My Hero Academia's narrative concept is ruined by its plot

Modified Oct 23, 2024 08:30 GMT

My Hero Academia has a issue between its concept and plot (Image via Bones). — My Hero Academia has a issue between its concept and plot (Image via Bones)

My Hero Academia begins its story by presenting a society where most people have superpowers, and how jobs, interactions, education, and a lot more have been shaped by those elements. The story introduces Tomura Shigaraki and All For One earlier in the manga, establishing the conflict between these two characters, and the protagonist, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya— the legacy of the One For All Quirk— which could be perceived as somewhat generic.

Manga and anime are no strangers to legacy battles and overarching villains who dominate the plot, and My Hero Academia is no different. However, the narrative concept of a society shaped by superpowers and how different it has become from normal human civilization is something that could have been more interesting to explore, considering that author Kohei Horikoshi did attempt to tackle those topics at times in the manga.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion explained here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Explaining why original narrative concept of My Hero Academia was more unique and interesting than its actual plot

Shigaraki and All For One's plot perhaps undermined the story (Image via Bones)

The original concept for the series, which was focused on a society shaped by heroes and people having superpowers, could have been a very interesting story to explore and develop. The initial chapters, introducing a Quirkless protagonist, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, also showed key elements of how people without powers are treated and the consequences of said treatment.

However, the actual plot of the series is a bit more traditional as it focuses on an evil overlord in All For One and an avatar of chaos in Tomura Shigaraki, both being characters defined by their Quirks to some degree. They are also extreme anomalies and All For One becomes such a major driving force in the story that the social elements of the concept become less relevant.

There is no denying that author Kohei Horikoshi presented a world that had a lot of variety and potential for interesting ideas, but the epic of One For All users going against All For One took control of the overarching narrative.

This is something that also affects certain characters, with the evil overlord being the source of almost everything wrong with the world, and Deku, the protagonist, having too much of a "chosen one" role.

More details worth considering

Deku probably would have benefitted from this direction (Image via Bones)

A version of My Hero Academia without the One For All legacy element probably would have helped Deku's characterization. Instead of oftentimes being portrayed as simply the wielder of a legendary power, his goals of becoming a hero and trying to overcome his own insecurities would have got a much-needed focus, helping in his development.

There is also a good chance that this version of the series would have had a much more slice-of-life approach that could have helped some characters. It has been mentioned that this manga has a lot of characters, and several of them would have benefitted from this approach since there could be more chapters dedicated to them and their relationships with each other.

Final thoughts

Every reader or viewer is going to have a different opinion of what My Hero Academia should be, but there is no denying that a greater focus on hero society would have been a great read. Moreover, it could have benefitted a lot of different characters instead of becoming a superhero epic.

Related articles

Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay