My Hero Academia Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – Izuku Midoriya: Origin

World of Quirks

A long time ago, people started developing superpowers, also known as quirks. Around 80% of the population has been bestowed with these supernatural abilities.

As a quirkless kid, young Izuku Midoriya always takes the brunt of bullying from others. It has been a setback he’s lived through his entire life. Still, it hasn’t hampered his dreams of becoming a hero.

One day on his way to school he finds a huge villain attacking the city. A group of heroes named Death Arms and Backdraft come to save the crowd against the rampaging villain, whose crimes have escalated from his usual robbery and theft. Another hero named Kamui Woods then arrives to fight the enemy with his limbs that stretch out like a tree.

Before Kamui could unleash his attack, a giant hero named Mt. Lady comes in to knock down the villain. The crowd cheers, and reporters swarm in to interview her.

Heroes have become a legitimate profession, earning money from the government and fame from the people. Midoriya writes down everything he witnessed during this fight, logging all his findings in his notebook.

Back in school, Midoriya’s teacher hands out forms for their student’s future plans, which most likely will mean joining a hero course. Everyone celebrates by flaunting their quirks, but Bakugo points out that not all of them have strong quirks. Bakugo is in line to join UA, one of the most prestigious hero schools in the nation. His plan is to be the top hero one day.

Quirkless

To everyone’s surprise, the teacher also discovers that Midoriya plans to go to UA. Bakugo berates him for attempting to reach his level, but it has always been Midoriya’s dream to be a hero. The least he could do was try. Still, this doesn’t stop the bullying.

After school, Bakugo takes away Midoriya’s notebook and burns it to a crisp. He threatens Midoriya to stop him from attempting to join UA, as he wants to be the only one from school to make it there.

Midoriya remembers when he would watch All Might rescue videos on the internet. The hero would always laugh, even while doing such dangerous work. At that young age, he promised himself that he would do the same once he got his quirk.

Sadly, he doesn’t have any. Midoriya is one of the rare kids in this generation without any powers. All he could do that night was cry while watching All Might videos, asking his mother if he could be like him too. Even so, he has never given up on his dream.

Number One Hero

While heading home, he gets in the way of a villain with a sludge body who’s on the run for robbery. The sludge grabs onto him in an attempt to take over his body.
Before he passes out, All Might arrives and punches the enemy with Texas Smash, obliterating the sludge.

The hero wakes Midoriya up and apologizes for being sloppy, which leaves Midoriya stunned. He can’t believe he’s face-to-face with his favorite hero. He scrambles to ask for his autograph. All Might prepares to go with the villain stored in a soda bottle. But Midoriya still wants to ask him something, so he clings to All Might’s leg as the hero launches himself into the air.

All Might calms down and finds a rooftop to land on. The hero is about to leave for good as Midoriya second-guesses himself. Ultimately, he asks him if he can be a hero without a quirk.

Our Thoughts

Enthusiastic MC with a tragic backstory. This show has solid fundamentals; we just need to see how far it can take them. 3.5/5