I’ve sat on this for a bit, putting my thoughts together. I think I have a cohesive concept comparing My Hero Academia and modern, western comics. I’d like to caveat this by saying that I’m not talking about ALL comics put out by the Big Two. There are good books put out by Marvel and DC, I’m sure, but this is about ideals and concepts.

I’m not a big anime fan, but a friend got me into My Hero Academia and I fell in love with it immediately. And I realized why I did so, passionately. The show captures something I felt has been missing from the modern comics industry for a while now, but for the longest time I couldn’t place my finger on it.

It hit me while rewatching episode 12 of the first season. Boku no Hero Academia isn’t just good, it is sincere. Everything is sincere. From the characters to their motivations to plots and concepts, its all done from a place of genuine feeling.

The easiest example is, of course, All Might and Deku. Both are written so honestly, earnestly, that you can believe that All Might not only believes in what he says, but that he could be what he says. And Deku’s emotions, his beliefs, his fears and idolization of heroes all feel genuine, like somebody who could live in our world.

But you also have characters like Stain. For all intents and purposes, he’s an Anti-Hero/Villain, like The Punisher. But his convictions, his actions and his ideals are what stops him from being a cliche. Again, you can believe that somebody like Stain could exist. You can believe somebody could behave that way if pushed too far. And he’s realistic, from his gear focusing expressly on what gives him an advantage but also the fact that he’s not unbeatable and that he actually loses.

The characters, good or bad, are written sincerely. If they’re grim, they’re not grim for the sake of some gimmick or trend. If they’re heroic, its not a subversion (and even subversions like Endeavor are shown to be nakedly in the wrong).

But in addition, you also have the writing being genuine. These characters aren’t being written with an agenda or politics in mind. They’re people, facing people’s problems like parental abuse, broken homes, egotism, family tragedy and striving to match your idols.

Izuku Midoriya is everything people liked about classic Spider-Man. He’s a kid, just a kid, given great power and has to struggle with that power to do good. Sure, he doesn’t quip or hang on walls, but his journey is the same we followed Peter through decades ago.

The writing is focusing on these characters being heroes and nothing else. And the show slowly opens up a greater lore, bringing it from the background to the foreground, I’m struck by the fact that the characters aren’t bogged down in decades of contradicting backstory, retcons and editorial demands.

It harkens back to shows I really loved even 7 years ago; Earth’s Mightest Heroes, Green Lantern the Animated Series and Spectacular Spider-Man. All three of these were just about heroes being heroes, free of the politics of comic books.

I realized that My Hero Academia is what Marvel and DC comics should have been, and once were long ago.

In their waning relevance, the Big Two, have taken to constantly retconning, relaunching, rewriting their stories. They’ve taken to interjecting politics almost constantly into their books. They follow trends almost universally instead of standing on their own.

In short, that is what Marvel and DC lack, while My Hero Academia has it in spades: Genuine Sincerity.