Well to start off, I should say that while My Hero Academy is a good show, it has its flaws and moments where things either drag on, feel repetitive, or they just don't go deep enough. Considering for example, how common it is for shonen animes to have tournament arcs these days, it can be hard to look at a show like MHA from a fresh POV and not think "UGH, how many times do I have to see character x fight character y in a school tournament" or "ugh how many characters are they going to keep explaining every episode?"
Like sometimes in this show, it will feel like MHA orchestrates certain battles or matchups between heroes/villains just for the sake of developing a character or two. It may not even be a a major player in the show, but someone less significant in the grand scheme of things. While that may bode well for viewers who want to see more out of the character, it can be a real struggle for others who already feel like that character is established or is just generally not that interesting from the start anyways. It's kinda like, "hey I'm really not that interested in this character so why do I have to watch an episode surrounding their story?
With Deku, I will be real with you all, while he is a good protagonist in some ways, he's someone that in my opinion is usually outshined by the character development going on in other characters. For example, sometimes I thought that Todoroki would have been a good protagonist for the show, considering there's a lot going on with him behind the scenes. In the season 6 The dynamic he shares with his father Endeavor is quite interesting. Yes, we see from like Season 1 that there's a history of abuse between the two, where Endeavor wanted to push his son to the limit to achieve the seemingly impossible standard of being like All Might, and how that ideal has distanced Endeavor from his own family. What the show explains later on is how something that seems particularly personal and private to Endeavor and Todoroki eventually catapults into an issue that destroys the good image of heroes, and people actually begin to lose faith in them. Later on when the responsibilities shift on Endeavor to keep the hero society together, we see him struggle immensely to do so, because he has to address the problems going on in his own family first and rebuild that relationship. Though Todoroki has every reason to hate his dad, the show outlines his calm and kind demeanour as a means of allowing his dad to make amends with the rest of the family. It's arguably why he can put up with someone like Bakugo in the first place. From what I gather, Todoroki makes that conscious decision about whether to continue ignoring his dad (and thus keep the family apart), or to allow Endeavor a chance to try and make things work again. Of course, the show never tries to imply that accepting abuse is okay. As I mentioned, the failure to address it properly is part of what leads to the downfall of the hero society later in the show. Rather, Todoroki and his family are given the power to decide whether to accept his dad back into their home or continue rejecting him.
There's more I can say to Todoroki's part but I think it's too much. With Deku, his greatest strength is of course his courage. He's never hesitant to go out and help someone in danger. However, Deku does let his emotions get the best of him sometimes, and can be self-destructive, both to his own detriment and to the detriment of others. Deku is constantly learning that there will be moments where it's better for him to avoid fighting, to control his emotions, or that his courage and power alone isn't enough and he needs others to come in and support him. His willingness to save others often reflects an inability to save himself first, and it's something that he is continuously forced to reflect upon and change. This is not necessarily something you'll see happen straightaway in season 1, and so you can interpret that as a flaw of the show if you wish. Deku does have solid character development however, and I think it's also worth realising at the end of the day that he is a literal teenager 馃槶 Deku and many of the other characters are still trying to grow as people outside of being heroes, and it's too easy to forget that when you see these teenagers face some of the most insidious monsters of their time. If there is anything that I would really consider unrealistic is how half of these teens aren't traumatised already because of what they have been through.
I feel like I'm bound to see a trope come up at some point. Like, the entire show is based on the trope of good triumphing against evil, so tropes are unavoidable and hence I don't think it's worth going into MHA expecting the episodes to subvert or exceed my expectations.
The idea of the popularity rankings being muddled with greedy self-interest and backstabbings is an interesting thought to. Endeavor abused his family because of his insecurities about All-Might being better than him, and his popularity ranking is a reflection of that. Endeavor did not just become one of the most popular heroes because of his strength and abilities, but also because he was driven mad by the need to compete with All Might. In his case (and not every hero), it's hard to say whether he'd be where he is if he was not driven by his own self interest to become "the best". Also, the show has discussed heroes driven by greed, heroes who shift loyalties and betray their own companions, as well as heroes who become villains as a result of feeling exploited or rejected by others. There's a villain with Deku's same passion for heroism that loses his way because his parents didn't support him, and society villified him when he tried to do the right thing.
