Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 18

Sometimes, a single moment is all that separates victory from defeat.

Last time on My Hero Academia, a simple cavalry battle has tuned into a free for all. Izuku Midoriya is being hounded by several teams, each aiming to take his Headband which is worth 10 Million points. At the same time, Class 1-A has been systematically targeted by Class 1-B students. Neito Monoma of class 1-B informs Bakugo that this was a strategy to wipe out 1-A and stupidly mocks him. Bakugo shifts his team’s focus from getting Izuku to humiliating Monoma’s team. Let’s get to it.

Iida deserved this win. This guy doesn't get enough credit.

We open to that scummy little perv Mineta freaking out about having lost his own headband. Really not sure how that’s possible, what with Shoji’s arm defense, but there you go. Seeing no other option, he orders Shoji to switch to attack mode. The plan is to use Shoji’s arms, and assumedly Sue’s frog tongue, to nab as many headbands as possible with the time remaining, overall not a terrible plan but I don’t see it working out. With Team Izuku, they’re getting rushed by Team Todoroki. Todoroki freezes them in place and has team mate Kaminari fire off an electric blast to stun them, and everyone else rushing Izuku. That includes Team Mineta, tough break. Todoroki also takes the liberty of liberating a few headbands from his opponents. Team Izuku is fine, but Izuku’s borrowed jetpack is fried, much to its inventor Hatsume’s dismay. All I can say is don’t bring toy’s you’re afraid to lose to a fight. Yaoyorozu is able to block Dark Shadow while Todoroki lunges at Izuku. They can dodge but Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow takes a heavy hit from Kaminari’s lightning. Tokoyami informs Izuku why that hit hurt so bad, and why Kaminari is effectively the most trouble for them. To explain we flashback (damn these cutaways) to when Izuku recruited Tokoyami as part of his team. Tokoyami explains that his quirk’s strength is tied to the light around him. In bright light, like day time, Dark Shadow is much easier to control but has most of it’s power nullified. In darkness, however, the creature is much more powerful, but difficult to control and it becomes prone to rampages. Feels like something they should have remembered right when Team Todoroki approached, but there you go.

Bakugo is kind of flipping out over having his headband stolen. He wants revenge about as much, maybe even more so, then he wants to beat Izuku. He tries a full power blast on Monoma, but gets his hand deflected by Monoma causing an explosion and then blocked by Monoma hardening his skin. No, he doesn’t have multiple powers. That’d make him a Noumu. Monoma’s Quirk, Copy, lets him mimic the power of whomever he touches for five minutes but he can only hold one at a time. Seeing this kid show off his powers and mocking him non-stop fills Bakugo with greater seething rage. Bakugo vows to be the undisputed champion, and to do it he’ll start by taking all of Monoma’s headbands.

The first clash is always memorable.

Izuku’s team has been staying out of Todoroki’s reach. They’ve stayed to his left side. Why? It effectively neutralizes Todoroki as a threat, as he can only generate ice from his right side, and he actively refuses to use his fire empowered left side during a fight. And, because Kaminari has fired off several high-powered bolts already, he’s in danger of overloading and frying his brain for a while. So, their attack power on that side is virtually nonexistent. Iida then shows off his newest trick, recipro-burst. This high-speed technique lets him run at blinding speeds but causes the engines in his legs to stall out. It’s enough of a speed boost, however, for Todoroki to nab Izuku’s headband. Knowing that they’re probably screwed, Tokoyami suggest they go after someone else to earn points, but Izuku knows that by this point the headbands are mixed around too much to know who has what. Their only option to pass is Todoroki. They charge him, Izuku even using an OFA enhanced swing to grab. Todoroki, seemingly on instinct, flares up with his left side to protect himself.

Bakugo, meanwhile, savagely throws himself at Monoma. Despite the opponent’s skills at swapping out powers with his team for best defense, Bakugo is able to overpower them and nab two of headbands. Refusing to let Monoma have even one point, Team Bakugo charges, using the whole groups combined skill to over power Monoma’s team and get the rest of the headbands back. All Might, observing with the teachers notes that this is an important lesson for all the students, that there’s a big difference between those who strive for the top and those who settle for being in the middle. If there’s one thing Bakugo is good at, it’s striving.

Considering how the rest of the team is looking, something
wonky just happened.

Izuku is able to knock Todoroki’s hand aside with his OFA swipe and gets one of the headbands. Unfortunately, it’s only worth 70 points. Turns out Todoroki thought ahead and mixed the 10 Million points band up with several others they’d captured during the chase and wrapped the lowest point value on they hand on Todoroki’s head. Clever SOBs. Izuku’s team rushes them again, with Bakugo flying in while shouting “Damn you ICY-HOT!” he can’t even remember Todoroki’s name, apparently. The buzzer goes off before they can clash again. The top three teams end up being Todoroki, Bakugo, and that creepy GC student Shinzo. Izuku is depressed that the team won’t progress to the final round, until Tokoyami shows him what Dark Shadow had grabbed. It had also nabbed a headband, not the 10 Million one, obviously, but the 615 points one they did get plus Izuku’s seventy earns them the fourth and final team spot. Hooray.

Wow, Izuku might actually have a Quirk. Firehose tears.

Afterwards, Todoroki is legitimately angry with himself for using his fire power during a fight, even for a moment. Everyone else is excited, either for themselves or their friends for moving onwards. We also learn that Team Mineta lost the headband to another student using her tentacle like vine-hair to nab it while everyone looked away. Fun. Despite the upbeat vibe of the room, Izuku gets called out by a deadpan Todoroki so they can have a private chat. At the same time, Todoroki’s father, the Hero Endeavor, is called out by Izuku’s mentor, All Might. This should be interesting. Oh, and we get an after-credit scene of Mrs. Midoriya sobbing tears of joy at seeing her baby boy make it to the finals. Goodness gracious, I love her overreactions.

I truly believe that one day, Izuku Midoriya WON’T be forced into a corner and have to struggle to survive. But it is not this day. Although, while Izuku was constantly on the ropes with this one, seeing his team having to face off against some of the best members of his class does suggest that Izuku is excelling at UA. Probably the most important moment of the episode is when Izuku makes for Todoroki’s headbands for a second time, when he used OFA to enhance his arm and forced Todoroki to throw up a flame defense to try and hold him off. This represents the second time that Izuku’s been able to use his powers without injuring himself. And, technically, the first time he’s used it on a non-life-threatening enemy. It’s a small moment, but proof enough that the time he’d used OFA on that Noumu without hurting himself wasn’t a fluke. It’s also an important moment for Todoroki. I’ll go into greater detail next time, but, Todoroki vowed to never use his fire powers in a fight and he has very good reasons to stick with it. That being said, him using those powers at all, regardless of situation, he feels like he’s betrayed that goal. Seeing how he reacts after this is pretty damn important. And Bakugo’s little life lesson was an important one too. As All Might pointed out, there is a world of difference between settling for mediocrity and striving to be the best. Bakugo, despite his numerous flaws, embodies that idea in it’s entirety. He won’t settle for being just okay or in the middle. He fights all the harder because he NEEDS to be the best. That’s something that Monoma in particular should probably learn if he wants to keep going. Next time, we learn a little bit about Todoroki’s familial troubles. If I could summarize it, I’d say that Shoto Todoroki has no chance of being normal.

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 17

To quote a song by Woodkid, Izuku, "Run boy run, their trying to catch you."

That’s right, I was able to crank out four of these this month. I was promoted not too long ago to a full-time Letter Carrier, and part of that package includes a schedule that allows me to have a three-day weekend about once every five weeks. It’s one of the better perks. And it does help that I’m summarizing not only a show I love but one that is less then an hour long. I can crank out so much more content that way. Enough preamble, forward march.

Last time on My Hero Academia, young Izuku Midoriya was able to pull out a win by blasting himself ahead of the competition. Which was good. Only to find out that in the next match his headband, that everyone is going to try and steal, is worth at minimum 10 million points because he won. Which is less good… Let’s get to it, shall we.

Obviously, Izuku is in a bit of a panic now that he knows literally everyone is going to be going after him in the cavalry battle. He’s never been good at being the center of attention and knowing that all of the 10-11 teams that will be forming are going to be after him is probably not helping the stress. Nor is the fifteen-minute time limit to form teams. I think the Universe is out to get Young Midoriya. Despite this, he does shake himself out of his panic and tries to formulate a plan.

I-I think he's honestly uncomfortable with this much attention.

Meanwhile, about half of his classmates are trying to convince Bakugo to work with them. And this is when we learn just how oblivious Bakugo is, as he needs everyone to remind them what their Quirks are… and their names. Yeah, he’s not good at the whole interpersonal stuff. Even Kirishima needs to remind Bakugo what his name is, and he’s like Bakugo’s only friend. As Bakugo picks out his team, and other classmates start forming teams, panic returns for Izuku. Realizing your friends don’t want to risk working with you because of how many points you’re worth must really suck. Thankfully, he does get a few offers, like when Uraraka offers to team up with him without being prompted. He asks Iida to join him too, as his speedy friend would be perfect as one of the base guys. Iida thanks Izuku for asking but admits that he’s going to work with Todoroki. Why? Because while Izuku is definitely his friend, he’s also his rival, and Iida, like Bakugo and Todoroki, wants to see how he stacks up next to Izuku. Which is beautiful. But it really really really messes up Izuku’s strategy. Thankfully, he gets another offer of support. From Mae Hatsume, she’s the crazy tech gal from last time. Her thought was, because all eyes will be on Izuku during this next match, helping him would be the best way to show off all her tech to prospective buyers. Basically, she wants to use him, and Izuku is in no position to turn her down. When he sees she’s got a jetpack as well as the hover boots and hooks, the two start geeking out about the heroes she’d based her designs on. Uraraka is a little… miffed that Izuku and this new girl get along so well, but she doesn’t say anything. How odd. Izuku picks a mysterious guy who’s face remains hidden until the start of the match as their fourth.

Turns out he went with Fumikage Tokoyami (creates a monster he calls his Dark Shadow from his body). Makes sense why they didn’t even show his profile then. Tokoyami’s big, crow shaped head is kind of hard to mistaken for anyone else. The formation by in large is one student out front as the ‘head’ and two other students forming the back to support the rider. In Izuku’s case it’s him atop, with Tokoyami as the head and Uraraka and Hatsume as the back. Todoroki’s team has himself as rider, Iida as the head, and Denki Kaminari (shoots electricity) and Momo Yaoyorozu (can create stuff out of her body) as the back. And Bakugo settled on himself as the rider, Kirishima as the head, and Hanta Sero (fires tape from his elbows ala-Spider-Man) and Mina Ashido (generates acid and has pink skin and horns) as the back. There are other teams, but these are the ones that matter in context of this review. Ready? FIGHT!

I think it says something when the guy with a Bird's head
ISN'T the oddest member of the team. I'm looking at you
goggle wearing Hatsume.

As expected, literally everyone rushes Izuku at once. Thankfully, he had a plan for that. Their strategy is rather simple, RUN AWAY! They use Uraraka’s powers to make the group lighter, Hatsume’s jetboots and jetpack to maneuver in the air, and Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow to cover their blind spots. The creature itself can operate independently from Tokoyami, FYI. The plan works for a few minutes but is ultimately ruined by that little perv Mineta. The little creep formed a team with the hulking, multi-armed Mezo Shoji forming his entire bases. Shoji’s six webbed arms form a protective barrier around Mineta, who can throw his sticky balls to trap others, and Sue, who uses her prehensile tongue to grab at headbands. Team Izuku does escape, but one of Hatsume’s jet boots is ruined. While they’re still in the air, Bakugo launches himself at them. He gets slapped out of the way by Dark Shadow but is saved from falling by Sero’s tape. Sero really is Spider-Man, with the way he fires that stuff.

Shockingly, in the seven minutes since the game began, only Izuku and Todoroki of the 1-A students have any points left. Even Bakugo gets his headband nabbed. The nabber in question, a 1-B HC named Neito Monoma, decides to monologue and reveals that 1-B came up with a strategy early on. Their plan was to all stay towards middle of the pack in the first round to fully examine the quirks of the 1-A students. He mocks Bakugo, because he’s flipping stupid, and Bakugo vows to take out all of the 1-B students as payback. Izuku over hears that conversation and thinks for a second that they might have some breathing room. Then his team crosses paths with Todoroki. Well, crap.

Ooookkkaaaayyyy I think for everyone's safety, we should all
back away slowly.

Once again we have an episode that seems to want to highlight as many characters as possible along side Izuku Midoriya. Which makes sense, I remember reading in the end notes of a chapter that Horikoshi Kouhei honestly loves all of his characters and was actually upset that he waited so long as he did to give most of them a time to shine. This is good, in that we get a wide cast of characters to keep things fresh and to ensure that there’s someone for everyone to root for. But kind of sucky for a guy like me who is trying to summarize all this stuff and has to think if I’ve mentioned one of twenty or thirty characters recently enough that I don’t have to mention their powers again. But that’s my issue, not yours. We get to see how Izuku, Todoroki, and Bakugo function in a leadership role. Each formulates a unique strategy to bring out their full strength and cover up their weaknesses. Izuku forms a flexible team that excels in mobility and defense, Todoroki makes a flexible team that focus on mobility and offense, and Bakugo forms a team that focuses on him. And I don’t mean that as an insult. Well, not completely. Kirishima up front, who can harden his body to protect himself, lets Bakugo go all out with his attacks with no fear of hurting anyone. Sero allows Bakugo to fly around using his explosions without fear of being knocked out of the sky. And Mina ensures mobility of the group as her acid breaks down just about anything in minutes. Yeah, the skills highlight him, but he’s really exceptional at doing this sort of fighting, so it’s not really a bad idea to focus the group’s talents around him. This Monama kid must have a death wish, mocking Bakugo. There’s poking the bear, and then there’s poking the dragon. See, it’s worse because while both have the option of tearing you to pieces, the dragon also has the option of incinerating you. Which Bakugo will do… with glee. Just saying Next time, we get to see Izuku and Todoroki face off for the first, but by far the last time. It’s going to be good. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 16

Robots and gorges and mines, oh my!

Last time on My Hero Academia, the Sports Festival started off with a bang as fledgling heroes were given their first event, an obstacle course race around the stadium. Their first obstacle was in fact a reappearance of the first obstacle the Hero Course students had to go up against to get in, the Robot drones and several Godzilla sized Yaruki models. Temperature manipulating HC student Shoto Todoroki flash froze the lot of then and ran out ahead as the robots toppled over and our protagonist Izuku Midoriya watched in shock. Well, crap.

Kirishima cries manly tears upon meeting his destined rival
Manly tears.

As it turns out, most of the students were far enough away or smart enough to avoid the one Yaruki robot drop to the ground… but a pair weren’t. Thankfully, one was HC student Kirishima, a young man who can harden his skin into a stone-like form, and the other was Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, a young man that can harden his skin into a steel-like form. … Instant rivalry! The majority of students, after the shock wore off, start running across the field. Some, like Bakugo, use their powers to fly or leap over the vast majority of them, others like Izuku and Iida just run like hell through it, and some like Yaoyorozu use their powers to smash the robots to clear a path. Hey, whatever strategy works. Izuku, knowing that using his powers would be… problematic for him, grabs some scrap metal from one of the bots to use as a shield or club as the situation dictates.

After running for a bit, the next obstacle comes into view, a colossal gorge with several ropes attached to both sides being the only means to get across. This test is made for a student like Tsuyu “Sue” Asui, who’s frog like adhesion makes holding onto the rope a breeze. A pink haired Support Course (SC) student uses her tech ‘babies’ to cross. Said ‘babies’ are a pair of hover boots and a set of grappling hooks. Other students like Bakugo must have once again used their powers to just jump the damn thing. Todoroki was able to freeze the rope he was on and slide across at high speed. Izuku elects to just cross normally, though with the added weight of his scarp metal shield tied to his back.

Lesson: It's... unhealthy to get between Izuku Midoriya and what
he honestly wants.

The final obstacle is a minefield. Literally. They explain that these mines are some kind of special tech that make a loud boom and concussive force to throw students around… but I have to imagine the students still had to sign a waiver to do this test. Bakugo actually is able to pull ahead, using his explosions to fly over the mines. He and Todoroki start fighting while running to keep first place. Guys like Iida simply try to out run the detonation. Izuku comes up with a… unique strategy.

Izuku's choice in career might just end up killing his poor
mother.

Using the shield as a shovel, he digs up several mines and places them in a big clump. Using the scrap metal as both a shield and surfboard he drops onto the mines. The force propels him into the air, soaring over the competition. While his plan worked, he didn’t think it completely through and has no idea how he’s going to land. Bakugo and Todoroki forget fighting each other and chase after Izuku. Bakugo keeps explosion-flying. Todoroki elects to freeze the ground above the mines, allowing him to skate over the explosives. Not sure if that’s how that works, but we’ll roll with it. Todoroki hadn’t frozen the ground initially because he didn’t want to leave a path for others to use. The two almost surpass Izuku, but he’s able to slam the shield into the ground again for another bust, knocking Bakugo and Todoroki aside with the shockwave. After landing hard again, Izuku gets up and has just enough a lead on the others he can finishes in first place. Todoroki and Bakugo take second and third respectively. At home, Mrs. Midoriya looks like she’s having a tear-soaked stroke. I only bring it up because her reactions this episode are hilarious.

Once the dust settles, it’s revealed that 42 students were able to pass onto the next round. I won’t bother listing them, but most of Izuku’s class make the cut, along with the creepy General Studies student Hitoshi, and the SC student with her Babies. The next game is a cavalry battle. Think that pool game “Chicken” but with multiple people severing to hold up the ‘rider.’ The point is to rip off a headband off of the rider, which earns the holder points. Headbands can be taken multiple times and the game isn’t over until the time runs out. The points are distributed based off of who finished when, and the teams total is what’s up for grabs. The last guy to make it to the finish line has 5, the next guy has 10, and so on up to #2. All except #1… his headband is worth 10 Million points. Goodness, Izuku just can’t catch a break.

That moment when you realize literally everyone is out to
get you.

This episode ended up being a nice show case of powers for most of the side characters. Guys like Bakugo and Iida, who’s abilities are really helpful in a race, got to shine while Izuku struggled along towards the back. Being the one student who really couldn’t rely on his powers at all to give him an edge, this made things incredibly difficult for Izuku to manage. Which really made it all the sweeter when he pulled it out of the bag with a come from behind win. Smashing the mines was a unique, almost insane gambit, but it seemed to have worked out in the end. That is until the point totals came out. I swear, it’s like Horikoshi Kouhei (author) is sadistically torture his protagonist. But hey, Izuku’s been struggling so long I imagine he’d be more freaked out if he ever had an easy win. It’s also nice to see that things are progressing more or less like All Might thought, with Izuku grabbing a lot of attention. Sure, it’s from guys like Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mt. Lady, all of whom were present for that slime villain thing in ep 2, and Tomura Shigaraki the faceman of the League of Villains, but hey, it’s still good exposure. Circling back to the other characters, I liked the rivalry that seems to be forming between Izuku and Todoroki, and between Todoroki and Bakugo. Todoroki seems to understand that despite Izuku’s own protests, that his classmate is going to be a major contender someday. Izuku might call it overestimating him, but I’d say it’s more like Todoroki understands Izuku better then he does. As to the Bakugo v Todoroki side of the equation, Bakugo seems furious (shocking) that Todoroki sees Deku of all people as a legit rival. Again, Izuku getting attention pisses off Bakugo, absolutely shocking. This is building up to something big, so keep watching.

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 15

They say competition is healthy. The Giant Robots make me disagree.

For those who may have missed last post, Izuku Midoriya, hero in training is about to compete in his school’s Sports Festival. This, as stated by his mentor All Might, is his chance to debut in the eyes of the public and announce “I am Here!” Who’s ready for a Tournament Arc?

We pick up immediately where we left off last time, with Izuku and All Might discussing the plan for the Festival. We get a little exposition on how this all breaks down. Basically, all of UA’s classes are broken down by year, and in each year the different courses are mixed together to compete in three events to showcase their abilities. Bet you didn’t realize there were more than just the Hero Course at UA, didn’t you? Actually, there are four courses. 1. The Hero Course where students are given the training needed to be professional heroes. 2. The Support Course where students learn to build equipment to help heroes. 3. The General Studies Course where students get a quality education to equip them to enroll in just about any college. And 4. The Business Course where students learn how to market heroes and support gear for maximum profit. Izuku is unsure about his chances of making a good showing, but All Might continues to encourage him to give it his all.

We're all extras in Bakugo's Hero Academia.

Later on, Class 1-A is getting mobbed by the other first year students. Why? Everyone wants to get a look at the student’s that faced off against real villains, and to scope out the competition for the festival. Bakugo makes the whole situation worse by calling the assembled masses “Extras.” Someone really needs to pop this kid’s ego. One student in particular, the creepy looking, blue haired Hitoshi Shinso announces that he’s aiming for a spot in the Hero Course. See, it’s a rule that IF a student in one of the other Courses does exceptionally well and a Hero Course student does poorly, it’s possible for the non-Hero Course student to bump the Hero Course student from the program and take their spot. That’s why the General Studies kids participate, got it? Bakugo basically tells all the on lookers to screw off and walks off.

After his exit, Izuku remembers Bakugo’s promise after their fight last season that he’ll never lose to Izuku again. It triggers a cascade of memories of all of his friends and mentors resolving to be the best, either in a fight or in their career overall. This encourages Izuku to double down on his training during the two weeks wait for the Sport’s festival. Him and all of his classmates as well. We get to see a quick montage of what everyone is spending their off time doing before jumping into the tourney day itself.

Hitoshi Shinso is unimpressed with Bakugo. Wow, first time for
everything.

Day of, Izuku heads out to participate in the festival. Just Izuku, apparently either no one invited his mother to go, or she elected to stay home and watch it on TV. If A. jerks, if B. What’s wrong with you Mrs. M? Regardless, Izuku makes it to the tournament stadium and waits for the event to start with his classmates. Before things begin, however, Shoto Todoroki approaches Izuku. The heterochromatic young man is there to issue a challenge to Izuku. He knows that he has the superior power, but, Izuku has All Might backing him, so he must have some tricks up his sleeve. Regardless, he’s there to win and he’ll step on Izuku to get there. Izuku isn’t backing down either and vows to defeat Todoroki. And Bakugo is hyper pissed that he’s not being included in the declarations of war. Before he can start blasting things, however, the students are summoned to the field.

MCing this event is the R-Rated Hero, Midnight…

Who put her in charge of the Freshmen tourney? Who thought the R-Rated hero was the best person for this role? Anyone going to fess up?

Whatever, she’s the MC and she calls up the #1 ranked Hero Course student to say a few words. Bakugo, yep he’s the best, comes up and just has one quick sentence, “I’m just going to say, I’m going to win.” Short, spicy and two the point. That’s Bakugo for you. Izuku does note that his childhood frenemy didn’t cackle manically when saying that, leading him to believe that this is the most serious Bakugo has ever been.

Okay, was Mr. Nezu drunk when he thought Midnight
would be the best MC for the FRESHMEN tournament.
Seems like poor planning.

The first event is an Obstacle Race Course. They just have to run around the stadium once, dodging the various traps and obstacles set up to win. They can do whatever they want so long a they don’t leave the track. Ready, steady, GO! The exit to the race course is too narrow for everyone to force their way through, so it’s a free-for-all of powers to get into open ground. Todoroki freezes the ground and skates by, and guys with various high jumping or flight abilities pull out ahead. The gross little twerp Mineta of all people actually pulls out ahead, but is slapped back to earth by one of the entrance exam robots. And the lesser robots brought some friends. Seven Zero-Pointer Yaruki model. Momo Yaoyorozu, class VP, rich girl, and creation hero, asks what I’ve been saying for months, how does the school afford these things!

Todoroki, in an effort to show off his power, flash freezes the ground and the Yaruki robots. He sprints ahead, smiling a little to himself as the robot’s he intentionally froze off balance topple, allowing him to get a firm lead on everyone else. While obviously scared, and probably hearing his mother shouting to run away from home in his head, Izuku preps to take on the robots himself.

This was mostly a build up episode. It exists to set the stage for the event to come, and to remind us how determined Izuku can be when he puts his mind to a task. Remember him doing a victory yell upon the trash he hauled last season? That’s the feeling he’s aiming for again, but instead of a private victory like the beach cleanup, he’s aiming for the top spot. It’s also kind of a good reintroduction to the character of Shoto Todoroki. For those who don’t remember, he’s one of only a handful of students that got into UA based on a recommendation. He’s shown to be one of the most powerful students, having aced the mock hero battle session in season one in under a minute, and taken care of an entire battalion of villains personally during the USJ attack. And that’s just using the Ice half of his powers. It’s official designation of his Quirk is Half-Hot/Half-Cold. As that silly name might imply, he has the ability to generate extreme temperatures. His right side can create frigged cold and manipulate ice, while his left lets him rapidly heats the air and create massive fire blasts. He’s been largely a background character up to this point, but he’s going to take a more prominent role from this point onward. As if him personally stopping a Yaruki Robot single handedly wasn’t proof enough, am I right? The first trial has begun, but young Midoriya already has some catching up to do. Don’t worry, it’ll be an explosive finish.

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 14

Who's ready to get back in the swing of things?

I’ve been pondering what I wanted to do next for a while now. Ant-Man and The Wasp will be up soon, still need to see the dang thing, but aside from that I never set my mind on what series I wanted to cover next. I’m feeling a little burnt out from the Marvel TV shows, so I didn’t want to jump right into Jessica Jones. Not to say that JJ or The Punisher aren’t good, they’re just… emotionally draining. At least in my experience. So I decided to do a few episodes of a show that seems to always lift my mood, My Hero Academia. Not going to do the entirety of season two, in case me talking about Anime makes you grind your teeth, I’ll just do a couple of episodes to get back in the groove, at most the first story arc. Let’s get to it.

Since the last time I spoke about My Hero Academia, this little Anime has been picked up by Adult Swim on Cartoon Network for its weekly Toonami block, and I believe most of the episodes are on Hulu too. Just thought I should mention that for those curious about it, but don’t want to pay Funimation for another streaming service.

What has to happen to a person for a meeting that involves
a gasmask wearing cowboy and a talking rodent to seem normal?

Quick recap, this world takes place in a near future where Superheroes are common place and about 80% of people have superpowers to one degree or another. Despite being initially Quirkless (Quirk being the show’s short hand for superpowers) Izuku Midoriya dreamed of becoming a hero. After meeting his idol, the Symbol of Peace: All Might, and foolishly running in to save his childhood friend/bully Katsuki Bakugo from a slime villain, Izuku impressed All Might enough that the titanic hero offered the young man the chance to be his successor. Using a hidden aspect of his power, One For All, (OFA) All Might transferred his powers to Izuku and agreed to help train him. Izuku is now studying at UA High, Japan’s foremost hero school and All Might’s Alma Mater. He’s got a rough road ahead, as he still needs to learn how to use OFA’s immense power without breaking every bone in his body. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

When we last left off with Izuku and company, they’d just fended off an attack by a group called the League of Villains on UA High. The baddies had attacked the School’s secluded Rescue training facility, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (USJ), in a bid to kill All Might. A combined effort of the various students, teachers, and the timely arrival of All Might stopped the baddies, but the groups ringleaders escaped. Thankfully, they didn’t escape unscathed, as the apparent big boss Shigaraki received some serious GSW’s before his minion Kurogiri could warp them away.

The episode proper opens with All Might’s former mentor reading a letter the big guy sent. He just summarizes what’s happened last season, getting a job as a teacher, finding his successor, that sort of thing. His teacher, a fella named Grand Torino, is impressed at that his former student has come so far. Oh, and we learn that All Might’s legal name is Toshinori Yagi. Yeah, I thought it was going to be something like John Smith or Brian Cranston too. What? The guy’s a seven-foot-tall blonde guy whose attacks are all “U. S. State” Smash. It feels counterintuitive he’s as Japanese as Super Sentai. (That’s the show Power Rangers takes the costumes and fighting footage from.)

The Teachers have a meeting with police, chiefly Detective Naomasa, a friend of All Might’s. They reveal that, aside from the massive monster Noumu, the rest of the captured villains were all small-time thugs, not an elite fighting force by any stretch of the imagination. All Might also points out that things felt off about Shigaraki, the group’s apparent leader. The dude seemed to have a tenuous hold on Reality at best, constantly whining and referring to this situation like it was a computer game. Not the sort to inspire loyalty in others, now is it? Principle Nezu (a super smart weasel/dog-thing) believes that, much like their own students, someone must be guiding Shigaraki. The thought is disturbing, to say the least.

Back with our protagonist, Izuku is spending his unexpected day off watching All Might’s old YouTube video. The one where he bursts onto the scene, cackling like a mad man as he save’s people from an unexplained accident. Izuku is sulking a little about not being much help during the fight. I say, Kid, when you’ve already broken bones saving yourself and two others from a watery grave, you’ve done enough for the day. But Izuku doesn’t see it that way and resolves to redouble his efforts. His mother is clearly uncomfortable with all of this but stays silent (yay, Foreshadowing).

The next day, most of Izuku’s fellow students are riding high about the previous day’s attack. Nearly all of them had either saw their teachers throw down with the baddies, and/or had a success or two fighting off several cronies, so yeah, they deserve that high feeling. They’re all shocked when their homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa aka Eraser Head, arrives to start the day. Keep in mind he’d hand the skin and muscle of his arms disintegrated, bones broken, skull pounded into the concrete and all in all had a major excuse to take a few days off. But, steadfast Aizawa isn’t going to let a little thing like extreme physical trauma and nearly dying stop him from being a teacher. He’d gotten the max amount of accelerated healing from the school nurse, Recovery Girl, and is suffering though the day wrapped in bandages like the Mummy. Points for dedication, Aizawa.

Probably best to not pick a fight with her this arc...

He informs the students that, despite what happened, they need to prep for their next great challenge… the school sports festival. Chill, it’s much more interesting then it sounds. See, in a world where your average person can do things like be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful then a locomotive, and leap tall buildings in a single bound, (see what I did there?) traditional sporting event’s like the Olympics have kind of lost their luster. Instead, events like a Hero School’s sports day have turned into a big budget spectacle, since it shows young heroes-in-training over coming insane obstacles and gives folks a peak at what future heroes will be like. Hey, it makes more sense than the whole world being obsessed with a children’s card game being played on motorcycles. Yes, that is a thing, look up Yugioh 5D’s if you don’t believe me. As for the students, it’s a chance to make their first public appearance, to show off what they can do to the people at large and to impress current heroes that they may want to train under.

Shockingly, the student most pumped up about it isn’t violent, attention seeking Bakugo, but Ochako Uraraka. Yeah, Izuku’s best female friend, the bubbly Uraraka is surrounded by an intense aura forcing the entire class to chant “We’re going to do our best!” Curious about her sudden drive, Izuku asks why she wants to be a hero. For her, it’s all about the money… Okay not really. See, Uraraka’s parents own a construction company that’s been struggling for the last… fifteen years. Yes, that is how old she is. As a child, she had the bright idea to use her anti-gravity powers to help with the work, so her parents could save on things like the heavy machinery that such work demands. Her parents, however, encouraged her to chase her own dreams and, if she finds something she loves and makes a little money doing, she can take them on vacation to show her support. So yeah, she wants to put on a good showing at the Sports Festival to hopefully put herself on the fast track to being a hero. The girl has got the right priorities.

All Might rushes in. Why? To ask Izuku if he wants to eat lunch together. Uraraka and Izuku’s other best friend Tenya Iida speculate that All Might must have shown an interest in Izuku because of the oddly convenient similarities in their abilities. Another student, Shoto Todoroki makes a mental note about this. More foreshadowing!

Over tea, All Might explains to Izuku about his plans for the Sports Festival. He wants this to be Izuku’s big debut, his chance to shout to the world “I AM HERE!” Izuku is optimistic, as he had had some recent successes not breaking bones during the fight with Noumu. All Might does his best to encourage his pupil, knowing that the young Midoriya will have to take the mantle of Symbol of Peace from him… probably sooner then they’d like.

Overall, a good start to the season. It summarized the events of last season and sets up the next major story arc. I’m completely up to date on the Anime as well as the Manga, so I can say that this Sports Festival Arc is the start of a trend with My Hero Academia. The pattern they seem to go with is a major consequence arc followed by a minor consequence. Or to put it another way, they’ll go from a situation where death is possible to one where only serious injury is possible. Follow me? It’ll make more sense as we go along. And don’t think because the stakes aren't quite as high as fighting for their lives in mock-disaster simulators that things will be dull, as there is a fight in this arc that was on a lot of 10 fights of 2017 lists. Just saying. I liked the reveal of Uraraka’s background, and her desire to be a hero to support her parents. A lot of times it seems like the secondary characters and/or love interest have to go a lot longer before we get more reason for motivation besides “we’re friends” with the protagonist. And, let’s be real, the desire to support one’s parents is a motivation I think most of us can get behind. It’s also cool that All Might already has plans for Izuku to start showing off. He has such faith in this kid that he truly believes that Izuku is ready to show the world what he’s capable of. Pretty good for a kid who’s only had his powers for a few weeks. And still breaks his bones with every use. 

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