My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

A must-see action anime with superheroic Quirks

An action packed anime that hits all the right notes during its first season, My Hero Academia is a thrill ride which delivers the solid goods that anime fans crave the most. The series is produced by Studio Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Wolf's Rain). Released by Funimation Entertainment in North America and airing on Cartoon Network's Toonami action-anime block, the series explores the world of superheroes in a refreshing, new way.

My Hero Academia centers upon the young superhero obsessed boy, Izuku Midoriya. Since childhood, Izuku wanted nothing more than to be a superhero himself and help defeat the worlds most diabolical and ruthless villains. The kid with dreams had one obstacle in his way: Izuku had no superpowers to speak of. To be a super, one has to be born with a “Quirk” (which gives someone the powers to be superheroic). Looking up to his superhero icon, the brave All Might, Izuku aimed for greatness yet didn't have the powers to be called a “superhero” himself. Until All Might helps change that for the better...

Season one acts as a wonderful introductory season to the fan-favorite My Hero Academia anime. Throughout the entire season, the show focuses on the path Izuku takes towards becoming a hero despite all odds being placed against him. As the season unfolds, Izuku goes to a Hero Academy. Learning about what it takes to be a hero helps him on his quest for greatness. Meanwhile, Izuku manages to learn more about his classmates, teachers, and potential foes.

The first season of My Hero Academia has many production elements that give it some extra jazz. Starting with the series music composed by Yuki Hayashi (Run with the Wind, Haikyuu!!), there certainly is an energy that is felt throughout the music back-bone. Each episode feels infused in impressive tunes that push the characters and story forward with a sense of triumphant prowess.

Time to fight! The battle is on.

The animation is top-notch and its clear that the animators put forth their best efforts in the production. The character designs are also perfect for each of the characters unique personality types and given the Quirks these characters have throughout the season. The art direction by Shigemi Ikeda (The Promised Neverland, Linebarrels of Iron) and Yukiko Maruyama (One Punch Man, Overlord) demonstrates the fine artistry from the entire team of animators. Combined with the striking images seen throughout the cinematography by Masataka Ikegami (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Carole & Tuesday), audiences are in for a real visual treat.

The action scenes are similarly outstanding. The second half of the season has some energetic fight scenes in particular and the build up to the season finale was impressive. Anyone who enjoys the intensity of fights in classic anime like Dragon Ball Z will find there is a lot of appealing action throughout the first season of My Hero Academia.

Kenji Nagasaki (My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising) is the main series director for My Hero Academia. Working from the scripts by screenwriter Yōsuke Kuroda (Honey and Clover, Gundam Build Fighters), Nagasaki capably explores the story and makes it entertaining while surprisingly heartfelt at the same time. There are epic battles and scenes that somehow manage to tug at the heart-strings. My Hero Academia could not have asked for a better filmmaker to usher in the epic storytelling.

Having grown up watching Toonami as a youth, its a joy to know My Hero Academia has managed to join the famed Cartoon Network line-up. The series is even more fun on home media. The anime is a total blast and manages to push the limits of action-anime while still being a series everyone in the family can enjoy together. The first season is terrific and is a perfect primer to the world of Quirks.

My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, My Hero Academia: Season One has received a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition presentation in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The picture-quality on the release is outstanding. The anime looks so vivid and colorful that one can't help but get completely absorbed by the viewing experience.

The animation on the series uses a lot of bright colors and the Blu-ray release capably presents the detailed animation. Detail is surprisingly robust and the line art looks clean and crisp. The action scenes are also well presented on the release: the encoding bears no significant issue with regards to compression woes like macroblocking (or other encoding anomalies). Outside of some slight banding in a few scenes, a near perfect picture. An outstanding presentation.

My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented with two lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo. The clarity of the audio is impressive and makes a thunderous impression. Dialogue reproduction is crisp and clear throughout. The music score is similarly well presented with a robustness that adds to the excitement of the action scenes. The English dub track is a bit more robust in terms of sound-stage with the surround sound implementation adding to the fun.

Subtitles are provided in English for the original Japanese language version.

My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc Two:

Anime Expo 2016: Interview with Kenji Nagasaki & Wakana Okamura (HD, 12:48)

My Hero Academia: Meet the Characters (HD, 6:24)

AnimeFest 2016: Interview with Ayana Nishino (HD, 8:43)

AnimeFest 2016: Artist Sketches (HD, 6:29)

Disc Three:

Anime Expo 2016: My Hero Academia Panel (HD, 36:34)

Anime Expo 2016: Interview with Christopher R. Sabat & Justin Briner (HD, 19:18)

Anime Expo 2016: Interview with Masahiko Minami (HD, 8:08)

My Hero Academia: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the most entertaining anime series on television, My Hero Academia is a total blast of action-packed adventure and comedy which should appeal perfectly to fans of other mega hits like Dragon Ball Super, Yu Yu Hakusho, and One Piece. The series strikes a perfect balance between action and comedy that it never lets up. The animation is stunning and the character designs are outstanding. Something about My Hero Academia is simply magical. The Blu-ray release for season one has a dedicated bonus disc of enticing supplemental materials for die-hard fans and the release boasts a excellent presentation. The set comes highly recommended.