I bemoaned Kohei Horikoshi’s lack of success. Oumagadoki Zoo was a manga that had a solid 5 volume run, and once Barrage hit English Weekly Shonen Jump, I was thinking the sky’s the limit. That’s why I blogged it.
…It ended in 16 chapters.
Not everyone can trot out a One Piece or Naruto and have their first work hit it big. Ever heard of Kiben Gakuha, Yotsuya Senpai no Kaidan? That series lasted 3 volumes in WSJ Japan. That mangaka, Haruichi Furudate, is working on Haikyuu. People I know bemoaned what happened to Double Arts, which was canned and only lasted 3 volumes. The author, Naoshi Komi, is working on Nisekoi.
A “Quirk” is what people call those who start displaying extraordinary powers. With this quirk came two trade-offs: a rise in crime, and an opportunity for those with quirks to become heroes.
Mr. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya represents the 20% percent of humans on Earth: zero quirk, and no hope of becoming a hero because he has TWO joints in the pinky toe. That’s why he’s laughed at when he admits he wants to attend the school of heroes, U.A High. Combined with being bullied by his childhood “rival” Katsuki Bakugo, and getting told by the #1 hero, All Might, to give up on being a hero, he’s crushed.
That is, until he tries to save the life of his rival — that changes Izuku’s future.
My Hero Academia is standard shounen, but takes advantage of that by being a super hero manga. All Might’s character design is literally different from everyone else’s (which makes it hilarious), and aside from one issue I’ll explain shortly, the art is fun and works for the setting. When there’s a lot of characters on the screen, that’s to Horikoshi’s advantage.
My current problem stems from Horikoshi desperately trying to convey Izuru’s emotions or how far gone Katsuki is in his hatred of Izuru in the artwork. To me, both come off as trying too hard.
I need context for Katsuki’s absolute hatred of Izuru, or his callousness towards others in general. In the manga there’s a profile page of Katsuki, and Horikoshi explains that his original personality was the “natural-born genius who would inadvertently insult people”.
…Hearing that description, I’m glad he changed him. But with little idea of what even drives his motivations, I can’t get behind this guy. And Horikoshi’s gonna try and get us to understand Katsuki’s motivations. Good luck with that.
The not giving up thing is valid. Izuru has zero going for him except for his love of superheroes and him believing he can become a hero. That turns out to be his only advantage as that impresses All Might enough to reveal his greatest secret, and now he really can become a hero. It’s going to be quite interesting to see where the series goes from here, and how Horikoshi develops him and the supporting cast.
