Six Adult Animated Series That Pay Homage To Classic Cartoons

My Hero Academia Does All the Heroes

Some anime shows are overloaded with references to popular culture in order to reinforce their brand. My Hero Academia is a show about young superheroes; because of that, they address a wide array of famous heroes. Aside from Academia’s ultimate hero All Might having similarities to Superman, Captain America, The Hulk, and others, there are supporting characters with even more specific looks and powers.

Inasa Yoarashi (Gale Force), our protagonists’ rival from another school, dresses like M. Bison from Street Fighter while he controls the wind like Storm from X-Men. Jorota Shishida, a student from UA’s Class 1-B, has similar powers and a similar underbite as X-Men’s Beast. His power is even called Beast. There’s even a villain called Jin Bubaigawara (Twice), whose costume and sarcasm resemble Deadpool, while his split personality is similar to Rorschach from Watchmen, or Deadpool from the comics.