My Hero Academia has been a hit since its release in 2016 – the world building in the show is creative and unique. Unfortunately, there are just as many flaws as there are perks. Despite its popularity, My Hero Academia has some glaring problems that have yet to be addressed.
Things such as too much time being spent on particular characters or seemingly immortal characters plague the show. This goes without mentioning that many of the most interesting characters get pushed to the sidelines. My Hero Academia has so much it could fix and explore, but these avenues have yet to be blazed.
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9 Everyone’s Hatred Of Heroes
One of the more depressing phenomenon in My Hero Academia is how easily everyone loses faith in heroes once All Might is gone. The regular citizens turn on the heroes so quickly that their hatred makes the heroes truly seem like villains.
The Pro Heroes and heroes in training who risk their lives every day for everyone’s safety are treated like pariahs as everyone blames them for villain attacks. The unfortunate truth is that heroes are not infallible, but they are also not responsible for the damage done by villains. Seeing disheartened, seasoned heroes is heartbreaking and seems unnecessarily cruel that it happened so quickly.
8 Too Much Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki
Izuku Midoriya may be the main character, but with such a pantheon of characters to develop, it seems impractical for more than ninety percent of the story to focus on only three characters. Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki have more screen time than even a lot of the villains.
The three young men have a lot to offer the story. Bakugo especially has a great character arc that completely changes the tale. However, his arc and his training sessions with Midoriya and Todoroki sideline a lot of the other characters who would be just as compelling to watch. The trio of boys should be highlighted, but not at the expense of all the other characters.
7 A Lack Of Nuanced Villains
My Hero Academia has a plethora of villains. Many of them could be ranked as the most despicable villains in anime. There are some nuanced evildoers, such as Stain and Twice (and one could argue, Toga), but the majority of them are sinister individuals who just want to watch the world burn.
Whenever the show seems to have a complex villain on its hands, the writers do away with them as quickly as possible. For Stain, they locked him away, and they killed Twice in the War Arc. Even Lady Nagant, who becomes a villain to go against corrupt heroes, is nearly destroyed. Meanwhile, all the other featured villains are one-note bad guys who only care about power and the destruction of society.
6 Teens Fighting Adult Battles
My Hero Academia is primarily a show about teenagers training and hoping to be great heroes someday. They aren’t just teenagers, but high school freshman just starting their hero education. Despite this fact , Class 1-A regularly sees combat. Many of the young characters are on the frontline of battle while the actual adult Pro Heroes fight unseen enemies offscreen.
For a show that constantly talks about how the children need to be protected, there are many times when the students are not only encouraged but are also left alone to fight some of Japan’s most dangerous villains. Midoriya’s vigilante phase is even supported by All Might, Best Jeanist, and Hawks. Fortunately for the adults, the teenagers are exceptionally talented, but it seems unrealistically dangerous that they do little to try to stop the kids from fighting in such dangerous battles when they haven’t even completed a year of training.
5 The Movies Aren't Cannon
My Hero Academia’s popularity has spawned three movies with rumors of a fourth. Each film focuses on Izuku Midoriya and his classmates in new adventures both abroad and at home. The movies present new friends and new threats who would entirely change the show. Sadly, the movies are written to be stand-alone stories that don’t tie into the main plot of the anime.
This unfortunate fact sidelines a lot of great characters and important development for the main cast. Bakugo in particular had a completely game-changing storyline in the second movie that fans still talk about today. However, the writers retconned everything, leaving a lot of interesting storybeats and people to fall into oblivion.
4 Endeavor Doesn't Need To Be Redeemed
Endeavor is a contentious character, to say the least. To the majority of Japan, he is a hero who gets the job done, but to his family, he is the ultimate villain. My Hero Academia spends a lot of time focusing on Endeavor and his journey to make up for his mistakes.
Unfortunately, In doing so, the story seems to diminish his actions and tries to sneak in how two of his children want to forgive him and move on. So much of the show is spent trying to humanize Endeavor and show that he is remorseful, but his whole redemption arc seems entirely unearned when he is not held accountable for his crimes.
3 Uraraka’s Character Arc
Ochaco Uraraka is one of the many overlooked characters in My Hero Academia. However, her particular arc is one of the worst character assassinations in the show. In the first season, Uraraka showed a lot of promise as a rising hero. She was both kind and determined. She also seemed to be developing feelings for Midoriya, but her ultimate goal was to become a hero. Sadly, somewhere down the line, Uraraka’s motivations shifted from wanting to help her parents to wanting to impress Midoriya.
Most of Uraraka’s actions and choices revolve around Midoriya. She has no agency other than her connection to him and even makes a big deal out of “putting aside her feelings” so that she can be a better hero. Uraraka’s entire character is consumed by its relation to Midoriya, which makes her seem like she is incapable of thinking about or fighting for anyone else. Even her biggest nemesis, Toga is her enemy because of their shared romantic feelings for Midoriya.
2 Midoriya’s Lack Of Consequences
Izuku Midoriya began the show as a promising protagonist. He was an underdog who is now realizing his dream of becoming a hero. Initially, his naivety had consequences. Whenever he used too much of his new Quirk or rushed into a fray he got hurt. Yet, with each passing season, Midoriya now seemingly becomes more and more invincible.
Even when other characters mention to Midoriya that his next fight could irrevocably injure him, Midoriya always manages to pull through without any permanent damage. With the addition of his new Quirks thanks to One For All, Midoriya is becoming more physically powerful. The stakes aren't high for Midoriya anymore, causing fans to lose interest in him as a protagonist.
1 The Lack Of Female Heroism
Arguably one of the biggest problems with My Hero Academia is its treatment of female characters – particularly female heroes. Toga gets a lot of the spotlight because she is a villain, but most of the other female characters are swept aside to make room for their male contemporaries.
Many of the female heroes are also more susceptible to injury than their male counterparts. Ragdoll is stripped of her Quirk, Mirko loses an arm, and Midnight dies in battle. Even the female students are minor side characters. Mina Ashido misses her chance to take down Gigantomachia so that Eijiro Kirishima can have his day in the sun. The female cast members in this series are such interesting characters if only the writers allowed them to shine.