I have been binge-watching My Hero Academia on Crunchryoll for the past week or two. It has elements that I enjoy: action, not much romance, character development, some fantasy, and a touch of comedy.
For those not familiar with this show, My Hero Academia is originally a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi on July 2014 up to the present date. It was granted a Japanese anime adaptation and released its first episode on April 2016, and is currently on its third season.
The story takes place in a world where superpowers (known as "Quirks") are considered normal. The protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is constantly bullied by his classmates for being "Quirkless", but dreams of becoming a superhero like the world's greatest Hero, "All Might". One day, Izuku Midoriya, attempts to save his childhood bully from a villain, and as a result, All Might, grants Midoriya his own quirk "One For All". The story follows Izuku Midoriya's journey as he attempts to cultivate "One For All" and become the world's next greatest superhero.
After watching the latest episode available from Crunchyroll, I decided, I wanted to create a recommendation list of alternative anime and manga that reminds me of this show.
My basis will be the following: superheroes and schools that cultivate super powers or similar.
I also tried to not limit myself to Japanese-based animation and mangas.
Gakuen Alice
Gakuen Alice is an elite Academy for gifted people with supernatural abilities called "Alices". The story centers around a young girl named Mikan Sakura who follows after her best friend that transferred to the school, and consequently gets transferred herself once an Alice teacher tells her that she possesses a rare Alice herself.
Gakuen Alice is broadly similar to My Hero Academia, not due to the action but similar in the fact that it's a school for the gifted with specific abilities. In this elite school they're supposed to cultivate and grow these powers in some capacity. It doesn't have much in the way of action (at least not in the beginning), but it has character growth, superpower abilities, and comedy.
Unordinary
Unordinary is a popular Webtoon comic created by uru-chan. The webtoon takes place in a world where the Ordinary possess abilities, and are categorized by a tier-level. Wellston Private High is one of the most prestigious and competitive schools in the country, in terms of both academics and Turf Wars. This is the main setting for the main protagonist, John Doe, a supposed low-tier that transfers to Wellston High. In this school, he quickly discovers that the strong dominate the weak, not unlike the rest of the world, but somehow befriends the strongest student at the school.
UnOrdinary lives in a world similar to My Hero Academia where the norm are those with superpower abilities. The main protagonist is also one who doesn't condone bullying and will try to stick up for those who are seen as a 'cripple' and cannot defend themselves, in what capacity he can.
That's pretty much where the similarity ends. In this world, there are tier levels in terms of power and bullying runs rampant in the school where the strong survive.
Interesting enough, in this world, 'superheroes' aren't common. There are high-tiers who call themselves superheroes but are seen as vigilantes. And more often than not, they become superheroes due to a highly illegal booked named Unordinary because it challenges the idea of high-tiers using their abilities to help others, that everyone should be seen as equal.
One Punch Man
One Punch Man is an action/comedy japanese series where the main protagonist Saitama eventually becomes a hero and is enrolled in the Hero Association where all heroes are classified from S-Class (the strongest) to C-class (the weakest). Throughout the series, Saitama encounters multiple villains, monsters, and heroes and eventually adopts a disciple of his own.
This series leans more toward comedy with a touch of a storyline and action. The reason I chose One Punch Man is because it follows the idea that in a world where superheroes exist, that there should be an organization involved to make sure that the heroes are paid for their services and have a classification system behind it.
Naruto
Naruto is the main protagonist of the series, set in the Ninja World where ninjas are seen as the norm. He is often ridiculed and scorned by the villagers for being the host of the Nine-Tails a powerful fox that had attacked the city of Konoha but sealed by the Fourth Hokage (the past leader of Konoha who died in response to the seal). Naruto, as the underdog, enrolls in the Ninja Academy, wanting to eventually train and become a respectable ninja, and eventually the Hokage so he can gain recognition and praise.
Naruto is loosely similar to My Hero Academia, but it has traces and elements from the show. For one, the main protagonist needs to rise up and be seen as a strong individual when most of his life, he was seen as a 'loser'. Naruto and Izuku are also similar that they have a 'hero' that they strive to be: Naruto sees the Fourth Hokage as his hero whereas Izuku sees All Might as his.
Out of the four recommended alternatives, I strongly recommend Unordinary as the closest to My Hero Academia. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know and your thoughts behind them.