Spoiler-Free Anime Review:
My Hero Academia Season 3
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Intro
Since My Hero Academia is currently my favorite anime, there is no big surprise it is rated high. I am willing to acknowledge its flaws, but these are few. It has so many strong points in its favor! I watched it twice, once with my siblings subbed and once with my dad dubbed.
Warning! Although there are no spoilers for Season 3, there are some spoilers for earlier seasons.
Background
My Hero Academia Season 3 was released in 2018. It was produced by the studio Bones and directed by Kenji Nagasaki. The plot is based on the graphic novels by Kōhei Horikoshi.
You can watch My Hero Academia on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu.
Summary
UA students participate in the forest lodge trip, work on their ultimate moves, decorate dorm rooms, and enroll in the provisional licensing exam.
Pros
- Recap episode that also adds to the story, catching newcomers up to speed
- The relationship between Kirishima and Bakugo is sweet
- Creative quirks
- Dangerous and effective villains
- Backstory of Tomura Shigaraki
- New and unique characters
- Attractive intros and outro
- Catchy music
- Dorm room decorating is hilarious and brilliant
- Actual consequences for dangerous decisions
- Creating ultimate moves is really cool
- The provisional licensing exam is awesome
- Original art style
Cons
- Mineta being a typical creep and harassing girls
- Mei Hatsume is uncomfortably touchy with the guys, in what is probably unintentional harassment
- The second outro is kind of boring and uncreative
Observations
- How did Ashido manage to high-five Hagakure (Invisible Girl)?
- Bakugo has cooking skills…also, he’s totally a nerd!
Review
Recap
The first episode is a recap of what has happened so far and about the various quirks of the characters. Don’t skip it–it’s actually a funny episode with a swim competition and plenty of pool antics.
Relationships
Kirishima puts his elbow on Bakugo’s shoulder, and Bakugo does not completely flip out. That’s…amazing. It’s nice to see Bakugo on equal footing with Kirishima rather than him being like an underling.
Ochaco’s crush on Deku and his feelings toward her is a continued theme, but it remains true that romance is something the show doesn’t focus much on.
Quirks
There are plenty of interesting quirks involving blood, enhanced muscles, creating monsters from the earth, etc.
Seiji Shishikura has a particularly disturbing and effective quirk that he uses during the provisional licensing exam.
There are also old quirks that are worth noting for their creativity: such as explosive sweat, acid, engines on calves, frog abilities, and dark shadow.
Characters
My Hero Academia always has a ton of characters. Luckily for us, they all have their qualities that make them interesting, even the ones that don’t get as much screen time.
This season adds some new characters who are just as entertaining as the ones that have become so familiar.
The Wild, Wild Pussycats are a team of superheroes who have formidable quirks and spunky personalities.
Kota Izumi is a five-year-old kid who hates superheroes. He is not thrilled to meet the UA gang. Oddly when I first saw him I thought he was just a short man, and was surprised that he was a little kid instead. He is under the care of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
We finally get to meet Bakugo’s parents. The way that his mom acts kinda hints at why he is so irate all the time. His upbringing undoubtedly sheds light on his current behavior.
Muscular is a villain we get to meet in Season 3, along with a whole team of members of the League of Villains.
It is worthwhile to note that we start getting backstories about the villains in Season 3. For instance, there is a lot of detail about Twice’s backstory. He’s one of my favorite villains.
In the Provisional Hero License Exam arc, we get introduced to members of different schools. These two from Shiketsu High School probably interact with Class 1-A the most.
Camie Utsushimi is on the left, and she has a kind of ditsy personality and does things that make other characters uncomfortable.
Inasa Yoarashi is on the right. He has a powerful quirk that makes him a match for Shoto Todoroki when it comes to power. He has an intense rivalry with Todoroki.
My favorite characters introduced this season are the Big Three. From left to right that’s Mirio Togata, Nejire Hado, and Tamaki Amajiki. They are all ridiculously powerful and have creative quirks. These guys are introduced now, but where they really get to shine is Season 4.
Plot
From fighting villains and testing for licenses to decorating dorm rooms, the plot keeps you interested from beginning to end. It throws in plenty of character development and backstories. I was hooked, and I don’t doubt you will be too if you enjoyed previous seasons.
Intros and Outros
The first intro shows many of the pro heroes and villains, as well as showing the students in action. The song is upbeat, quirky, and fitting for the show – Odd Future by Uverworld.
The first outro shows a bunch of sketches of characters. It’s actually really fun and attractive, using comic book panels in many sections. The art style is beautiful and it includes references to things such as pez dispensers. It features the song Update by miwa.
Btw, don’t click on the links to the second intro and outro below if you don’t want spoilers.
The second intro is basically showing shots of the Provisional Hero License Exam, introducing the characters in pictures, and is just fun. Seeing Ms. Joke flirt with Aizawa is hilarious. I also like that they put Invisible Girl in the spotlight for the final image because she is character that is usually not focused on. There is an odd scene with a pink-haired character who never shows up in the show, but apparently they were from a canceled filler. This intro features the song Make My Story by Lenny code fiction.
The second outro is terribly boring and shows Midoriya walking slowly and rigidly, and All-Might walking upside down. It’s pretty awful. It features the song Long Hope Philia by Masaki Suda.
Music
Below are all the full songs from the outros and intros–my favorite of these is Odd Future and my least favorite is Long Hope Filia. These are the music videos, so they don’t show the My Hero Academia characters.
- Odd Future by Uverworld – Kind of odd music video with a horse and dancer, and the whole scene turning red like a murder scene occasionally. My 10th favorite anime song.
- Update by miwa – This really is a great song in its entirety and the music video looks kind of like a school performance. It doesn’t have anywhere near as many views as the other songs chosen for My Hero Academia, which is a shame.
- Make My Story by Lenny Code Fiction – the music video is a bunch of dudes dancing and singing in a field with a bunch of spotlights. The song is catchy.
- Long Hope Philia by Masaki Suda – Not one of my favorite songs, but not bad either. The music video shows a sleeping man in a chair, a bunch of exhausted looking people shambling about, and Japanese phrases being written on various surfaces. I got tired just watching those people looking tired, and the music video is confusing, but that’s probably because I don’t know Japanese.
Art Style
The animation was done by Studio Bones, which also did the style of Fullmetal Alchemist, another one of my favorite anime.
The style is different from Fullmetal Alchemist because it uses bold, bright colors and deep shadows for contrast. The pupils of characters are much smaller than in most anime.
Harassment
Hatsume is somewhat problematic because she is super touchy with guys even though they are clearly uncomfortable. Above is Hatsume, having fallen on Midoriya. This was an accident, but she seems strangely happy about it even though Midoriya is horrified. She’s in no big hurry to get off either.
This is not as bad as Mineta, who continuously objectifies girls and women. For instance, he goes to great lengths to see the girls naked while they are bathing. The other characters chastise him and acknowledge that he is doing wrong, but the whole thing is still portrayed as a joke.
Observations
Not sure how Ashido managed to high five Invisible Girl perfectly. In the same battle, even supporting characters make themselves useful, which I appreciate. It wasn’t just Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya doing all the hard work.
We learn that Bakugo can cook in this season, which is kind of surprising since he has zero patience for most things. Furthermore, it is shown that Bakugo has the qualities of a stereotypical nerd–getting high grades, going to bed early…which is ironic considering he always calls Midoriya “you damn nerd.”
Conclusion
Watch this anime. It’s great. Obviously check out the first two seasons first, but keep in mind that the seasons get progressively better. At least up to Season 4. While I’m writing this, part of Season 5 is out, but I’m reserving judgment on that until the season finale.
I would recommend this anime for ages 13 and up.
Links
Outros and Intros
Full Songs
The Queer Schizophrenic 