Last time on My Hero Academia, our
young heroes went out to begin their summer training camp. After meeting some
of their special instructors, Mandalay and Pixie-Bob of the Wild, Wild
Pussycats, they were dropped into their training ground. They had to battle
their way through the Beast Forest to get to the actual site of their training
camp. Which they did, combining their powers and exhausting themselves over an
8 hour stretch. Izuku got a punch to the family jewels for trying to be nice to
Mandalay’s nephew (second cousin), Kota, a little boy that hates heroes. And
not without some reason, as both of his parents were heroes that were KIA two
years prior. Meanwhile, Shigaraki’s new team of Villains began to prep for
their next attack on UA. So odds are this camp will go to Hell in a handbasket
soon.
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| Yeah, now that I see the full team, I'm getting a STRONG Power Rangers Vibe. |
We open with class 1B getting up
with their homeroom teacher, Vlad King, explaining the basic premise of the
training camp, to push the kids quirks to the next level. We’re then shown some
of what the 1A students are doing to power up. Bakugo is dunking his hands in
near boiling water to build up his sweat glands and make larger explosions (not
sure if that sciences). Todoroki is sitting in a tub and rapidly freezing and
incinerating the area around him to build up his heat tolerance. Guys like
Aoyama and Sero are using their powers constantly to try and build their
endurance. And Tokoyami is training in a cave to get better control of his dark
shadow at night. Those are just some of the highlights. We’re then introduced
to the full Wild, Wild Pussycats team. There’s Mandalay and Pixie-Bob, whom
we’ve already met, as well as Ragdoll and Tiger. Two things, 1. Aside from
Tiger, all of the other Pussycat’s names are based on Cat breeds, so that’s why
they seem kind of random; and 2. While it’s not stated in the episode,
Horikoshi has revealed that the intense Tiger is in fact a trans-man, having
gone through gender reassignment at some point in the past so his body would
better match how he feels. I give props to Horikoshi for including some Trans
representation. Though if I have trans readers, I would like to know if Tiger
falls under Good representation, or Bad representation.
The Pussycats explain their quirks
to let 1B know why their group is uniquely qualified to help the students
train. Ragdoll’s, the green haired one’s, quirk is called Search, which lets
her track and understand the weaknesses of up to 100 people around her.
Pixie-Bob, the blonde in blue, has Earthflow, which lets her manipulate the
land to create the perfect training areas for each student as well as monsters
for them to fight if need be. Mandalay, the one with burgundy hair in red, is
telepathic, which will let her communicate with multiple students at once to
fine tune training. And Tiger, the very large intense man, is there to beat
them up. His words. His power is Pliabody, which lets him bend, flatten and
contort his body in a variety of ways. It also comes with enhanced strength, so
he’s in charge of training the close combat types. Like Izuku. It’s not going
super well for young Midoriya, but he’s making progress.
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| Izuku tries to bond with a small child. I hope this doesn't become a trend with him. ;) |
After training, the Pussycats
provide the students with the facility and ingredients, but true to their word
make the kids prepare their own meal. They’re at least able to use their Quirks
to speed things up. As the kids eat ravenously, Izuku notices Kota wander off
in a huff. He follows the child to his “secret base,” a cliff side cave
overlooking the mountain’s forest. He, while maintaining a safe distance from
angry tiny fists seeking his sensitive areas, offers Kota some curry, which the
kid rejects. He’s a bit of a dick to Izuku, claiming he and the others are just
using their powers to show off. Izuku, being a dumbass, asks if Kota’s parents
were the heroes using the shared name of Water Hose. He mentions having read
about their deaths a few years back, which obviously just pissed Kota off.
Izuku Midoriya, can’t read the room ever. The angry child goes so far as to
call his parents idiots that’d still be alive if they weren’t showing off.
Izuku then believes that Kota might actually have a problem with quirks in
general. He tries to relate to Kota using his own experiences as a quirkless
person, claiming he’s talking about a friend of his, and how frustrating it can
be to be normal in a world of extraordinary people, so rejecting Kota’s own
powers might not be the way to go. Kota just yells at him to leave, which Izuku
does but leaves the food. As we pull away from the shot, we’re shown a crater
covered in water, probably implying Kota hasn’t reject his powers as much as
Izuku thinks.
As the night darkens, we’re shown
the League of Villains team gathering nearby. Several of them are outfitted
with Gas masks, and most are antsy to get their operation going. Dabi, the
burned guy, is clearly in charge and tells them that they’re waiting for the
remaining members. It’s a seven-man team currently with three more on the way.
Dabi scoffs at Shigaraki’s original plan of trying to overwhelm the USJ with a
bunch of wannabes. It’s much better to use a quality team. He plans on tearing
these wannabe heroes from their pedestals. This guy seems to really hate
heroes.
The next day, the kids are back at
their training. Though Kirishima and his fellow test flunkers are even more
exhausted, as their remedial work kept them up until 2 am. Aizawa isn’t
interested in hearing their complaints, and even tells Uraraka and Aoyama to
work harder as they just barely passed their final. Izuku asks Aizawa if All
Might… and the other teachers will join them. Aizawa dashes those hopes,
pointing out as All Might was more than likely the League’s main target and
that the location of the training site was kept super hush hush, All Might and
any other teacher will have to stay away. Izuku is clearly dejected by the
answer. Pixie-Bob, sensing some unease with the students, promises that they’ll
all have fun after hours doing some kind of game. This only seems to make the
students more nervous. Izuku continues to get smacked around by Tiger.
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| This is a very, very bad group. |
The kids make dinner again, where
we learn that Bakugo is actually really good at slicing vegetables. Huh, Bakugo
has some food prepping experience, who knew? Todoroki goes over to Izuku and
asks why he was hoping All Might will show up. Izuku explains the problems he
was having motivating Kota, and had hoped All Might could succeed where he
failed. He asks Todoroki how he would have handled talking to Kota, to which he
said he’s not sure, but that he’s pretty sure actions would mean more to Kota
than words. Which obviously depressed Izuku further. He could really use
someone telling him that he can’t help everybody.
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| Dabi's not going to stop until the whole world burns. Given his scars, I think that might be ironic. |
After dinner, the students gather
to take a Test of Courage. My understanding this kind of game is somewhat
popular in Japan. Basically, the classes will take turns walking through the
spooky woods and try to get a marker with their name on it and return to start.
Meanwhile, the other class will hide and try to scare the travelers, using
their powers to make it more intense, obviously. The students are broken up into
teams of two, with Izuku being left by his lonesome. That’s what happens when
five of your classmates have extra work in a class of 20.
We’re shown Uraraka and Tsu
entering the woods, both rather nervous despite, you know, having superpowers.
A few of the 1B students, including Kendo, get together to congratulate
themselves on scaring some 1A guys. Considering their act spooked Bakugo and
Todoroki, I think they deserve that. Their revelry is interrupted by a thick
mist rolling in, which almost instantly knocks out one of them. Kendo reacts
fast, taking a deep breath of clean air as she grabs her friend in her giant
hands to keep her up and out of the mist. At the same time, Dabi starts burning
trees on another part of the mountain, mentally promising himself this is how
it begins. And Pixie-Bob is specifically attacked and knocked out by a dude
wielding a giant magnet and his creepy lizard friend. Oh dear.
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| Small Child? Mysterious cloaked figure sneaking up on him? Yeah, this does not bode well. |
Oh, and to make matters worse,
Izuku and Mandalay realize that Kota isn’t there, he’s probably at his hideout,
and we’re shown a shadowy figure is there with him. Well, this night went to
hell in a handbasket.
See you all next time.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35456060
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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