Producer: So you have a new anime for me.
Screenwriter: Yes sir I do. It's called Boku no Hero Academia.
Producer: I only understood the last two words of that. Does it have an American name?
Screenwriter: Well, it's also called My Hero Academia.
Producer: Well why not just call it that?
Screenwriter: Because people who read the manga will be like "Don't Americanize the name. It ruins the brand."
Producer: But will it really though? Because if it is, we can keep the Japanese name.
Screenwriter: That's the great thing about it. Changing the name slightly will spark debate amongst fans. It'll basically be free publicity.
Producer: Oh, I love free stuff. So what's this anime about?
Write: Well it's based off a manga by Kōhei Horikoshi and in this world, a bunch of people have superpowers called quirks.
Producer: Okay
Screenwriter: And with these quirks people can become licensed heroes and fight villains.
Producer: Oh, so it's a classic hero versus villain thing. That will be easy to follow.
Screenwriter: Exactly, so the protagonist is Izuku Midoriya, but everyone calls him Deku.
Producer: Why?
Screenwriter: Why what?
Producer: Why does everyone call him Deku, that isn't a shortened version of his name. Does it, like, have some kind of meaning in Japanese?
Screenwriter: It means useless. He's just had that nickname since he was little and that's all we learn about it.
Producer: Oh, okay then. And everyone calls him that, that's pretty mean.
Screenwriter: No like later on he embrasses it and makes that his hero name.
Producer: his hero name is "useless"? I don't think anyone would want to be saved by someone whose whole identity is based on how much they can't help people.
Screenwriter: Well, that's never acknowledged, so it's fine.
Producer: Oh, alright then.
Screenwriter: Anyway, Izuku gets picked on all the time because he wants to be a hero even though he doesn't have a quirk, and you can't be a hero without a superpower.
Producer: What about Batman, or Iron Man?
Screenwriter: Well their super power is being rich.
Producer: Then how about Hawkeye or Black Widow?
Screenwriter: Well, I uh-
Producer: or Green Arrow of Peacemaker?
Screenwriter: Okay, the premise to the start of the story is that people without powers can be heroes, so I'm gonna need you to get all the way off my back about this.
Producer: Oh, alright, I'll just jump off of that.
Screenwriter: Thanks, so Izuku is childhood friends with this guy named Katsuki Bakugou who can explode things.
Producer: Oh, so is Bakugou like the only one who doesn't make fun of him?
Screenwriter: Oh no Bakugou is gonna be the worst.
Producer: Really?
Screenwriter: Yeah, he destroys Midoriya's notebook, and openly threatens him, and tells him to kill himself. That all happens in the first episode.
Producer: Oh my god. So is he like the first villain of the series, someone Izuku wants to beat before he can be a hero?
Screenwriter: No he's actually working to be a hero too and he's also a main character.
Producer: The guy who threatens the protagonist and destroys his property is a main character?
Screenwriter: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Producer: It's gonna be kinda hard to get people to like a character like that isn't it?
Screenwriter: Oh no super easy, barely an inconvenience.
Producer: Really?
Screenwriter: Yeah, you see, people are gonna think that Bakugou is a complex character and not, you know, a terrible human being.
Producer: Why?
Screenwriter: Well later we're gonna see a fight between Izuku and Bakugou and we see a bit more of Bakugou's character.
Producer: Oh, okay, so when does this fight happen?
Screenwriter: Well, it should happen in the first couple of episodes, and there another that happens [ruffles through papers] season 3-ish.
Producer: So people are gonna have to wait a couple episodes to see a deeper part of his character and another 2 seasons to flesh it out?
Screenwriter: That's right.
Producer: Okay, so you say that Bakugou fights Midoriya, that's gonna be kinda hard since Midoriya doesn't have a quirk.
Screenwriter: Oh no, he has a quirk now.
Producer: Oh he does.
Screenwriter: Yeah so basically this villain gets loose and attacks Bakugou.
Producer: I feel like I should want Bakugou to come out okay, but I'm kinda rooting for the villain here.
Screenwriter: And all these heroes are here but can't do anything, but Midriya jumps in to save him.
Producer: All the heroes just let this kid through to face a super villain that none of them could handle?
Screenwriter: That's right.
Producer: Ah child endangerment it tight. My 2 year old son's sitting alone in a locked car in the parking lot right now.
Screenwriter: Isn't it like 96° today?
Producer: 102 actually
Screenwriter: You should probably go get him.
Producer: Sure, after this meeting. Though I'm kind of hungry, so I might eat lunch first.
Screenwriter: Alright then, so this hero called All Might sees this and saves them both.
Producer: Alright
Screenwriter: And All Might is the #1 hero and he is just crazy powerful. Like he can change the weather with a punch, it's just insane.
Producer: Wow
Screenwriter: And this moment is really powerful because he told Midoriya earlier that you can't be a hero without a quirk. But when he saw Midoriya rush in to save Bakugou, it inspired him.
Producer: Okay, so what does all this have to do with him getting a quirk?
Screenwriter: Oh, well All Might's quirk is special in that it can be passed from user to user, so he gives it to Midoriya.
Producer: So he just gives this super powerful quirk to some random kid he met a few hours ago?
Screenwriter: That he does.
Producer: So the theme is that you can be a hero even without superpowers…..but only if you get superpowers?
Screenwriter: That's right.
Producer: Whatever, so tell me about some of the other main characters.
Screenwriter: Well, we have Eijiro Kirishima who can make himself hard.
Producer: Um.
Screenwriter: Next is Mina Ashido who's pink and slimy
Producer: Wait what?
Screenwriter: Then there's Tsuyu Asui who does stuff with her tongue
Producer: I'm starting to see a pattern here.
Screenwriter: After that is Tenya Iida who has engine calfs
Producer: Oh thank god. I thought they were all going to be sexual.
Screenwriter: No idea what you're talking about sir. Anyway, so then there's Minoru Mineta.
Producer: What's he like?
Screenwriter: He's short, and perverted and he likes to stick his balls to stuff.
Producer: …..You know what, whatever.
Screenwriter: Then there's Ochaco Uraraka who can negate gravity on anything she touches.
Producer: Wow, negating gravity? That's a world altering power there.
Screenwriter: Yeah, but for the sake of not giving her too much development, we're going to pretend that she's on the same level as the sticky ball guy, even though that really shouldn't be the case.
Producer: Yeah, that makes sense.
Screenwriter: Yep, after that is Mashirao Ojiro and he has a tail.
Producer: …..and?
Screenwriter: And that's as much character development as he's going to get.
Producer: Makes sense.
Screenwriter: After that is Denki Kaminari who can zap stuff but becomes stupid when he does, and then there's Yuga Aoyama who can fire lasers from his belly button and also his face is drawn in a different style than everyone else.
Producer: What kinda style
Screenwriter: Overly sparkly with starry eyes his mouth is a V
Producer: Weird
Screenwriter: Then there's Koji Koda who looks like some kind of fish-rock monster.
Producer: Oh does his quirk let him dig holes or swim super fast or something?
Screenwriter: No he can talk to animals.
Producer: So his quirk has absolutely nothing to do with his appearance?
Screenwriter: That is correct
Producer: That's sincerely disappointing. So who's next.
Screenwriter: Next is Rikido Sato who becomes stronger the more sugar he eats.
Producer: Oh I think I might have that quirk. When I eat a lot of sugar I get a ton of energy for a little while, but then I get sleepy.
Screenwriter: That's called a sugar rush sir. That's what happens when most people eat too much sugar.
Producer: I'm a superhero.
Screenwriter: Sure you are, anyway. Next is Mezo Shoji who can grow things like hands and eyes and ears on these tentacles he has.
Producer: That seems kinda disturbing.
Screenwriter: Yeah, it will be. After him is Kyoka Jiro who has earphone jacks connected to her ears.= and Hanta Sero who can make tape.
Producer: Wow, I would love to have that ability. There are so many times when I want to stick something to something else, but just can't find any tape.
Screenwriter: Yeah, I know right, it would be super convenient around the office. So after him is Fumikage Tokoyami who has a bird head and can summon his shadow to fight for him.
Producer: That sounds like a weird combination. I mean, not as weird as that rock fish guy but still.
Screenwriter: Well his shadow looks kinda like a bird, so i'm hoping people wont think about it.
Producer: Alright
Screenwriter: Next is Shoto Todoroki and he's cool because he can create fire with one side of his body and ice with the other.
Producer: That might be the most awesome power you have described so far.
Screenwriter: Yeah also has a big burn scar like Zuko from the Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Producer: Oh did his dad give it to him?
Screenwriter: No.
Producer: Oh, well how'd he get it?
Screenwriter: He got it from his mom.
Producer: Oh wow, you switched it up on me. So why'd she burn him?
Screenwriter: Because he looked too much like his abusive father.
Producer: Dark
Screenwriter: Yeah, so Shouto grew up blaming his dad for his mom going crazy and only wanted to use the ice powers he got from his mom and not the fire powers he got from his dad.
Producer: I kinda feel like this guy should be the main character. His backstory is amazing.
Screenwriter: Well he isn't.
Producer: Okay then.
Screenwriter: So after him is Toru Hagakure who is invisible.
Producer: Oh so she can turn what she's wearing invisible too?
Screenwriter: Not even, just her body, so whenever she needs to be fully invisible she just, you know, gets completely naked.
Producer: Oh
Screenwriter: Yeah, but she's invisible from the moment she's introduced, so what she looks like is totally up to the imagination, so she could have blonde hair,
Producer: Yeah
Screenwriter: Or blue hair,
Producer: Mhm
Screenwriter: Or green hair
Producer: Okay
Screenwriter: Or brown hair.
Producer: I feel like hair isn't what people are going to be imagining.
Screenwriter: Well what else would they imagine.
Producer: Well….moving on, who's next.
Screenwriter: Finally there's Momo Yaoyorozu and she can create anything.
Producer: Anything? Again, that's just a world shattering power and you're describing it like it's nothing.
Screenwriter: Well anything she knows how to make, but whatever she makes comes directly from her body, so she can't wear a lot of clothes cause they get in the way.
Producer: Not even addressing that part. So all those people are main characters?
Screenwriter: Well they're all in the same class as the protagonist and according to the rules of anime that automatically makes them important.
Producer: That is a rule.
Screenwriter: So what do you think?
Producer: Well the theme seems a bit all over the place and some of these powers are just weird, but the characters seem interesting, so we'll dub this and hopefully get a good season or two out of it.
Screenwriter: Great.
Boku no Hero Academia on schedule for a sixth season.