After its worldwide debut at Anime Expo, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes made its way to the big screen. The dub premiered on September 13th in Los Angeles, California. The Japanese version has been in theaters since August, but North American audiences were finally able to see the summer’s hottest anime movie as of September 25th thanks to Funimation Films.
Story
The movie occurs sometime before the most recent season. All Might invites Deku to I Island where the two encounter Professor Shields and his daughter, some of the brightest minds in hero support technology. Shields and All Might go way back to their college days, but All Might has neglected to tell his best friend about his quirk in full. Shields sets Toshi up for some tests, and discovers that All Might’s quirk is quickly growing weaker. The Symbol of Peace is dying, and Shields can’t bear to let the light die. He knows he must do something.
Meanwhile, Deku is given a brief tour of the island and expo thanks to Melissa, Professor Shield’s daughter. She’s extremely outgoing, and bright to boot. It’s refreshing seeing a woman comfortable with who she is. The pair begin to run into Deku’s classmates, who all seem to have made their way to the expo for some reason or another.
That evening, a grand reception is held to mark the beginning of the expo. This conveniently gathers all of I Island’s heroes and brightest minds in one location. It also serves as an excuse to dress our heroes in formal wear, not that I’m complaining. Trouble begins to brew, and ruins what should have been an amazing and romantic night for Deku and his friends. Instead they must now save the island without the help of All Might or other pro heroes.
In Another Timeline
One of the strengths of the movie was definitely Melissa, who reveals early on that she was born quirkless. Her dream as a child to become a hero was quickly swept aside when she never developed a power. Just like Deku.
She didn’t let being quirkless stop her though. Through perseverance, she found a different way to achieve her goal of helping people. By following her father’s path and creating amazing support items for heroes, Melissa became strong and confident in her abilities. She has conviction, and can see that Deku also has the drive to become someone even greater than All Might. This is why she feels compelled to help him, giving Deku an item that will allow him to perform at full strength.
Seeing Melissa thrive while quirkless is like looking into what could have been for Deku. In a world full of heroes with and without quirks, there are many who choose a different path that are rarely shown. Melissa admits she could be a burden to the rest of the crew, but knows that she also holds the key to defeating the final boss. She knows her own worth, and too many times in anime and manga women are shown as thinking less of themselves. She even teaches Deku some new lessons.
Nothing’s Perfect
Two Heroes is fun, and introduces us to the amazing Melissa, but no good thing is without flaws. The movie suffers a bit from predictability. Unlike original animated films, movies based on previously successful series are forced to shoehorn the plot of the movie somewhere into the canonical timeline. The results are usually a mixed bag. Thankfully, Two Heroes is one of the better series-based films, but the final villain and boss still leave a lot to be desired.
One of the more disappointing aspects of the film involves the quality of animation. Bones Studio has done an amazing job with the series thus far, but when the silver screen is involved, audiences expect more. There was not much difference between the weekly episodes and this film. The most impressive scene is saved for the end, but there won’t be any spoilers in this article.
Is It Worth The Watch?
Any hard core My Hero Academia fans should definitely go out and see this in theaters. The fan service alone is amazing, and supporting the anime industry means we can have more events like this. While the story isn’t spectacular, it’s a fun experience that gives a wider perspective for the world Deku and his classmates inhabit.
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes will be in select theaters from September 25th to October 2nd. Location and tickets can be found on Funimation’s official site. Be sure to check it out!
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