Last time on My Hero Academia Izuku
and Bakugo faced off against All Might. The frenemies initially butted heads
over every possible means of tackling the exam, but were able to compromise and
escape All Might. They both passed, but were laid up in bed afterwards for several
hours. They both still consider it a win. In the last few moments of the
episode, Shigaraki is introduced to two new potential recruits to the League of
Villains. Let’s get to it.
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| Kurogiri deserves a raise after a save like that. |
Shigaraki is immediately dismissive
of the prospective new recruits to the League, ordering Kurogiri to get rid of
them. The mass of darkness advises his master to at least hear Giran out. The
dude is a respected arms dealer, so that holds some wait for Kurogiri. Giran introduces
the two. The dirty looking school girl is Himiko Toga. She’s a fifteen-year-old
high school drop out that’s the lead suspect of several murders where the
victims were drained of blood. Well, that’s ghoulish. The big guy that looks
like he listens to a lot of death metal goes by Dabi. He hasn’t done much,
criminally speaking, but is a big fan of Stain. Both were “inspired” by Stain
and want to join the group that the news media believes he’s affiliated with.
Hearing Stain’s name multiple times sets Shigaraki off and he tries to murder
them both. They try to retaliate, and everyone is only stopped from killing by
Kurogiri opening multiple wormholes to keep them from each other. He again
counsels that Shigaraki be open to using Stain’s agenda to boost their ranks,
but the hand-covered man says screw it and storms off.
Meanwhile, the failing students are
freaking out about missing the summer trip. Izuku and others try to cheer them
up, but it seems to only depress the four for sure failed students even more. Before
the moping gets too bad, Aizawa comes in and lets them know that while indeed
five students failed (Two teams and Sero) they’ll all still be going on the
trip. Yeah! Because it’s not actually a fun trip, but a high intensity week
long training program! Less yeah. And the failing students will be given extra
work to ensure they catch up to the other students. Now you’re just rubbing
salt in wounds Aizawa.
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| It's a good group... plus Mineta. |
The students are pumped about the trip,
and the majority of the class agree to meet at a local mall the next day to get
supplies. They make it to the mall and spirits are high. After meeting they all
split into groups to find similar items, leaving only Izuku and Uraraka. While
the two still get along fabulously, Uraraka’s mind drifts back to what Aoyama
asked about her having a (SUPER OBVIOUS) crush on Izuku, freaks out and runs
off on her own. Izuku is clearly disappointed that she left, but isn’t given
too much time to think about it before a local fan comes up and starts talking
to him. It’s not until the guy grabs Izuku’s throat and starts muttering about
the USJ attack that he realizes that it’s Shigaraki. Oh damn, Uraraka’s boy friend
may die because she didn’t want to admit she might want him as a boyfriend. That
blows.
We jump back a few minutes to when
Shigaraki walked into the mall. It’s mostly him thinking murderous thoughts toward
the masses, and wondering why Stain is still such a big deal while the League
of Villains is a foot note at best. It’s at that moment he spots his opposite
number, Izuku.
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| A creepy stranger acting chummy with a teenager? What could possibly go wrong? |
Shigaraki is holding Izuku hostage.
He’s got four fingers on the boy’s throat, and threatens to add the fifth (triggering
his disintegration power) if Izuku draws attention to them. It’s less this threat,
and more the second threat that if Izuku forces Shigaraki to kill him, the
psychopath will go on a killing spree and see how many bystanders he can take
with them before the heroes arrive. They take a seat in the middle of the mall,
and in a tense but bizarre scene, Shigaraki seems to ask Izuku for advice. He
still doesn’t seem to understand why Stain is thought of better than him,
especially when you get to the core of their arguments, both men are just
killing things that they don’t like. Izuku admits while he clearly hates both
of them, he does understand Stain more. Of the two options, Stain is truly committed
to his doctrine of purging the hero system. And he was willing to keep fighting
for it even when it was clear he’d be captured, as opposed to Shigaraki who had
been willing to bail on the USJ attack the moment things didn’t go how he
wanted. That seems to make something Click in Shigaraki’s mind. He figures out
that the reason that he hates both Stain and Izuku is because they’re both
influenced by All Might. It all goes back to the hero he hates most. He personally
resolves to use Stain’s ideology to make his dreams a reality.
Uraraka then walks up, having psyched
herself back up after fleeing earlier. She catches on pretty quick that Izuku
is being held against his will, but before things could escalate, Shigaraki
lets him go and quickly departs. Izuku asks him what All For One is planning,
but that white haired young man just shrugs. Apparently, his boss isn’t one to
share too many of his plans. He does tells Izuku that he should be careful, as
the next time they’ll meet, Shigaraki plans to kill him.
After that, Izuku and Uraraka warn
the police as to what happened. Izuku is interviewed by All Might’s friend
Detective Tsukauchi. The detective applauds
Izuku’s actions while being held by Stain. They meet All Might as soon as the
interview wraps up. The Symbol of Peace is relieved his protégée is alright and
is sorry that he couldn’t have protected Izuku. Before they can get too deep in
conversation, Izuku’s mom is brought in to see him. Inko Midoriya is clearly
distraught after hearing that her son almost died AGAIN (this is like the fourth
time in as many months) and tells him that she’s just about at her wits end. Izuku
does his best to comfort her as they’re taken back home. Left alone, All Might
and Tsukauchi agree that this time they need to take All For One out for good.
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| Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that's a Murder Face. |
The credits roll over the students
getting an end of term speech by Mr. Nezu, and prepping for their week long
outing. In the last few minutes, we’re shown All For One in his base of operations.
He tells his doctor that he’s pleased that Shigaraki is finally stepping up,
and that he plans on letting the boy have greater reign on their plans for the foreseeable.
He claims he’s going to turn Shigaraki into the next Him. We close on vats
worth of Nomu being processed. And that’s how they ended season 2.
So, I really liked this episode and
season. We got a lot of hints at what will be coming next for Izuku and his
classmates. Shigaraki has finally accepted that if we wants to get any traction
on his destroy All Might plan, that he’ll need to get people to follow him with
as much loyalty as Stain inspired in others. Toga and Dabi are just the first
of his second generation of the League of Villains. It’s only hinted at here, but
both young people are incredibly dangerous and more than a little unhinged. I
especially liked that combination of burns and piercings on Dabi. They just
make him look so damn scary. I think it’s clear that while the kids believe
that this training camp will be fruitful, unusual training camp, the villains
perspective makes it clear that it won’t be an easy outing. I also liked that
little bit with Mrs. Midoriya. They’ve been subtle with her this season, but we’ve
seen several examples of the kind and easily startled mother of one becoming
more and more terrified by her son’s choice of career. This’ll be coming to a
head soon, I promise.
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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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