#without realizing there were ways to make it more apetizing

[major-victory]

So now that I've finished season 1 of bnha, I wanna try and do a little analysis of what I do/don't like about it, or in otherwords: despite being a flashy action shounen with a fun basic hook that is well drawn and voice acted, why does it lose me?

I can't add a readmore, so bear with me here

Overall

I overall like the show a good bit. Switching over to English has definitely made it more engaging for me, though it is Entirely Possible that it's primarily due to Chris Sabat carrying it for me personally. But all of the actors are great, theyre well suited to their roles, and they feel well directed. (And I'm not biased at all that I hear Saitou when Chris speaks shut up, im sorry my fave role of his is such a small one when the man literally voiced in DBZ)

The hook IS genuinely fun. I LOVE the concept of a kid showing such an urgent desire to help that he inspired a known pro hero to push himself as well, and I am always weak for Strong OP Master accidentally adopting a kid that he initially wrote off, but in such a way that he would Kill for said child. Better still when, in order to make the child his apprentice, he gives the child a piece of his own power (see: the breaker for another fun example of this narrative) and this ends up hurting him down the line.

Animation

The animation is also very fun. They let these kids make Great Expressions -- lots of wrinkles and lines, over exaggerated when necessary to drive home the intensity. The action and posing is fun, tons of foreshortening, great camera angles for a lot of the fights.

So with all of that being as fun as it is, I think it loses me in 2 places: narrative and lighting.

Narrative

Basically -- the pacing just feels Off. I think I'm not a huge fan of introducing shigaraki so early in the game, instead of having no build up to them as a threat, and then turning around and going into the sports fest... it isn't even whiplash, it just doesn't feel like those arcs were supposed to come one after the other like that. Like there should have been an arc before USJ that helped ramp things up a bit more, made the USJ bit feel more impact full. In stead it just punched you in the arm, said "Jah! Bet that was scary" then ran off leaving you more confused why you were punched in the arm at all.

Lighting

Lighting really just boils down to All These Scenes Look The Same. They all have the same lighting intensity and shadow placements, every scene is as saturated as the last. Even the shots of Deku in the night, or Deku leaving school at sunset have largely similar lighting, it's just the color itself that is off.

There is only 1 scene I can recall in those first 15 eps (I'm 2 eps into season 2 so shh) that had any distinct lighting: the scene where Deku completes his beach cleaning and the sun is still rising. It created a fun back-lit effect on him, and was gorgeous when combined with the raw emotion and his scream. Loved That.

But there were other opportunities to use lighting just as dramatically, especially in the USJ battle sequences, when Shigaraki first appears. This is such a terrifying, heavy set of fights, but the whole time its illuminated like it's just a sunny day. There's no dramatic shadows that obscure half a characters face, no fun colorful spec lighting to help them stand out against the combat around them. They just look the same as they do in any other scene. I think, writing about this now, that has a huge impact on the fact that these fights are occasionally losing me. They're fun they're fast, theyre flashy, and I like that, but they don't look any different.

That said, I know there's a few scenes later in the show that look to change this up a bit, but I'm not sure when they do, or how often either.

[incendial]

How to make yourself feel better about who you are: Grab a piece of paper.Now write down how you think a writer would describe you if you were a character in his book.Describe yourself in the most beautiful way possible,with no modesty and no limits.Yet,keep it real.Make yourself a poet's muse. She was temptingly beautiful,but gorgeous when you get close.If you know how to see the true beauty in someone,you'd notice her sparkling eyes,like she has just cried her heart out,looking at you under those rich soft eyelashes.You can read the sadness in them.And when she gives you that flirty,playful look with a superior smile,oh,oh God.You could admire a moment of eternity how her deep brown shines like a million diamonds in the sunrays.No,her eyes weren't ocean blue,but I could feel myself drowning at the slight touch of a glance.And her lips,oh so soft and fragile.Full and apetizing of that dark pink natural color.I noticed their shape in the light of her cigarette in the darkness,through the smoke,they own such delicacy and purity.I was astonished by her beauty from the moment i saw her.The glowing skin and thick eyebrows giving symmetry to her face catched my eye first. And the deep cheekbones that accentuate when she smiles.Ah yes,her smile,it could light up the world.Her long dark hair in the wind makes her look so calm,so mystical,but when it falls on her face it gives her such an air of mystery and sexiness. The one thing greater than her looks is her mind of an artist. A big thinker who owns more intelligence than she considers.You never know what curious thoughts run through her mind.You could only discover if you'd get to know her,which seems hard at first.People have always made a wrong impression about her.Dumb,uninteresting,intelectually poor,bad personality,while she's the whole opposite.Please,you could never get tired of her.Her perverted mind will keep you awake,her thoughts about life and psychology will make you wander and her statements about art,poetry and love will keep you inspired.When I touched her I unleashed an incredible attraction between us. Her eyes will never let you sleep at night. She will haunt your dreams. She could easily make you fall in love without even realizing it.