Hey everyone. Before we get started, I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this review with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick one 13ish episode series to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) His choice for me this time around he chose the movie My Hero Academia: Two Heroes premiered yesterday in Japan. So let’s get down to the review!
My Hero Academia is the story of a world where the majority of people on the Earth have superpowers (or “quirks” as they’re called). While once chaotic, society has largely recovered to what we would call “relatively normal” thanks to the existence of the world’s greatest superhero, All Might.
However, what the world at large doesn’t know is that All Might has been critically injured and will likely soon lose his powers all together. Luckily, all hope is not lost. Unlike, most superpowers, All Might’s can be transferred to another person.
Thus enters Midoriya, a young quirkless boy with the soul of a true hero. Given All Might’s powers, but without a body able to properly contain them, Midoriya enters UA, the premier school for superheroes and starts on the path to become the greatest hero the world has ever known.
[Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for all three seasons of My Hero Academia and the film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.]
Set between season 2 and 3 of the anime, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes follows All Might and Midoriya as they head to the man-made I-Island over summer break. Populated by the world’s greatest inventors and quirk researchers, I-Island is a paradise. Thanks to a fully automated police force made with the latest in anti-quirk technology, they have a 0% crime rate. This makes for a society on the island that allows anyone to use their powers at any time, regardless of whether they have a hero license or not.
Among I-island’s researchers is David Shield, one of All Might’s closest friends and the designer of his various costumes over the years. In an effort to cheer up her father, David’s daughter, Melissa, has invited her “Uncle Might” to the island as a surprise for her father who is currently stressed out as he prepares to show off his inventions along with all of the other scientists at “I-Island Expo.”
However, just as the expo gets set to kick off into full gear, a group of villains hijack the island’s automated defense system. Suddenly, the entire island is being held hostage–with All Might forced to do nothing as his friend is kidnapped as part of the villains plot. Worse yet, All Might has to remain transformed–eating through his daily power usage–lest the world discover his weakened state and fall back into chaos.
Thus it falls to Midoriya, Melissa, and a surprising number of Midoriya’s classmates (who are on the island by pure coincidence), to secretly take back control of the island and save the day.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
There are several relationships that make up the core of My Hero Academia: Two Heroes. The first of these is the one between David and All Might. And while it’s possible to simply tell us of their past, the film makes the right choice by actually showing us in a series of flashback scenes.
In many ways, these are the best parts of the movie. In them, we get to see All Might when he was a rookie hero in America. This is not All Might as we have come to know him–there is no legend surrounding him, making those who face him cower in fear before the fight has even begun. We instead see a young man who just wants to help others–but who is already aiming to become an incorruptible hero.
This is a tantalizing taste at who who Midoriya will become in a few years when he is out of high school and just starting to fight crime.
We also see that as powerful as All Might is, he can’t do everything alone. This is where David comes in. Once rescued by All Might, he begins to support the young hero, building inventions, gadgets, and super suits to keep his friend in top form. But as we later learn, over the years, David has become increasingly worried for his friend.
David is one of the few alive who know that All Might’s body is breaking down. He likewise knows that a world without an incorruptible, unstoppable hero could be the first step in the return to a world of chaos. But what he doesn’t know is that there is already hope for the future–that All Might can and has passed on his powers to a new generation. Without that knowledge, all David can do is focus on finding a way to return All Might to top form–to save both his friend and his daughter’s generation from impending disaster.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
The second core relationship in the film mirrors the first. Like David supports All Might as a genius inventor, Melissa does the same for Midoriya. But the two fast friends share two more major connections. The first is their love for All Might. To Melissa, All Might is her beloved uncle. To Midoriya, he is the father the young man never had–and more than being connected by blood, they are connected by the very superpower they both share.
But more than that, Melissa and Midoriya share the fact that, despite their love for the world’s greatest hero, both were born quirkless. Melissa first tried to walk the road to becoming a hero despite this handicap. However, she had no deus ex machina appear to give her the powers she only dreamed of. So instead, she followed her other role model–her father.
Likewise quirkless, David proved that she could have a part in saving countless people by supporting the heroes out in the field through brain power and hard work. In a real way, Melissa is likely the type of person Midoriya would have become if he had never met All Might in person.
While he can not tell her of his own quirkless past (lest he betray All Might’s greatest secret), he understands her on a level none of his classmates are able to. This is likewise why she is able to form a relationship with him so quickly and easily–at only three years apart in age, their struggles growing up have been strikingly similar.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
The final core relationship in the film is that between Midoriya and All Might. Idol, teacher, father figure, All Might is all this and more to Midoriya. It is Midoriya’s dream not to replace All Might, but to fight alongside his mentor. As we see in season 3, this is a dream that can never happen–except that it already has. We, the audience, just didn’t know it.
The film’s climax gives Midoriya his dream as he and All Might team up to fight the token “forgettable movie villains” (You’ve never heard of them and after you’ve finish fighting them you won’t remember it even happened. But for the next 90 minutes you’ll think they are the biggest threat you’ve faced in your entire life!). It’s a great scene and wonderful to see the two working in unison. It expertly shows that Midoriya is much closer to catching up to his idol than anyone truly realizes.
Because of this, there’s little doubt that, by the end of the film, both David and Melissa realize that Midoriya is the new All Might. And while thematically fitting, it does create some problems for how the film relates to the TV series.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
On one hand, you now have two characters who would do everything in their power to help Midoriya: one because he realizes that Midoriya is the only hope to save the world from chaos and the other because Midoriya is a friend who has risked everything to help her and her father. Both are expert level inventors who would likely do what they are best at to help Midoriya–and boy can they.
Early in the film, Melissa deduces that Midoriya’s powers damage him, so she gives him a gauntlet designed for All Might that supports his arm and allows him to punch without holding everything back to a measly 5%. This gives Midoriya a massive boost in power over the course of the film and, from a narrative aspect, allows him to be a beast of a fighter instead of a glass canon. Now, of course, the gauntlet is destroyed by the end of the film–or else he’d be using it constantly in season 3–but that doesn’t mean the father/daughter inventor pair wouldn’t immediately start working on a replacement (or at least something similar). It’s likewise crazy to think that he wouldn’t contact Melissa when retooling his costume in the later half of season 3.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
The other mixed aspect of the film is the inclusion of Midoriya’s classmates. As we’ve explored, at its core, the film is about the relationships between 1) All Might and David, 2) Midoriya and Melissa, and 3) All Might and Midoriya. The other students don’t really fit into any of these. Rather, they seem to just be in the film because they’re popular characters.
Interestingly, while nearly all of Midoriya’s classmates appear in the film, only about half have any kind of an active role: namely Urarako, Bakugo, Todoroki, Iida, Mineta, Kirishima, Kaminari, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu. The rest are seen in flashbacks, wander the streets, or chillax in their hotel room as the whole situation unfolds.
Each of those mentioned above gets a moment or two in the spotlight that’s sure to make their fans happy. But more than that, it’s nice to see how the aspiring heroes react when they’re in a crisis situation but the law doesn’t prevent them from using their powers (as they’re technically in another country). It’s a great counterpoint to the first half-climax of season 3 where they find themselves in a similar situation but have to balance their want to help with the laws of the land that they’re supposed to be protecting.
Image source: 僕のヒーローアカデミア_アニメ公式 on Twitter
All in all, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes is a solid story in the My Hero Academia series and one that should not be skipped. It fleshes out who All Might both is and was in addition to what he means to those closest to him. At the same time, it further strengthens the relationship between All Might and Midoriya while making his realization at the climax of season 3’s first half–that All Might has lost his powers completely–have an even deeper layer of meaning.
Coming out of this film, I find myself wanting two things: 1) for Melissa and/or her inventions to at least be mentioned (if not utilized) in the show proper and 2) for an entire movie solely about the adventures of young All Might. And trust me, once you see those All Might scenes for yourself, you’ll definitely feel the same.
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes was released in Japanese theaters on August 3, 2018. Funimation will be releasing the film in 400 theaters in the United States and Canada from September 25, 2018, through October 2, 2018.
Top Image Source: TVアニメ『魔法使いの嫁』 on Twitter.
Also, the sword guy that Midoriya takes out with one punch seems like a joke about Stain!
I loved this! I only have one question (you may not be able to answer this), Will Melissa ever be on the “My Hero Academia” series? I loved her relationship with deku, also at the end of the movie I at least wanted a kiss if not hug from them.
I mean, that’s the question isn’t it? I’d love for it to happen but only the creators know if she will or not.