Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 141

 The students prepare and the mole is finally revealed. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 140

 We've had a few Unstoppable Forces meet Immovable Objects before, but this is one of the flashier ones. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 139

 Star and Stripe bursts onto the stage. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 138

One night to relax before it hits the fan. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Uraraka stepped up. The civilians gathered within UA were terrified at the thought of bringing Izuku into the shelter, for fear that he was a Nomu or that he’d draw the League of Villains to him. These fears are largely unwarranted, as in a flashback Nezu revealed to the 1A students that UA’s campus is nigh impregnable at this point and is capable of rapidly removing the civilians if necessary to other shelters via secret, heavily defended high speed rail. Present Mic and some of the teachers tried to calm them down, but they weren’t having it. Uraraka nabs Mic’s Megaphone and uses her power to jump atop the UA building and does her best to get the crowd to realize that helping Izuku is helping themselves, and that he’s a kid at the end of his rope. Uraraka has been pondering for a while who helps heroes when they need it and decided that they need to all help each other. Her words, coupled with Kota and Ippen Josei running to Izuku’s aid when he breaks down crying at Uraraka’s words convince everyone to let him be. He swears to one of the crowd that asks about AFO that he will get things back to normal. There’s a big cheer at that and everyone relaxes. With that crisis handled, All Might heads out in his car, wanting to check on the anti-hero groups that have been refusing to work with them. Unbeknownst to him, Stain, the Hero killer, is stalking him. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with All Might arriving at the scene of the Deku snatch and grab, finding Izuku’s fallen mask near some ice blocks and his statue with the sign on it. He beats himself up for not being able to help Izuku in his time of need. He has a flashback to when Aizawa told him to just be near the kids, as All Might has a habit of inspiring others to greatness, but he’s not sure he believes that anymore. He starts to walk away, but a rusty, chipped katana gets put in his face by Stain. He heard All Might disparage himself, and Stain says that he’ll cut up the heretic. Stain refuses to believe that All Might is who he says he is, even when All Might beefs himself up for a few seconds to convince him. Stain demands to know who this man is to try to besmirch All Might. All Might says that he’s always been one to run into danger to try to help people, showing us a flashback of teen All Might doing just that, but since he’s retired things have just gotten worse and worse. He says that he can’t even help his students. Stain grabs him around the neck and holds his sword against it. All Might, still with a hero’s wit, says that “I’m usually a hugger, but we just met.” Stain shushes him as they hide behind some rubble. We see a woman arrive who is annoyed to see someone put the “I AM NOT HERE,” sign back up. She uses her bubble summoning power to reach up, snap the sign off and begins to clean the statue. Stain says that she has come by every day to clean the statue. He speculates that she’s staying at a nearby shelter and that the people there probably don’t want her doing this. All Might asks why she’s doing this. Stain reveals that she was the last person that All Might saved. All Might flashes back to his battle with All For One, and yes, this woman was trapped under rubble near that fight and AFO had tried to use her as a target. Ya know, she was the opposite of a human shield, meant to bait the valiant All Might into jumping in the way of AFO’s attack. Stain insists that it wasn’t All Might’s power that made him great, but his insistence of fighting crime with a smile and reassuring word to others. Stain forces him to look at the woman cleaning the statue and says that that is the moldering embers that All Might left behind. He insists that this blaze will reignite if they just tend it. All Might starts to tear up watching the woman cleaning and at Stain’s words. He starts to walk off, All Might calls out to him to try to stop him, but Stain instead throws a pile of papers skewered on a blade at him. He says he stole those from Tartarus and asks him to use that info to stop All For One. And encourages All Might to come stop the Hero Killer Stain, if he still has a hero’s heart. The rain starts to clear, which is heavy handed symbolism, but I’ll allow it.

 

Back at school, Izuku’s classmates are going overboard trying to look after him. The boys strip him down and literally throw him into the bath to get him clean. Bakugo is annoyed that they did that, saying that they’re dirtying up the bathwater. According to him, Izuku needs to be scrubbed down with steel wool and bleach before being put into the tub. Dude is hardcore in all things. Bakugo joins them in the water, reminding them all that they’re all his rivals, that he’s going to be the number one hero, and that he’s mostly talking to Izuku when he said that. And props to him using Izuku’s real name for the first time in like 13 years.

 

After the bath, Izuku asks where Uraraka went, and Jiro tells him she basically passed out after the adrenaline rush ended. Turns out worrying for your friend/love interest is exhausting work. Jiro says that a few others are out like that too. Izuku sits down in the living room with about half of his classmates, and apologizes once again for running off like that. Ashido says that she’s impressed he kept his power under wraps for so long, but after reading his confession about All For One and One For All, nothing is going to surprise her anymore. Tokoyami says that Izuku could have told Hawks to return his calls. His classmates ask about his power and what it was like going from Quirkless to having one of the strongest quirks. Shoto comes in and tells them to leave Izuku alone for a bit so he can sleep. Izuku says that he can’t sleep, he’s too wired, and he needs to apologize to All Might. He mentions that All Might isn’t picking up his phone… and is shocked when Shoto just points outside and we see All Might at the window looking like a wraith.

 

All Might comes in, bows, and begs forgiveness for being a poor teacher to Izuku. Izuku says that All Might helped him a lot, and Ashido butts in, saying that if he has to apologize to anyone it’s to the rest of 1A for taking their friend away. All Might doesn’t apologize, but tells them all that the final battle is approaching. He has a flashback to when he picked up Stain’s intel and he swore that even if he has to crawl to get there, he will be there to watch his students take up the mantel of hero at the very least. He says that they’ll need everyone’s help in that battle, and that even in his weakened body, he’ll give his support. Izuku thanks him for the food, and everyone resolves to be ready for the fight. All Might heads out, saying that he needs to check in with the others and prepare. Tokoyami tells him to tell Hawks to call him. As they head back in, Ashido teases Tokoyami for being an angry bird. Tokoyami says that he’s not angry, just concerned. Sato asks why the heroes don’t just set up shop in UA, and Shoto says Endeavor wouldn’t do that without a damn good reason. Because he knows that if people see him, they’ll start thinking about Dabi and that’ll spread panic. Izuku finally passes out. Kirishima points out that that sucks for Shoto since he really didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just about who he’s related to. Shoto says that he did let his family tree blind him for a while but he’s resolved to do better with his friends and regain the public’s trust. Kirishima is moved by his chivalry and starts crying manly tears. Jiro says that if they have civilians that aren’t fans of theirs, they can just fix it. She pulls in Kaminari, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami with her earphone jacks. Shoto asks what she means. Jiro compares to what they’re dealing with now is similar (if on a much grander scale) to when other students were giving them the side eye during the cultural festival. She grabs Bakugo as well and suggests that they can just do what they did then to make everyone relax. In case you forgot, their class band consisted of Jiro, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami and Bakugo. She says that they won’t go back to normal, but make something even better.

 

We cut to the heroes, Endeavor is flying while Hawks and Jeanist are using Jeanist’s car. Hawks explains that they got some info about Shigaraki’s upgrades. They cross referenced info they got out of Garaki during a polygraph test and the notes they took from his lab about Nomu creation. Hawks says that while its not a perfect comparison, a modified living person is worlds different from a modified corpse, they have learned some things. They assumed that they had two months before Tomura Shigaraki’s body is complete. With comments they’ve gotten from Nagant and Dictator, they assumed they had another 30 days to handle the situation. But… then they got the info from Stain. He stole data from Tartarus and included it along with a… passionate letter to All Might.

 

We flashback a month. During the escape, Stain got his hands on a knife and used it to execute an escapee that was shouting about doing something terrible to girls. Stain enters the surveillance room. He sees that all the guards are dead save one. The others died with their weapons in their hand, but the survivor was clutching a box to his chest like his life depended on it. Stain takes it, the guard offers weak resistance but he’s 3/4^ths dead already. Stain opens the container to find data storage devices inside. The guard grabs a gun and says that he can’t take those as its supposed to go to someone just. Stain says that he will pass on the guard’s conviction. The guard asks if Stain is a man or monster, and Stain says that he’s a monster, but one that wants to make a better world. Stain watches as AFO leads the riot, not sure why the data cubes mattered so much, but resolving to bring it to the only person that he trusts. He leaps into the water outside Tartarus and swims to shore. Over the next month, he gathers gear, and makes his way to All Might’s statue.

 

We return to the night when All Might left Izuku with his classmates. He met up with Detective Tsukauchi and passed the Stain info along to him. He says that he’s happy All Might and Izuku made up, as he’ll take any good news right now. Especially since they’re relying on news from a murderer like Stain. All Might explains to us that Tartarus has a security system that was off grid, totally inaccessible outside the base. Without Stain, they’d have never gotten this info, which would have been bad as it includes how the Shigaraki’s knocked out Tartarus’ security. He used high powered radio waves throughout the prison to knock out security, both from Tomura Shigaraki attacking from above and AFO Shigaraki attacking from below. Tsukauchi’s partner, the cat cop Sansa, asks if they could communicate telepathically via their shared Quirk. All Might tells him “kinda.” While that telepathy can happen, that sort of communication doesn’t go both ways. He uses himself as an example. He has a Vestige within OFA. That Vestige knows everything that All Might knows… but All Might can’t get any info from his Vestige. He only recently got information from his Vestige when he touched Izuku while he’d been in a coma. All Might can’t make sense of how AFO was able to do this. But the cops had been able to analyze that radio waves that Shigaraki’s had been using to communicate, and, scarily, one of the messages they received was that Tomura Shigaraki would be complete in 38 days. All Might is now sure that AFO planted that information to give everyone a false sense of security. So… they have 3 days before AFO is complete. Well, crap.

 

We cut to the UN. The security council are arguing about what to do. All Might has asked for aid from them, and for them to send their heroes TOMORROW. This is impossible, as there’s just so much paperwork to do, and moving heroes around like that is an international nightmare. Removing heroes from their home turf causes an uprising in villain activity, and they have reason to believe that Shigaraki has international allies ready to act the moment they hear of such movements. Egypt mentions that their biggest hero, Salaam who featured in the World Heroes Mission, is chomping at the bit to go to Japan. He’s convinced that he’ll be the one to stop AFO. The USA admits that their number one… has already left. The Top US Hero, Stars and Stripes, is rushing to Japan on a fleet of stealth bombers. One of the pilots’ radios to her that she’ll be in big trouble when this is over. Stars isn’t worried, as she’s got a mission to do. She couldn’t ignore a request for help from her old master All Might even if she wanted to.

 

Izuku has a nightmare of AFO saying “Now, it’s your turn!” before being attacked by a spectral version of Tomura. He wakes up with a start and almost hits Uraraka with Black Whip. She wishes him good morning. The others tell him to relax, and Mineta tells him to retract Black Whip as it looks gross. They all assure Izuku that he can relax because they’re with him. Izuku resolves to stop AFO and save the world along with his friends. The credits roll and that’s season 6.

 

That’s a hell of a way to do a season finale. Obviously, the highest stakes action part of the story ended two episodes ago with Class 1A bringing Izuku home, and the emotional stakes were mostly resolved with Uraraka’s speech to the civilians… so the only thing left to do was build up the final battle. Which is kind of terrifying when there are 2 seasons, 32 episodes and one more movie to go. I know that the last two seasons are a rollercoaster ride of action and pain, but still. I like that we got to see All Might meet Stain. The hero killer was obsessed with the former number 1, but like All Might himself said, once Stain was imprisoned and All Might lost his powers, I kind of assumed that there’d be no need for them to meet. So it was extremely weird to see Stain be the one to get All Might to believe in himself again, seemingly just so All Might would be able to take him down eventually. Dude has a one-track mind. I like that the heroes got the heads up about AFO’s timetable and that it’s definitely one of those ‘it might already be too late,’ kind of things. Like… they can only do so much prep in 3 days. I’m sure that while AFO has planned on a lot, I don’t think he’s ready for the likes of Stars and Stripes to arrive. She strikes me as what All Might was like during the height of his power. I think she’ll be a big asset. I also liked seeing Izuku settle back in with his class. Things aren’t exactly going to be fun for him going forward, so it was nice to see him relax in a bath, get to talk with his classmates, and see the beginnings of a potential jam session with Jiro and her band again. Such calm moments are fleeting, so one should savor them while they can. So… they’re prepping for one last brawl. It’d be cruel of me to not continue with this series next month, ya? Well… I guess you’ll have to wait to see how cruel I am, now don’t you? Have a good night and stay safe.  

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 137

 Uraraka is getting an A on her speech course this year, I can feel it. 

You’re getting two published today because I forgot to post yesterday. My bad.

 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku’s friends decided to attack him with a group hug. Sort of. Finding Izuku burnt out, exhausted, and at the end of his metaphorical rope, his classmates do their damnedest to bring him back to UA so he can take a break. Fearing for their safety above all else, Izuku tried to play it cool, saying he’s fine, and run before anyone can stop him. What happened next was about fifteen minutes of Izuku’s classmates doing their best to tackle him and/or use their memories of him to get him to just stop and talk to them. Most of his classmates had something to say about how he inspired them, or helped them, or was just a good friend to them. Izuku struggled the whole way, breaking out of a combination Dark Shadow binding and harness made by Yaoyorozu, an ice pillar that Shoto made, and from just talking it out with several classmates. Their final gamble came when Izuku tried to escape using his powers combined to rocket away. They used their own rocket, comprised of a ball of slime Mina Ashido made, on an ice slide made by Shoto Todoroki, and then rocket propulsion made by Shoto and Bakugo, to send Iida (who’d been in the slimeball) at Izuku at like Mach 2 speed. As he was launched at his friend, Iida admitted that he felt like he was always a lap behind Izuku, and it’s because of that that he’s always willing to race after him to try to catch up. Exhausted and unable to shake them off, Izuku passes out. He’s brought back to UA, where almost immediately a mob of civilians form to try to protest him being brought in. The pros try to calm things down, but the mob is adamant that Izuku not be brought in. Izuku prepares to walk away, but Uraraka grabs his hand to stop him. She asked ‘who protects the heroes when they need it,’ and prepares to be the one to protect Izuku. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open by jumping back to Endeavor’s meeting with Nezu/ambush by class 1A. Endeavor points out that Izuku’s presence could put the civilians at risk. Nezu says that they greatly upgraded security a while back and this will give them a chance to test it out. He also reminds them all that they hosted All Might back in the day and survived, so things should hardly be different now. He encourages the students to bring Izuku back. Iida asks about the UA barrier and for Nezu to elaborate on what the weasel meant by it getting upgraded. He is hopeful that maybe giving Izuku evidence that he can come back will mean that they won’t have to fight him in the streets. Nezu admits that there is a certain level of selfishness on wanting Izuku back, he recognizes that Izuku is a key element to battling AFO and the League, so having him back and protected is in their benefit. He admits that the school has been able to buy defensive equipment like the robots they use in training and the security gates for cheap, so the school’s protections are on par with Tartarus Prison. Yaoyorozu says that that is impressive, but Shigaraki and co broke through those defenses before. Nezu says that that is true, but adds that after Shigaraki and his original league broke into the school the previous year, he’s been adding his own customizations to the school’s defenses. He’s confident that with his additions, the schools shield barrier is strong enough to hold back an army of villains. And there’s his ace in the hole. The school can move now. He’s divided the school grounds into a grid, allowing them to lower certain sections into the ground to turn them into high security bunkers. There’s also a bunch of reinforced plates underground for added security. Kaminari puts it best when he says that’s like Mecha anime tech. The shelters can be moved on high speed rails hidden in these lower levels. The rail is connected to other schools and sheltered areas like Shiketsu academy, which explains that comment last episode about the campuses combining. Tokoyami points out that this kind of protection seems to be built around combatting the upgraded Decay that Tomura has access to and how weird that is since at the time of the Festival they had not idea his power would develop. Nezu says he had a hunch, and because of that paid for the extra upgrades from his own pocket. The students are shocked to hear that Nezu is independently wealthy, Endeavor adding that Nezu is a supporter of Quirk morality education and is world renowned for it. Nezu is a big believer in ‘putting in the work’ on improving the world. He encourages the students to bring Izuku back.

 

We return to the campus as the crowds are picketing Izuku being brought in. Most are screaming for Izuku to be taken away, and one even accuses him of being a Nomu since he has multiple quirks. His mother tries to go to him, but Mitsuki Bakugo holds her back for fear the mob might react to her. It’s weird seeing that Izuku and Bakugo’s moms are friends. We also see Kota, the little boy Izuku bonded with at the Training camp, with Ragdoll, the depowered member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, looking on in apprehension. Inside the school, the 1B students are with Eri trying to keep her calm. Sero is surprised that the principal couldn’t convince them, 13 saying that they seemed like they understood at first, but speculation is running out of control and getting people to panic. On her phone she has a news article up that is asking if Shigaraki is after a UA student. Present Mic uses a megaphone to try to get people to calm down, but Jeanist says that maybe he should do the talking as he convinced many of them to come here and he’s not a teacher.

 

Jeanist tries to convince everyone to go along with bringing Izuku in. He says that they tried to use Izuku as bait to draw the villains out, but that didn’t work. Jeanist insists that Izuku is a key part of the fight against Shigaraki and All For One and asks them to let them just let Izuku rest inside the fortress for a while. This seems to calm everyone for a moment, but then one dick basically blames the heroes for not stopping the villains and saying that because they screwed up, they’re putting everyone else at risk. The mob gets whipped up again. Mitsuki comforts Inko, who has crumpled into a sobbing heap at seeing everyone turn against her son. Uraraka decides that she needs to do something before this turns violent. She makes herself weightless, grabs Present Mic’s megaphone and leaps onto the top of UA’s building. The first to notice her up there are her parents. Uraraka uses the megaphone to explain to the crowd what is going on. She insists that Izuku’s power is special, that he left because he wanted to protect everyone, and that he’s burnt himself out to do it. She begs them to understand that he is just a normal guy that needs their help. Bakugo tells Izuku that they’ll help him protect everyone. Nezu repeats that doing the work is hard, but if they can do it, they’ll help set up a hero strong enough to surpass All Might.

 

Uraraka has a flashback to when she was little when she was absolutely giddy seeing someone else being happy. She says that she’s always been like this. She says that the first time she saw someone do hero work, she was focused more on the people made happy by the heroes work. Ippan Josei is in the crowd and is moved to see that Izuku clearly just kept going after saving her. One of the guys in the crowd accuses the heroes of wanting them all to be like Izuku, dirty and exhausted and covered in blood. Uraraka, her temper flairing, shouts back that the heroes are the ones getting dirty for them. Iida tells Izuku that she’s up their fighting for all of them, but especially for them. Uraraka goes on to says that she wishes she could reassure everyone, but she can’t. She tells them that they, the heroes, are just like everyone else. They need people to support them. She flashes back again, where she was just super jazzed as a kid to see others happy. Her dad tells her that she’s missing out on seeing the hero. She looks over and sees the beaten up hero, and is all the more excited when she sees one of the civilians cheer him on and the hero give a thumbs up. In the present she begs everyone to search their hearts and find it in themselves to help Izuku. She has a flash of Himiko Toga in her mind and shouts her plea for their help all the louder. Both Izuku and Inko Midoriya are sobbing with joy at Uraraka’s words. Izuku flashes back to when he first met Uraraka and she saved him from face planting. He falls to his knees and sobs with happiness at seeing her work so hard for his sake. Several people see Izuku fall, and both Kota and Josei run to him. We see a flashback of him going shoe shopping with his aunt Mandayal and how he specifically chose red shoes like Izuku’s. Future narrator Izuku chimes in to say that while this is the story of how he became the world’s greatest hero, he amends it and says that it’s the story of how EVERYONE became that hero.

 

Mineta tries to go to Izuku, but Iida holds him back, saying that they should let these two save Izuku this time. Kota apologizes for not standing up sooner, but he wants to support Izuku now. Josei reveals that she’d been turned away by several shelters that weren’t allowing heteromorphic people into their shelters. UA was the only one that would welcome her, and while that sucked, it let her see him again which is nice. She hugs him in thanks, and so does Kota. One of the crowd, the man with three cross shapes coming from his head (Izuku met him in the first episode, he dubbed Izuku a true fanboy) says that maybe they should listen to this young hero has to say. He says they should let him in to have a break, he’ll only be there for a short while anyway. One of the crowd says that maybe he could go to Shiketsu, but his friend says that he might be turned away from there too. Cross guy, who is henceforth will be called Carl, says that he’s been doing some self-analyzing over the last few weeks. Carl viewed heroes as essentially performers on a stage. Carl and the rest of the world got to see heroes, like All Might, stand up and perform acts of service for prestige and accolades. But now the money is gone, heroes are dropping off, and they really need to ask themselves why anyone is sticking around to help. He says that he knows this is tough, but they can’t keep acting like Spectators. The guy who keeps acting up asks Izuku if he gets some rest, will he win and put things back to how they were before. Izuku swears that he will, with the help of his friends.

 

Ectoplasm heads outside and tells the Todorokis and Hawks that things are settling down for the moment and they should head inside. They head in and see the crowd encircle him. Endeavor isn’t sure if they ended up making any progress and maybe they should have just sent Izuku here in the first place. Hawks instead thinks that this is progress. He believes that Izuku helped spread seeds of trust and hope while he was fighting, and Uraraka has brought them into the same fold. He thinks this is the start of a future where heroes have too much time on their hands and everyone smiles.

 

Nezu is on the phone with Aizawa, complimenting the teacher on his students making everyone accept Izuku. He asks how Aizawa’s leg is. Aizawa, who also lost one of his eyes after that last fight, says that he’s not going to outjump Miriko anytime soon but he’s doing better. Nezu asks about Kurogiri, and Aizawa says he visits him every day, but there’s been no change. They’ve brought Kurogiri to central hospital for examination in the hopes of finding some way to help the Nomu recover. Nezu says that its thanks to Oboro Shirakumo breaking free of the Kurogiri persona that they’ve any strongholds at all. Aizawa asks if they’re on the lookout for the league, and Nezu says they’re looking for Toga specifically. They know how much blood she needs to mimic someone and how long it lasts, they’re only allowing anyone in after some isolation. Aizawa says that UA is their stronghold and it’s time for their next move, to which Nezu agrees.

 

All Might heads out in his car, saying he’s going to check out the hero-hating groups that refuse to join them. As he races away, he remembers Izuku trying to leave him and he makes a dark expression. From the rooftops, Stain watches him go. Well, shit.

 

Well, that was an emotional gut punch. It was nice seeing Uraraka get the spotlight for a bit. I loved her speech. She has clearly been thinking about this for a while. I liked that she tried for straight compassion for a bit, but when that one guy kept being a negative Nancy that she basically told him to shut up and see Izuku for the scared kid he is. Empathy is important, but sometimes you do need to tell people to shut the hell up. Letting Izuku have a moment with Kota, the first person he legitimately saved, and Josei, the most recent person he saved, have a moment with him was nice. The whole flashback about the shoes was super sweet and does highlight just how much Kota idolizes Izuku after the training camp. I like that they remember to bring up the Heteromorphic racism. That feels like it is a big deal even if its not talked about as much. Humans are really terrible about othering people based on skin tone, so I have to imagine we’d be all the worse if some people looked like anything but a person. And no, I don’t think the people that want to bang monsters specifically would make Josei feel better either. There’s not that much more to say about this one. Uraraka went to bat for Izuku and got everyone on board with letting him take a break, that’s awesome. I’ll be curious to see how Aizawa handles being an amputee and a cyclops. And All Might looks like he’s going to be meeting Stain face to face for the first time, and considering the hero killer once said that All Might is the only person allowed to kill him, I can’t imagine it’ll be a boring conversation. See you then. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 136

Chase the green kid! 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku started hitting the wall. All For One out thought Izuku and his hero allies, luring them out to his hidden mansion just to play a message promising the 9^th Wielder of One For All that ‘Now it’s your turn!” to suffer his obsessive attention. Izuku, growing tired and more desperate to protect his loved ones, tells All Might to stop following him and that he’s okay on his own. Class 1A have heard all about what Izuku’s been up to, and they’re all worried about him, Bakugo most of all. He knows his old frenemy extremely well, and knows that isolation and worry are just not good for Izuku’s mental state. He and the rest of 1A convince Principal Nezu and Endeavor to let Izuku return to the school. Izuku is nearly captured by a Tartarus Escapee called Dictator who used an army of human puppets to overwhelm the exhausted vigilante, but he’s saved by the timely arrival of his class. He thanks them for their help, but tells them to leave, but they refuse. They’re here to bring him back to UA and they will not take “I’m Fine,” or “go away” as an answer. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

The episode starts with Izuku lying to his friends that he’s fine and for them to leave him alone. No one buys it, as their friend is basically in a Donny Darko version of his costume. Class 1A prepare to take him down… For a nap.

 

Before the battle starts, Iida has a flashback to when he said more or less the same thing to Izuku. Back when he was at the mercy of Stain, the Hero Killer that maimed his older brother and crippled him, he told Izuku to leave and not meddle in something that doesn’t concern him. Izuku countered with “dude, that’s literally the entire point of being a hero!” I’m paraphrasing but that’s the gist. Iida says that he knows Izuku and knows that he’s too stubborn to be turned off a course once he’s on it. Bakugo tries to taunt Izuku into acting, mentioning how Izuku has access to more powers now, but he still isn’t All Might. He also mocks Izuku’s new costume design, saying that it makes Izuku look like a villain. Izuku does thank his friends for coming but then fires off a Smokescreen to hide his movements. Bakugo blows it away with a blast. He sees Izuku in the sky above him and says that now that Izuku is the all-powerful successor, he thinks of the rest of them as extras. I think that’s your own damage, Bakugo, but I appreciate you keep trying to make him mad since ya know he’ll screw up. Koda summons a flock of crows to try to distract Izuku, begging him to come back with them. Izuku tries to leap away, but Sero uses his tape attack to grab on. He says that Black Whip makes him look scary and that its freaking people out to see him like that. Izuku flashes back to when Sero gave him some basic advice on how to use a Spider-Man web attack when he first developed Black Whip. Izuku rips the tape away but then gets hit by Jiro launching a sonic blast from her speakers. He leaps away but can’t escape Jiro saying that his help formulating her music lessons for their school festival concert was a huge moment for her even if it seemed small to him.

 

Ojiro catches Izuku in his oversized tail and reminds him of how they bonded when Ojiro asked him to beat Shinso as payback for Shinso mind controlling him. He tells Izuku they all know he’s running on empty and begs him to just let them help him. Izuku is worried that All For One will attack the school if he’s there and that’ll be like killing them all himself. He breaks free of the tail but gets tackled by Tokoyami and Dark Shadow into a building. Tokoyami pins him to a pillar with Dark Shadow. Sato grabs Ojiro as he falls and carries him and Jiro to the ground. Jiro comments on how much stronger Izuku. Sato asks him to just hear them out, reiterating Koda’s comment about Nezu saying it was okay for him to come back. He decides to go for the Jugular and say that if he doesn’t, he won’t help Izuku make candy apples for Eri again. Izuku, still in his dark place, says that anyone can treat Eri to those and that she doesn’t need him. Before he can struggle or try to move, Yaoyorozu catches him in restraints. She says that their original plan was to find him and fight with him in the streets, but Nezu, Endeavor, All Might and the other heroes changed their directive to “bring that boy home!” Izuku realizes that Yaoyorozu’s device is supposed to put him to sleep, so he pries himself free and tells everyone to forget about him and go back to campus. Before he can break out of Dark Shadows, Kaminari runs up and throws around him, saying that they’re not abandoning him. Then, Shoji entangles them both in his tentacle-like arms, which Yaoyorozu coated in electrical tape to protect him. He reminds Izuku about when their group was attacked by the League at the Training Camp, that he thought with their class they might even be able to take on All Might. Tokoyami joins them and has Dark Shadow wrap him up even further. He says that using Dark Shadow’s offensive strength protectively was Izuku’s idea in the first place. The four of them try to get him to calm down, Kaminari adding that he could really use a bath to break the tension, but Izuku freaks out and tells them to just go! Kaminari prepares to shock him, but Izuku breaks free and leaps away. The quartet are all impressed by One For All’s immense power.

 

Izuku, clearly holding back tears, tells them all to just leave him alone. He admits that he knows they’re there for him, and that they want what’s best for him. He knows that for certain as his Danger Sense isn’t going off at all to their attempts to restrain him. He begs them to just go. His mask falls off during this speech and we see how bloodshot his eyes are and how dirty his face is. He keeps saying that he’s okay, but he’s not convincing anyone. Shoto summons a giant ice pillar and Izuku dives headlong into it. He says that he can see that Izuku wants to cry, but he’s not allowing himself to. He begs Izuku to just rely on them so he can have an emotional release. Tsu leaps over and says that she’s not willing to let him go, either. She reminds him of when she talked to him and the others after they broke the rules to free Bakugo from the League and how she had to vent her feelings to them so they could be friends again. She says that she cried a lot during that, but she doesn’t do that anymore and begs her friend to just rely on them. She tells him that he doesn’t have to do this alone.

 

We jump back to All Might Statue, where Kirishima, Aoyama and Hagakure present a captured Dictator to Endeavor. Kirishima is kind of bummed that all he got to do was chip the guy out of the ice. Endeavor thanks the kids for their hard work, and asks them to help Hawks control the scene. Hawks radios in to Endeavor and asks if maybe they should just bring Jeanist in to stop Izuku as the fabric-based hero could end this in an instant. Kirishima is vocally upset that he can’t keep up with Izuku right now, the green-haired hero being so much more mobile than the red head, as there is so much he wants to say to Izuku. Rather than wait around, he leads the other three towards Shoto’s ice pillar holding Izuku. Endeavor tells Hawks to wait; he wants to give the students a chance to settle this.

 

Izuku doesn’t want to stay put, though, and starts breaking free of the Devil’s Tower of ice he’s in. Shoto then points out the obvious, that this is probably AFO’s plan. By trying to stay away from the people he cares about, Izuku is dividing their attention and thus making UA more vulnerable. And on top of that, he’s exhausted and hurt, and therefore extremely easy for someone with a ton of power and resources to grab whenever they want. He asks Izuku to stand together with them and help protect UA. Izuku remembers AFO’s “It’s your turn!” threat, and all of previous wielders, he tells Shoto that this is a destined conflict between One For All and All For One, and they can’t keep up. He breaks free of the ice, Shoto leaping away to not get caught in the avalanche. Iida and Uraraka run up and prepare for their next grab attempt. Tsu follows Izuku, grabbing Mineta (whom Uraraka just made weightless) and tongue whips the purple little perv at Izuku. Mineta catches Izuku with a whip of his super sticky beads. He says that he never thought Izuku’s power was that cool. No, what made Mineta fall for Izuku (his exact words) were all the times he saw Izuku do something brave despite being scared. Like at the USJ when the original, extremely sucky League of Villains attacked. Izuku gets him in a Black Whip and drops him on a roof.

 

Izuku attempts to get away by combining his powers, using Black Whip as a slingshot, adding Fa Jinn kinetic energy build up, and 45% Full Cowling to hopefully rocket himself away… but Uraraka comes falling from the sky screaming that she’s not giving up on him. She talks about how much everyone has grown over the year. Izuku blocks her out and shoots off, but that seems to have been Uraraka’s plan. She says this is their chance. Shoto makes a massive ice ramp, Ashido makes a super slick ball of her acid that Shoto and Bakugo ride in, with the rest of 1A shoving to give it momentum before Shoto uses his fire blast to rocket the two of them after Izuku. Uraraka thinks about how much she wants to tell Izuku as she slaps the passing slimeball, making it weightless. Shoto and Bakugo use their powers as booster rockets to make the slimeball go farther and faster. Shoto drops first. Bakugo thinks that he has so much that he needs to say to Izuku, but he is willing to put it off just a little bit longer. Because he’s not the one made for speed. The slimeball breaks up as Iida powers up his Recipro bust to maximum and shoots like a comet after Izuku. As he shoots forward, his suit and glasses breaking, he admits that Izuku is always ahead of him, but it’s because of that that he’ll always be running after him. He says that he will always be ready to challenge Izuku as he catches his hand and whips around to face him. We see Kudo again as the second wielder says that the thing Izuku needs most right now are friends that can keep up with him. Izuku tells Iida to let him go, and Iida refuses, saying he’ll always race after him, as meddling when you’re not wanted is the essence of being a hero.

 

Izuku tries to escape, but all the chasing and struggle has finally worn him out and he collapses as Iida pulls him into a grapple. He yells that he’s got Izuku and Uraraka releases her power. They plummet to the ground, and it’s at that moment that Iida realizes that he hadn’t thought about how they’re going to land. Thankfully Kirishima runs out and catches them as they hit the ground. The force of the catch causes Kirishima to skid backwards for like a mile, but he says they won’t break him. He then adds that he saw a new report about some kid his age running to save someone from a villain, and that he now knows for sure that that was Izuku. The story blew him away. He tells Izuku that ya don’t need special powers or fate to be a hero, just being there is enough. Everyone gathers and Ashido asks him to stop running, the others all agreeing. Izuku gets up and admits that he wishes he could go, but he’s too scared to do that. He knows that a lot of people are taking refuge at UA right now and he won’t risk them or his friends.

 

Bakugo walks up and asks if Izuku remembers what he said to Bakugo after he was stabbed by Shigaraki. Izuku admits he doesn’t, and Bakugo says “Stop trying to win this by yourself.’ He elaborates and says that the whole reason that he got stabbed was because he reflexively got in the way to protect Izuku. He says that their whole lives he’s looked down on Izuku for being Quirkless, for being less than Bakugo in so many ways, but how he hated how it felt somehow also felt like Izuku was way ahead of him. He formally apologizes to Izuku for being a dick all these years. He swears that he and the others will handle the things that Izuku can’t. They’ll work together and be better than they’d be apart. Izuku pitches forward, exhausted, and Bakugo runs up and catches him. He says that he’s sorry and Bakugo says he knows. Yaoyorozu says they’ve cleared the first hurdle, but things will get harder from here.

 

A short time later, Izuku wakes up. He’s being carried by Shoto and being looked over by the space themed hero 13. … Whom I’m just learning is in fact a woman. Sorry for misgendering her in the first season. She tells Izuku that most of the civilians have made it to shelters and the only folks outside of those are criminals and anti-hero vigilantes. She’s sure those won’t last much longer either as things are growing more desperate and even those are looking for help. We pull out father to see that they’re standing before UA campus, which is completely enclosed in a colossal wall. How. Do. They. Afford. These. Things! Anyway, 13 tells him to relax and leave stuff outside UA to the pros for now. Izuku is impressed by the wall, Hagakure adding that they’ll be able to ‘merge’ with Shiketsu Academy in some way. Izuku is moved by everyone’s earnestness but he knows that he can’t do this. They’re interrupted by a group of protestors just inside the walls chanting ‘keep the boy away!”

 

Inside a crowd has formed to protest Izuku being brought in. They’re scared, confused, and know that All For One is hunting Izuku. Present Mic and 13 try to keep them calm, but they keep chanting. A very sad Deku turns to leave, but Uraraka takes his hand to stop him. She tells him it’ll be fine, and she thinks about how she and the others won’t let him go. The episode ends with Uraraka asking herself, ‘when a hero suffers, who is supposed to protect them?”

 

Overall, this is a simple episode. Izuku is shouting, “I have to go to protect all of you!” and his classmates are all shouting back, louder, “Like hell you do!” It was nice that they found ways to have the majority of Izuku’s friends get a chance to talk to him and say their peace about how much he means to each other them. That alone would be moving for this kid who a year ago in universe was shocked to have classmates that liked him more than Bakugo. He’s had big impressions, like with Shoto, little impressions, like with Jiro, good bro moments, like with Kaminari, and moments that broke some fandom spaces, like with Mineta. Ya, there was a lot of discussion on what it was meant when he said he ‘fell’ for Izuku. I’m not sure if Horikoshi has ever addressed it, but the common fandom answer I’ve seen is that Mineta is in fact bisexual but not really mentally or emotionally ready to handle that, hence why he goes so over-the-top to showoff his heterosexual interests by harassing the girls. I’ll just say that if that interpretation is true, then it at least makes him more interesting than being the stock horny pervert. Most of all I liked how this episode showed off that there is a genuine friendship between Bakugo and Izuku at this point. Bakugo lead the charge in trying to get Izuku back, he used all the right words and phrases to needle him and keep him off balance so they could prep for their big plan, he knew what he had to say in his apology to get Izuku to finally breakdown, and, most importantly, he knew who had to speak to Izuku in order to slow him down enough so they could all talk, Iida. Iida’s screentime has been severely reduced since the focus shifted to Izuku as part of a trio with Bakugo and Shoto, but he was one of Izuku’s first real friends, and they had a major bonding moment during the fight with Stain. Like how Izuku knew that Kirishima had to be the one to offer a hand so they could save Bakugo from the League of Villains, Bakugo knew that Iida was the one with the right mindset to finally chip through Izuku’s defenses and get him to stop. It shows a tremendous amount of growth, and then we got the apology. When this show started back in 2016, I never would have thought we’d get such a direct apology from Katsuki Bakugo. The kid was too angry, too self-centered, too violent to have the self-awareness to apologize to Izuku, the kid he irrationally hated for a long time. But here it was. We made it. Now they just have to convince an angry mob to calm the heck down. I’m glad Uraraka is going to be doing this one, as I imagine the next most likely candidate would be Inko Midoriya. Nothing against her, I’m sure she’d do a great impassioned speech to support her boy, but she’d definitely be backed up by Mitsuki Bakugo… and she’s her son writ early 40s housewife. I think that says it all. Ha. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social

Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 135

 Izuku is hitting walls but also hitting THE wall. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Dark Deku faced off against a flying sniper. AFO, as part of his plan to capture Izuku to steal OFA from him, sent Lady Nagant to try to capture him. Nagant is an ex-hero that specialized in wet work missions, meaning she was the PSC assassin. She used her rifle arm to execute villains and potentially disgraceful heroes in order to cover over the cracks of the hero system. Such work put a tremendous strain on her mental health until she finally snapped and executed the PSC Chairman. She was arrested, charged with killing heroes instead of her boss and locked away in Tartarus to rot. AFO gave her the additional quirk Air Walk and sent her to face off against Izuku. Our hero was pushed to his limits, but with his new quirks, specifically the kinetic energy amplifying Fa Jinn from the 3^rd wielder of OFA, he put her through her paces. Getting desperate, Nagant tried to use Izuku’s fundamental kind nature against him and shot at Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul, who she’d brought along to identify Izuku. Izuku outpaced her bullet, saving Overhaul, and then rocketed over and broke Nagant’s rifle. He reached out to the former hero, pointing out that she’d been taking only nonlethal shots for the whole fight and thus can’t have fallen as deeply into nihilism as she claims. She’s moved by Izuku’s words and him grabbing her so she doesn’t fall to her death. She tries to tell him about Shigaraki, but the villain implanted a third quirk, one that caused Nagant to explode when she tried to betray his secrets. She fell but was caught by Hawks, who rushed in to help. They get Nagant to talk, who reveals that there was a plan to bring Izuku to a mansion in the woods in two months after he was captured. And that she’s not the only one hunting him. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open with a badly burnt Lady Nagant repeating her message from the last episode, that in two months, she and the other hunters sent out to find and capture Izuku Midoriya are to gather at a hidden mansion in a nearby forest, Haibori Woods, to hand him over to All For One. Izuku is obviously livid at hearing this information.

 

We cut to the mansion; it’s the former hideout of that anti-animal Quirk group the Creature Rejection Clan (stupid name) that the League of Villains thrashed before they joined up with the Meta Liberation guys. Izuku is joined by his hero mentors, as well as Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Edgeshot. Dark Deku starts walking toward the mansion, and Endeavor tells him to not jump the gun. They enter the mansion, only to find it empty. A few seconds after entering, a prerecorded message from AFO plays via a hologram generator. He gloats about being one step ahead of Izuku, how he anticipated that Izuku might be able to break through to Lady Nagant, and has evaded him again. He gives some very basic philosophy schpeel about how ‘oh society is inherently evil, villains are just people that had a bad day, etc.” I’m not exactly rejecting the idea that a lot of crime is just people trying to survive in an imperfect system, but when a dude who’s greatest ambition is to be a ‘demon lord’ talks like this, ya know he’s talking out of his ass mostly. AFO admits that after all these years, he’s grown bored of dealing with All Might and has thus decided to shift his full attention to Izuku. He closes out his message with a mocking, “it’s your turn,” turning All Might’s last words as a hero encouraging Izuku to take up his mantel into a threat. And then a bomb goes off.

 

We jump to a warehouse district where the heroes regroup. They somehow escaped the explosion, but, as Edgeshot depressingly points out, any trace of the League burnt up in the explosion. Edgeshot asks if they could get more info from Nagant, but Hawks says she’s still out cold and the doctors are kind of amazed she’s still alive. Considering how badly she was burnt in that explosion; I’m inclined to agree. Kamui Woods compliments the woman’s tenacity, especially after all the hardship she’s suffered. Edgeshot asks if it’s time that they expand their circle out some more, get a few more heroes in on the danger of All For One and the danger to Izuku Midoriya and the world if he’s captured. Mt. Lady says that, as unfortunate as it is, they need to lean on Izuku to get to the League, so they need more support to support him. Endeavor answers her comment by pointing out that her teammate and friend Death Arms quit hero work a few days ago. We flashback to Death Arms taking off his gear, complaining that despite everything he’s done to protect people, all he’s received lately is ridicule and harassment. He says that he thought he could take it, but one insult has more power than ten compliments. He says that he thought he was a hero, but in the end he’s just a person and walks away. Endeavor reminds them that Death Arms was a key component of their Raid on the PLA, and he lead the charge on grabbing heroes working for that group. He and Jeanist agree that it’s too dangerous to bring anyone else in if someone like Death Arms quit. Furthermore, the news outlets seem to be getting close and closer to Deku, making them think former heroes are leaking info to them. They’re worried that if news of AFO gets out, it’ll just cause more chaos. Mt. Lady asks why AFO just doesn’t do that, and Endeavor thinks its because if he did, that make him a credible threat. They’d hide Deku behind all the heroes they’ve got, thus making it difficult even for AFO to get at him. He’s clearly frustrated that their only plan right now is to just wait for someone else to try to grab Midoriya. He’s interrupted by a text from Shoto telling him to call him immediately. He remembers Shoto saying that they’ll work together to stop Toya, and Endeavor asks him for just a little more time to solve this current problem first. Hawks then gets a call from All Might, telling him that Izuku is facing off against another hired gun. But he finished it already.

 

We jump to Izuku having captured the thug in Black Whip as All Might looks on in shock. Izuku says that the guy didn’t have any useful information, but to be wary just in case he also was given an explosive quirk as a failsafe. He tries to run, but All Might stops him, offering his student another lunch box since he knows Izuku hasn’t eaten in a while. Izuku refuses it, saying that he’s going to go along alone. He repeats to himself the obvious lie that he’s fine. He’s better on his own. All Might tries to stop him, but Izuku angrily lashes out at him, saying that he’s as powerful now as All Might was at his pique and without any backlash like he used to suffer. Izuku remembers the prediction from Nighteye that if All Might continued on the path he was on, he’d die a gruesome death. All Might reaches out to his student and tries to stop him, but Izuku leaps away. All Might mentally begs his student to get that All Might knows where he’s coming from, and begs Izuku to understand that it’s okay to take a break, to rely on others. He trips, though, missing Izuku’s hand and dropping the lunch. He says he’s sorry for putting this burden on Izuku, all while a man with a long tongue watches him… Ohhh, no.

 

Izuku continues his mission solo. We hear voiceover on how the populace are reacting. Some are cheered by this hero working tirelessly to protect others, others are scared that he’s showing off multiple powers like a Nomu and Shigaraki, and a few point out that he doesn’t look very heroic in his Dark Deku gear and covered in dirt. Izuku flashes back to Endeavor saying they’re shifting strategies. They’re waiting on news of foreign heroes coming to help augment their forces. He advices Izuku take some time to rest while they wait, but Izuku refuses. He refuses to allow the League of Villains more time to prepare. His predecessors Vestiges also tell him to rest. My dude, if ghosts are telling you to slow down, LISTEN TO THEM!

 

In the mental plane, the previous users have a meeting. Nana thinks it’s her lingering feelings for her grandson that is putting additional burdens on Izuku, but Banjo says that that’s just one piece of the problem. Hikage says that the situation isn’t ideal, but their Quirks give Izuku a chance to do what OFA was made for and they might have to just let him do it. Kudo approves of Izuku’s work ethic, he acknowledges that Izuku can’t sit by and wait for aide, but he does know that Izuku needs something more than anything right now.

 

We see Izuku saving some civilians from criminals. While they’re thankful for his help, his multiple Quirks freak them out and they run the second they see an opening. Dark Deku leaps away, cursing AFO for hiding from him. He swears he won’t let anyone from the League hurt anyone else. He remembers all the people that he loves, like his mom, All Might, his classmates, Eri, Mr. Aizawa and Gran Torino, and swears that he will fix things so they can all go back to smiling. He trips and falls, exhausted, but he doesn’t get time to breathe as a villain appears. The villain, Dictator, has the ability to control others like puppets. He has a small horde of civilians that he’s puppeteering attack Izuku with improvised weapons. As the crowd rushes him, Izuku goes over what he knows. He knows that the hero Crust captured Dictator five years ago. From that case, he knows that enough damage to Dictator’s puppets or to the man himself will cause his Quirk, Despot, to short out, but he’s got enough human shields to make hitting him difficult… and Izuku isn’t one for attack civilians under any circumstances. He thinks about using his air shot to stop them, but he doesn’t have his gloves. He settles on using Black Whip… but he’s exhausted and starts passing out as the puppets start tearing at his mask.

 

We suddenly hear a familiar voice say, “Damnit!” and then “ARMOR PIERCING SHOT!” as Bakugo blasts Dictator from above, neatly getting around his human shields and knocking the puppet master out. Kudo in the mindscape repeats that Izuku needs one more thing more than ever as the word Friends appears by Bakugo’s face. Bakugo himself radios to his classmates that he’s found Izuku.

 

We flashback to UA just after Izuku left and gave everyone a goodbye note explaining why he’s leaving. Bakugo, Shoto, and Tokoyami head a meeting with their classmates to let them know that they suspect that their mentors are working with Izuku for this mission he’s put himself on. Bakugo swears he’s going to kill that damn nerd. Iida asks if they’ve contact their mentors to confirm, but all three say that their calls are being dodged. Shoto says that it’s not a huge leap in logic to assume Jeanist, Endeavor and Hawks are avoiding them to hide what’s going on. Jiro adds that All Might has been MIA at campus for a while too, which adds weight to the idea. Bakugo tells us that their classes are suspended, so they can’t move up a grade right now, and they’ve been told to be on standby to help with civilians. He’s sure that Izuku is out there fighting and that the other heroes are helping him. Kaminari says that they only know for sure that the top three heroes are working together, the news reports didn’t mention anyone else, and Bakugo tells him to not be an idiot. Bakugo is sure that this is the sort of stupid plan that Deku and All Might would come up with, distancing themselves from the students to try to protect them. Kirishima says that that means they have to track down Izuku and help him out however they can. Uraraka gets up and asks if Endeavor is a UA alumnus and Shoto confirms that, so she says they will get some answers.

 

We jump to Principal Nezu’s office. Nezu, at 1A’s request, called Endeavor in for a meeting to allow Izuku’s classmates to ambush the number 1 hero. Shoto confronts his father, asking why he has been ignoring them and why has he not brought Deku back. Endeavor doesn’t answer, but that confirms that he’s working with Deku and All Might as well. Bakugo says that using Izuku as bait seemed like a smart move and it might have worked with someone else, but Endeavor doesn’t know Deku. He’s known Izuku Midoriya longer than anyone save Izuku’s own mom, and he knows that Izuku is just going to keep pushing himself until he breaks. He’ll just say ‘I’m fine,’ until he collapses. All Might is the same way, so he won’t be able to stop Izuku either. Endeavor remembers hearing from Hawks that Izuku shook off All Might, thus confirming Bakugo’s assessment. Endeavor holds up his GPS device that’s tracking Deku, and about 1/5^th of the class jump him, knocking it out of his hand. Sero grabs it and apologizes for snatching it, but he needs to borrow it for a bit. Class 1A refuses to let Izuku run off like this. They swear to track him down and standby him as best they can. Endeavor says that its dangerous out there. Nezu says that he understood Endeavor’s concerns, which is why he allowed Izuku to be pulled out like this, but Izuku is part of UA and thus it’s the school’s responsibility to protect him. Uraraka has a flashback to when she was accepted into UA and she and her mom sobbed happy tears. She thinks that he’s right and that this is all of their hero academia. Endeavor asks if Nezu has thought about the refugees that the school is protecting, they could be in danger and they could riot if Izuku is brought in and brings more danger. Nezu says that he’ll make them understand, and that the school has additional defenses that they setup before the Sports Festival, and this will be an excellent time to test them out. He tells Class 1A to bring their friend back.

 

We see class 1A capture Dictator. The civilians run off. Izuku asks what they’re doing here, and Uraraka says they’re worried about him. Izuku says he’s fine and they should all leave now. Bakugo mockingly applauds his speech and asks his frenemy if he’s even able to smile right now. Izuku says that in order to bring smiles back to everyone else he has to go, and he tells them to get out of his way. Bakugo says, “You’re going to have to make us, you busted ass All Might wannabe!” Iida says that they were sure Izuku would say something like that, so they’re prepared. It’s Class 1A vs Dark Deku! Next time.

 

The majority of this episode really is just setting up that Izuku is hitting a physical, mental and emotional wall and he’s refusing to admit it. Which I totally get. I’m infamous among my relations as being the son/brother/nephew/grandson that will just keep saying, “this is fine,” “I’m good,” “I don’t need help,” and so on to the point where it does exasperate my mother. And I can say as a 35-year-old man to this fictional 17-year-old and to any actual younger folks reading my work this: That mindset will break you. I’m not a particular social person, I don’t like crowds, small talk, or interactions with people longer than a few minutes if I can help it, but we humans are social creatures and walling off your problems from the people that care about you just magnify them. Izuku’s case is obviously the most extreme version of that possible, but even if you’re just having a bad mental health week and you’re not reaching out to people that care about you, you’re exacerbating the problem in the long run. We see that class 1A are all worried sick about Izuku, to the point where Bakugo is leading a charge to find him, and him cutting all ties with them just makes it worse. He thinks he’s protecting them, but he’s just adding to their stress, and his own as he tries to keep fighting alone. The bit where he even tries to push All Might away for fear of his mentor getting hurt chokes me up whenever I see it. Izuku is trying to do the noble thing, but its hurting everyone around him, himself most of all. If 1A hadn’t been hunting him, he very likely would have been captured by Dictator simply because he was too exhausted to move. It’s not good bro. And now his friends are going to make him come home, or else. But more on that next time. See you then! 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social