My Hero Academia: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

My Hero Academia: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie Review

Action, adventure, and a tournament of Quirks

My Hero Academia:Season 2, Part 1 is another kick-ass collection of must-see episodes in the mega hit anime. The non-stop action gem from Studio Bones (Bungo Stray Dogs, Fullmetal Alchemist) is one of the greatest action anime series on television. The series is distributed by Funimation Entertainment in North America and the series airs on television on the beloved Toonami action-anime block on the Cartoon Network. Filled with stunning animation, intense action scenes, and awesome characters, animation fans (anime or otherwise) would do well to check out this addictive series.

The entire first half of the second season of My Hero Academia (which is contained on the first part collection set) is focused on the Sports Festival. The festival is a big tournament style competition where Quirks battle other Quirks and fight for victory while on the field. Students fight to win the grand prize of the tournament while they similarly aim to showcase their best superhero abilities. Whoever wins the tournament might even win an opportunity to pair up with a seasoned hero as a sidekick.

As the festivities of the sports festival go underway this season, Hero Academy students compete in a variety of competitions to test their own strengths. Students from the General Studies, Hero, Support Courses, and Business divisions all get a chance to shine and prove their skill. The battle ultimately tests Quirks strengths and weaknesses. How will students be strategic in the field? Who will win the most points in each round? The tournament continues to build while a Cavalry battle places our hero Izuku up against Todoroki. Who will win the fight? The battle rages on as festival activities heat up.

Victory in reach.

The second season of My Hero Academia is just as entertaining as the debut season of the hit anime series. The animation remains one of the greatest strengths of the program and the efforts to make sequences hit every right note in the action scenes is commendable. The impressive art direction by Shigemi Ikeda (Linebarrels of Iron, The Promised Neverland) and Yukiko Maruyama (Overlord, One Punch Man) helps the series feel more polished and absorbing to experience and there is a sense that every episode was given the A-grade treatment by the team of animators. The visuals are enthralling and the action scenes never skip a beat.

The second season of My Hero Academia jumps right into action and mayhem with the first episode and it doesn't let up as things become increasingly exciting. The overarching storyline of season two focuses on the tournament and its progression. The Quirks have a lot of obstacles ahead of them. And fans will enjoy the ride: there is a cohesiveness to the fight scenes and to the structure of the episodes with the saga becoming gradually more intense throughout the second season. Hang on to your seat.

My Hero Academia director Kenji Nagasaki knows all the cards to play to make the season a hit with fans and the series never shows any signs of losing its momentum. The scripts by Yōsuke Kuroda (Honey and Clover) remember to never lose sight of character development while making the big action sequences iconic all the same. My Hero Academia: Season 2, Part 1 might not be as surprising as season one (now that audiences know the characters more), the episodes are still just as entertaining. Don't miss this must-see set. Time to Quirk!

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

The second season of My Hero Academia kicks things off with a downright stunning presentation in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition. The release is presented in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. Funimation has knocked it out of the park on the set. Throughout the entire Season 2, Part 1 collection, the animation looks detailed and extremely robust: line art looks consistently crisp and clean.

The action sequences are extremely fluid and the encoding capably handles the fast moving sequences with ease. There are no detrimental issues with regards to encoding anomalies like macroblocking (and other compression woes). Outside of some slight banding in a few of the scenes (which is never too distracting), the presentation looks incredible. Fans will be pleased.

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

The release includes two lossless audio options: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and Japanese 2.0 Dolby TrueHD. Either option provides fans with a quality lossless presentation. The English dub surround presentation is the more immersive presentation of the two with the robust surround sound design helping the action excel. Dialogue reproduction is superb and the tracks sound crisp and clear. A wonderful encode of the audio that satisfies and capably presents the series. If there is any minor quibble, LFE could have been a bit more robust during some scenes, but the audio sounds so crisp throughout that everything is extremely impressive nonetheless.

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

Disc One:

My Hero Academia - Episode 13.5: Hero Notebook (HD, 24:01) is a clip-show episode featuring highlights from the series to this point in the saga.

Disc Two:

Inside the Episode segments explore elements of the series. The segments are as follows:

Be a Hero: The World Needs You (HD, 3:11)

Be a Hero: Share The Meal (HD, 8:08)

In Their Own Quirky Ways (HD, 6:12)

Strategy, Strategy, Strategy (HD, 5:34)

Be a Hero: Operation Rubber Duck (HD, 7:10)

The Boy Born with Everything (HD, 6:02)

Victory or Defeat (HD, 5:24)

Bakugo vs. Uraraka (HD, 5:05)

Shoto Todoroki: Origin (HD, 7:28)

Fight On, Iida (HD, 6:15)

Todoroki vs. Bakugo (HD, 8:04)

Anime Expo 2017: Interview with Yoshihiko Umakoshi (HD, 7:47)

Promo Videos (HD, 2:59)

Textless Opening Song "Peace Sign" (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song "Dakara, Hitori Ja Nai" Ver. 1 (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song "Dakara, Hitori Ja Nai" Ver. 2 (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song Ep. 13.5 (HD, 1:35)

Trailers (HD, 7:18) are provided to showcase other releases available on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment.

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

The first collection of season two My Hero Academia episodes remains every bit as entertaining as the first season. The action takes the front-and-center of the set (with a non-stop tournament underway) while never forgetting that the characters are also at the heart of the show. There are some great production values to commend: the music is engaging and the animation is visually stunning. A fantastic experience, My Hero Academia: Season 2, Part 1 is essential viewing for anime fans. Funimation has produced a terrific set with an impressive presentation and a ton of supplements. Highly recommended.