'My Hero Academia'

Nothing screams Shounen anime more than an overly hyped young hero, his friends by his side, and his mentor for support in one a picture shot. Just take a look at the My Hero Academia official art, and you will realize how exciting these young characters portray themselves to the fans. Much similar to the all-time Shounen favorite Naruto.Naruto has been one of the most successful anime in its genre of all time, and it still continues to be so with its spin-off of the original series.

Naruto

My Hero Academia has been recognized as one of the rising animes of its time and has been numerously compared to Naruto. So, why?

First, both animes center around a young boy who struggles to find himself in a world surrounded by gifted people with abilities. In Naruto, there are gifted ninjas and in My Hero Academia, there are people with superpowers. Both of the protagonist's struggle to maintain that power and are known to be outcast by their lack of ability or by their past. Either way the two characters are much alike in that sense, both being unable to be what they could be at the beginning of the story; however, they have all the potential to be more than meets the eye. Hence, fans fall in love with the idea of a character who struggles to find inner power and progresses throughout the story to become better.

Also, both characters have an unknown story behind their parentage. In Naruto, Uzumaki does not know much about his parents and as the story continues it is revealed the true intention of his parents protecting Uzumaki. In Midoriya's parentage, his mom is known to have always been a caring loving mother that looks after him; however, it has yet to be revealed who is Midoriya's father or why he left. Could he have died? Disappeared? Abandon his family? It has yet be revealed.

While there are some marketing similarities between the two animes, the characters are quite different yet similar to one another. Both characters share the same passion and persistence of becoming great heroes. Both protagonists thrive to become the best they can be and overcome obstacles like champions. Overcoming challenges have a sense of "coming-of-age" story that makes the audience want to root for the protagonist to face his fears/challenges and save the day.

Of course, like a myriad of other Shounen animes, there is always a sensei figure in the main characters life. In Naruto, Hatake Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7 (consists of the three main characters in the storyline) and assists the students to become superior ninjas. In My Hero Academia there is none other than the number one hero, All Might, who serves as the Izuku's mentor. Both of these mentors hold something memorable for both of the young heroes. Even though both of the teacher figures are not alike in terms of personality, they both play a role in shaping the future of both Izuku and Naruto. Kakashi comes off as a strict and cold teacher towards his students at the beginning but becomes someone the students can look up to and be able to see a kind and respectable teacher. Aside from his childish and silly side that resides within him, he has made quite an impression on Naruto and his friends. Similar to him, All Might also has a tremendous amount of influence on Izuku and his friends. He eventually steps down from being the number one hero due to his health condition; however, he still holds a lot of admiration and inspiration from the aspiring heroes. In terms of influence, both of these teachers/ role models play an important role in the series.

There is nothing more heartwarming from both of these incredible animes than support for one another. Below is the image on Naruto sending his support to his fellow peer Izuku in the WeeklyShounen Jump Volume 17 issue.

The two series are considered to be successful anime shows and continue to hold high ratings. Similarities or differences these are definitely two animes that any Otaku or anime lover should watch.