By Dustin Cabeal

It’s with a heavy heart that I say this, but I’m growing tired of My Hero Academia. The formula seems to be how can we not physically advance Deku, but still injury the fuck out of him and frankly it’s worn on me for some time. I won’t pretend that I know exactly what comes next in this story, but having mistakenly viewed some art from future chapters, it seems like this problem isn’t exactly solved, but challenged differently… a way that doesn’t look interesting in case you were wondering.

The fucking villains attack again in this volume. The elite squad put together by hand guy find their way to the training ground and while they’re doing a test of courage they attack. Then it all ends up feeling pretty much like the attack on the other training grounds. Deku beats the living shit out of himself, and there’s likely to be another goddamn lecture about him killing himself for this fucking power, and you know what? I’m sick of it too nurse lady that kisses the boo boos away. I’m sick of it too.

I feel as if I’m reading the same story arc over and over with just a slightly different setting and different sub characters in a supporting role. It has stopped being interesting, and I don’t particularly see the point of Deku constantly being broken and not improving to actually handling his powers. I don’t expect him to be All Might over night, but when we can’t see the improvement because of the injuries, then it all ends up feeling pointless.

The writing isn’t bad, but the storyline is going in a circle. You can damn near guess the page number in which either A) someone’s dramatic backstory will be revealed or B) Deku will impress someone with his willpower. Unlike in Black Clover were you easily buy into Asta’s can do attitude, with Deku it’s like okay he’s injured… why would I follow him to hell and back if he can’t fight and when he does he looks like a broken ragdoll? At the very least the story would benefit from Deku having a transformation state… which would make sense given the fact that All Might does.

The art continues to be good, but it’s just that house style at this point. There’s no flair to the style anymore because it’s settled into a routine just like the story. When the story doesn’t challenge anything, the art won’t as well. The art’s focus seems to be on character designs and “creepy” moments, but neither are very memorable or striking.

I will likely take a break from this series. There’s so little happening that I could likely jump on in five volumes and not be lost or confused. Unlike other Shonen that have given up on the slow burn, nothing happens style of the genre in favor of big action spots, and instant pay offs, My Hero Academia has settled for a style and formula that will generate a lot of chapters and thus more anime episodes. The problem is that it’s boring as hell to read, and so is the anime.

Score: 2/5

My Hero Academia vol. 9
Creator: Kohei Horikoshi
Publisher: Viz Media