Izuku Midoriya

Observation: if the makers of My Hero Academia had just opted to call it "Brand New Hero Academy," then the show's abbrevation could have been the same whether you like subs or dubs. Izuku is a young boy who dreams of becoming a hero. He was born without a Quirk, but when All Might discovers that he has the capacity to become a hero within, All Might passes on the Quirk, One For All, to him. His will to help others is unusually strong. The Story Follows him and his quest to be the worlds strongest Hero. Wow, that's really poorly written [and apparently not copyedited --ed.]. Eventually we're going to learn that simply C/V'ing the text of McToys' site isn't good enough. Let's see if rewriting it can help. "Izuku Midoriya is a young boy who dreams of becoming a hero. But in a world where 80% of the population has some form of superpower - a 'Quirk' - he was born without. But his will to help others is unusually strong, and when Japan's highest-ranking hero, All Might, recognizes that Midoriya has within himself the capacity to be a hero, the pro passes on his Quirk, One For All, to him. Now Izuku is on a quest to become the world's strongest hero." Boom. You're welcome. The students of UA High School are encouraged to design their own superhero outfits. Izuku's initial appempt made him look like a psychotic green rabbit. He wasn't exactly a great artist. Anyway, when that costume got damaged during a fight, he received an upgraded version, which kept the green jumpsuit base, the big red boots, the gloves, the elbow pads, and the belt with pouches over the hips, but extends the kneepads to cover the majority of his legs, changes the stripes on the sides from white to black, and adds some armored plates over the tops of the shoulders. Deku (it was originally a mean nickname from his bully, but when the cute girl said she liked it, he went with it - easily the most realistic thing in the entire series) still has his rabbit mask, but he rarely wears it - thus, it's sculpted here falling down his back. The "ears" were meant to suggest All Might's crazy hair spikes, while the resperator was supposed to be a giant, toothy grin. But now that he doesn't use the mask, we get to see his normal face, with his bushy green hair, a sweet smile, and freckles on his cheeks. But Deku isn't always a friendly little pushover. For times when things get real, the toy comes with an alternate head, showing him with his eyebrowns knit and his mouth open in a slight yell - in other words, a "mid-fight" version. To save on molding costs, his hair is a separate piece you swap between the two heads - but it's so spiky, you're likely to hurt your fingers trying to pry it off. You also get your choice of clenched fists or more casual hands, but that's it for accessories. The One For All Quirk is basically the normal strength/​speed/durability combo platter, and in Midoriya's case, it manifests as crackling green energy covering his body. The toy shows this via translucent green lightning bolts that go around his arms, but they're permanently attached at the elbows - you can't take them off for a powered-down look. That's good, in that you don't have to worry about losing them, or putting them on the wrong sides, but wouldn't removable have been better? Like the majority of McFarlane's modern action figures, Izuku Midoriya moves fairly well. He has a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge/swivel wrists, balljointed chest and waist, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs (that don't really do anything), double-hinged knees, swivel/hinge/swivel ankles, and hinged toes. They could have hidden the thigh joints under the edge of the super tall kneepads, which would have worked a lot better than this standard "up against the hips" design, which doesn't work very well and never really has. There's a variant exclusively at GameStop, with extra purple energy painted on his body, and no shadows on his hair. It's a decent enough look for him, but it doesn't include the calm face, so this normal one is better. My Hero Academia is basically Naruto with superheroes instead of ninjas, but that's just fine: you pick your favorite characters from the ensemble cast, you root for them to do well in their exams, and you get impressed when they use their powers in new and interesting ways. McFarlane's toys cover both the kids and a few adults, but they seem to be in different scales: like, 5'5" Deku here stands about 6½" tall (NECA sized), but 7'2" All Might is only about 7" (Hasbro sized) - like so many companies that have tried to make toys from grownups and kids in the same line, Todd has made the kiddies way too big. So mixing scales might be right out of the question. -- 04/09/20

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