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Many manga fans dream of seeing their favorite stories getting an anime adaptation, but the reality can often fall short of their expectations. The ideal adaptations they envision that would heighten the best moments of the manga, are not realized. With the recent premiere of theSakamoto Daysanime, this has become an all-too-real scenario for some, with the feeling that the anime so far has not lived up to the standard they expect from one of the most dynamic and action-packed series in modern Jump. Some people are already calling for a remake, or hoping for additions to the eventual Blu-ray release.
But this discussion isn’t a new one in the anime space, and calls for remakes have been plentiful in the history of manga adaptations. Another major series that has faced these calls is none other thanMy Hero Academia. With the announcement and trailer forMy Hero Academia’sspin-off series,Vigilantes, fans noticed the animation quality and renewed the discussion aroundMHA’sadaptation, once again triggering talks of a remake one day. But for what is already such a successful series, couldMy Hero Academia reallybenefit from a remake?
A My Hero Academia Remake Could Add Cut Content
Some Stuff is Lost in Translation From Manga to Anime
My Hero Academiafans who have only viewed the anime may not know that there is some stuff that wascut or changed from the manga. Now, this isn’t always a matter of an animation team not caring or leaving out things that they don’t like. Decisions have to be made when adapting anything from one medium to another, and often times certain panel compositions and static shots in manga won’t translate as well to anime. So, they make the decision to change or remove these parts for the sake of a more consistent adaptation.
However, there are also times when things that are removed turn out to be more important than the team might have realized. A remake could allow some things to be added back in or focused on more in the anime, with the added benefit of hindsight.
Overhaul
One of the more significant moments cut from the manga was Overhaul’s backstory, or rather, more of it. We learn about his Yakuza roots, but the manga offers more insight into how he views quirks and their origins. ForOverhaul, his ideologycomes from the belief that quirks are a disease, originating from a “sickness” spread by rats. This is relevant to him wearing his mask and gloves and how he speaks about and views “heroes”.
Now, there may be a reason that this was omitted from the anime, outside just wanting to skip random story beats. Some fans feel that since COVID awareness was starting to ramp up around the time of the anime’s release, that perhaps the subject was a little too sensitive. Whatever the reason, this information could have greatly benefited from being added to the anime, to more fully flesh out Overhaul’s character.
My Villain Academia
For manga readers, tuning in to see the lead-up and beginning of My Villain Academia must have been a jarring experience. In Season 5, viewers watched the “Endeavor Agency” arc of the show before seeing “My Villain Academia”, while in the manga the order was swapped. While there are some series where this might not matter, this order is important to the story. Alongside swapping these arcs, they also omitted a lot of the content shown in My Villain Academia, stuff that expanded upon the characters of Spinner, Re-Destro, Toga, and even Shigaraki.
While these decisions were perhaps made with the movie release in mind, or other ideas necessary for adapting the story, with hindsight the anime may have benefited more if the original series of events had stayed the same. In a remake, this could be rectified, with the original weight of the manga being present.
MHA Anime Remake Could Add Filler Content
Fans Want to See Even More of the Characters They Love
It’s interesting how the demerits of one series could be the advantages of another. In previous generations of anime, there was often a discussion about whether “filler content” was too prevalent, or even unnecessary in the anime. But as the time for release has gotten smaller, and episode counts have diminished, filler content has largely been removed from modern major anime. But with this loss, the positive impact of this content can now be felt.
InMy Hero Academia, the pacing of the manga and show is incredibly fast. The show takes place mostly within the same in-universe year, with almost every episode focused on swiftly moving the plot forward to the next one. Sometimes, it can feel like the show doesn’t have time to breathe and rest on its premise, to think about how it got there.
Fans love the characters inMHA, as well as their interactions with each other. However, due to how fastMHAwants to move, these interactions aren’t as plentiful as they could have been in previous generations through filler content. With a remake,My Hero Academiacould get more time and special episodes to add in-between moments to this incredibly tight story. For example, there are light novels and spin-off manga that follow the characters' actions outside of class or their main story duties. It would be great to see these moments animated alongside the main manga storyline.
Giving More Time to Make the Most Out of Scenes
An MHA Remake Could Make A Great Show into a Perfect One
If you’ve been on social media duringMy Hero Academia’srun, you have probably heard some complaints about animation quality or direction. The infamousMHAblue skies, or the expectations post Todoroki vs. Deku in Season 2 made many people feel that MHA deserved more attention and care in its adaptation. It’s not that the series looks bad, and any series would be lucky to have sucha consistent dedicated adaptation, but fans do want more from this series that has enshrined itself among the top series in Manga.
In a remake, with less pressure to advertise for the manga releases and other content, it’s possible thatMHAcould have the opportunity to dedicate more time to bringing the most out of every scene. There is one more season ofMHAleft to release, with possible additional movies to come as well. Hopefully, theMHAanime can finish its run with its strongest season yet.
My Hero Academia is available to watch on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime where available. You can also read the MHA manga onVIZ’s Website.
