08. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019) Film Review

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Okay, fine, I'll admit that I have turned into a major weeb. And by that I mean I willingly and eagerly spent my money to watch the latest My Hero Academia movie in cinemas. 
My Hero Academia is an extremely popular anime as of the moment, having it's merchandise on sale in Primark (that's how you know you've made it) and is currently deep into it's fourth season. 
This anime was a love-at-first-watch show for me when I was introduced to it by my boyfriend, as not only did I love the characters, but the premise of the whole show to me was just so fun. 
Heroes Rising was only on limited release in cinemas where I live, so I jumped to the opportunity to see my beloved anime boys and girls on the big screen. 

 The screening had a minuscule turnout (as expected, can't imagine there's a thriving anime community in Leicester). This pleased me, as it meant we could enjoy the film comfortably and wouldn't have to endure the annoying clamour of My Hero Academia stans, who are renowned for being extremely irritating. 

 First of all, the adjustment from only ever watching anime on regular sized screens to a huge looming one was jarring, partly due to me miscalculating the perfect centre seating spot, but also due to the fact that My Hero Academia tends to usually start it's pre-title screen sequences with fast paced action. 
Second of all, the animation really amazed me. This could be due to me having wiped my glasses before I left my flat, but I'm imagining it was more of a flex that anime can be really, really well animated, and not as clunky as most people remember from watching Pokémon. 

 My next thoughts on the movie were that although the narrative arc was very gripping, I was very confused as to where the story was supposed to place in the general overriding story of the series. I debated this afterwards, and am still unsure. Guess that's what the manga and Google are for. 

 One of my favourite things about the film was the character development and emotional weight associated with certain characters, in particular Bakugou. As one of my favourite characters, I feel I always notice his arc and have felt that since the first season of the show, he doesn't get as much screen time as other characters. However, this film focused on him and his relationship with Midoriya a lot, and I felt that he was dug out of the stereotypical personality hole which depicts him as just a hot headed, shouting boy who wants to blow things up. His heroic nature shone through, which was a breath of fresh air from how he is regularly villainised. 

 The stakes were very high for this instalment of the franchise, and I felt that all of Class 1-A were given the chance to show their development strengths and talents, something which had been reserved only for characters like Midoriya, Bakugou and Todoroki. 

 Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and I'm so glad that I saw it in the cinema rather than at home. I think this series has something for everyone, and recommend it strongly to anime watchers who might have avoided it so far. 
Until next time, I'm signing off. 

GO BEYOND PLUS ULTRA!


Paige Nicole

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