My thoughts on MHA and Horikoshi:
When I read the first chapter, I was just thrilled that Horikoshi was back—that he hadn’t been discouraged by his second cancellation and that he’d grace the world with his manga again! That the first chapter also happened to be Romance Dawn-level brilliant (doubtlessly it will be remembered as iconic as well, for all the emotion and sheer heart it exudes) was just icing on the cake. I used to feel really sad that Bulge never got anywhere, thinking he’d be discouraged from trying again if it was cancelled and it was still pretty decent and he’d improve over time if allowed to. Now I’m glad it got cancelled, because MHA is magic and absolutely deserves its explosion of recognition. And I was a fool for thinking a born mangaka of Horikoshi’s caliber would be discouraged by a mere obstacle like two cancellations.
At first, I was legitimately curious how Izuku would become a hero without a quirk, so I was kinda disappointed when he ended up being granted one—though he did work extremely hard just to earn a place on the starting line, like he said. I was also initially more disappointed than amazed when he smashed the giant robot in the third chapter—already at full power!? Finally, I had misgivings about the setting: surely the whole world of superheroes concept had been run into the ground?
But then Horikoshi started impressing me with his solid, extremely likeable characters and I was hooked for good. In fact, the world of superheroes setting, in many ways, is PERFECT for Horikoshi’s strengths.
- First and foremost, his character designs! They’re Oda-level varied, creative, and full of that vim of life that’s hard to pinpoint exactly.
- The honest-to-a-fault goody-two-shoes protagonist he seems to love, which is well-suited to the occupation of heroism.
- Characters that don’t take themselves too seriously—they’re vying for the right to wear spandex, after all. And they have that cartoony feel to go with it.
I read in the inside cover of Vol. 1 that this time around he’s simply drawing a manga that’s fun for him personally, and you can really tell.
For one, his artstyle is so expressive, and that’s what manga is all about to me. Contrast this with BLEACH, where the only expressions are smug superiority 1 and smug superiority 2, with maybe a dash of oh shit face now and again. Secondly, he’s really drawing from a huge well of inspiration with the motif of Silver Age superhero comics, evident in the American comic book cover design of the color covers and the way All Might’s shading is different (it’s even drawn attention to at one point, specifically called “Silver Age style,” a reference I’m not sure many readers would understand!).
I can’t wait for Fallen Angels to catch up, because the current arc is edge-of-your-seat for sure, and every chapter is just as badass and exciting as the one before. I honestly think the series is OP level already.