The curious case of Minoru Mineta in My Hero Academia: Comic relief or problematic

When I started watching My Hero Academia, I was immediately drawn to its world-building, character design, and overall storyline. However, there was one character who stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the main cast.

As I kept on watching more Minoru Mineta just could not make me stop thinking about him, for all the wrong reasons. From the moment he was introduced, it was clear he was there for comic relief. His short stature, nervous energy, and over-the-top reactions all screamed side gag character.

But as the series went on, there were instances where he does prove himself and shows moments of growth; still, I can't shake the feeling that his redemption never really addresses the root of what made him so off-putting in the first place.

It has been established that Mineta has always been an oddball character in a series that heavily focuses on earnestness and growth. Because think about it, in a world where teenagers are training to become professional heroes, you’d think the pervy comic relief trope might be outdated.

And while it is clear to fans that his character does not belong in the dynamic, he stuck around till the end. He’s constantly talking about women’s bodies, trying to sneak peeks in locker rooms or hot springs, and generally making everyone around him uncomfortable.

In my opinion, a character like him would have made sense if My Hero Academia were written fifteen or twenty years ago, as the possibility of him just being accepted as typical anime humor.

I’ve noticed a pattern with characters like him, as anime has a long history of using pervy male characters for comedy. For instance, characters like Master Roshi from Dragon Ball or Jiraiya from Naruto are examples of this trope.

There’s a huge difference between him and Roshi or Jiraiya. With Master Roshi, the joke is that he’s an old man who never grew out of his teenage fantasies. With Jiraiya, it’s more of a bittersweet flaw in an otherwise legendary character. If I’m being honest about Mineta, he does not have any major redeemable points, as he lacks the age, wisdom, and legacy to soften the impact of his behavior.

From his very first scenes, Mineta made me uncomfortable. His behavior toward the girls in Class 1-A, especially characters like Yaoyorozu and Tsuyu, isn’t just immature; it borders on harassment. The fact that these moments are often played for laughs just makes it worse.

I truly believe that his behavior has an impact on the viewers, because My Hero Academia is targeted at a young male audience, his actions reinforce the idea that being relentlessly inappropriate is somehow charming or forgivable if the character is just a kid.

When comic relief crosses the line in My Hero Academia

While we watched Deku struggle in My Hero Academia with what it means to be a hero, while Bakugo and Todoroki wrestle with their trauma and family issues, Mineta is busy scheming how to peek into the girls' dorms. There is a part of fandom that has been defending his behavior by saying that the creepiness is just part of the humor, and that he does grow over time.

While I agree that in Season 3, during the Final Exams arc, he manages to show some ingenuity in battle. Later, during the fight against Midnight’s sedative gas, he keeps his cool and contributes meaningfully. These moments prove that he can be competent. He has the potential to be brave, clever, and even selfless.

But here is my two cents about this: those flashes of competence don’t make up for the way he consistently treats his female classmates. There’s never a real reckoning or consequence for his behavior. He never gets called out in a meaningful way.

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In conclusion, I’m not saying Mineta in My Hero Academia should have been written out entirely. I think even flawed, frustrating characters can have value. But they need to be written with intention. If he had been challenged by his classmates, if he had been forced to reckon with his behavior, if he had been allowed to truly grow beyond his fixation on girls' bodies, I might feel different.

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