Manga Review: My Hero Academia, Volume 5, by Kohei Horikoshi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2, 2016

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called "Quirks"? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

The final stages of the U.A. High sports festival promise to be explosive as Uraraka takes on Bakugo in a head to head match! Bakugo never gives anyone a break, and the crowd holds its breath as the battle begins. The finals will push the students of Class 1-A to their limits and beyond!

Review:

The one-on-one battles continue. It’s Ochaco’s turn to fight, and she plays hard. She’s determined, and she tries hard. Bakugo takes the win, though. I think it shows more how Ochaco reacts to her loss, though. She’s upset and she feels like she disappointed her parents, but they’re still so proud and it’s very heartwarming to see.

Our hero, Midoriya fights Todoroki, but this turns more into Midoriya provoking Todoroki until he shows his real power, making him realize that he’s not fighting fair by only using half of his power I liked seeing into Todoroki's past here. It’s a surprising turn, as is the final battle. Especially as the final outcome doesn’t feel like much of a win to the winner, let alone anyone else.

We also get a hint of a villain showing up soon, a couple of pages showing what he’s planning.

I definitely think I need to be sticking with this series. It’s more fun than I expect, and I want to know what happens with the characters. It’s a shonen superhero series, with a huge group of characters, and I want to see what happens next.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!