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"MHA has no worldbuilding!" is a criticism often thrown at the series. This is a misconception in two parts. One, worldbuilding doesn't mean what you think it means. And two, it certainly does! MHA has some very strong world building! I will detail why in this thread.
What is worldbuilding? Worldbuilding is simply the act of creating a coherent fictional world. This can include a lot of things! It's hard to say specifically since it all depends on the setting of your fictional world. In MHA's case, this can be lore, social customs, laws, etc.
Geographical location CAN be a part of world building, but it is most certainly not a required subsection of it. For stories that take place in the modern world, they don't have to worry about geographical location. This does not make their worldbuilding bad. It's just different.
So with a definition of worldbuilding, we can clearly see that quirk society is already a substantive piece of worldbuilding. It has extensive history, societal norms and customs, and known consequences. If MHA had bad world building, quirks would be plopped in with nothing else.
What are some specific examples of MHA's world building? The history of quirks is the prime point. Technology stopped progressing, society broke down, criminal organizations were founded and ruled society.
The hero institutions we're familiar with are born as a result of quirks as a world building tool. The HPSC, Hero schools, education systems, the current police force, the governing of heroes, hero licenses and power restrictions. These systems in themselves birthed other types!
Quirk discrimination, in the forms of Spinner, Toga or Shinso. We have ideologies like Stains popping up due to these quirk related functions of society. We have people like Shigaraki being BORN due to the conditions that quirk society created.
Worldbuilding can be used as a set of rules that influence writing, so you as the developer of the world and its inhabitants have a consistent method. MHA's consistent method is a logical conclusion of a super human based society. The very first episode is packed with it. L2Read.
To summarize, I have just listed NUMEROUS things that all spawn from one central tool of worldbuilding. Quirks were handled wonderfully and you can clearly see how society has changed and reacted to the use of them as a tool.
