have a good job when they graduate
and not become homeless
or maybe it's just that superheros are cooler than ninjas
it's hard to say
but it's interesting to think about
and it's exciting to imagine what this
new-ish trend in Japanese storytelling
marked by megahit series like hero aca and One punch man
could bring about next
and discusses it makes for a fine clickbaitiy headline
for what that's worth
tell me what you think about
the parallels between these two mammoth series
in the comments below
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