English Dub Review: My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission

 

Overview:

Izuku Midoriya and the fellow heroes-in-training in My Hero Academia are no strangers to ruthless villains and unexpected peril, but My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission pushes everyone out of their comfort zones more than ever before. The heroes find themselves with mere hours to foil the plans of Humarise, a terrorist organization who plan to set off bombs around the world that will eliminate Quirks and empower the Quirk-less. This time-sensitive mission sends the heroes all across the world to recover Humarise’s dangerous Trigger Bombs, but also get to the bottom of a mystery that surrounds Deku, where he finds himself on the run as a fugitive for a slew of murders that he didn’t commit.

 

Our Take:

It’s almost become a foregone conclusion that even a marginally successful anime series will deliver cinematic installments that hopefully sate audiences until new episodes resume. It can be a little exhausting to keep track of all of these different movies and which of the lot deliver substantial adventures and not just summarize the events of the series with a glossy new coat of paint. My Hero Academia is at the point in its run where it could begin to coast and hit diminishing returns, which is why it’s been so reassuring to see how seriously the anime has taken its feature film counterparts. My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is the third movie in the series and easily the most significant of the lot. It’s a thrilling, concise story with a scope that’s bigger than anything that My Hero Academia has previously tackled. My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is a testament to the power of teamwork and it’s sure to satisfy both longtime fans of the series as well as complete newcomers.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission literally covers a lot of ground with a story that visits France, Egypt, Singapore, Japan, and more, yet there’s a very direct plot to dismantle Humarise’s terrorist organizations. This allows the movie to launch right into the action, which is plentiful, and it benefits from naturally seeding expository moments rather than tying down its first act with such introductory material. World Heroes’ Mission prioritizes its thrilling hero theatrics, which is really what everyone wants here, and it’s satisfying to see how the third movie in the series has learned from the previous two and doesn’t just continue to replicate the same formula. 

Previous My Hero Academia movies have paired Deku together with new characters, but this staple carries a very different energy in World Heroes’ Mission. Rody Soul (Ryan Colt Levy) instantly connects and is a natural foil for Midoriya, which is important since the two of them on the run together is really what anchors the movie. This unlikely duo gets more attention than anyone else so it’d be a serious problem if Rody were a misfire. Ryan Colt Levy brings a real affability to the character that makes him feel as kind-hearted as Deku, but also someone who contains a mischievous streak that doesn’t just feel reductive of the energy found in Bakugo or Todoroki. Rody feels like a true friend and equal to Midoriya, not someone helpless that he needs to defend and escort around, even though his Quirk isn’t exactly conducive to battle.

Rody’s younger brother and sister, Roro and Lala, feel a little rote, but it’s hard to begrudge a character for wanting to fight for his family. It’s a value that’s near and dear to a lot of the students at U.A. High, Midoriya and Todoroki included. At least Pino, Rody’s bird sidekick Quirk and Jiminy Cricket-like conscience, is an extremely creative and different element for the character. 

Rody is in good company with the rest of World Heroes’ Mission’s original characters. Salaam’s Papyrus (Frank Todaro), an Egyptian hero whose two-dimensional nature reflects a hieroglyph, is an exceptional ally who better make future appearances in the anime series. The various villains like Sidero (D.C. Douglas) and Leviathan (Marcus D. Stimac) are big and ostentatious, but the real MVP from Flect Turn’s villain pool is the hardened archer, Beros (Michelle Rojas), who’s especially awesome in both style and execution. There’s also strong use of My Hero Academia’s many supporting heroes. Most of the show’s most popular characters make appearances, even if many of them are largely relegated to the position of spectator.

The film’s fugitive angle lights a fire under Midoriya,but it also puts the rest of the heroes in a really compelling and unique position. It’s considerably deeper than the mental gymnastics that are required of the heroes in the other films. They have to decide who to trust and where their allegiances lie. It’s emotionally mature territory that considers what to do when someone you love possibly does something wrong, how blindly defending them isn’t always the answer, and that a real hero would act objectively regardless of who’s involved. World Heroes’ Mission is still very much an action film, but it also qualifies as an international thriller this time around, which is quite a departure for the series, but one that’s very welcome. 

At the same time, World Heroes’ Mission also happens to be surprisingly funny for My Hero Academia and the movie finds the perfect moments to use awkward humor to deflate emotional sequences of the fallout of battle. There’s a definite slapstick quality between Midoriya’s early interactions with Rody and his bumbling nature is frequently used to punctuate their suspenseful interactions together. Pino also gets to drive a lot of visual humor that works, even if she is a character that at times can feel like exists solely to sell plushie merchandise.

It’s also an appreciated change of pace that the circumstances of the movie’s plot result in some actual detective work from Todoroki and Bakugo as they decipher codes and try to clear Deku’s name, but also help locate the Trigger Bombs from across the world. They largely operate independently from Midoriya for the bulk of the film. World Heroes’ Mission is an exceptional vehicle for these two characters and it’s as much their movie as it is a showcase for Midoriya. It’s another effective way in which the film mixes up the standard dynamics that have occupied the previous My Hero Academia movies, but also builds upon the recent character developments that have happened in the fifth season of the show as Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki have all grown closer through working together at the Endeavor Agency. 

Additionally, many of the “all hands on deck” moments feature heroes from Class 1-A and 1-B working together in perfect harmony, paying off the work done in season five’s Joint Training Arc. World Heroes’ Mission benefits from the five seasons’ worth of work and character development that it follows. However, the film also oddly occupies the rare space where it contains lots of payoffs for hardcore fans, yet is also accessible for total outsiders. World Heroes’ Mission is absolutely a celebration of the anime’s themes and central characters, but the ideas explored are universal enough and the characters function as such well-defined ciphers that it’d be very easy for someone with zero My Hero Academia knowledge to view this film and still enjoy the story and its stunning animation. The film isn’t meant to lure in fresh eyes, but its ability to do so is a testament to the movie’s focused, distilled storytelling that’s very much relevant with the current real world as well as existing superhero trends.

A lot of the time the success of an anime or superhero movie will come down to the villain. Flect Turn (Robbie Daymond) and his “Quirk Doomsday Theory” that he hopes to trigger with his terrorist group, Humarise, isn’t exactly new territory for My Hero Academia antagonists. It’s become quite common for the series’ antagonists to attempt to eliminate all Quirks or level the playing ground in some way. However, there’s something compelling about Flect’s focus on the 20% of the world that don’t have Quirks and why they deserve to be chosen, pure people because they’re in fact more unique than those with Quirks. 

Flect views Quirks as a liability that are more trouble than they’re worth and something that will ultimately push humanity to destruction, not salvation. Flect also differentiates himself from past threats because of his charismatic ability to manipulate the masses and take advantage of the naïve. He develops a narrative that empowers the powerless. It’s also a curious turn that Flect does have a Quirk, which makes his crusade a lot more interesting than if he were also Quirk-less and acting out of resentment. His philosophy runs much deeper.

Animation studio, Bones, also does exceptional work with My Hero Academia and the previous two movies have been particularly gorgeous works of art. World Heroes’ Mission continues this trend and it’s easily the most impressive looking of the three movies, with many visuals that take advantage of the bigger screen on which the movie is hopefully being viewed. There are endless action sequences and World Heroes’ Mission finds inventive ways to string one set piece into the next. There’s a kinetic energy that’s always driving the story forward and very rarely allows the movie to slow down.

Midoriya’s newly minted Black Whip Quirk gets to fuel a lot of these sequences, which is a luxury that the previous movies didn’t have, and these moments are especially beautiful. There’s a real Spider-Man quality as Midoriya whips around through the city and a whole new level of movement gets worked into his repertoire. There’s a dizzying effect that occurs when some of the team effort moments showcase visuals that fly all over the place and catapult from one fantastical Quirk to the next. These powers are often on display in the anime series, but World Heroes’ Mission finds a way to present them where they feel new again. 

It’d be easy to fall into a repetitive pattern, but there’s welcome diversity in the movie’s action sequences that don’t just prioritize Quirks. There are some effective parkour-esque segments and the movie’s wide range of characters all get opportunities to show off their powers, both individually and as a team. The movie’s final battle against Flect Turn pulls off some gonzo visuals and it’s amazing that these movies can still create such awe-inducing displays of animation. World Heroes’ Mission allows the largest group of heroes yet to shine.

During the climax of World Heroes’ Mission it briefly seems like the movie is headed down a discouraging direction that’s wholly unnecessary and would diminish the weight of the film’s events, but thankfully it exhibits some restraint and doesn’t pull the trigger. My Hero Academia movies can wipe the slate clean by their conclusions so that it’s easier for them to exist on their own and out of canon, if necessary. Accordingly, it’s appreciated that the ending of World Heroes’ Mission makes it seem possible that a return to some of these characters is possible, whereas that was less likely for the previous two movies.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is a celebration of teamwork, which is at its best during the movie’s big finale. Everyone–even Pino–gets to contribute in their own beautiful way to the victory. In doing so, World Heroes’ Mission arguably tops Heroes’ Rising’s finale, which previously seemed like an unsurpassable benchmark. It’s a slightly more condensed battle, which some may view as a rushed conclusion, but it’s comforting that the movie also doesn’t lose itself in the final fight. There’s enough varied action sequences across the film that it doesn’t need to also go out on a spectacle that’s over thirty minutes long. Brevity is the friend of World Heroes’ Mission and it allows the battles to be distilled to their very best parts. 

There’s a lot of sage advice and inspirational visuals that fill My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, but “heroes never give up” becomes the overwhelming mantra that powers every second of the picture. This new movie is such an entertaining and satisfying addition to the popular anime series that it will also leave the audience resolved to never give up on the future of My Hero Academia.

 

‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’ premieres in select theaters on October 29th