My Hero Academia Volume 1: “Izuku Midoriya: Origin” (Chapters 1 through 7) Manga Review
Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.
On July 21, 2020, I started and finished reading My Hero Academia’s first volume. After my fun experience with My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, I decided to read the main series from the beginning in order to remind myself why I love this series so much.
Written and drawn by Kohei Horikoshi, the main series follows Izuku Midoriya—nicknamed Deku—and his dream to become a hero someday. In a world where 80% of the superhuman society had powers—dubbed Quirks in this series—the dream to become a superhero became way more common. Sadly enough, Deku fell into the 20% category, effectively making him an average human being—Quirkless.
However, Deku refused to give up on his dream, earning him ridicule and bullying from his class and childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo, who has the ability to generate explosions from the sweat in his hands. Deku was on the verge of giving up until he encountered his superhero idol and the number one hero—Symbol of Peace—All Might.
Chapter 1—essentially the anime’s first episode—did an excellent job on introducing Deku and making us invest in his dream to become a hero. Deku’s ambition to become someone worthy of saving people is admirable. Introducing All Might and revealing the quirk’s true nature effectively tied All Might and Deku together.
The chapter 1’s ending—that emotional scene between All Might and Deku—set the course for Deku’s superhero journey. Reading All Might give Deku the validation he needed was beautiful—it was something he wanted his entire life. I clutched my chest alongside Deku, feeling that pain with him. Deku inheriting All Might’s Quirk—One for All—may seem like a contradiction to the whole “it’s the character that defines the hero, not the powers” message, but Deku had to work incredibly hard in order to receive this power throughout all of chapter 2.
Chapter 3 was when he was put to the test and where all the action happened. After completing his training and receiving All Might’s Quirk, Deku tries for the entrance exam to get into U.A. high school. The manga’s artwork particularly shined in this chapter, as we are introduced to the other students—Ochako Uraraka and Tenya Iida—and their amazing Quirks. Deku’s facial expressions throughout this volume also had me rolling.
The art and character designs were heavily influenced by Western American superheroes like Superman. All Might’s and Deku’s character designs were my favorite in this volume. All Might’s Western superhero influences and his fearsome smile make for a great look. The action sequences were drawn with intricate detail, particularly when the ooze villain had captured Bakugo, forcing Deku to spring into action without thinking—while also still being vividly disgusted.
Overall, I enjoyed reading My Hero Academia’s Volume 1 and reexperiencing Deku’s origin story. The only critique I would give to this volume is that it’s only the beginning. There are bigger things coming later in the series, but this volume did an effective job on selling this series to the reader. On that note, I would highly recommend reading the manga or watching the anime. The link to my season one anime review is here. Thanks so much for reading my review(s)! Let’s keep it reading, everyone!