Here I was recently doubting whether the MHA anime series really was deserving of being one of the best modern anime...boy was I silly to let all the great anime released recently fog my memory. This 2nd My Hero Academia Movie solidifies the series as being far and away the best modern day shounen.
Canon or not this movie does everything you want from a MHA sidestory movie. It also does things that the 4 seasons of the show had not gotten to do yet and did them to perfection. Once the action begins after a slow start it only ramps up and intensifies.
The plot is the weakest point of the movie as its a pretty typical shounen movie story line. Regardless its fun to see Class 1A on their own out in the real world. One of the best parts of Heroes Rising is how the movie is able to find a way to make nearly every student useful. In the show it sometimes feels like its half a dozen people being useful and the rest are just supportive or dead weight. Not only does every character contribute to the fights in an impactful way but they find unique ways to pair characters that you wouldnt expect. One example is towards the end when Uraraka and Tape man sry are paired together and use their quirks to fight. It was done in such a brilliant way with two characters youd never expect to team up in a fight.
And of course the moment the entire show has been building up to the tag team of DEKU AND KACCHAN. SO HYPE The movie was obviously advertised to be focused around the two but man does it blow expectations out of the water. Even after season 4 MHA where the two characters finally seem to be building towards something it never felt like Bakugo had changed in any positive way. He was always still annoying and loud and rude. But the movie finally shows a different side of him an actual hero side.
The final fight with the villain and the two is by far the best fight of 2020. The animation I cant even begin to describe. So many beautiful and contrasting colors are thrown around in a way that can only be described again as...HYPE. The movie also takes on a bold move to use music over the sound effects in the final few minutes of the fight. It worked and was captivating. All of the emotion of the scene so perfectly captured in one song.
Idk why but in reviews I tend to focus a lot more on the flaws of a show/movie while vaguely pointing out the positives. Thankfully My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is near flawless. It is easily one of the most rewatchable movies in anime and adds so much to the story even if it isnt directly related to the main arc. Any anime fan should at the least enjoy the excitement the movie brings
87
/100