Rewatched this first season. I used to think I was exaggerating when I critiqued how often Deku cried to make a point, but uh, no, actually I was UNDERSTATING it apparently. Motherfucker bawls like twice per episode on average, four times if you count the ED where he cries TWICE. How are you supposed to like this guy when he's just this whiny bitch? I get that it's kind of the point, but given the fact that his main character trait is still just crying 3 seasons later, it's not really worth it. There's no REAL character growth.
All might was cooler than i remember though, best character ever. And bakugo was actually worse too.
Everything with deku and bakugo in s1 is just the worst shounen garbage i've legit ever seen, its so boring and stupid... It's not wholesome, or interesting, or uplifting, or even edgy enough to matter in any way whatsoever. idk what i was ever thinking back when i first saw this. Like, yes, this is what I want to see. Two complete incel babies screaming at each other for 5 episodes until the good part finally happens, where they're finally irrelevant. It's like the author took naruto/sasuke, goku/vegeta, nagisa/karma, and every other shounen rivalry and history and decided to siphon all the depth, subtlety, and nuance out of it, while also turning both characters into whiny cryasses and making it an overtly abusive relationship. How is this author so terrible at writing character relationships? Even I could do better. I thought this was only a problem in S3 where their relationship is even DUMBER, but turns out it was even like that back then.
I guess I was blinded by the good animation and the fact that the show had a lot of potential to improve early on. The
Fight and just that last arc is still really good though and was one of the main reasons I had so much hope for the show IIRC, it was simple but it set the stage for potentially more complex and epic battles to come which never really manifested past that point sadly. But it was still fun to watch again for that part alone.
I used to think s1 and s2 were good but then it dropped off... now im not so sure if that's even true. Guess we'll see what s2 was like on a rewatch.
For the amount of things this show did well, including all-might's character which was amazingly done, eraserhead, and setting up the villains and side-characters and everything (despite doing nothing with them in consecutive seasons), upon reflection I'd say 6/10 is a good score for this season. Same problems as naruto, just really really bad main characters starting off.