Cour 1 of the epic second season for acclaimed My Hero Academia ends with a precursor of things to come, as the Hero Killer Stain arc takes center stage. With this season being full of animated highlights from the source material’s Sports Festival arc, season two improves upon the pilot season in each and every way imaginable. Fantastic character growth, focus, amazing storytelling, and continued development will cement My Hero Academia’s place into the anime industry for years to come.

My Hero Academia is a 2016 shounen anime series, it is produced by Studio Bones, and licensed by Funimation.  Season Two’s first cour is currently available for full streaming in English subs and dub.

The story of one of the world’s greatest heroes.

Starting off from a stellar season one, My Hero Academia season two, cour 1 begins the Sports Festival arc. A tournament style-like event where the competitors face off in multiple events, eventually leading to a one on one face off for the finalist. The top competitors of the Sports Festival will receive perks such as hero offers from Professional Heroes to join their respective agencies for sidekick opportunities and such. This arc has some of the most beautiful animation and incredible fight scenes you’ll see this anime season, and hilarity in the usual My Hero Academia flare.

There’s something beautiful about My Hero Academia’s character development.

THE GOOD: If My Hero Academia’s first season was a good idea of the potential that the series had with longevity and quality, then the second season is My Hero Academia’s potential fully realized. Literally every aspect of the anime has been improved to the max, yet it still feels like Bones could (and probably will) be able to do so much more with it for future seasons to come. The animation, art, storytelling, writing, character development, and manga to screen mimicry is one-hundred percent on point. The comedy, action, tones are engaging enough to keep eyes glued to the screen for every single second of content presented to them. The develops of Izuku, Shoto, Bakugo, and Uraka in particular were the ones I found to be the most enjoyable.

An absolute master piece of art and animation.

THE BAD: The villains are mostly ignored for most of this season, but story wise it made sense. There’s a few characters who could have used a bit more backstory and focus such as Tokoyami, and certain fight scenes, while enjoyable, were a little too fast paced.

My Hero Academia is fast tracking its way to be the next big thing in anime.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: My Hero Academia will continue to be a marvel for anime in the future, and its second season is currently proof of this. The first cour has so much development, gorgeous animation, very competent writing, and tons more to keep fans invested for years to come. I’m not sure if it’s the same for the manga, however, but the anime should really work better at developing the villains, it’s one of the series’ few flaws. Otaku Dome gives My Hero Academia Season Two, Cour 1 a 90 out of 100.