We’ve had two slower episodes. They’ve
been good slow episodes, don’t get me wrong, but I do miss explosions,
screaming and life or death situations. It’s why I watch this kind of thing,
obviously. In exchange for our patience, we get four episodes packed to the
seams with action. The League of Villains are attacking in force, and our
heroes are underequipped, undertrained, and just overall in over their heads.
Let’s see how they fare, shall we?
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| Eraser Head is not playing around today. |
So, when we last left our young
heroes-in-training, things were about to get messy. A group of villains have
invaded the USJ training facility. Kurogiri, the creature made of swirling
black mist, lets the assembled mass know that they are the League of Villains,
and they’re here to kill All Might. They’ve come prepared, as they imply they
have a means of killing All Might and have somehow disabled the USJ’s alarm
system. Kurogiri and co are upset that All Might isn’t there, and plan to start
killing students until he arrives. Hm… Dozens of super-powered criminals vs.
two pro heroes and eighteen barely trained fifteen-year-olds. Oh, this does not
bode well, not well at all. At least, at first glance. Aizawa puts on his
goggles, and orders Thirteen to stay and watch the students. If he had theme
music, now would be the time to play it.
Several villains, not realizing who
they’re up against, rush to meet him. In quick succession, Aizawa cancels out
their powers and disables them, by beating the snot out of them. Some of the
villains catch on that they’re up against the famous-ish Eraser Head who can
cancel out powers. The quicker witted villains try to take advantage of a
slight flaw in Aizawa’s abilities. Namely he can’t cancel out Quirks that
manifest as physiological changes. I. E., if your Quirk is that you have extra
limbs, he can’t make those limbs go away. But, thanks to his capture weapon, his
incredibly durable scarf, he’s able to disable said villains easily and whip
them around like they’re a mace at the end of a chain. Being used as a melee
weapon? Yeah, that’s a special kind of humiliating.
While that’s going on, the students
try to make a break for it, but Kurogiri cuts them off. His ethereal form makes
keeping track of him difficult, to say the least. Thirteen steps up and preps his
Blackhole, but is cut off by two idiots running in the way. Said idiots, Bakugo
and another hot-headed student Kirishima (he can harden his skin into a stone
like substance) think they can take Kurogiri on. Their physical punches,
obviously, have no effect on his ethereal form. Kurogiri, more annoyed by this
than anything, uses his warping Quirk to scatter the closest dozen or so students
around the USJ. He was trying to get them all, but Iida is able to use his
superspeed to get a few of his classmates out of the warping radius.
Izuku ends up in the Shipwreck
Simulation zone, and is nearly eaten by a shark-like villain. He’s saved at the
last second by Tsuyu Asui, who uses her froggy powers (namely a strong kick and
a prehensile stretching tongue) to nab Izuku and another student, Minoru Mineta
before leaping away. If the names don’t ring a bell, it’s because they’ve been
background characters up until this point. They make it to the ship, away from
the aquatic baddies. Sue (I’m assuming it’s actually spelt Tsu, but I’m going
with the anglicized version), as she insists to be called, points out that the
baddies must be pretty confident that they can kill All Might if they’re going
through with such a brazen assault. Izuku resolves to do everything to protect
All Might, no matter the cost.
Meanwhile, other students are faring
about as well as can be expected. I’ll quickly sum up their situations, and
mention what the student’s powers are in brackets. If they haven’t been covered
before, that is. Shoto Todoroki is in the Landslide zone turning baddies into
Villain-cicles. Bakugo and Kirishima are busting heads in the Collapsing
Building Zone. Three students, Momo Yaoyorozu (can make inanimate objects from
her body), Kyoka Jiro (weaponized earlobes, I’ll explain later) and Denki
Kaminari (electrical manipulation) are holding off a small mob. Mashirao Ojiro
(has a big ol’ tail) is dodging baddies in the Fire Zone. Fumikage Tokoyami
(bird head and a monster shadow) and Koji Koda (looks like a rock and talks to
animals) are handling the villains in the Squall Zone. And Uraraka, Iida, and
everyone else are following Thirteen’s lead at the entrance. So, in summation,
this situation isn’t ideal but no one has died yet. Got to find the silver
lining somewhere.
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| For the first time, ever, a Frog beats a Shark. |
Back at the school, All Might is
trying to get a call into the teachers from the teacher’s lounge. He’s still
recovering from overusing his powers earlier that day. Neither Aizawa nor
Thirteen are answering his calls, so he’s concerned. He tries and succeeds in
transforming. He plans to quickly make it to the USJ, say something inspiring,
and then rush away, but he starts bleeding from the mouth a moment later. Odd of
making his hero form last at all are pretty slim when blood gushes from his
mouth. He’s further interrupted by Mr. Nezu, the school’s principle. He’s…some
kind of rodent… or weasel… or something. He’s a rare example of an animal that
has a quirk, giving him anthropomorphized features, incredible IQ, and an
extremely lengthened lifespan. What? Normal rodent lives like a half dozen
years at best, and he was the principle back in All Might’s day. Not possible
if he didn’t live as long as people do. He politely chastises All Might for being
too reckless, and starts brewing tea. All Might isn’t looking forward to this
discussion, as Mr. Nezu is known to be quite the long winded talker, especially
when tea is involved.
Thirteen orders Iida, whom is by
far the fastest, to rush out and get help. The power still hasn’t come back on,
so a messenger is really their only option. Iida is hesitant to leave, but is
encouraged by the others to make a break for it. Kurogiri belittles their
overconfidence in strategizing in front of a villain and attacks. Thirteen
preps and begins to unleash Blackhole. The two collide.
On the ship, Mineta is kind of
freaking out. The thought that they might have to fight villains that can kill
All Might is a little too much for him to bear. While he’s bawling, Izuku and
Sue assess the situation. They realize that the baddies must have thought this
through to some degree, as they deployed villains into the best environments
for their powers. Water guys in the water, flame resistant guys in the fire
zone etc. But, Izuku does notice a major flaw in whatever the plan might be…
they sent Sue, the frog-girl, into the Shipwreck Zone. Why drop off an
amphibious superhuman in water? He postulates that the baddies must not have
any idea what the student’s Quirks are. Which is also why the baddies are
holding back in the Shipwreck Zone, not willing to climb onto the boat to get
at them. Kind of a major flaw in the plan, if I’m being honest. Sure, the
students don’t hold a candle to any real hero, but you really have to assume
that the best students at the best hero school in the country won’t go down
easily. Just saying.
The teen heroes look over their
assets, namely their powers. Sue has your standard frog powers; jumps really
high, cling to walls, super long and strong prehensile tongue, and she can
secret a poisonous fluid. But she admits that her poison isn’t particularly
effective, so it’s probably best to not try to use it. Izuku has his super
strength, but lets them know about his… bone breaking problem when he uses it.
Mineta can make these super sticky…hairballs. They don’t say that exactly, but
he pulls them from his scalp, what else could they be? They regrow as fast as
he pulls them off. Yes, pretty useless sounding. The water baddies, tired of
waiting, slash the boat and create a major hull breach. Mineta freaks out some
more and flings a few of his sticky balls into the water. Whatever the balls
are made out of, they’re incredibly buoyant, and float gently on the surface.
Izuku notes that the baddies are hesitant to touch the balls, which gives Izuku
an idea.
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| Villains defeated: Check. Kids escape: Check. Izuku avoids breaking a bone: Uncheck. 2/3 isn't bad... |
Izuku decides that the best way to
enact his plan is to act like Bakugo. He screams “Die,” leaps into the air, and
attacks. He focuses OFA to his middle finger and thumb, and unleashes a
super-powered flick. He breaks his thumb and middle finger, and the water
below. The shockwave of the flick causes the water to flow out in all
directions. Who remembers their basic physics? For every action, there is an
equal and opposite reaction. The water, after being forced out by the
shockwave, rushes back inward, creating a temporary whirlpool. The villains are
all sucked in as well. Mineta, meanwhile, hurls countless sticky balls into the
water. The villains get stuck to the balls, and each other. Sue leaps after Izuku,
wraps him in her tongue and super jumps away. One group of villains down, dozens
to go. Hooray for little victories.
So, all around, not a great
situation to be in. Which makes for great TV, not going to lie. The USJ
facility is a pretty awesome location to have this brawl. It’s all in one
building, but we still have sinking ships, burning buildings, and a giant
quarry for fighting locations. Variety is the spice of life, as they say. Izuku,
once again, shows off that big beautiful brain of his. In only a few minutes,
he assesses the situation, formulates a strategy and executes it beautifully.
It’s also nice to see that he’s figured out a way to use his powers without
completely disabling himself. Sure, two broken fingers aren’t great, but it’s
still preferable to a completely mangled arm. Just saying. It was also nice to
see a few of UA’s other best and brightest show off their powers and skills.
Todoroki, using his freezing powers to keep a dozen or so villains in place is just
terrifying. He’s fifteen, and can keep several armed baddies under his thumb.
Is there any wonder why Todoroki is at UA? Sue also gets her moments, getting
to save our protagonist, twice, and be the group’s main means of escape. Powerful
legs on that girl. Mineta is… annoying. He’s got a lisp, is a coward, and is a
major perv. None of these traits make him endearing to me. Granted, his unusual
power did help in a pinch, but I can’t help wishing he’d ended up being with
Todoroki. Why? Because him being frozen would be so much more entertaining.
Finally, Mr. Aizawa is awesome. He was in charge from the moment he pulled his
goggles on. He’s got incredible reflexes, above average strength, and a power
that makes the baddies tremble. I wonder why Eraser Head isn’t more of a
household name? Probably because he keeps Batman hours. That’s the only reason
that I can think of. Next time, the battle continues.
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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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