Highlights
- Slice-of-life moments in My Hero Academia provide a realistic portrayal of the characters' lives in a school setting, making them relatable to viewers.
- Character development is a key focus in My Hero Academia, with each student of Class 1-A having unique motivations to become a hero.
- The slice-of-life moments in My Hero Academia differentiate it from other shonen anime by showcasing the students' daily activities and interactions, offering a break from the continuous action and fights.
Slice-of-life focuses on characters' daily lives, making viewers connect with them. Most shonen anime like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece lack the slice-of-life moments, and My Hero Academia could or could not fall into that category. One particular indication of slice-of-life is the setting. My Hero Academia takes place in a school where the characters are getting trained to become heroes.
This setting shows the realistic nature of life as there are stages one has to pass to achieve certain goals in life. It shows that even as heroes in training, these students still experience regular high school activities like sports, school festivals, and hangout sessions at the dormitory.
U.A. Sports Festival
My Hero Academia dwells on character development. This is evidenced by Midoriya, who may only appear as the main character sometimes. Each student of Class 1-A has what drives them to become a hero, and My Hero Academia tells why.
There are school-focused events and villain-oriented events in My Hero Academia. One of the former is the U.A. Sports Festival, where the students showcase their quirks in different competitions to pro heroes. The students interact with each other like average students and not like heroes trying to defeat a villain.
Midoriya's battle with Todoroki during the U.A. sports festival makes him go against his words of never using his father's fire quirk. Confused about why Todoroki would not use his powers to his advantage, Midoriya questions him. Todoroki tells Midoriya about his upbringing, his hate for his father, and why he vowed never to use his fire quirk.
This revelation also made his defeat against Bakugo and Bakugo's anger towards him, despite winning, understandable. Bakugo felt he won because Todoroki did not use his full powers. As the anime progresses, fans watch as Todoroki tries to overcome his childhood trauma and, eventually, gets more inclined to the idea of using his fire quirk.
Provisional Hero License Exam
A wholesome slice-of-life moment takes place at the beginning of the Provisional Hero License Exam arc. This arc started with Class 1-A moving into their school's dormitory, Heights Alliance.
Class 1-A students had a room competition to see who had the best room, and from this, fans got a tour of each student's room. Each room had a personal touch to it. Midoriya's room had All Might's merchandise, showing how much of a fanboy he is. Tokoyami's room is dark, just as expected. Ashido's room has cute toys and items, while Kyoka's has musical instruments.
This moment brought the students together, welcoming each other into their personal space as they continued their journey to becoming heroes.
Another moment in this arc was when Todoroki and Bakugo failed the Provisional Hero License Exam. As the anime continues, fans see these two boys strive to do well in the next Hero exam. They withdrew from social gatherings in their dormitory to prepare for the next exam.
U.A. School Festival
U.A. School Festival school's curriculum and must be held. It emphasizes the reality of being in a high school. Class 1-A students discuss what they can do in class and meet up in the lounge area of Heights Alliance to talk more about their contribution to the school festival. Mina brings up the idea of dancing, and Todoroki agrees. Mina offers to teach her classmates how to dance.
A very down-to-earth moment was when Kyoka was hesitant about showcasing her musical talents at the school festival. Knowing how much music means to her, they all encouraged her to perform, knowing how happy she becomes when she plays her musical instruments. With these words of encouragement, she agreed to play.
During this period, Eri was in the care of U.A. High. Midoriya appeals to Shota to let Eri experience the school festival. This act showed fans how thoughtful and caring Midoriya is about Eri's challenges and trauma and his determination to make her feel like a child again.
As Class-1 A prepares for the school festivals, they learn more about each other. After realizing that Bakugo is a good drummer, Kyoka appeals to him to join the band. Bakugo, the hot-tempered character, shocked everyone by agreeing to play. Together, these students delegate roles and begin rehearsals for the school festival.
The long-awaited school festival came, and these students performed. They were without worry at that moment, basking in genuine love and excitement while briefly forgetting about the evil threatening to destroy their world.
Comparison With Other Shonen Titles
The slice-of-life moments in My Hero Academia helped it stand out from other shonen anime like Naruto or One Piece. Luffy in One Piece did not attend or have that school experience that My Hero Academia characters have.
On the other hand, Naruto lacks a training school, and fans see that most of his training experience is on the field with professional villains. My Hero Academia revolves around training students in a school setting to become heroes before sending them out to the real world with real villains. Fans may appreciate the slice-of-life moments in My Hero Academia because it serves as a break from the continuous action and fights these students are subject to.
My Hero Academia is available to stream on Crunchyroll.