How HeroAca and One Punch Man Flip the Script on Superhero Anime 

*Not everyone can be a ninja but everyone can be a hero.* It's slightly more relatable

People talk about Saitama vs All Might, but tbh, Saitama and All Might just meeting up and talking and All Might attempting to inspire Saitama past his boredom and being bros. I fucking love All Might.

one thing I liked about one punch man and hero academy is that I could truly smile whilst watching them.

"Caped Baldy" Oi oi oi, let's not anger the god of all fighters.

Americans also have a more antagonistic relationship with our own government, such that the idea of Superman working in tandem with the police and military is a disturbing thought (and the inspiration for Dr. Manhattan). And Batman and the X-Men explore themes of corruption and oppression within the system. Anime tends to represent its government as competent and benevolent, and anime heroes tend to fight against outsiders threatening the peace. They're kinda stuck in the silver age.

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOURNAMENT ARC

I've absolutely loved the discourse surrounding OPM because there have been so many different ways to interpret it. My biggest takeaway from the series being the scene where the Tank Top Bros. confront Saitama in the streets after the meteor hit, and trying to turn the crowd on him. Saitama turns around and yells at the crowd, riles up their anger, and eggs them on. I remember being blown away when SuperEyepatchWolf's video looked at this scene and made a similar point to you; that Saitama's friendships and connections in his downtime are what fulfill him, and without them he'd be just as likely to go off the rails and be an unstoppable supervillain; I'd never even thought about reading it that way. When I watched that scene, I saw something completely different. Saitama's so unbelievably strong that he can beat any opponent he wants, but he's realized that that isn't what makes him a hero. I saw his aggression towards the crowd as a voluntary martyrdom of sorts. He doesn't fight monsters for fun, he's a HERO for fun, and the implication I got from that scene and a couple others like it was that he has realized a deeper, more important meaning in being a hero than most of his contemporaries can see: Being a hero isn't just about keeping people safe, it's also about giving them hope. Saitama seems to have realized that his strength being recognized would cause people to lose faith in the other heroes and in themselves; Why bother trying hard at anything when someone as strong as The Caped Baldy is around, right? He voluntarily puts himself in situations where he looks like a bad guy, or at least a self-serving anti-hero, so that people can continue being inspired by all the other heroes who are really trying their hardest. Heroaca follows a similar train of thought in a lot of ways; Deku's entire relationship with All Might is predicated on the fact that All Might inspired Deku so much, shaping so much of who he is, that Deku desperately wants to be able to do that for others. He doesn't want to be a hero for any reason other than to be able to inspire hope in others, and that's why All Might chose him as a successor. I think both of these series go back to the same notion you brought up in your previous Heroaca video; the central theme of being strong for the express purpose of helping others over being strong for your own sake. They focus a lot on the symbolic and societal impact a heroic figure can have on their community, and encourage the idea of strength not for one's own sake, but for the sake of helping everyone else to become better and stronger along with you.

17:03 - 17:15 Kohei Horikoshi’s drawing skills are insane. Usually, lots of drawing techniques incorporate the “first draw a circle for the head and a crosshair to mark where the face will go...”, which allows the artist to create a sort of skeleton for the figure they’re drawing before tidying the drawing up. Some manga artist draw a rough sketch first on a scrap piece of paper first, and then take a light box to draw a finished version of the character with less lines to worry about. For the life of me, no matter how many times I watch Horikoshi draw that picture of Izuku, I can’t see that technique being used, nor can I see any remains of a rough sketch. He just jumps STRAIGHT to finished pencil drawing. Usually when artists do that, the anatomy can look too strange or a figure can look too stiff. Yet Horikoshi’s work always looks so expressive, and even when characters make crazy expressions, they’re still anatomically correct. Many people may say it comes down to talent, but I’d say it shows how hard he’s worked to be able to draw like that THAT quickly. It shows that he embodies the messages of his manga RIGHT into how he’s drawn his characters. Considering that there’s some old art of his floating around of some One Piece fan art he sent to JUMP, it’s funny that his series is now #2 on Shounen Jump’s bestselling series, right behind One Piece. It’s like Eiichiro Oda is All Might and Kohei Horikoshi is Izuku.

As a kid the whole secret identity thing i didn't get until i saw an episode of The Spectacular Spider-man, where his identity is revealed. All his enemies were planning to go after his family and friends with that information"Maybe he doesn't have something to hide...but someone to protect", is one line from that ep. that resonates with me when i think of heroes. The way i see it with Hero Aca is that the heroes are extension of the Police? Kinda like how a criminal agency would try to avoid killing Police officers in order keep the full force of law enforcement coming down on their heads?

Nice touch with the baking and the cake at 2:10. Stellar editing right there!

"They don't don a costume to fight crime, they physically transform." *Card Captor Sakura* begs to differ

5:40 "...Genre roots of these stories aside" >Kamui Woods Clever bastard.

Do anime villains ever go after the families? Because I feel like ignoring that possibility is the only reason why not having secret identities work.And the Avengers not hiding theirs works because they don't have family or any non-hero friends to worry about except Tony and Hawkeye(and even then, one's a millionaire with possibly the best weapons in the world and the other whose family is probably under constant surveillance). Now that I think about it, no one in One Punch Man's anime seem to have family to worry about either.

Rock Lee isn't ninja Batman, Batman is ninja Batman.

mob is my favorite superhero and he would win by helping everyone become better people

As a comic book fan, I honestly miss a lot the whole secret identity aspect of super heros in the MCU.

Kind of funny that western and old eastern superheroes were different in that way We have America, a country born by the gun that views their power as coming from tools having their superheroes be people who are inherently powerful Then we have Japan, a country with ye olde bushido values who view strength as coming from within oneself having their superheroes be people who get their power from tools, an outside source

Because GEEKS and NERDs ARE TRYING TO GET BUFF and these are INJECTIONS of Motivation right to the eyes 👌😘

Toei: we need more viewers to reach our fundamental needs, but a large percent of western countries still refuse to watch anime. What do we do, sir? Toei CEO Hiroyuki: Pokémon. Toei: but they're already owned and trademarked Hiroyuki: Avengers Toei: ...but they're trademarked too Hiroyuki: ...now put them together... Toei: Ahh...!! Hiroyuki: Ahhhhahahaha *damn right!*

"... and their female targeted equivalent, magical girls." ... ... You have much to learn.

Blue Rose is a rip-off of anime's best hero, Pepsiman

Huh, interesting - when you talked about the difference between Japanese and American superheroes, I realised that Deku and All Might are essentially typical Japanese superheroes in an American superhero society. Think about it - they inherit their power from an outside source because they're "worthy". They transform into their powered forms, rather than always being on. Their quirk isn't static, it's an ever increasing power (through it doesn't really get more varied, just more powerful). All that despite All Might being, surface-level, the most American hero in the cast. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I'm fairly sure it's deliberate. Showing the value of typical Japanese tropes versus the increasing popularity and cultural dominance of American superheroes, perhaps? The possibility for melding between Western and Eastern superheroes? Idk, but it's interesting.

I think Japan is actually missing something important from ignoring the dual life side of "super heroes". Namely due to the nature of acting outside the law to bring justice, and how that necessitates dual identities. Of course, the former part is more important. The west has long understood the necessity of acting outside the law for a great variety of reasons. Starting with how bad an idea making self defence illegal is when the police aren't able to protect you if they're not there (and thus can only rely on yourself), and going all the way up to the possibility that the government may in fact be tyrannical and need to be opposed directly. Superheroes were vigilantes first, and thus criminals; which is why they had a secret identity to begin with. So far, the most true to this sentiment times that Japan has touched on this have not even been super hero stories, but Phantom Thief stories; such as Persona 5 or Magic Kaito, as sparse as these examples are. In Persona 5, the law cannot help, because their targets are "beyond the law"; and in Magic Kaito, part of why the protagonist has to go about stealing is that the idea of saying "hey, let's take this gem and hold it up to the moonlight" is a laughable idea for anyone to take seriously, yet alone from a stage magician or high schooler, so his only choice is to take it and do it himself. This is what a "Secret Identity" was originally meant for.

Oh, I hear that HeroAca OST in the background and I love it!

Rock Lee = Ninja Batman CONFIRMED

R.I.P. 'What's in an Op' you will be missed.

I lived in Japan for 2 years, and I can really relate Saitama with some of the people I met there. I had the chance to meet, in a more personal level, certain managers of companies, and they had a very pity life (but damn they had nice cars and lots of expensive shoes); they focused so much on studying to get a good job, and then on working to climb socially, that they never took time to develop neither sincere friendships nor any other kind of relationships. They admired people like me, who can enjoy themselves and have a good time once in while, because they didn't even know how to have fun.

Honestly thought this was your best video so far, keep it up!

Because superheroes are cooler then ninjas

Daredevil is a pretty good show that has fun with the whole "double life" idea as of late. It's not being completely abandoned, but when you give a hero a secret identity you sign a pact with the audience that you're going to be hitting certain plot beats and exploring certain themes, and that's not something that every story wants to work around. I've yet to see a story take the secret identity idea and do something new and exciting with it since Code Geass, and- fuck, I should do a video about this.

EVERY GOD DAMN TIME! I get suckered in by how deep, meaningful and well spoken your videos are and then you make a snarky 'I'm right your wrong' joke and EVERY TIME I get caught off guard. It's the same joke each time and I laugh each time as well.

7:55 i would like to just say thank you for editing that in

You can live as a superhero without secret identity if you can afford it. Spider-Man's aunt got shot after his identity was revealed, Daredevil in recent comics couldn't work as lawyer anymore. Imagine what would happen to all the poor superheroes once they get outed. They could work for the government, but then what makes them different from cops? Why wear costumes and use fancy names at all. Plus then you need to do what they tell you, which isn't good if the government is corrupted. Also, the bad guys can find hundred ways to make your life miserable. They could ruin your career, kill your friends, plant a bomb in your apartment. It's all relative. Iron Man has a fine life, but he's filthy rich

This may be cheesy but I kinda needed that little OPM analysis on how Saitama's life is enriched through his friends. My life's been feeling kinda stagnant for the past couple of years since all my friends have hightailed it out of state and all I'm really focusing on is school and now a job as well. I've been getting progressively sadder and more apathetic for reasons I still don't entirely understand but I feel like that cleared it up a little, so thanks Anime Pope.

Thank you for making this video. With a clear understanding of what to expect ands what people want in an anime, I will know what to do when I make my manga soon

14:55 I see you kicking in that music. It was a nice touch. Made the script hit harder, well done.

Who would win in a fight? The writer.

I hate to be "that person" but Tiger and Bunny kind of did the whole superheroes as a reflection on corporate work-life first. I do wonder if it was an inspiration for these shows, or if they came upon the same theme separately.

Really splendid analysis, subbed for this one

God, your vids are amazing! Intellectual criticism and appreciation down to the milliseconds. I hope your channel gets the recognition it deserves.

Off topic but is that a Mob Psycho 100 shirt featuring ???% because if it is I have a MIGHTY NEED

I FUCKING LOVE POWER RANGERS IT'S THE CHEESIEST SHIT EVER AND I LOVE IT

So happy for OPM. When I first heard the premise I was like "Eh whatev" but someone explained it better and the twist on how he is because of that power, and I gave it a try. I was so happy I did, it's now easily one of my fav's of the last few years, can't wait for more.

That's a video i will share with my friends. Good job!

So bottom line: Japanese superhero stories are somehow way more capitalist than American stories?

2:08 and 5:39 :) I like your editing

man! i go through waves of not watching your content, then i watch 7 videos in a row and love every second of it. (except the copyright claim thing with going on...)

The only thing that I dislike about japanese take on heroic anime (or, hell, any anime) is that they tend to villianize when characters act individualistically. Heroes act as such because is their jobs, rather than feeling the need to help others, while Villians act because they deserve to act on their own desire. This ends up creating the idea that thinking differently than the dominant group is wrong just for the fact of doing so. I don't think that neither of those postures are good, and it would be interesting if an anime tackled said issue without retaliating half way through it (BNHA originally planned Izuku to not have any quirk and still become a hero, but the editors said that it was "too depressing" for the shonen genre).

I remember the first time I ever watch My Hero Aca, I used to feel unmotivated, depressed about things I do.. Like drawing and etc. but this Anime.. seeing Deku working himself up to be a hero. it just. it feels like it's lightning up my heart and I feel the feeling of motivation once again. I remember one of his quote: "Because I am very bad, that's why I have to work more than other people to become better." Then I finally understood that hardwork will somehow overcome talent. Deku is my favorite hero.

There's another superhero anime called The Reflection this summer, from the director of Mushishi and with the name of modafokin Stan Lee tagged on it.

What if my hero academia is a prequel show to one punch man and they had a cross over in the last chapters of OPM you see deku as an old (buff) man fighting with the mastery over one for all and passes he it on to mumen rider bc he sees his worthiness and courage

This video covered so many topics so well.

"weekly weebcast" "weekly"

WHATS WITH ALL THE SUPERHEROES?!?! >only 2 hero animes

great insights glad you have such a firm grasp on why anime does super heroes so well i don't think I did myself till I watched this video

Major props to you for using Digimon Savers footage. love that series

My answer: "Damnit Marvel!" MasakoX's answer: "MARKETING!"

Just one thing about secret identities. If I'm not mistaken in the MCU some heroes don't have them. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers come to mind and maybe Black Widow? I don't remember if her secret identity was leaked in TWS. However, it's true that some heroes in the MCU have them like Spiderman for example.

+Mother's Basement Okay , when you first said the names My Hero Aca and OPM I really gotta give you credit for that transition from All-Might doing his Plus Ultra to Saitama's giant punch . Really gotta respect the small attention to details in your editing sir . Good shit .

This is some really quality content, thank you!

One thing, Spiderman was the was the first live action Henshin hero to get the giant mecha. The success of Spider man led to the super sentai series also getting giant robots.

I think Tatsumaki would win in an all out brawl between everyone. She pulled a meteor out of space with literally no effort. That's crazy.

Good video and you interesting to listen, thank you. this was the first video of you I've ever seen.

This is a BRILLIANT video!!! Thank you!!! :D

The only superhero anime I watched is Glitter Force...

Batmas IS ninja batman.

Hey so this is probably gonna get passed up and I hope you get the chance to see it even now, but I wanted to say this video was really good, struck a chord with me good. As someone going to school to do their passion for a job in the future, I've struggled a lot with pushing myself to grow as fast as I can because I feel like I'm not up to snuff with everyone else. I've thought for a long time that if I can just get good enough to get a good job in my field than everything else in my life would come together. But that's not necessarily true and I think you really hit the nail on the head by discussing how learning to live with the problems of what you've chosen to do is something you have to deal with anywhere. And that by realizing that and pushing forward nonetheless you can build a good life for yourself and more importantly better yourself as a person. This got pretty wordy, but really good analysis here that really made me and probably a lot more people feel a little more optimistic about what's ahead. Thanks.

I'm so glad you mentioned "Tiger & Bunny" in this video. It's one of my all-time favorite anime and not enough people know about it TToTT

Notification but ignore for a little bit squad

>No mention of the upcoming Stan Lee-produced anime The Reflection I'm disappointed. :( jk Great video!

it took me watching this to finally give HA a try., not always liking your recommendations but appreciate the details you offer so that I can make my own choice.

I have no idea how I've been watching you for so long without being subscribed.

Onepunch Man is more based off of DC, while My Hero Academia is more of an amalgamation of Young Justice/Teen Titans and Avengers Academy. Neither are like the movie versions of anytging, nor inspired by them.

Secret identities still can have a point in modern comics. For example, Superman partially hides his identity not to protect people but to become an impossible ideal. He is actively pushing away his personal flaws to try and get the world to view him, and by extension his ideals, as perfect. If he has a public life then this is something he would have to maintain forever, but instead he just becomes Clark. This is on top of the safety for themselves and loved ones idea

I snorted when you put up that pic of Kyubey XD When I still had school, I had to deal with similar stuff anime characters often have to deal with. The stress, the overly high expectations... the "if you make one mistake it's game over for you for the rest of your life" mentality... I love learning but I hated that aspect of school. It's so difficult for people my age to make friends outside of work/school. Especially since so many people are scared of what others think... you can't really "get to know" people on a personal level outside of school/work. Especially that most recent episode of HeroAca reminded me of stuff I also had to deal with.

whats the show with the kid throwing up information?

This is why Gaoru and Sweetmask will be the most important characters in the OnePunchMan from season 2 and onwards

Wild Tiger from Tiger & Bunny. The guy is just awesome as a human-being who struggles to get his image of true Heroism out into the world while dealing with an competitive environment, social issues regarding his Daughter, and just trying his best not to be the butt of a joke to his co-workers! All the while keeping a mask on his face to keep people from trying to mess with his private life and his family. Even when the chips are down, the dude continues to give it his all, and the Tv series (and movie) play up those angles to very well. I just wish there was more.

When you realize that Shazam is a henshin hero

6:29 DAMMIT! I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA FLASH US!

Fucking hell jeff your shirts are on fleek

"maybe the title of this anime is misleading" not as misleading as the direction your fingers are pointing

great vid man, on point

I loved this! In fact, it shows how you can have a simple or formulaic anime, film, etc. that holds a lot of meaning!

My favorite anime super hero is Casshern. Casshern is megaman before megaman. He's the embodiment of a classic hero, he is the epitome of the hero's journey. You just can't get more true a hero.

Hmmm... What if One Punch Man inherited One For All? 🤔

This video actually got me interested in watching one punch man. That was a nice analysis you did there.

This video is very informative and insightful, I can see why boku no hero is so popular in Japan thanks to this video so thank you. However I enjoy it because of the appeal of a world where everyone has a unique ability and the spin on the main character having to earn his power through effort and staying true to his ideals, I really love seeing a community forming around this amazing story, I've been following it since it was a manga and was so excited when they announced it was getting an anime rendition Anyone else happy you don't have to wait a year for season 3 lol anyways keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to seeing more videos on boku no hero!

*Weeb Level Up!* New Skill: Using Japanese Abbreviations

That's a really cool t-shirt

BRAVO GEOFF! TOP TIER CONTENT. DO WANT MORE PLEASE!

"help" Scott was a fantastic surprise in this video. I love NerdSync~

Never seen Digimon Savers referenced outside the Digimon fandom. Your channel just gets better and better

Secret identities are still important in France.... at least in Miraculous Ladybug: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

It is fascinating to see this sort of dialogue between two very different societies on media. This is the sort of things that pushes art forward, hell some philospher long dead would say that this is the process how anything is pushed forward. Two groups sharing (or yelling) their natural products with (to) the other, appropiating what they find interesting in it and creating something new, changed slightly to fit their own sensibilities and social issues. It is truly a pretty neat thing.

good video, amazing analysis

Marvel has gotten to big for just america.

14:47 Pascal Sensei BOYS!! WE OUT HERE

Damn I came to be entertained, and watch a video about my two favorite anime but instead I got true life lessons about society, school/work life, and the pursuit of happiness. Not complaining just wan't expecting it. Keep up the good work love the channel :)

I love HeroAca and I'm really happy you brought up Tiger and Bunny, as that is another favorite! Although, I have to wonder, what would happen if Lunatic and Stain were living in the same universe? I feel like that would be an interesting fight. Also, don't I wish HeroAca was blessed by Fire Emblem instead of a flaming garbage can. Of course, Fire Emblem is someone with Endeavor's abilities, but a combination of Yuga Aoyama and Present Mic's personality. Both HeroAca and Tiger and Bunny have characters that I love and enjoy watching, so I will always like both series.