Summary
My Hero Academia isan anime filled with incredible multicolored heroeswith powerful quirks they use to save the world and uphold justice. The anime focuses on the bravery and selflessness of everyday heroes, the intricacies of becoming one, and the organizational bodies and rules that govern them. heroes are symbols that inspire awe and symbolize safety to the public. They are the first line of defense against most danger and crime, so they require skilled individuals who can navigate any situation to be the first responders.
To become a hero inMy Hero Academia, one must go throughspecial Hero schools and acquire a professional hero licensebefore they are legally allowed to carry out hero activities. professional heroes gain many benefits like Insurance, hero equipment, personal attorneys, and more. This license differentiates government-recognized heroes from vigilantes and puts heroes in a system with enough support to carry out their duties. With all the benefits of hero licensing, there is also a dark side to it. They may include loopholes in the structure of the hero body, or the overlooking of talented and deserving heroes for whatever reason.
What Is A Hero License?
What Are The Permits And What They Do
A Hero License is a warrant that allows select heroes to use their quirks in times of emergency. These permitsgrant regular civilians the pass to use their Quirksto fight villains and assist in times of emergency on both private and public property. The license is obtained through a rigorous and standardized process that involves learning in designated hero schools, passing all relevant examinations, and interning with established pro heroes. Heroes who meet the prerequisites to gain a License are granted all the organizational benefits of pro-heroes, and can legally enforce the law and defend the general public against danger.
As such, three hero licenses are available for prospective heroes. Firstly, the Provisional Hero License. For students who during their breaks apply to hero firms to work, this license like the name suggests works to be provisional, given to these student interns after interning and participating in an exam afterward. The goal is to have pro heroes supervise these students once they are given the license, to help nurture them firsthand.
Secondly is the National Hero License. The aim behind this is to acknowledge that a said individual has completed the basics of hero education and can now operate as a full-fledged hero with state recognition. Individuals possessing this do not need the authorization or supervision of other heroes to act, and they can rush onto any scene that requires their assistance.
Finally is the International Hero License. It is similar to a National Hero License; however, the special attribute it holds is to allow recognized heroes who have proved their worth to act on an international level when needed. It empowers certain heroes to move within stateborders to assist a nation when the need arises.
The Emphasis On Popularity
The Focus on Popularity Over Competence
A theme explored numerously in the anime is hero popularity and marketability. hero popularity is a buzz topic amongst civilians and heroes alike and plays a crucial role in a hero’s standing in the public eye and within the hero’s body set in place. On one end his popularity is relativelycrucial as it affects how civilians respondto hero intervention, and makes the general public aware of how strong the first line of defense against evil and disaster is.
This system set in place had a positive effect in the case of All Might, as his immense strength and charisma allowed him to be the greatest symbol of peace. The symbol gave him the best public opinion, but he achieved it only through hard work, diligence, and sheer willpower. The flip side of this is that the public image is too heavily relied on and can allow incompetentheroes to rise in the rankings,without having a proportional output to the popularity that they have gained. This system can easily allow heroes who do not truly care for the well-being of the public to climb and gain recognition, potentially only for the benefits and endorsements it provides. The Hero Killer Stain, although cruel a villain, argued that their current society was filled with heroes that cared too much about fame and money.
Focus Quirk Strength
Quirk Strength Is Overly Focused
Another major determinant of hero standing is an individual’s quirk. A person’s quirk and the public’s perception of it tie heavily to their popularity and licensing process. Capabilitiesin the world ofMy Hero Academiaare thought to be highly dependent on how strong people’s quirks are. Weaker, non-combat quirks are looked down upon, and weaker quirk users are boxed into certain hero roles like support and administration. This means that right off the bat, people with certain quirks are mostly forced into a box, regardless of their actual competency or their preferences.
This system is fairly made and does a good job of classifying heroes based on the hero association’s standardized criteria. Still, hero licensing and actual heroism take more than just what looks good on paper. Individuals with stronger quirks are usually any hero organization’s first choice. This means that hero aspirants who may be more competent and well-suited outside of support, and managerial roles are always second choice.
Limitations On Civilians
Hero Licenses Can Endanger Citizens
The need for licensinginMy Hero Academiacan not be overstated. It maintains society by setting restrictions on the inherent powers of people in this world, this limits the actions that the average civilian may take, and the potential danger the average person could cause to others. This reason can be especially applied to quirks that can cause harm to others, which could be due to disagreements, fights, mistakes, or a person’s inability to control their quirk. With that being said, the concept of restrictions on quirks through hero licenses can heavily restrict the average citizens and cause them similar harm to what these restrictions were set in place for.
In situations where a non-licensed quirk holder is in danger or under attack, they are legally obligated to refrain from using their quirk to save themselves. Although there could be loopholes around this that could exonerate the average citizen from legal action, this system could be especially counterproductive.
