My Hero Academia Episode 2 Review

Summary

Deku (Midoriya Izuku) finds himself face to face with All Might. Shockingly, his hero's true form is an extremely skinny sick looking man, who could be mistaken as a drug addict. All Might explains that he was severely injured in a battle against a powerful villain, and a fraction of his power was stolen. Unfortunately, All Might can only stay in his powerful form for about three hours, which limits the amount of hero work that he can do. Possibly frustrated with his own situation, All Might tells Deku to face reality, when it comes to the unrealistic goal of being a hero for Deku. Elsewhere, the villain that All Might stopped from the first episode is on the loose. It captures Kacchan (Bakugou Katsuki), and absorbs his explosion quirk, which gives other heroes a hard time defeating it. A discouraged Deku finds himself at the scene where the villain is wrecking havoc. All Might is also at the scene, and feels powerless, since he is stuck in his weak form. Deku notices Kacchan in trouble, and rushes towards the villain. The other heroes and citizens are shocked by Deku's actions. Just when it is the end for Deku, All Might is able to enter his powerful form and saves the day. Later, Kacchan confronts Deku, and shows a great deal of frustration for needing to be saved. After that, All Might (in his weak form) tells Deku that he can become a hero, which causes Deku to break down into tears of mixed emotions.

Pros

For starters, I liked the reveal of All Might's true form. In the first episode, we are introduced to this invincible character, which may have been bad because we think another Superman like hero will dominate the story. We now know that All Might is vulnerable. We are also introduced to a huge threat (the villain that weakened All Might), and that is a good touch when it comes to foreshadowing.
Deku is still a solid protagonist for me. Yes, he did want to give up again, but it is important that he didn't. The inner conflict felt real to me because a lot of people struggle with overcoming doubt, but they sort of need to be in that state, so they can rise above it and become better.
Kacchan, despite being restricted by the villain, put forth a good fight. He was still trying to use his explosions to escape, and possibly defeat the villain. The pro heroes couldn't even do that much, and they weren't the ones being restricted and absorbed. He was also able to stay conscious which is impressive as many others in that situation would have died. This shows that Kacchan is not just an arrogant prick. We hate to admit this, but he can back up his arrogance.
Deku is already showing his worth when it comes to his intelligence. He did blindly rush towards a villain while being quirkless, but his knowledge on heroes/villains and quick thinking were highlighted. Deku referred to a strategy that he wrote in his notebook to distract the villain while being extremely close to it, something that the other pro heroes at the scene couldn't do.
The ending of the episode was very good. Deku feels accepted and acknowledged for his worth, and being told by All Might that he can become a hero is very satisfying.

Cons

I thought this episode was very slow. There was a lot of talking, and not enough action. They could have resolved the battle with the villain a lot quicker, and possibly fit in some other scenes.
I thought it was sloppy for All Might to lose the villain, which allowed for the second fight to happen. He was still in his powerful formed when that happened. Yes, he was distracted by Deku, but he should have been more aware since he is the number one hero.
Speaking of fights, I wanted more of that. Talking is fine, but I felt like there was too much.
I am still not a huge fan of the animation (hoping that gets better).
Sometimes the over dramatic screaming, yelling, and delivery of dialogue are an annoyance to me.

(All Might's thoughts on the Cons section)

Final Thoughts

It wasn't a terrible episode. I just wanted the pace to be a bit faster. It does seem like Deku has broke free from doubt and is entering the world of heroism, as he will train with All Might. This is surely interesting. What kind of training will Deku be put through? Will he make it? What is the "One for all" quirk that All Might mentioned?