Aspiration to one’s ideal self, or at least the perception of that ideal, is a time tested and very compelling character motivation. Often times, the desire for this perfected self manifests in ambition to be a hero, which makes sense, right? Heroes have always stood for the kind of people we could only try to be: the unwavering paragons of justice that reflexively think of others first and put their all into helping and improving.
The stated goal for a hero isn’t always explicitly as simple as “I want to be a hero,” but today we’re going to be talking about two anime where it is just that simple: Fire Force and My Hero Academia. Cue the lo-fi.
Midoriya and Shinra, to me, symbolize how characters made with similar broad strokes can be written well and poorly. But before we get into that, we have to answer a question first: What makes a hero interesting? Other than cool powers that put on bombastic spectacle, what’s really keeping us invested in this character?
A hero is only as interesting as what they struggle against. The conflict’s a character faces are integral to getting to know them. If I can’t invest myself even slightly in their conflicts then I can’t care about their victories or losses. Additionally, if I feel like a character isn’t genuinely struggling or as though achieved a hollow moment of catharsis then it feels wrong.
In the case of Midoriya, we watch him struggle from episode 1. He’s denied his dream due to not having a Quirk and is told by his personal idol that he couldn’t cut it as a hero. Despite this, he still risks his life to save someone that doesn’t really care about him. He still affirms his goal of being a hero. In multiple instances, Midoriya gets beaten within an inch of his life trying to help people that don’t want his help and stands up to do it again. Despite getting beaten down constantly, Midoriya doesn’t compromise the heroic spirit that convinced All Might to reverse his opinion and pick him in the first place.
It’s also poignant that, even after being chosen for One for All, Midoriya has to work his ass off to be remotely ready for it. Even when he overworks, injures himself, and, again, gets beaten down, he’s up ready to do it again. He displays a strong sense of self-sacrifice in order to achieve his goals, which could be said to be a lighter mirror to more tragic heroes like Shirou Emiya. At least one third of Fate is Shirou getting knocked around while his emotionally defeated future self makes plans and talks shit. His conflicts stem directly from his moral character, which ties into his heroic ambition.
As has been pointed out many times before and will be pointed out countlessly in the future, the desire to protect others is inherently selfish. That kind of foundation for heroism leads down self destructive, power-seeking paths. Protecting others means being stronger than what’s threatening them. Getting stronger is a must. Even if it comes at the expense of one’s ideals or sense of self.
Shirou’s various bad ends consist of times where he either puts the desires of others far before his own wellbeing, or when he sacrifices others for his morals. For him, and other protagonists vying to be the ubermensch, heroism remains both the goal and the eternal struggle.
This brings us to Shinra. One thing I will say before criticizing is that I at least think Shinra is a character capable of delivering cool moments. The way he flies around, delivering such high speed, impactful action never failed to entertain me. Now that could definitely be more of the directing and that I just love me a quick shoto. Either way, I can at least say that there are parts of this character concept that I truly enjoy me.
Take Shinra’s introductory scene in the first episode. An Infernal spawns at the train station and, while civilians are panicked and running, Shinra is calm and ready to jump into action. While this scene instead serves as a mass-introduction to the members of the 8th Company, we do get to see Shinra do some sick stuff and still save the day in some capacity. Now, while this is cool and undoubtedly drew many into the show due to the great presentation of this scene, there’s one thing that just bugs me about it: the show just started.
The show just started and Shinra is already flying around and pulling generally impressive stunts. In fairness, this is also the case in the first episodes of Soul Eater that serve to introduce us to Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid. However, these episodes also serve to show us that these characters still have room to grow. Maka and Soul still need to improve their teamwork, Black Star can still work on his own ego, and Death the Kid needs to learn a greater sense of flexibility. Even with Midoriya’s introduction, we know he has space to grow because we see him observing and analyzing heroic deeds instead of committing them himself.
With Shinra, we just see him doing cool stunts and then we move on. We meet the rest of the cast and we move on. For episode after episode, there isn’t really any sign that Shinra is less than well-equipped to deal with the upcoming threats. We get to see him save people that have been at this longer than he has and should logically be better than him, and even learn that his strong power is the result of being the chosen one of some variety. Which, y’know total shocker, but feels like it’s just an unnecessary boon for an already powerful character.
Shinra’s victories seem to come very easily for him, except for when the plot kicks into gear and it becomes necessary for him to lose. His losses never feel like genine losses. Shinra didn’t get outplayed. He didn’t press buttons. He just… fails or wins for no real reason other than the plot’s demands.
When he fights the commander of Company 1, he fails because there aren’t any stakes to him winning. The fight could have gone either way and it wouldn’t have affected the overall plot. He loses to Maki that one time to show that there is supposed to be some gap of experience between the two but the show (and manga) hardly ever reinforce this idea.
Since Fire Force never brings me to the conclusion that Shinra’s arc exists outside of on a personal level, it’s hard for me to invest in his development. When he gets his inevitable powerups and starts doing cooler stunts, It’ll be awesome but it won’t be compelling. He won’t have lost a comrade and lose control of his anger, or struggle against his own demons to rescue loved ones. He’ll just win.
If I can’t buy into a character’s struggle or lack thereof, then I can’t invest myself in their victories and their losses. I can’t believe in either of them. So, while Fire Force offers some of the coolest cuts I’ve seen, its main character leaves a lot to be desired. In truth, they all do but that’s a topic for another time. And someone else.
If you enjoyed this video, do the usual do. Like, leave an angry comment about how I completely misjudged your favorite modern shonen, and subscribe. I hope to see you again in the next one.
Julian Harmon 
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