My Hero Academia fandom at war over season 7 opening

My Hero Academia has always been famous for its huge and very vocal fanbase. In recent years, the fanbase has repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction about the drop in animation quality of the anime. Season 7 of the anime has now started airing, along with a new opening that has become the centerpiece of fan discourse.

Many fans have mentioned how the tone and overall vibe of the new opening song do not match the series at all. Many others have expressed how stiff and soulless the animation in the anime opening looks.

Disclaimer- This article contains minor spoilers for the My Hero Academia series.

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My Hero Academia season 7 opening has divided the fandom

My Hero Academia has continued to be the centerpiece of conflict due to its astronomical popularity along with its huge and very vocal fanbase. In recent years, the fandom has been divided into sections that believe the anime and its production, along with its overall quality, have gone downhill, while many others believe that the reaction and the drop in quality are exaggerated.

The anime is being animated by Studio Bones, and there has been a consistent rise in complaints regarding the animation quality. The latest season just made its debut, with the first episode being directed by Naomi Nakayama. Although the episode was appreciated and praised by every single My Hero Academia fan, the opening managed to upset quite a few.

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How fans reacted to the new opening

Although the reaction of the fandom is almost equally divided between hating the new opening and liking it, many have strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with the new opening.

"Sad how since the rise of popularity ''sakuga'' I feel that this has become the only artistic validation by shonen fans, but whatever beautiful opening and it matches the atmosphere of the music and the introspective mood of this beginning of the arc," One fan wrote.

Many fans also mentioned how the new opening itself has really good animation, spread across different sequences. But the recent rise in animation quality has made fans underappreciate a somewhat normal quality.

Few fans mentioned the feeling of mismatch between the scenes, sounds and the overall composition of the opening sequence, making the whole thing feel unfinished.

"This stinks. The chorus was alright but the visuals don’t fit the speed of the music for the most part and are quite boring," one fan wrote.

Many fans also mentioned how the song itself, along with a few opening scenes, matches the overall tone of the current story, but the mix of the different scenes and the music makes it feel incohesive and highlights the lack of a proper direction.

Star and Stripes as shown in the anime (Image via Studio Bones)

Few fans took the opportunity to express how the atmosphere, color palette, and tone shown in the anime opening are better compared to the actual episodes.

"MHA animators if they actually locked tf in, seriously why couldnt they animate the show like this, instead we got that sky, the most bland color pallete and honestly subpar animation since season 5," another fan said.

This was said as a critique of the bad animation quality of the previous My Hero Academia seasons.

Fans also mentioned how Studio Bones could've improved the quality of the previous seasons with a simple change in colors.

Star and Stripes confronting Shigaraki as shown in the anime (Image via Studio Bones)

Another fan used this opportunity to call out the forced hatred towards the series:

"I'm convinced that all of Twitter share the same hive mind. Don't let these bums convince you that this opening isn't good," the fan wrote.

The fan simply went on to mention how the new anime opening is perfect for the story and the plot lines that will be explored in season 7. Other fans also mentioned how all of the criticism was an exaggeration.