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My Hero Academia (Shonen Jump) move over pirates, ninjas, reapers, its Hero time
- Thread starter SalvaPot
- Start date
Poodlestrike
Banned
Read Illegals 00. It's an introductory issue, so with that in mind, I thought it was aight. Agreed that the heroine is easily the weakest link right now, considering she seems like a vehicle for fanservice and very little else. Taking a "wait and see" attitude right now, if the story is interesting once it starts rolling out I'll stick with it.
Illegals 01
Groveling dodge made me laugh way more than it should have. Why the heck he does that stance on all fours instead of crouching and putting on palm on the ground though? Love his hoodie and different take on All Might's words.
...And was that Izuku mom needing directions?
Groveling dodge made me laugh way more than it should have. Why the heck he does that stance on all fours instead of crouching and putting on palm on the ground though? Love his hoodie and different take on All Might's words.
...And was that Izuku mom needing directions?
Yes. That cameo was my favorite part actually.
She can use them prehensiley so I doubt it. It'd be like tangling up an arm - probably possible but unlikely
Poodlestrike
Banned
Illegals 01 was actually pretty solid! It's not as good as the main series, but then, it's doing some very different stuff. Pop-step is, as per expectations, gonna be a bit of a problem if her role remains the same, but Knuckleduster was kind of hilarious as a Shonen Batman, and Gentle-Man has some solid potential in an HSDK kinda way, I feel.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Why bother when he can just Cronenberg and unCronenberg them at will?
Poodlestrike
Banned
Hmmmmm true.
I do kind of get that it's an all-or-nothing deal; the stuff he sends out looks like a hand, but if even a little bit of it comes into contact, the process starts.
He certainly can manipulate it, like he made his own arms those giant fingers. Meatball someone from the neck down and you get a nice interrogation dummy.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Not really. He could do triage and first aid, but his work undoes itself as soon as his concentration lapses.
He can carefully manipulate his own flesh, but I don't think it's clear he can do careful adjustments on other people. It could just be an issue of practice, admittedly. Wholesale can crushing has gotta be easier than minor tweaks.
Poodlestrike
Banned
But if he has to actively work at keeping everybody altered then, by definition, when he stops working at it the alterations go away. 6 of one half dozen of the other.
Read Illegals.
I'm not impressed. Someone earlier mentioned I wouldn't like it due to the fanservice. The thing is, with Superheroes, wearing skintight and somewhat impractical getups is just part of the deal. You can definitely go too far, but fanservice is not a SUPER big deal unless it's so pervasive in the work that you get the impression that the author literally can't comprehend what the point of a female character is if it's not for titillation. I can deal with fanservice if there is genuinely more to the characters than just being a pair of T&A. Given how little character development we got here, that might be the case here, but we can't tell that from just one chapter.
What bothered me about Illegals is that it is cliche as all fuck. Like, seriously, make a drinking game out of it if you want to blackout by the time you finish the chapter. Unlikely hero with a determined heart runs into a two-dimensional shallow bully that is a dick to him for no reason that he can't beat, eventually plays the tired damsel in distress card, only to be saved by the mentor figure.
You can say the original had some of that, but from the very offset, it was presenting tropes in a new way by suggesting there was more to Bakugo than rampant dickery and that All Might had his own issues and so on.
I can give it a few more chapters to try and find it's feet, but right now, it feels like if someone took the premise of MHA and wrote it as two dimensionally and blandly as....idk, Naruto I guess.
I'm not impressed. Someone earlier mentioned I wouldn't like it due to the fanservice. The thing is, with Superheroes, wearing skintight and somewhat impractical getups is just part of the deal. You can definitely go too far, but fanservice is not a SUPER big deal unless it's so pervasive in the work that you get the impression that the author literally can't comprehend what the point of a female character is if it's not for titillation. I can deal with fanservice if there is genuinely more to the characters than just being a pair of T&A. Given how little character development we got here, that might be the case here, but we can't tell that from just one chapter.
What bothered me about Illegals is that it is cliche as all fuck. Like, seriously, make a drinking game out of it if you want to blackout by the time you finish the chapter. Unlikely hero with a determined heart runs into a two-dimensional shallow bully that is a dick to him for no reason that he can't beat, eventually plays the tired damsel in distress card, only to be saved by the mentor figure.
You can say the original had some of that, but from the very offset, it was presenting tropes in a new way by suggesting there was more to Bakugo than rampant dickery and that All Might had his own issues and so on.
I can give it a few more chapters to try and find it's feet, but right now, it feels like if someone took the premise of MHA and wrote it as two dimensionally and blandly as....idk, Naruto I guess.
Poodlestrike
Banned
I did like that he immediately rejected the offer of mentorship. Made me feel that there's something more to the premise.
Me too, I guess, but that's like the ONLY thing, and not enough to hook me.
And honestly, it's in all likelihood just an indication of a slight variation of the complex Midoriya had. This guy just comes off as wanting to do as little heroing as possible to feel good about himself and can't help that he wants to save people, while Midoriya accepts it as his fundamental worldview. It's not that big or compelling a jump.
lazyproblems
Member
Just read Illegals 00 and chapter 1. It's not spectacular, but I liked it. It was a bit cliched, but it's the first chapter so I'm more willing to forgive that.
A monthly side-story focussing on the Vigiliantes sounds interesting, so I'm willing to stick with it for now.
A monthly side-story focussing on the Vigiliantes sounds interesting, so I'm willing to stick with it for now.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
The official character book has fucked stats even worse than Marvel's
Deku's stats, according to the Official Character Book
The worst part is that the book covers all the way up to chapter 88 and came out May 2016 lol.
All Might's stats, according to the Official Character Book
Deku's stats, according to the Official Character Book
The worst part is that the book covers all the way up to chapter 88 and came out May 2016 lol.
All Might's stats, according to the Official Character Book
and for the lols Kaminari's stats
OniBarubary
Banned
The one gigantic flaw this manga has is not enough Ashido.
I'm just waiting for that arc where she gets paired with Deku.
Crimson_Echidna
Banned
Yeah, I don't think he really put a lot of thought into those stats.
OniBarubary
Banned
I long for this arc.
I hope it isn't just a write-off for comedy stuff. I'd prefer it actually be used to develop her. So her comedic stuff maybe gets in the way or something and Deku wonders why she's always clowning around and it starts developing into like...her explaining why.
Or her bonding with him about having a power that can easily be used to kill. Or her appearance.
Or anything I don't fucking know.
So illegals 01, its ok for a spin-off set on the same world and I can see it going for a more "Underworld" feeling, I like it. I am also curious how far this authors can take the story, since MHA is mostly light-hearted but this one seems to go for a darker tone.
Feels kind of like the Agents of Shield/Daredevil to MHA's Captain America/Avengers.
Feels kind of like the Agents of Shield/Daredevil to MHA's Captain America/Avengers.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
I'm hoping he was talking about quirkless midoriya, cuz wtf lol.
It's interesting how some of the fanservice works in the (main) series. Fanservice still isn't my thing, but there's a kind of cleverness behind it that makes it more tolerable, sometimes even impressive.
Like, in-universe, Mount Lady and Midnight trade on fanservice, right? So they deliberately wear titillating uniforms and do sexy poses. That's all fine and good, but...
Yaoyorozu has a similarly fanservice-y uniform, but if you look at how she behaves, she doesn't deliberately play it up or pose around with it. It's still an absurd outfit, but Yaoyorozu wears it for utility, not fanservice.
That subtle consideration is kind of impressive. I'd prefer less fanservice, but I can appreciate what Horikoshi's doing.
Like, in-universe, Mount Lady and Midnight trade on fanservice, right? So they deliberately wear titillating uniforms and do sexy poses. That's all fine and good, but...
Yaoyorozu has a similarly fanservice-y uniform, but if you look at how she behaves, she doesn't deliberately play it up or pose around with it. It's still an absurd outfit, but Yaoyorozu wears it for utility, not fanservice.
That subtle consideration is kind of impressive. I'd prefer less fanservice, but I can appreciate what Horikoshi's doing.
I've been paying special attention to how the series depicts fanservice. For one, like you say, Momo is never oogled by the framing despite her outfit. And while it still is a fanservicey outfit, it has a better justification than most, since Momo is indeed going to pull giant things out of her body. It's also treated so matter of factly by while done. And the other girls outfits are just not that fanservicy, other than Pinky's I guess, but I don't really feel the 'camera' itself leers at the girls, which alone makes a big difference.
Other than that, it's not THAT much different from other shonen. Main characters are better than average, but side characters, I worry there will be a discrepency. The Shapeshifting girl of recent chapters being a prime example. MHA has proven itself to be atleast someone clever with this, so I'm hoping that he'll do something clever with her instead of her just being naked for no reason. It's probably the most blatant and straightforward example of it thus far. But Midnight has been around for a long time now, and we still don't have a real answer to why she titillates, especially since it's not related to her quirk.
Plus, we have stuff like the springs episode, and a scene while the girls were in the girls locker room. A lot of it is perpetuated by Grape Juice, who usually gets his comeuppence BEFORE he gets to see anything, which is atleast variation since most gags like this are after the pervert sexually harasses them...but the viewer still gets to get a view, so the effect is basically accomplished. It would actually be kind of clever if we didn't get to see the girls and our avatar in trying to do so is just punished.
That said, here's whats in it's favor:
1. not all women are depicted in sexual terms. In fact, most of the main characters, including Uravity, are dressed normally for their setting. That's important. Without it, Momo's excuse would be just that, an excuse, but since not all female characters have that kind of outfit, I can much more legitimately buy that it's something she needs for her powers.
2. The fanservice they do have doesn't come at their expense. The viewer still gets the male gaze, but I can't think of an instance where we get the male gaze at the expense of the girls state of mind. The closest I think is when Grape juice, the prick, groped Tsuyu, but that came off more as a gag than anything. I'm much more comfortable with the camera panning over to the girls in the hotsprings just relaxing, which is the normal social thing they should be doing anyway, than our POV follows a guy who is just getting a peeking and they have panic and cover up. Still not good, but better.
3. The fanservice doesn't get in the way of character moments. With the female characters, we get moments of fanservice inbetween getting to know them all as characters. For many other series, including the first chapter of Illegals, I feel it's the inverse.
Honestly, I struggle with this. Is all fanservice bad? I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with liking a character sexually, nor do I think there is anything wrong with having a moment where the viewer is titillated to. Attraction to others is part of life and why shouldn't it be part of entertainment?
I guess my basic standards come down to if the work respects the character as a character first and foremost and then gives some fanservice following that (I feel MHA does this fairly well for the most part, but it's hard to see that as much with characters like Midnight and Shapeshifting girl since that is how we are introduced to them) and I wish for it to be a bit more evenly spread out. I have no attraction to men, but I'd feel better if there was an element of female gaze in most works, just to be more inclusive. There are some feminist that argue that playing toward fanservice to the other way doesn't solve the problem, but I disagree, and I think we'd feel a whole lot less creepy about oogling fictional characters if women/gay men were free to oogle them beside us.
Other than that, it's not THAT much different from other shonen. Main characters are better than average, but side characters, I worry there will be a discrepency. The Shapeshifting girl of recent chapters being a prime example. MHA has proven itself to be atleast someone clever with this, so I'm hoping that he'll do something clever with her instead of her just being naked for no reason. It's probably the most blatant and straightforward example of it thus far. But Midnight has been around for a long time now, and we still don't have a real answer to why she titillates, especially since it's not related to her quirk.
Plus, we have stuff like the springs episode, and a scene while the girls were in the girls locker room. A lot of it is perpetuated by Grape Juice, who usually gets his comeuppence BEFORE he gets to see anything, which is atleast variation since most gags like this are after the pervert sexually harasses them...but the viewer still gets to get a view, so the effect is basically accomplished. It would actually be kind of clever if we didn't get to see the girls and our avatar in trying to do so is just punished.
That said, here's whats in it's favor:
1. not all women are depicted in sexual terms. In fact, most of the main characters, including Uravity, are dressed normally for their setting. That's important. Without it, Momo's excuse would be just that, an excuse, but since not all female characters have that kind of outfit, I can much more legitimately buy that it's something she needs for her powers.
2. The fanservice they do have doesn't come at their expense. The viewer still gets the male gaze, but I can't think of an instance where we get the male gaze at the expense of the girls state of mind. The closest I think is when Grape juice, the prick, groped Tsuyu, but that came off more as a gag than anything. I'm much more comfortable with the camera panning over to the girls in the hotsprings just relaxing, which is the normal social thing they should be doing anyway, than our POV follows a guy who is just getting a peeking and they have panic and cover up. Still not good, but better.
3. The fanservice doesn't get in the way of character moments. With the female characters, we get moments of fanservice inbetween getting to know them all as characters. For many other series, including the first chapter of Illegals, I feel it's the inverse.
Honestly, I struggle with this. Is all fanservice bad? I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with liking a character sexually, nor do I think there is anything wrong with having a moment where the viewer is titillated to. Attraction to others is part of life and why shouldn't it be part of entertainment?
I guess my basic standards come down to if the work respects the character as a character first and foremost and then gives some fanservice following that (I feel MHA does this fairly well for the most part, but it's hard to see that as much with characters like Midnight and Shapeshifting girl since that is how we are introduced to them) and I wish for it to be a bit more evenly spread out. I have no attraction to men, but I'd feel better if there was an element of female gaze in most works, just to be more inclusive. There are some feminist that argue that playing toward fanservice to the other way doesn't solve the problem, but I disagree, and I think we'd feel a whole lot less creepy about oogling fictional characters if women/gay men were free to oogle them beside us.
yeah, that's more or less my opinion too. The fanservice doesn't get in the way of character writing, so I can tolerate it. I think Midnight does it simply as a popularity promoting thing, since her casual outfit is fairly plain, but yeah I'm hoping expecting Slimeketsu and Midnight get more development later.
Edit: And this is more subjective, but it doesn't feel very bad with them? Kind of? The camera doesn't "leer" at anybody, and Grape Juice (and to a lesser degree, Kaminari) is the only character interested in ogling the girls. The rest of the class, especially Deku, behaving like normal people and being against Mineta's schemes somehow makes it feel better.
also Deku should really get another shirtless scene, the class needs to see how ripped he is
Edit: And this is more subjective, but it doesn't feel very bad with them? Kind of? The camera doesn't "leer" at anybody, and Grape Juice (and to a lesser degree, Kaminari) is the only character interested in ogling the girls. The rest of the class, especially Deku, behaving like normal people and being against Mineta's schemes somehow makes it feel better.
also Deku should really get another shirtless scene, the class needs to see how ripped he is
Newtype-001
Member
I liked illegals well enough.
Gentleman is cool
Gentleman is cool
I think a good example of this is the cheerleader thing. That plan Mineta actually succeeded in...but honestly, it wasn't any more sexy than what normal cheerleading outfits look like, and it showed the girls having fun. I really think that's an important part. Their having fun in cheerleading outfits, their having fun in the hot springs, and that's how we see them. Which I do think is better than them being literally exploited for it, and I do think it's good Mineta gets looked down upon for trying to do so.
I should also note that it's a good thing that Midoriya atleast is still depicted as having normal sexual interests WITHOUT being a scumbag like Mineta about it.
That said, it's still problematic, especially in cases where the girls are actually nude. Plus, while that's all well and good for the main girls, Shapeshifting girl is a straight example of pure pointless fanservice. She even admitted it herself, she could put on clothes, but doesn't want to.
Basically, boobs are wonderful things that bring sunshine and delight to all who gaze upn them, but we can't forget about the people their attached to. That's the path I try and stick to.
That's another good example. Midoriya is a teenage boy and when I was his age, you bet my eyes were drawn to them in close situations. And yeah, it's natural to have a girl who likes a guy get a bit annoyed when she sees him oogling another girl.
Idk. In the context of how MHA presents it's characters, that right there IS fanservice...but it's also a natural character moment that most teenage boys eventually find themselves in at some point or another, and we still get character stuff happening with Uraraka by having this be a new way for her to experience her growing attraction to Midoriya.
That just feels different than To Love Ru's nauseating bullshit.
Idk, if there are any girls here, feel free to chime in (assuming all the above posters are guys). It's great to have these kinds of discussions with guys too, but it feels kind of wierd trying to decide if the fanservice is acceptable with no representation on the side of people of who this is usually done to.
I don't do rankings because I think hierarchies of likability are kinda bullshit....but I don't mind tiers, and the top tier members for me are, in no particular order, Bakugo, Shoto, Kirishima, Momo, Tsuya, and Tokoyami. I exclude Midoriya from this since he has protagonist privileges. Like I said, I do like everyone from 1-A though. Except Mineta. Fuck Mineta.
And Kendou deserves an honorary mention.
Deku's the best, no questions about it. Ochako, Todoroki, Kirishima, Momo, Bakugou, Tokoyami and Tsuyu are top tier. Iida, Jirou, Sero, Ojiro, and Shouji are great, too, and they're on track to getting even better. Kaminari, Ashido, Aoyama, and Hagakure are pretty cool. Satou and Kouda seem like they'd be great, but they haven't gotten much focus yet. Mineta is his own class of bad yet good.
so what I'm saying is that everybody is great
so what I'm saying is that everybody is great
pretty sure that's an unintentional drawing mistake.
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