Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

On July 27, 2020, I started and finished reading My Hero Academia’s Volume 8.

Synopsis: 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 average—or Quirkless. After a fateful encounter with the number one hero All Might though, Deku’s fate changes forever.

My Hero Academia is an amazing manga on par with American superhero comics. In my personal opinion, reading the manga—the first eight volumes so far—has been a vastly superior experience compared to watching the anime series. I feel a closer connection—and a forced attentiveness—to the other characters, which is a good thing considering there are over 20+ of them running across the pages at any given time.

This volume in particular also gives us more character development on certain characters like Momo Yaoyorozu—the centric character—and Minoru Mineta during the “Final Exams Arc”, which was set-up in the previous volume. Minoru Mineta—the perverted character—had wonderful growth that stayed true to his lewd nature.

Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki were paired together against their homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Aizawa’s Quirk to erase their Quirks forced them into thinking more strategically in order to pass the practical portion of the exam, which lead to Todoroki immediately calling the shots and Yaoyorozu agreeing—out of fear of being wrong—without voicing her own opinions.

When Todoroki’s plan to defeat Aizawa failed, he realized his mistake—not asking for Yaoyorozu’s opinion on what to do—and revealed his confidence in her abilities by telling her that he voted for her to be class president back in Volume 1. This inspired Yaoyorozu to reveal and execute her brilliant plan in order to defeat Aizawa and pass the exam. They were also the first students to pass the final exam. When Yaoyorozu cries, we all cry with her. That’s the rule. Sobs.

Moving onto Midoriya and Bakugo’s fight against All Might now, how they passed the exam seemed a little too neat and convenient in my opinion. While they did end up working together—learning the teamwork lesson—to outsmart All Might, there was no real progression on their friendship afterwards. They still had an estranged relationship, and Bakugo still acted like a hot-headed kid treading the line between hero and villain.

But unlike the previous seven volumes, this manga book does tell a complete story without leaving us on an explosive cliffhanger. While Volume 8’s ending does kickoff the next arc—the start of season three in the anime—it doesn’t force the readers to want more out of urgency (example: the literal explosive cliffhanger at the end of volume 7); it’s more set-up like a tease in order to entice the reader to pick up the next volume, so they can see what happens next in the story.

The artwork by Kohei Horikoshi is incredible as always—I cannot stress this aspect of the manga enough. If you’re into superhero comic books like X-Men or Superman, you will appreciate My Hero Academia’s manga and character designs.

Overall, this volume had laid out a lot of groundwork—especially in the second half—for what’s to come. I’m looking forward—despite having watched the anime’s first four seasons—to reading what happens next. Let’s keep it reading, everyone! The story’s about to get way more interesting! PLUS ULTRA!

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