My Hero Academia Fans Should Read One Webtoon Comic During the War Arc

The latest arc of My Hero Academia has been great overall, but the constant battles can make some readers long for a time when the series was less intense. These fans would greatly enjoy the WebtoonunOrdinary, which shares a very similar premise, but focuses more on the high school aspect of the story. This makes it feel distinct from My Hero Academia despite being incredibly similar.

My Hero Academia is a manga by Kohei Horikoshi that follows Deku, an initially powerless young boy in a society where everyone has superpowers. However, after encountering the hero All Might, he is able to acquire powers and attend a high school for aspiring superheroes. Throughout his time there, he must keep the origin of his powers a secret from his classmates, although this aspect is not given a very heavy focus. My Hero Academia is in its final arc right now, featuring an all out war between the heroes and villains. This arc has been incredibly satisfying, delivering on conflicts that have been promised for hundreds of chapters, but its unending battles and emotional intensity can be exhausting for readers who preferred the lower stakes of its earlier chapters.

The Webtoon unOrdinary by Uru-Chan shares many similarities to My Hero Academia. Its setting is also at a high school where everyone has superpowers and its protagonist John, like Deku, does not initially have any powers. However, he does have a secret that he must keep from his classmates, just like Deku had. While the series’ latest arcs have been introducing conflicts tied to unOrdinary’s larger society, much like My Hero Academia‘s larger conflicts, the series largely focuses on John’s struggle surviving in high school. Most of its early antagonists are high school bullies instead of supervillains and this makes the Webtoon less intense and exhausting overall than My Hero Academia’s latest arc. This is not to say the series never delves into dark or intense territory. The cruelty of John’s classmates can be sickening to watch and drives John to a very dark place mentally that can be tough for some people to read.

Despite going to some dark places, the intensity of unOrdinary is different from that of My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia’s current battles can be extremely brutal both physically and mentally for its characters, but what makes this arc so fatiguing is how there are no real breaks between these intense fights. In addition, the manga has recently featured a major character death and more are likely to come. unOrdinary’s intensity is generally more internal, with characters having to deal with the psychological effects of a society where the weak are brutalized by the strong. There are some spirited physical fights, but these are overshadowed by John’s internal struggles. This difference in intensity can make the series a refreshing read for My Hero Academia fans struggling with this current arc.

In addition to unOrdinary being a great contrast to My Hero Academia specifically, the Webtoon is a great story for any fan of superhero stories in general. While it doesn’t have the most unique premise, it has a great cast of characters and delivers a very well executed plot (both of whichMy Hero Academia has as well). This makes unOrdinary much more than a My Hero Academia clone and a Webtoon series that all fans of the manga should read.

unOrdinary is available to read on Webtoon.