My Hero Academia is back with its second movie, with the series growing in popularity every day, it’s safe to say there are more eyes on this one than Two Heroes, and let me tell you, I consider Heroes Rising mandatory viewing. Here’s our My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising review.

Blistering Action With Plenty of Heart

The movie, directed by Kenji Nagasaki, kicks off with an intriguing introduction into the villains of the movie, but quickly returns focus to the students of class 1-A. The students are actually acting as a Hero Agency on Nabu, a quiet island off of mainland Japan. The movie starts really quite peacefully, the small island is beautifully drawn, and it gave off Ghibli vibes in its atmosphere. The Ghibli influence doesn’t last long however, and things quickly return to typical My Hero Academia action – as the villain’s plan is uncovered, the story starts to connect together, and soon, there’s plenty of action.

The story of My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising suffers the same handicap as other anime movies, in that, they’re kind of canon, kind of not. The movie does a great job of raising the stakes in a self-contained way, so if you weren’t aware that My Hero Academia was an ongoing manga and anime, you would probably feel peril for some of the characters in various moments. Speaking of characters, there are a lot of them, the entire 1-A class is here on the island, and they’ve been left solely in charge – there are no professional heroes to help them.

This story does seem to take place after the fourth season of the anime, and there are some things that will be new to you if you’re not a manga reader. There is ONE major thing that I deem to be quite a big spoiler, that features later on in the manga than the show is currently up to, but I wouldn’t let it stop you from seeing the movie if you aren’t up to date with the manga.

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No matter which student is your favourite, they’ll get a chance to shine in this movie. I don’t think ONE character had nothing to do, typically in the anime you could expect to see someone like Koji Koda to be happily existing in the background, but in My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, Koda and the others get their moments in the spotlight. Unfortunately for them however, some students are just downright better aren’t they?

I’ve felt the 1-A big three (outside Midoriya) have been slightly under-represented in the last arc of the anime, but boy, this movie corrects that. This movie is very much telling you that Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki are the strongest members of this class. Each has incredible moments that left the audience laughing and gasping in awe.

If you thought the latest arc of the anime was lacking in action, it’s because Bones was putting everything into this movie, and it shows. The animation is crisp, with a bigger sense of depth and detail in the background – which is a lovely addition without getting too distracting, like it sometimes can in bigger budget anime movies.

The action in this movie is some of my favourite I’ve seen from My Hero Academia, powers are used in new and inventive ways, and the nature of the villains causes the heroes to act tactically in ways we haven’t seen before, including some awesome team up moments. The villains have great designs, and one in particular may play a bigger part in the overall story, it’s certainly an interesting premise.

I’ll just say one thing, if you thought the Deku vs Overhaul fight was hype, just wait until you see the climax of Heroes Rising. Everything is enhanced by the incredible soundtrack, with some callbacks to some of the favourite tracks over the past few seasons of the show.

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My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is in cinemas on February 26 & 27, you can get tickets here: https://mhaheroesrising.co.uk/

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My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Review Verdict

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is must-watch viewing for any MHA fan, it brings together all the best parts of the show, with plenty of humour, action, and endearing characters. The movie culminates in an edge-of-the-seat battle that gives you the sort of spectacle you should really see on the big screen. If you’re not one of the millions of My Hero Academia fans, you can have fun with this movie, but it doesn’t spend too much time on details that you would know if you watched the show.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve watched in a long time.

5/5