English Dub Review: My Hero Acadamia – Heroes Rising

Barely over a year since the show’s first theatrical outing, My Hero Academia returns to the big screen to show that it’s last film’s success was no fluke and even improves on it in just about every way. Movies based on popular shonen franchises often find themselves trapped within a few inescapable tropes, specifically that they are mainly self contained adventures that can do what they want but never really impact the main story and so end up feeling pretty disposable at the end of the day. While it is undeniable that Heroes Rising fits that description to a T, it does manage to make use of the liberties afforded to it in that in fun an interesting ways that new and existing fans should still find enjoyment in.

Taking place some time in a period that the anime has yet to adapt, the story finds Class 1A of UA High School running a temp hero agency on a remote island to show their capabilities as pro heroes. What they don’t count on is the arrival of Nine (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch), a villain with a mysterious mask and multiple quirks who is searching for a child named Katsuma whose own quirk can stabilize him. In order to protect Katsuma and his sister Mashiro, Deku, Bakugo, and the rest of the class must put their skills to the test. And already this sounds weirdly similar to the Overhaul arc that recently concluded in the series, but then again, borrowing a lot from popular moments of the source material is another common trope of shonen anime movies (see Cooler or Janemba from the Dragon Ball Z movies heavily resembling Frieza and Majin Buu for examples of that).

Though even with those noticeable borrowings, Heroes Rising balances its character highlights with its action far better than its previous movie, Two Heroes, from 2018. Where that story focused squarely on Deku, All Might, and two movie introduced characters, Heroes Rising gives just about every class member a chance to shine against Nine’s distinct goons, with particular love given to Deku and Bakugo’s rivalry/odd friendship, especially in the final battle (even if they put a bit too much emphasis on a cool twist in the climax that they were never planning on committing to in the first place). Also, coincidentally, I happened to rewatch the first Bleach movie recently before seeing this, so I find it a bit funny that Johnny Yong Bosch has taken the torch of being the disposable, unstable, long white haired anime movie villain who wants to take over the world because of power when he used to be the shonen protagonist fighting them.

If you are a fan of My Hero Academia, I probably don’t need to tell you to go see this movie since you’ve probably already gotten tickets. The major deciding factor in whether you’ll enjoy it probably lies in how familiar and accepting one may be of the typical trappings of a film like this. If you’re alright with simply seeing your favorite heroes get their ass kicking on for nearly two hours, then you’re going to have a fun time. If you’re looking for something more impactful, I’d suggest just sticking to the show, but while Heroes Rising does stay within its formula, it Plus Ultra’s the hell of it.