My Hero Academia has come a long way since Season 1.

The chirpy chill style has grown into a much darker place with much more serious content. Well after the insane chaos of the battle in Season 6 Part 1, instead of a break it gets even more intense in Part 2.

Season 6 Part 2 starts off with a quick recap of the situation. After capturing Gigantomachia the heroes don’t have the energy to celebrate. Instead the ones standing are left mourning the loss of some of their friends. This scene is dark as hell and prepares you for what is to come.

After the sheer destruction and lives lost in the battle, the population has started turning on the heroes.  This includes protesting outside the hospital as a bunch of the UA students and heroes like Endeavour are trying to recover from the brink of death. Knowing the situation is favourable for the villains, they jump on the chaos to break into the prison that contains all the captured villains. This is a prison that is mostly under the sea with all for one’s body right at the bottom.  They are successful and so a lot of strong villains are unleashed again.

This part of the series touches on a whole lot of different things. We see heroes retiring from the negativity caused by the public’s distrust. We see some dark histories of heroes, and we see some good histories of villains. The whole series has become gray, well gray with the exception of two. All for one is a consistently bad baddie, and no matter what happens Deku is pure and wants to do everything for good.

I really don’t want to spoil it more than this, but my god. Since its inception MHA has gone from strength to strength and has continued to strengthen in the stories, depth, and themes. Added to this is the usual exceptional animation and voice acting and my god. Season 6 Part 2 is the best MHA I have seen yet. I can’t wait for Season 7 to see how this storyline concludes!

This DVD / Bluray package includes two OVA’s.

The best of these is a silly baseball game which is overpowered thanks to their quirks. It’s over the top, and funny. Most importantly after such an intense season, these OVA’s are a nice palette cleanser.

The Limited Edition box is fantastic.

It comes with the usual hardcover box to store both halves of the season, which I always love.  Then inside is a nice softcover art box with some interviews, a sticker sheet, two awesome foil art cards, and an acrylic standee. The shiny art cards have Deku and Shigaraki and look dope as hell, and the standee has a bunch of heroes with Endeavour standing at the front. It’s a very cool Limited Edition!

My Hero Academia – Season 6 is the strongest yet, and while Part 2 doesn’t wrap up this storyline, it’s an incredible watch. The bonuses in the Limited Edition makes this a fantastic addition to your shelf!

The post My Hero Academia – Season 6 Part 2 (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

My Hero Academia started as a strong and unique series, but as it has gone on it has only gotten better.

At the end of Season 5 we discovered that Hawks was undercover with the Paranormal Liberation Front trying to gather information from our heroes. What he discovered, a battle was coming and soon.  Bring on Season 6 Part 1.

Season 6 Part 1 doesn’t take long to start building up. We quickly spend some time with Hawks as he preps the heroes for the upcoming battle. Then we are knee deep in the battle. Here we are introduced to the doctor responsible for Nomu’s, who is making our old Shigaraki much stronger. A battle takes place at the hospital and all chaos breaks loose.

This part of the series is absolutely chaos.

As part of the assault we have a few different battles. There are a bunch of heroes fighting smaller fights, but then we get Gigantomachia who has awakened. He is running quite a distance towards the major battle so we have a bunch odd heroes who are trying to slow him down. This makes each episode so much more tense with the knowledge that if the heroes fail, the main battle is going to get so much more worse.

I won’t spoil the story more here, but I will say that it’s much better than I expected.  We see the biggest bad in All For One, and even bigger we get a shocking twist in regards to one of our villains. Added to this are slices of backstory for a few characters which add depth, but don’t waste time making their points. A bunch of our heroes achieve milestones, and the season ends on an insane point that has me chomping at the bit for Part 2.

The Bluray also comes with a couple of OVA’s.

These tell a two part mini story where Class 1-A do a training test where they need to enter a building and save the fake civilians. The building has some unexpected collapses and so they need to work together to get out of it.  After the seriousness of the main series, this was a nice fun little story to enjoy.

My Hero Academia – Season 6 Part 1 is a cracking season of MHA.

The show keeps going from strength to strength, and I cannot wait for Part 2. Pick it up and watch it now.  Seriously, it’s so damn good.

The post My Hero Academia Season 6 Part 1 (Bluray) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The first half of My Hero Academia: Season 5 was a nice change of pace with some great side action as Class-1A did some sweet battles with Class 1-B.

What was really interesting was some of the insight we got into the All For One quirk.  This really built up for a potential banger of a second half of the season. In many ways it delivers.

This season starts all over the place.

We get some intrigue with Hawks being undercover with a group of the League of Villains. It turns out there are some heroes working for the bad guys with the plan to unleash their powers. As this builds up, we get a story with Todoroki and Endeavour’s family.

Turns out that Endeavour is more of a dick than we realised. There is also an episode in there that acts as a prequel to My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission.

But the season starts getting really good really fast. There is an episode called My Villain Academia which jumps back a couple of months and follows the villains. We get some interesting context for Shigaraki and how he became the twisted mastermind we have come to know and hate. From here we get a bunch of time with the villains which is dark but interesting to follow.

I really don’t want to spoil the story too much here because at this point the show keeps getting better and better.

Over the years My Hero Academia has gotten so much better at building its characters and lore and this season is no exception. The build up to the climax may take some time, but it is worth it. It’s especially good that as they build Endeavor’s character they are happy to emphasise how flawed he is, while still allowing him to become a little bit sympathetic.

The real only unfortunate thing about the half of the season is the pacing.

I kind of wish they crammed the earlier episodes into less time and gave the last episodes a lot more time. The one that ties into the movie was really unnecessary and just throws the tone off a bit. From the episode before My Villain Academia it gets so good, but it took 5 episodes to get to that stage.

The collectors edition comes with a slick box to house both Part 1 and Part 2 in it.

They know the best part of the season since it is branded with a My Villain Academia logo. With the villains on one side and the heroes on the other side, even I am surprised how much I am talking about the box. Inside it is a small but very nice hardcover artbook. This makes a really nice set on your Blu-Ray shelf. It also comes with a cool My Villain Academia patch and an Ochako acrylic keychain. The Blu-Ray also includes a special feature where we get the voices of the villains talking about the show for a change.

On the whole, it is far from the best season but man am I amped for Season 6 now.

The high’s are so damn high, and some of the character development is excellent, but some of that filler is a bit too bland and on the whole the pacing can just be a bit off.

The Limited Edition itself though is top notch and well worth looking at.

The post My Hero Academia: Season 5 (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

My Hero Academia is an absolute banger of a show and every movie so far has delivered a pretty damn high standard of quality.

They have this tendency to pack what could easily be a drawn out series into a tight movie making for a more actioned packed experience.  Can My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission keep that momentum going?

Yes, yes it does.

World Heroes’ Mission kicks off with some dark and twisted villains. They hate quirks and so have created weapons that will make quirks go out of control, basically killing the person with the power. Class 1-A is of course doing some work experience, and so find themselves face to face with this chaos.

During the work experience Midoriya is trying to stop a jewel thief. The thief gets his case mixed up with one from the villains, and so when he is caught they find themselves with a case with stuff neither understand.  The problem is of course, villains are bad. When they attack he gets himself and the thief out.

The villains then make sure he is accused of murder and boom, he finds himself in a tight spot.

The plot is surprisingly good. We get some time with Midoriya on the run as the rest of the class and heroes try to unpick what is going on. Our jewel thief has much more personality than meets the eye, and we get some great character moments with others.  I won’t spoil anything more but one new characters powers make for some very sweet moments at the end of the movie.

Tropey, but sweet.

The action is, as always, excellent.  Our new villain has some sweet powers that I won’t spoil, but mixed in with Midoriya’s powers in a battle it makes for some truly incredible shots. My Hero Academia always has great animation, but they really step it up for the movies. This one is no exception and some of the final moments look amazing on a big TV.

The blu-ray isn’t loaded with heaps of special features, but that’s not a problem because My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is an amazing movie.  If you are just dabbling then this could be a good watch for a newbie, but for fans it is a must watch.

The post My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

After the chaos of Season 4, how could My Hero Academia top it?

Overhaul was an incredibly powerful and dark villain and that final fight was one for the ages. Well the first half is kicking things off by slowing us back down a little, in the best possible ways.

My Hero Academia is all about those sweet fight scenes. The first half of Season 5 has brought us back to the kids studying at school, by fighting each other of course. We have Class 1-A and Class 1-B testing their skills by… fighting of course.

The classes are split into smaller groups to do mock battles and test out their abilities to work as unexpected teams. Class 1-B have been getting even madder about how much attention 1-A gets so they bring everything they have.

This is a good chance to see some of our favorite heroes working in different ways with each other, but also gives some more much needed love to the other heroes in training.

We also discover Shinso wanting to join the hero course. His power is the ability to brainwash people so it still has those dark undertones. Through this half of a season we see his clear intent to be a hero come through as he gets to fight for teams in both classes.

This new dynamic is very interesting and I am intrigued to see how he develops in the upcoming seasons.

The other thing we get in our build up here is a bunch more knowledge about One for All. We get some flashbacks to the original wielder of the power through Dekus eyes, and he gets to know some more of the people who welded the power. I won’t speak too much on it because it is one of the best payoffs in the half season but Deku starts to unleash a bit more power in ways I was not expecting.

Another thing I appreciated is we got a bunch more time with Tokoyami. Any time we learn more about him his character becomes deeper and more mysterious, and I am in for it. We learned a bit more about his experience with the heroes training him, and how it made him frustrated but better. This culminating with his battle with Kuroiro who is able to slink into shadows was especially cleverly designed.

We know that a lot of these long standing anime series go through high energy phases and slower cool down phases. As far as cool down phases go, My Hero Academia does a better job than most to keep some action pulling you through.

Season 5 Part 1 is no exception, delivering some good action, some great story developments, and expanding the lore of our characters.

The post My Hero Academia Season 5 Pt 01 (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NOW CLOSED – Calling all anime heroes and fans – My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is about to blast on to cinema screens.

In My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, U.A. High School students Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugo face the greatest crisis in My Hero Academia history, with only two hours to save the world! During their internship with the number one Pro Hero Endeavor Agency, Deku and his new friend Rody find themselves wanted nationwide for a crime they didn’t commit.  Can Deku and his friends stop Humarise’s global plans of eliminating all Quirks?

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is the third My Hero Academia film and comes on the heels of the launch of the fifth season of the My Hero Academia series currently streaming.

The previous two My Hero Academia films are My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising and My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.

Thanks to our mates at Madman Entertainment NZ we have THREE double passes to the anime film of the year – My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission!

To stand a chance of winning, enter our giveaway by answering this question:

Of the two mentioned My Hero Academia films what year did My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising release?

A: 2020

B: 2010

C: 2015

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission releases at cinemas on the 11th of November 2021 at selected theatres.

You can give us your answer by placing a comment below, hitting us up on Facebook, Tweet to us, or Email Us.

Important stuff: Winner(s) will be randomly selected from those that Comment below / Facebook Comment / Email in accordance to the above Question. Winner(s) will receive a Double pass to see the film ‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’. Winner(s) must adhere to the conditions stated on the Double Pass. tickets cannot be transferred, exchanged and only redeemable at participating cinemas. ‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’ is age rated PG. Competition ends on the 11th of November 2021. Only New Zealand entries are accepted for this promotion. Due to the current alert levels for the COVID-19 pandemic please check your local area for screenings and level safety’s. Currently not screening in Auckland, New Zealand due to COVID-19 level restrictions.

The post Be in to Win My Hero Academia tickets appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Heroes unite to save the world! Funimation is bringing the next exciting cinematic instalment of the popular anime My Hero Academia to theaters this fall.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, from Toho Co Ltd., continues the journey of the young heroes-in-training as they try to save the world in a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat addition to this global phenomenon franchise.

The film, shown in both English subtitles and dub, arrives in more than 1,500 theaters in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2021 (with tickets on sale October 1); in the United Kingdom and Ireland (October 29, 2021); and in Australia and New Zealand (October 28, 2021).

The film will be coming soon to Latin America (in Spanish and Portuguese) and to Scandinavia by Funimation Global Group’s Wakanim in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, all with subtitles in English as well as in each country’s corresponding language (except Iceland).

In My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, U.A. High School students Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugo face the greatest crisis in My Hero Academia history, with only two hours to save the world! During their internship with the number one Pro Hero Endeavor Agency, Deku and his new friend Rody find themselves wanted nationwide for a crime they didn’t commit.

Can Deku and his friends stop Humarise’s global plans of eliminating all Quirks?

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is the third My Hero Academia film and comes on the heels of the launch of the fifth season of the My Hero Academia series currently streaming on Funimation.

The previous two My Hero Academia films are My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2020) and My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018).

“Funimation brought My Hero Academia to U.S. audiences and has championed the anime through all five television seasons on Funimation, three movie releases, merchandise and the rise of an incredible community of fans,” said Colin Decker, CEO for the Funimation Global Group.

“We’re proud to team up with Toho and the production committee to deliver another outstanding adventure for Deku, Bakugo and the characters from the My Hero Academia universe that fans have come to love.”

My Hero Academia has captivated audiences beyond the core anime and Japanese entertainment fans through unique storytelling around the global superhero phenomenon.

The series has introduced a number of diverse characters who each have their own special “Quirk” (a special superhuman ability that a person can have), allowing fans the opportunity to connect with their favorite characters on a personal level.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission serves as a standalone film that will continue bringing superhero action and adventure to a wide range of audiences to enjoy.

The film is directed by Kenji Nagasaki. My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is not yet age rated.

The post TWO HOURS TO SAVE THE WORLD! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The first part of My Hero Academia Season 4 was extraordinary.

The darkest storyline yet with some truly harrowing scenes thanks to the dynamics of the league of villains and Overhaul.

It was action packed and I couldn’t stop watching until the end. If you were expecting this to keep up in Season 4 – Part 2, it has a different pace and tone.

This half of the season kicks off by tying off the loose ends from Part 1.

Once these are done we head back to UA to see the students that failed their Provisional Hero License having a second crack at it. This is what we will get a lot of in the season, more of our development time with the characters.

The bulk of the season is based around the school having their festival. Usually this involves multiple schools but due to the risks caused by the league of villains they decide to keep it to classes in the school.

As such class 1-A tries to put on something that will entertain the other classes to make up for bringing all that stress to the school.

Alongside this plot we have a new villain team by Gentle Criminal and his sidekick La Brava. These two commit non-violent crimes to build a social media following and device to interrupt the UA festival to boost their subscriber count.

Then we have the development of Eri who is perpetually sad thanks to her time at the hand of Overhaul, because you know, he was a dick. Mirio and Midoria try to bring some light to her life as they don’t want her to go down a dark path, so they decide to take her to the school festival.

So what we wind up with is a handful of side stories that all hit at this one event. It makes the story enjoyable and likely super important for the next series.

It is tough after watching the awesome that was Part 1 to slow it down, but we do get a lot of time developing aspects of our lesser characters like Kyoko who definitely deserves the screen time.

The limited edition package is awesome. The box is made to have space for the Part 1 Blu-Ray, the Part 2 Blu-Ray and a hardcover art book that sits in the middle. In the place where you will put Part 2 is a removable box which contains some awesome art cards, a 48-page keyframe collection, some stickers, guitar picks, and a 3” todoroki acrylic keychain.

It is a cool collection of stuff for any MHA fan.

Season 4 Part 2 might not be as strong as Part 1 but it still does a great job of giving us some more class time, a new short villain story, evolving Eri’s character while spending a lot more time developing their relationship with Midoriya and Mirio.

I suspect this relationship is gonna be important soon.

The post My Hero Academia Season 4 – Part 2 (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

My Hero Academia has been a light hearted series for three seasons now, that has some serious themes whilst being presented with a family friendly action anime veneer.

Well Season 4 has come around and wow it got dark.

Season 4 kicks off with the team going out to find internships to gain some experience while they still study at school. Midoriya pursues a former sidekick, All Might who has the ability to see the future of a person. Out patrolling with La Million they come across the new villian, the dark member of the Yakuza, Overhaul.

This is where we get an early feel for what the season will bring. A young girl runs out and grabs Deku and is followed by Overhaul who demands she come back. The girl is shaking and Deku doesn’t want to give her back to him, but La Million knows that they can’t let the villain know they are aware of him so to their own regret they walk away.

This is a brutal moment and we see both characters dealing with the torture of going against what they believe their responsibilities are as heroes. This is far from the darkest moment as Overhaul does darker and darker things. From here we witness the depth of the villains’ relationships which  is a massive step up for the series.

Of course this half of the season ends with an awesome battle and a huge fight between the heroes and Overhauls team. We get a little character development with the League of Villains as they ally with Overhaul. However,  it is the heroes that get the most growth and it adds a lot to some of the less developed like Red Riot.

The DVD and Bluray set comes with the usual dose of special features with some behind the scenes work about the season. There are also some of the voice actors talking about a few specific episodes. I enjoy this in these releases and this half of the season is no exception.

My Hero Academia – Season 4 Part 1 might be the best half season of the show I have seen so far.  I can’t wait to see what unfolds in Part 2.

The post My Hero Academia Part 4 Season 01 (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

When I saw My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising at the movies I was blown away at how good the movie was. With minimal time wasted it was a concise and excellently crafted movie that stood on its own as well as belonging in the wide MHA universe.

Now I can watch it in English on Blu-Ray and enjoy staring at all the action.

The movie kicks off with the students of U.A. High’s Class 1-A sent to Nabu Island where there is a non-existent crime rate to show Heroes are out and about and to give them some light experience as Heroes.

Unfortunately The League of Villains are trying to help Nine steal some powers hoping to get  his hands on a regenerative power that will make him borderline invincible which leads him directly to Nabu Island looking for a young boy. This results in some unexpected attacks from some seriously powerful villains and the trainee heroes need to step up to save the day in a way they weren’t ready for.

What is truly masterful is the pacing of the movie. In one normal length movie they manage to cram in a lot of plot, but still have time for some character growth and a whole lot of the silliness we have come to expect from class 1-A.

The movie has the amount of main plot we could expect from half a series, but instead it is enhanced by being one sit down experience with a short setup, and an explosive end. Seriously the ending is an absolute banger and worthy as the finale to an excellent movie.

The series has set a pretty high bar for excellent animation, but the movie steps it up even more so with some truly beautiful scenes that can only be achieved with a movie budget. The voice acting is as always for the series, bang on point.

For a newbie to the series, this wouldn’t be a bad way to see if the series is for you. You will be missing the nuances of some flashbacks and relationships but as I mentioned the movies does a great job of kicking off and wrapping up its story.

For fans of My Hero Academia, Heroes Rising is a no brainer to watch. It’s an excellent story that doesn’t do the show justice, and is an excellent example of what it offers.

For newbies it is well worth checking out because you will get a great under two hour example of why My Hero Academia is so great.

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The post My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (Anime) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.