Crusade Against The Spoilers

I couldn't handle the spoilers anymore. So, what did I do? I took in as much content as I possibly could so there would be nothing left to spoil!

This post is kind of like a sequel to the first Nerdom post I ever made, way back in the beginning days of My Mess. I titled that one "Apologies From The Hipster Perspective", which makes it sound like it has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about today, but it does, I swear! Today we will be talking about the same series I did back then, just from a different perspective. That's right, ladies and gents, we are talking about My Hero Academia. *insert awesome theme music here*

To catch you up to speed, I jumped on the My Hero train pretty late, but once I did I saw the error of my ways and apologized. So, then what happened after? I had been perfectly content with just watching the show. That was until the end of season four, which left us on a bit of a cliff hanger. Nevertheless, I was still content and just excited for season five's arrival in 2021. Things were fine... except the manga was still going, and people just couldn't shut up about it. Spoilers and fanart were everywhere! I felt like I couldn't scroll through social media and remain safe anymore! I was learning too much with too little context and, and, and... AHHH!

So, I calmly too a step back and asked myself: why not just educate myself on the knowledge they so openly share? Really, that's just a pretty way of saying, "Why not spend all your extra money to buy an entire manga series, Allison?" ...And so I did.

Judge me all you want, but listen: I KNOW SO MUCH NOW! Don't worry, this is a spoiler free zone, but the feeling of holding this much power is intoxicating! (Take that Instagram artists who spoiled things for me!) I know that this was a very simple and obvious solution, but I feel like I accomplished it at hyper speed. I obtained and finished the entire series (the 26 volumes released in the US, as least) in less than two weeks. With working a full-time job? Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. The only downside to this whole adventure was knowing that there are 29 volumes in creation ( 3 volumes not yet officially available in the US). Since I don't want to illegally obtain the last three volumes, I have to go without knowing everything there is to know for a little bit longer. I did pre-order volume 27 though, which will be here next month, but I still just want to hold volume 29 in my hands already.

Alright, we get it! How was it already? Peanut gallery, why do you hurt me so? ... Anyways, it was actually really good. I was super surprised to find that this is an extremely clean cross over. Meaning: there is nothing in the manga that isn't in the anime. There are a couple extra things in the anime that were not in the manga though. Examples include the OVA episodes, and other small filler points, like, the reporter that arrives in season 3 to spy on Midoriya. There is also a brief change in the timeline of events that occur at the end of season four. Honestly, since they needed to round out the season, it was a smart move and extremely well done. The overall point being- you aren't lacking anything if you don't want to go read the manga. However, a big bonus to doing so is definitely the "Author's Notes" sections, and the advanced timeline. The author's notes are incredible for giving you more detailed information about characters, costumes, and other aspects of this world that you don't get to see in the anime. This isn't necessarily critical, but to fans it is nice to know even more, and can even change your perspective on a couple things. The advanced timeline is a given plus: More story is always better. To put it in perspective, where the anime has left off in season 4 brings us to about the 20th/21s volume of the manga. Which mean that manga series is nine volumes past those incidents. Roughly that translates to a whole heck of a lot of information/content to take in, and let me just tell you- it's a wild ride.

This was a super fun experience for me. I have never done anything like this before, but it was definitely worth it. I'm not sure James would agree because he had to deal with 24/7 My Hero Academia discussions, sporadic screaming, and my existential dread when it was over. I celebrated the completion of this binge by finally seeing the second movie, My Hero Academia The Movie 2: Heroes Rising.

I discussed the movie with quite a few people and got a lot of mixed reception. Without giving too much away, at the end of the movie Bakugo doesn't remember how the final battle was won. This didn't sit well with a lot of people I talked with, and was also mentions in a lot of online discussions. Though I agree that the lack of memories is disappointing moving forward, I think people are missing a very critical piece of information that we gained, which is this: The confirmation and finality of Midoriya being our "chosen one," so to speak. There are a lot of strong implications made by the ending, and they are ones I can appreciate. I will also say that I enjoyed the movie a lot more as someone who has read the manga, rather than as someone who has just watched the anime. There were a lot of nods to things that happen in the manga that the anime has not covered, yet. Nothing spoiling and nothing that you would necessarily miss, but simple nods that made the watchers who read go "Hmm." Overall, I know most movies that come from huge series like this can be underwhelming or easy to write off as 'not canon,' but I will tell you what I told James- just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not canon. The fact is, this wasn't a bad movie. If you want to take it with a grain of salt, that's fine, but remember, even this movie served a purpose in the grander scheme of this story.

And with that, I now have to say a short goodbye to my precious young heroes until March 27th when season five finally airs, and again, until April 6th when volume 27 arrives at my door. That gives you guys a little bit of time to catch up! You can do it- Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

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Thank you for joining me for this fun little sequel. You should always assume that with big series like this, I will always be a bit behind the times, but I am trying to do better! Also, thank you for your patience as I was sick last week. I am doing much better and am thankful for all the well wishes. I hope you're having a wonderful week, finish strong, and I will see you back on Sunday for The Mess. In the meantime, stay safe, stay nerdy, and stay messy otaku!