BnHA: New Cover Design for Volume 5

It's difficult not to feel objective about the latest cover especially when it is Shouto Todoroki in his full glory is in it.

I let out a huge gasp when I saw it I know. It's really over-reacting. But! But even Midoriya, the main character, hasn't been in a cover - solo!

It's a surprise. An awesome surprise especially for me who is honestly going to place Todoroki after Aizawa in her list of favorite characters.

Just when I thought Iida was the center of this arc, Todo showed up. Haha.

He is staring at his left hand and light is cast on his fire side symbolically expressing that he finally is free from the shackles that prevent him from using his left side.

Toward the end of the sports festival arc, he was seldom seen and when he was indeed shown, he's wearing this gloomy expression.

I can't help but feel like the mangaka had certain favoritism towards Todo... He's always well-drawn. Apparently he's not really a snob as I thought he is. He actually has a personality that cares for others (coming to Midoriya's aid and showing concern for Iida). He's extremely likeable now.

Go Team Todoroki!!!

BnHA: New Cover for Volume 4

The participants for the first year tournament

Of ALL the covers I've seen, this one is the best.

I honestly think Horikoshi-sensei's art is beautiful because not all characters look the same. It's rare to see a manga whose characters looks unique from other. This is the reason I enjoy reading this manga aside from the storyline. Each character has a specific design of their own, the eyes are not redundant. Look at the characters in this picture and tell me they don't exude individuality.

Anyway, the main cast are here with Midoriya my boy shown the largest. Uraraka immediately catches the eye because she has a whole body shot. I like how Kirishima is drawn here, it really gives the impression of being a laid-back person and at the same time looking approachable which is really in his nature. Bakugou looks like he's about to pick up a fight. No surprises there. Kaminari looks like the dude who always make fun of everyone. That's what he is. Sero is not smiling, maybe Kaminari said something offensive? Ashido and Mei looks like... Ashido and Mei. I haven't really observed their characteristics although Mei is an ambitious girl. Momo seems like she was about to tel something but then the camera clicked. Tokoyami looks badass, as ever and Iida's holding a bottle. I assume it contains orange juice? Todoroki - my personal favorite, looks like he doesn't want to be in the photo at, all. Well, didn't he say "we're not here to make friends" to Midoriya? He definitely give off that vibe.

Well, I noted Midoriya's hand has a green bandage and a glove to cover his wrecked hand (he got it when he used One For All during the fight with Todoroki). I think it looks cool. Like the mainstream MCs where they have this signature injury to always remind them of the time when they are too weak. Uraraka's sneakers are pink, really?! Are Bakugou's boots from his hero costume?

Among all of them, I like Kirishima's pose in this cover. If I am someone who's got no idea who he is, by looking at this photo, I'd say he's a friendly guy - which he's certainly is. The way he's drawn here captured that personality.

BnHA: Favorite Characters

Boku no Hero Academia has a bunch of interesting and likeable characters. The mangaka, Horikoshi Kohei really put tons of effort to make characters stand on their own whether its about their quirk or personality or both. Every character is unique from their design, mannerisms and personality.

If I will enumerate all my favorite characters, I'd definitely mention most of them and explain why. However, that will be most unchallenging so I decided to choose the four characters I like the most. Choosing characters for only four slots proved to be so difficult.

Why four? Because top 5 is too mainstream.

Here it is, the Milo Mango: Top Four Favorite BnHA Characters

4. All Might - I always enjoy his over-the-top mannerisms when he's in buff form and spewing blood in his true form. He always have the most memorable lines.

3. Ochako Uraraka - she always have such a sunny disposition. Her reason for wanting to become a hero made me love her character. She also proved to be a capable fighter when she fought in the tournament during Yuuei's sports festival.

2. Izuku Midoriya - he's different from other MCs out there. He does not have a loud personality, he does not require huge amount of food, he does not have to be cute. He's actually smart and a nerdlord. Most important factor for me, he did not come from a legendary race/legendary place/legendary bloodline/legendary clan/legendary parents. His power was given to him because he deserved it not because he was fortunate to be born with it.

1. Aizawa-sensei - the moment he appeared in that sleeping bag drinking orange juice, I immediately liked the character. I won't even discuss how awesome he is as a hero. He's just cool.

Honorable Mentions:

Here is a list of characters I love but did not made it to the top four. In no particular order:

Iida Tenya - because of his unique way of delivering speech with added gesticulations. He's someone who looks serious but is really comical.

Kirishima Eijirou - everybody's friend. Definitely the nicest guy in the class.

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu - nuff said.

Fumikage Tokoyami - this guy deserves more screen time. I think his character design (falcon head) is unique. And he's got Dark Shadow, too.

Todoroki Shouto - born with ice and fire as quirks, he's also smart and obviously very powerful. Though his quiet demeanor is a bit generic type of character for me, his character design is not. Besides, who doesn't like the quiet-smart-badass character?

In terms of character design I'm going with only two:

Bakugou Katsuki - his appearance, his hero costume reflects his explosive personality, figuratively and literally speaking.

Shigaraki Tomura - never saw any character that resembles him. The hand in his face and those that support his seemingly fragile body. I mean, just look at him.

This list is subject to change.

Boku no Hero Academia: Summary

Finally summoned the courage to create my very own blog. I'm not an excellent writer. I made a blog to write about the things I am really passionate about. I'm also not a native English speaker so please forgive me if my composition is not grammatically correct. I will try my best to express my thoughts in the clearest way possible.

This blog was really created for my newest favorite manga, Boku no Hero Academia. I started reading it last November because I've read on some forums that it was the next big thing. Naruto was about to end or had ended that time (I can't really remember), so I decided to read it and see for myself if it was really good like what the forum people were telling. I was a bit skeptical since I don't really read a lot of mangas and the only storyline that I remained loyal to is One Piece. If you read One Piece, you definitely know what a good plot is. After reading a couple of chapters, I was hooked!

The story is like the Japanese version of X-Men. People were born with supernatural powers. Some use their powers or quirks as it is called in the manga, to help people. They are called Heroes. However, some use their quirks to do illegal things and they are branded as villains.

Becoming a hero is what the main character, Midoriya Izuku dreams of. He has an idol, All Might whom he admired since he was a boy. Unfortunately, Midoriya was born quirkless.

In his world, being powerless or "normal" is rare while having a quirk is common.

Regardless of not having a power of his own, Midoriya still dreams of becoming a hero like All Might.

After his chance encounter with All Might and disregarding his safety to save his childhood friend, Midoriya was given One For All, a power that was passed down from one bearer to the next where it is cultivated making it as a "sum convergence of peak strength of countless men." (All Might, chapter 2)

Thus, Midoriya Izuku, once quirkless is now the bearer of One For All enabling him to be admitted to the Heroics Department of the prestigious Yuuei High School where kids who wants to be heroes are trained.

There you have it, the summary of Boku no Hero Academia.

I really should've started this blog long ago now it's on chapter 40 and there is already a tournament arc! Anyway, I'll post my thoughts about the upcoming chapters, I'm sure I will be enjoying that! I'll also think about something to write about the characters since everyone in the manga are interesting and worth talking about.