On February 26, U.S. fans of the anime “My Hero Academia” were treated to a new movie made by the same company, Funimation. This newly animated motion picture, known as “My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising,” is a small branch off of the root of the anime, still starring the fan favorite main character Izuku Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita). On the very day of its release, fans piled into theaters to watch the bit of his story, earning the movie more than $2.5 million.
Most of the movie’s ratings are positive, with a 4.9 out of 5 audience rating in general and an 89% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“This animated film distinguishes itself in the era of superhero supersaturation with bright, bold and surprisingly emotional filmmaking,” Teo Bugbee of the New York Times wrote on February 25.
If you have seen and enjoyed the anime “My Hero Academia,” you will almost certainly enjoy this film. If you’ve seen how the characters act and communicate with each other in the show, you’ll find the characters not too different in the movie.
The anime itself is about a world where people are born with superpowers they call “Quirks.” While most people with Quirks use them for good, some use them for bad. Those people eventually form the League of Villains, which becomes the main antagonists of the long, long plot.
The main character (Deku) is born Quirkless in this world, a major hindrance to his big plans on becoming a hero like his idol and is the Number 1 Hero of their world. He is bullied for this, until one day, a miracle happens, and he is blessed with a Quirk. Deku, with his newly found miracle Quirk, enrolls in the top hero school, U.A. High School, and his journey begins.
In the movie, Deku’s class is stationed on an island, assigned to take care of the people of the island as their practice for becoming heros. The island is seemingly idyllic and peaceful, with no villains in sight, but, as expected, villains appear soon after their arrival. Throughout the movie, the class has to fight off the villains until professional help from real heroes arrive.
In the beginning of the movie, the first scene draws your attention with a car chase scene. I don’t see too much meaning in this, but it’s an excellent way to hook the audience into the story. I can’t criticize this part too much, considering I enjoyed it a lot.
The villains in this movie were a well-designed bunch, given the fact they weren’t based off of pre-existing characters in the manga like the whole show is. The main antagonist, Nines (Yoshio Inoue), has a well-designed Quirk and motive that ties in organically with the plot and lets the story flow smoothly. His sidekicks are also equally well-made with their Quirks and motives, and have a great dynamic with Nines.
There are some off-putting details about the movie, however. The ending of the movie is a bit too convenient for me, since something happens that isn’t covered much in the anime nor explained that well in the movie, and it saves the day. There are more moments of these convenient types of scenes as well. When Deku and Bakugo get hurt badly and the medics can’t do much to help, one of the minor characters who has barely used his healing Quirk at all somehow heals them both in very little time.
Furthermore, in the middle of the movie, one of the villains gets captured and questioned, but he won’t say anything. This turns into that sidekick villain to just disappear from the rest of the movie and pretty much never be seen again. A bit convenient, considering there weren’t enough students to evacuate the island and fight the villains.
With that being said, I did enjoy a good majority of the movie. The animation remained solid throughout, with familiarly designed backgrounds and characters. I appreciate the effort put into the music for all the scenes as well, from the nostalgic orchestra at the end to the lively beats of the fights. The music enhanced the feelings of what was happening on screen. Not to mention, the fluidity of the motion in the fight scenes would make real life videos quake.
All in all, the movie was a success. I would suggest you watch it, especially if you are a fan of My Hero Academia or anime. The occasional confusing scenes of the movie are outweighed by the greater elements of it. If All Might were to watch this movie, he would gladly call it “Plus Ultra.”