Movie Review: ‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’

Review by James Lindorf

The comparisons between Marvel’s X-Men and My Hero Academia are getting some added depth with the anime’s latest film, “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission.” U.A. High School students Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugo face their newest enemy and have only two hours to save the world. An extreme religious organization with a doomsday prophecy is out to eliminate all quirks no matter how many lives it costs. The difficulty is increased when young Midoriya and his new friend Rody are labeled as criminals and subject to a nationwide search. Will Deku, the rest of class 1A be able to foil the villains’ plot? The only way to find out is when FUNimation Films brings “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” to theaters on October 29th.

Usually, there isn’t that much in common between the iconic Marvel series and the extremely popular anime. They both have mutants, there are heroes and those fighting for supremacy, and that’s about it. The X-Men were created as a parable to the civil rights movement in the United States. Those with powers are a hated minority. The X-Men want to be left alone and protect people from the mutants who harm regular humans. My Hero Academia (MHA) was created at the peak of nerd culture popularity. Most people have a quirk of some kind in their world, and the heroes are the most revered people in every country. Taking a page from the X-Men, the MHA creators introduced their own “human” centric group that believes these powers are a sign of evil and will end in destruction. For the X-Men, that group is known as the Friends of Humanity. In MHA, they are Humarise, and they are led by the messianic leader Flect Turn. Flect was born with a powerful quirk, but years of self-loathing have caused him to detest his abilities and wish to see the world cleansed of these atrocities.

“My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” has the beautiful animation, great fights, and stellar voice acting of the previous movies. “My Hero Academia: Two Heroes” was a great first installment. It further cemented Deku as the next hero of a generation when he fought alongside All Might in the climactic battle. “My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising” took that strong start and brought the franchise to new heights as we learned lessons about dedication and sacrifice. “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” has its own meaningful message, this time about self-acceptance and tolerance. Flect can’t accept the way he was born, and that has led to this showdown for the fate of humanity. Then there is Rody, a petty thief who has resigned himself to a life of barely getting by and always tries to project a tough image when he is anything but. Rody and, of course, Deku are the emotional core of this movie as they learn to trust and believe in each other and themself in Rody’s case.

“My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising” has all the required technical elements but fails to clear the bar set by “Heroes Rising.” Flect and Humarise are memorable new entries into Deku’s rogues’ gallery. Beyond that, the film feels like a mid-season filler episode. Trading in beloved characters like Asui, Uraraka, and Kirishima, for a road trip with Rody, feels like a mistake. We lost out on that fun team banter in exchange for making a friend we will never see again, except for maybe in a filler episode 3 seasons from now. Rounding out the runtime to a total of two hours would have given them the ability to have those endearing team moments and an initial battle with the villain. We are lacking that classic fight where the good guy loses to the villain and has to go beyond pushing past their limits in the second fight. With the shortened runtime, these elements are condensed into one fight and lack the emotional weight fans are accustomed to. “My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising” has all the necessary features to be excellent; but is missing some of the soul the anime is known for, making it the weakest entry in the franchise at a 3.5 out of 5.

Rating: PG-13 (Bloody Images|Violent Material|Some Language)
Genre: Adventure, Anime, Action
Original Language: Japanese
Director: Kenji Nagasaki
Writer: Yôsuke Kuroda
Release Date: October 29th, 2021 Limited Theatrical Release
Runtime: 1h 44m
Distributor: FUNimation Films