The "Harry Potter" of the current manga generation
If you feel like every middle schooler is suddenly wearing a shirt with a spiky-haired kid or a guy who looks like a muscular American flag, this is why. My Hero Academia is the definitive entry point for the modern manga obsession. It works because it takes the standard superhero tropes we all know from the MCU and filters them through a high school lens.
Kohei Horikoshi built a world where 80% of the population has a "Quirk" (a superpower), which sounds fun until you realize that being a hero is a literal job with rankings, sponsorships, and intense licensing exams. It's less about "with great power comes great responsibility" and more about "if you want to help people, you better get into the right college." That academic pressure makes it weirdly relatable for kids, even when the characters are fighting giant villains.
The Bakugo hurdle
The biggest point of friction for parents happens in the very first volume. The protagonist, Midoriya, is "Quirkless" in a world that prizes power, and his childhood friend-turned-bully, Bakugo, is genuinely vicious. There is a specific moment where Bakugo tells Midoriya to "take a swan dive off the roof" and hope for a power in his next life.
It’s a nasty, jarring line. However, the series doesn't reward this behavior. The long-term arc of the story is actually about Bakugo’s slow, painful realization that being "strong" doesn't make you a hero. If your kid is sensitive to bullying, you might want to talk through those early chapters. But for most, it provides the necessary stakes to make Midoriya’s eventual growth feel earned.
It’s a literacy gateway drug
If you’re worried that 20 volumes of "comics" doesn't count as real reading, you can put that to rest. The vocabulary in shonen manga is often more advanced than what kids find in standard middle-grade novels. Because the story is told through dialogue and action, kids have to do a lot of heavy lifting to understand the gateway to reading that visual storytelling provides. They are decoding facial expressions, complex layouts, and fast-paced plotting all at once.
The black-and-white art in the manga also acts as a natural filter. While characters definitely get beat up and there is stylized blood, it feels much less visceral than it does in the full-color anime. It allows the series to stay in that sweet-spot for middle schoolers who want something that feels "grown-up" without being truly graphic.
Beyond the first 20 volumes
This box set is a massive chunk of story, but it’s only the beginning. If your kid flies through these and starts asking for more, you have a few directions to go. You can keep moving through the main series, or you can look at the spin-off, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
While the main series is about the "varsity" heroes in training, the parent’s guide to My Hero Academia: Vigilantes explains why that series is a great follow-up for kids who want a grittier, street-level look at the same world. If they just want more high-energy action, there are plenty of other age-appropriate manga series for elementary and middle school that hit the same notes of friendship and perseverance.
Just be prepared: once they start "reading backwards" (right-to-left), their Christmas list is going to be dominated by paperbacks for the foreseeable future.
