The Story

With each latest addition, My Hero Academia automatically breaks MAL’s top 50, easily finds itself in the Anime of The Season conversation, and commands a ton of content that is vastly celebratory of its performance while never seeming to come down from that high during its run.

Okay, and is that a problem?

It’s not. At least not for me or the rest of my team on Seasonal Prattle. However, lately we’ve noticed there’s been quite a bit of voices growing louder wanting MHA “to fail.” These individuals in particular don’t believe the series is worth the level of praise that it’s receiving and ultimately would be pretty satisfied to see it take a step back.

Sounds like these people are a bunch of elitist

Maybe, or just viewers who really don’t see it for more than its most immediate shounen elements. Either way, it did lead my team down an interesting line of discussion over the weekend. Ask yourself, do you think My Hero Academia will ever actually take a relevant step back?

I’m not talking just this current season, I’m talking about future seasons as well. Given what we’ve seen from the series, Bones appears to have more than a firm grasp on delivering MHA’s formula and said formula is highly received. It feels like it would take a very large and rare misfire for this series to ever be remotely perceived as anything less than “good” by the consensus. 

Just give it some thought for a second. Can you really picture a My Hero Academia season that doesn’t end in communal applause?

The Bottom Line

I think it’s more than safe to assume that My Hero Academia will execute on its source material to the community’s pleasure time and time again – thus highly likely to never really fall off its pedestal. If you’re a viewer disgruntled with this show’s attention and have been waiting for it to “slip up” to lessen the praise, well sorry, you’ll likely be waiting forever at this rate.

 

 

“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”

– The important Watokoi questions are clearly being asked this week. Short answer: yes. Long answer: yesssssssss.

 

 

SEASONAL PRATTLE

Find what you’re looking for fast
Megalo Box
Steins;Gate 0
Mahou Shoujo Site
Golden Kamuy
Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii
Hinamatsuri
Darling in the FranXX

Megalo Box (7)

Strong outing from Megalo Box that matched solid construction with a good floor of writing. The most immediate episodes past a work’s halfway point need to demonstrate solidity – they should have a level of confidence that their momentum thus far is going to begin to translate into a rewarding payoff for their audience. Episode seven certainly has that confidence and then some. Lot of beats in here are well executed, even down to passing bits of dialogue between Yukiko and her brother, which is only complemented by a narrative that smoothly pulled off its cliffhanger. Well done.

Steins;Gate 0 (6)

We don’t have the visual vocabulary to drive every scene, but Kawamura does a good job creating texture where he can in this latest Steins;Gate 0. There’s plenty of shots that are stitched together well to mach the flow of the conversation – most of the material late in the second half during the party comes to mind along with some bits around the shrine. When his directorial prowess isn’t on display, this episode makes sure to pick up any slack by just leaning on its base writing and inherent intrigue, which is always a pleasure to witness. It’s really hard to be dissatisfied with what’s being offered here when you have this kind of balance.

Worthwhile Prattle:

No More ‘Slice Of Life’. Time For Life To Be Sliced

Mahou Shoujo Site (7)

Even ignoring this week’s major contrivances and rampant reaching for cliches, Mahou Shoujo Site is still putting out a lackluster showing here. It’s baffling that anyone among the staff of this work thought this level of flat portrayal was fine to green-light, as it actively comes off as an effort that’s not really interested in elevating the material, but rather – giving the most straightforward and plain plot beats to push us along. This work desperately needs more nuance and energy.

Golden Kamuy (6)

I love seeing Golden Kamuy generously leaning on its characters to flesh out episodes like this – it’s clear that’s been this work’s most comfortable approach so far. Bits like Sugimoto’s deer encounter, the sobering-reflective tone it brought to this episode was just as appreciated as the tiny, drunken conversations that were packed with charm. Kamuy knows how to work its tone, and while Geno Studio isn’t the sharpest at physically displaying that –  the effort here is certainly an improvement and a step in the right direction.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (6)

Letting Hirotaka and Narumi naturally bounce off each other through lightly conceived scenarios has always given Wotakoi good results. On paper, a Christmas themed episode in this genre space might seem tired and destined for mediocrity. However, our cast’s eccentricities enable a lot of flexibility to keep it comedic – not only nailing its jokes in a timely fashion but also forming the bedrock for an engaging episode. Watching these good dorks be good dorks has been a consistently enjoyable experience that I don’t want to stop.

Worthwhile Prattle:

Tadakoi vs Wotakoi: The Construction of Romantic Comedies

Hinamatsuri (7)

I’ve been waiting for Hinamatsuri to show some type of weakness in its storytelling, yet week after week that moment never comes. It’s clear that this series is just a complete product for its space – polished in its execution and composed in such a fashion where it’s never outwardly misfiring. Our latest entry in it is just more reinforcement of Kei Oikawa’s ability to seamlessly juggle genre notes. Hina’s blunt comedic beats are just as valid as Anzu’s endearing ones, and the combination of them is always a treat.

Darling in the FranXX (18)

Being able to reliably lean on a bedding of well implemented character acting is doing this latest entry of Darling in the FranXX a lot of favors – and when mixed with a script that holds its own weight, proves to produce quite the commendable result. While there’s plenty of positives that I could point to in this context, Kokoro and Mitsuru wedding build and release was an apparent stand out, but not just for their silky display of subtle movement. The textual touch they had attached to them to land this week’s bigger beats was praiseworthy too and a healthy sign that FranXX isn’t letting up anytime soon on its details. Hopefully this level of effort continues.

 

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