My Hero Academia (2016)

My Hero Academia has one of the great anime soundtracks. The music elevates emotional scenes to something transcendent. All Might vs All For One is made three times more impactful by the score. Kōhei Horikoshi clearly understood how music and image work together.

Izuku Midoriya's development across the series is one of the most convincing character journeys I've experienced. You understand every choice even when you disagree with it. All Might vs All For One makes the whole thing click.

My Hero Academia has moments that hit harder than any film I've seen this year. Katsuki Bakugo: Rising completely wrecked me. Kōhei Horikoshi has an understanding of grief, hope and the human condition that is genuinely exceptional.

Great stories need great antagonists. My Hero Academia's villain understands that the most compelling opposition comes from someone with internally coherent logic. The conflict between Shoto Todoroki and the antagonist is one of the great rivalries.

My Hero Academia was the first anime I watched and it set an impossibly high standard. The story of Katsuki Bakugo explores the burden of power with a maturity I didn't expect. I've watched dozens of anime since and this remains the peak.