My Hero Academia's anime manages to make Tenya Iida's arc with his brother Tensei even sadder than it already was in the original manga.

In its slight revisions of the source material, My Hero Academia makes Iida's arc much sadder - but why? Despite being almost entirely faithful to the manga on which it's based, My Hero Academia has made a few small changes. One of these is its handling of Tensei Iida, the older brother and idol of Tenya Iida.

In the original manga, Tensei is introduced after retiring as Ingenium, having been paralyzed during his fight with Stain. The anime, however, not only shows Tensei in his time as Ingenium but also details Tenya's difficulty in coming to terms with his brother's injuries. Outside of these differences, most of the changes from the manga are relatively minor, such as My Hero Academia cutting smoking and some of the most graphic scenes being lightly censored - so the choice to give Tensei some screen time as a Pro Hero is an interesting distinction for the anime.

While it's a slightly different way of presenting Iida's story, the overall approach to his narrative is the same. But, by giving him more time to be recognized as Ingenium in the anime, both Tenya and Tensei's arcs are made much sadder. By offering additional insight into the brothers' relationship dynamic before Tensei's injuries, My Hero Academia is able to make his forced retirement all the more powerful, by allowing the audience longer to connect with the characters and the bond between them.

As the anime isn't able to demonstrate the brutality of certain moments in the same way as the manga, it's forced to take a different approach. In order to better the My Hero Academia anime, certain small adjustments are necessary in order to deliver the same epic and emotional heights of the source material. The anime's handling of Iida's arc is a prime example of this.

By physically showing its audience how much Tenya idolizes his older brother, his difficulty dealing with his injuries - and his anger towards Stain - is fully contextualized. By making Iida's arc sadder, it makes Tenya's adoption of the Ingenium mantle all the more rewarding. In terms of My Hero Academia's overall narrative, it's a minor change, but it's a powerful one, and it makes Tenya's character more robust from a narrative point of view. After all, even though the arc was the same in the manga, changing it for the anime by simply showing more of it allows for the moment to become more poignant - and it also reminds My Hero Academia viewers of the consequences of hero work.

The anime may not have needed to make any changes from the My Hero Academia manga, but its handling of Iida's story seemingly works better as presented in the anime. As watching the events unfold on screen is a different (and arguably more immersive) experience, making the arc sadder simply gets viewers more invested in the story. It also keeps people who read the manga on their toes by indicating that the anime is willing to make some changes, particularly with regards to handling defining moments in the lives of My Hero Academia's protagonists.

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