One for All finally shines against the looming darkness that is Overhaul.
Last time on My Hero Academia the
final battle against Overhaul began. The disturbed gangster was on the ropes
initially, battling Izuku and Aizawa in tandem. But, he used his power to fuse
his body with one of his subordinates ad after that was able to fend off Izuku
and Nighteye on his own, grievously wounding the pro in the process. His other
minion Kurono had separated Aizawa from the group as a bid to get more info on
power cancelling Quirks. After seeing Nighteye take a blow that cost him his
left arm and probably several feet of intestine, he charged the villain again,
realizing he was now able to use 20% of his power in short bursts. Izuku refused
to back down even when it became clear his 12% power spike wouldn’t be enough
to save them. Thankfully, Tsu and Uraraka, along with their hero mentor Ryukyu
and student mentor Nejire fell through the ceiling with their opponent,
Katsukame, and threw things out of whack. Way to go ladies! Enough recap, let’s
get to it.
You know, when I started this series, I didn't think
I'd see a pro wrestler fighting a dragon.
I'm not complaining, its just a bit of a left turn.
We flashback a few minutes to what
team Ryukyu were up to while Izuku and the gang were being beaten to hell. Turns
out, they’d defeated their opponent Katsukame relatively quickly and had just
been seeing to him getting restrained. We also see a pair of familiar looking
marbles roll through the scene, how odd… Ryukyu explained that his Quirk is
Vitality Stealing, with a touch, he can drain the life energy from others,
enhancing his body and causing him to grow in size. The group prepare to go
inside and help, but Tsu and Uraraka are only able to take a step before
dropping. Katsukame is somehow sucking the life from them without touching
them. This impossibility is explained by him, telling us that he’d gotten a hit
of power enhancing drugs from Mimic earlier and it is now just kicking in. He
breaks free of his restraints and supersizes, rushing Ryukyu, the only nearby
standing combatant. She’s able to shift to her dragon form just in time.
 |
| Like, bro, don't make this face at a seventeen year old I can't even see your face and I know it's pervy. |
Uraraka and Tsu are able to get up
and see Izuku. He tells them that they’re in trouble in the underground and
point to where they have to smash to get to them. I wonder how Izuku possibly
got there? (shrug) The four women combine their powers to get the job done. Uraraka
makes the tackled Katsukame weightless, Tsu uses her tongue and Ryukyu her
wings to move him, and Nejire blasts him hard enough to smash through the
pavement. They shout Plus Ultra as they drop.
As they drop, it is revealed that the
Izuku up top is actually Toga in disguise. I guess she used that little bit of
blood she stole from him at the training camp. She and Twice explain how they
got up there to a copy of Mr. Compress. Twice cloned their ally and had him use
his powers to turn them into marbles. He either left them with enough autonomy
to move, or all his marbles are able to move, they don’t explain. Either way,
they escaped through some pipes to the topside, and then used Toga to get the
other heroes to backup Izuku. Why? So they can send the Compress Copy down in
the confusion to steal Eri. It’s a… plan, I’ll give them that. They shove the
copy down to do just that.
Uraraka gets sup and sees the grievously
wounded Nighteye and then Izuku fighting. Everyone goes for Eri, but Overhaul
makes a shockwave of spikes, knocking everyone back and grabbing Eri. He leaps
skyward, intent on escape. Izuku leaps after them, the force of both men leaps
causing rocks to scatter about. One such rock still had Togata’s cape attached
to it. Eri and Overhaul see it, the elder being annoyed at the reminder of the
hero and Eri being… confused by it. Not confused by seeing it, but by not
getting why everyone is working so hard to save her. The six-year-old, yes, you
read that number right, is so badly beaten down she can’t comprehend all of
these people working so hard for her. As her eyes follow the cape, she
remembers Togata’s promises to protect her and that he’ll be her hero, and her
horn starts glowing.
We get a flashback to when Overhaul
was first introduced to Eri. His boss explained that Eri is his daughter’s
daughter. Eri’s mother had just abandoned her after Eri seemingly killed her
father. She didn’t mean to at all, her power just manifested one day and her
dad seemed to just vanish when he reached for her. The power is unlike any on either
side of Eri’s family, making the boss think it’s a mutation, not an inheritance.
Quick recap for you, Quirks mostly works
through genetic inheritance. We’ll use the Bakugo’s as an example. Masura
Bakugo Quirk is Acid Sweat, he sweats an acidic substance from his hands that
can combust and make small explosions. Mistuki Bakugo Quirk is Glycerin, her
sweat basically just exfoliates and moisturizes her skin. Their son, Katsuki, received
a combination of their powers, explosive sweat with additional glycerin to make
the explosions even bigger than his father could. Most quirks work like that,
with the children receiving either Quirk or a combined Quirk of their parent’s abilities.
This can have some unfortunate results, but we’ll talk about that when we get
to unfortunate tale of the eldest Todoroki, Toya. Eri is a rare but not unheard-of
option, a mutation of power that is wholly unique to her.
Eri, that's not how parachuting works!
Izuku, jump faster!
Thinking that her power might work
similarly to Chisaki’s, the boss asks the future Overhaul to look into her and
help her with her power. He investigates her power and finds that it’s only
like his in the vaguest sense, that she can erase somethings. We’re shown some
lab mice that seem to get younger and younger until they vanish. Astonished,
Chisaki begins experimenting on Eri specifically, cutting her skin and watching
her regenerate. He realized that she’s not really healing per say, but
rewinding things to before they were injured. We see this fully demonstrated as
in the present, Eri reaches for Togata’s cape and, unwittingly, using her power
to separate Overhaul and Nemoto, the latter of which falls to the earth from
the platform they’re on. Eri holds tight to the cape. She see’s Izuku reaching
up to her, trying to save her and finally starts to understand that these people
won’t stop trying to help her until she’s safe. If she wants the killing to
stop, she has to trust them and let them help her. She resolves to do so as she
leaps for Izuku.
Izuku, a few moments before, sees
her leap towards him. Some inspirational music plays as Izuku dodges around
concrete and Nemoto’s possibly dead or at the very least soon to be incredibly
broken body. He remembers failing to save Eri when they first met, and swears to
not fail her again. The grab each other and he holds her tight, her horn glowing
profusely.
Overhaul shrieks for Izuku to give Eri
back and lunges at them. As he dives at them, Izuku remembers Togata asking him
what kind of hero he wants to be. He wants to be a strong hero, one who will always
win and save people. He kicks at Overhaul to prove this point, knocking the
villain and most of the falling debris far back and launching them into the
air. The rubble clatters to the ground, conveniently missing the heroes and
partially burying Katsukame.
About a mile or so up, Izuku is shocked
that his kick sent them up so high. He assumes that he somehow did something
like All Might’s New Hampshire Smash, the force of his blow sending them up.
That is shocking because that would mean he used 100% of OFA, which should be
impossible because his legs still work. I should note that Izuku actually looks
really cool with Togata’s cape flapping behind him, as Eri holds onto it and
him.
While he’s pondering that, Uraraka
see Overhaul stand up. The villain uses his power to restore himself. He’s
furious that Eri somehow figure out how to use her power, despite him giving
her no training or information. He calls her a “naughty girl,” and arrogantly
proclaims that she belongs to him. Overhaul vaporizes Katsukame and uses his
power to start fusing them together. He says he needs Eri to accomplish his
boss’s fondest wish. I would assume the boss’s fondest wish would be that his granddaughter
got live a healthy, happy life, but what do I know. I was just raised by a loving
father who wants that for my elder sibling’s kids.
Nighteye is able to regain consciousness
while Ryukyu debated on what to do next. He tells the mighty dragon not worry
too much. His power already told him how this will play out. Izuku will
fighting Overhaul, he’ll lose, he’ll die, and Overhaul will escape with Eri. So,
no use worrying or overexerting herself. Uraraka, not being a fan of the thought
of her friend and love interest dying before they can even go on first date (I
might be projecting some thoughts onto her), wants to go save Izuku, but she’s
still exhausted from the vitality drain. Above, Izuku is falling with Eri and
doing his best to smile reassuringly at her. Nighteye remembers hearing Izuku
swear to smash the future, even if it is set in stone and comes to a decision.
He asks that Tsu get Togata, and the Uraraka and Ryukyu help him get topside.
All the while, Overhaul is reconstructing himself into something massive.
This is some Attack on Titan stuff right here.
Izuku lands safely with Eri. Everything
feels okay for a second Izuku saying his body felt hot than cold. He notes that
his injuries are all healed, which is good, but then he starts seizing up,
which is bad. Overhaul bursts upward then, in a new, super monster form, and explaining that he doesn’t know anything
about Eri’s power. He explains that she doesn’t have any control of Rewind,
beyond now being able to turn it on. Her power is so potent, he believes, that
with proper control, Eri might be able to devolve a person into a monkey. She’s
a cursed child, rewinding everything around her into nothing. Or so he says.
Izuku has an idea, though. He uses Togata’s cape to make a sling for Eri and
ties her to his back. If she’s constantly rewinding things back, he supposes, then
the solution for both her and fighting Overhaul is simple. Izuku is going to beat
that monster Overhaul with One For All, Full Cowling, 100%!! and hope that he
can keep breaking his bone and tearing his muscle fast enough that Eri has to
keep repairing those rather than de-age him back into haploid cells. That’s a
biology reference for you. No worries, then, as Izuku is the master of using his
own power to break his bones.
Overhaul, still feeling chatty,
reveals that he’s quite proud that he was able to distill Eri’s power down to
the ultimate form. That his bullets don’t just rewind flesh, they rewind cells
back to a pre-Quirk state. That’s how they stripped Togata of his power, they
rewound his cells to a pre-Quirk version. Not sure that sciences, but let’s roll
with it. He sees Eri as bringing change, at being the thing he needs to cure the
world of Quirks, and he’s not letting her get away. He lunges at Izuku, but at
100%, Izuku is easily able to dodge, get in close and kick the bastard. So
hard, in fact, he launches them into the sky. And then he shoots up after them.
On the ground, Toga is impressed,
and Twice is looking for the Compress Copy. Said copy is crushed under Ryukyu’s
claw just before she uses her wing to send a weightless Uraraka and Nighteye
skyward. She tells Uraraka to get Nighteye to an ambulance, ASAP.
Izuku has gone full Super Saiyan. If you're the villain
you should be concerned when the hero goes
full Super Saiyan.
Izuku notes that Eri’s power seems
to be getting stronger, their bodies sparking more. Overhaul meanwhile, flashbacks
to his boss chastising him for nearly killing an opponent. Chisaki wasn’t too
concerned, though, as he just saw it as protecting their terf and the yakuza’s
dying image. Boss is annoyed by this attitude and by Chisaki getting them into
the drug trade without his blessing. He says that Chisaki is a loyal man, but
he always takes things too far.
After, Chisaki is furious that the
boss is holding onto obsolete ideals that won’t save the yakuza. Kurono, whom
he’d been speaking with, shrugs and points out that returning to a point where
the yakuza ruled the underworld does sound more dream than reality. This seems
to set off a lightbulb in Chisaki’s head and he begins working. He redesigns
himself into his current look, and explains his plan. Phase one is to research
a way to remove quirks using Eri’s Rewind. While they work, they’ll release
small batches of the incomplete product to whet the criminal worlds appetite
for anti-hero products. Phase two, start selling the complete product at an
absurdly high price. Phase three, use Eri to produce a drug that can restore
Quirks and sell that to the heroes. They’ll control both sides of the market
and rule again, as with Eri they have the only supply.
SHOCKINGLY, The boss is less than
thrilled at the idea of, and I need to stress this again, Chisaki using HIS
FIVE-YEAR-OLD GRANDDAUGHTER as a human GUINEA PIG!! He tells Chisaki that if he
won’t stop this insanity, there won’t be a place for him in the Shie Hassaikai
anymore. Clearly having gone a bit insane at this point, Overhaul attacks his
boss, putting him in a coma and swearing that when he wakes the boss, he’ll thank
Overhaul for all he’s done. Not sure that’ll happen, pal.
Rain! Of! PUNCHES!
In the present, Izuku and Overhaul
brawl in the sky. Overhaul shrinks down his body and attacks Izuku with his
thickened limbs, but 100% OFA is more than enough to hold him off. He keeps on
screaming that Izuku isn’t a real hero, and asking why he’s trying so hard to
save one kid. Izuku says that if he can’t save one little girl that needs him,
how can he be a hero that saves everyone. He pummels Overhaul, shattering his
limbs before smacking him one more time, pancaking him into the pavement.
Uraraka and Nighteye see the tail end
of the fight. Nighteye is visibly shocked that his vision was proven wrong. He
saw that Izuku would die and Overhaul would escape, by all previous visions,
that has to happen. But there they are, seeing a victorious Izuku and a defeated
Overhaul. He remembers Izuku’s promise to smash the future again, and smiles as
the credit’s roll.
Okay, so a lot to unpack here. I
loved seeing this dive into Overhaul’s psyche. Clearly, Kai Chisaki was
unbalanced long before the events that lead him to becoming Overhaul, but I do
love that his fall from grace in his organization came not from a power grab,
but from an inherent misunderstanding of human nature and a voracious loyalty. Sure,
a rational person could probably guess that even a crime boss would take
serious issue with his grandchild being used in unethical experiments, even if
that would make them fabulously wealthy, but to Chisaki’s damaged mind that
doesn’t even compute. I liked the reveal of how Eri came into his care and how
her power works. Sure, it might be a bit of an Ex-Machina that her power has
all these different uses, but it works within the story. The bit where it was her
memory of Togata’s words and seeing his cape that were the trigger to both
weakening Overhaul and getting her to Izuku I think was very well done. Oh, and
One For All 100% was glorious to watch on the screen. It has some things in common
with the classic Kaioken/Super Saiyan transformation, the glowing aura, the
hair change, the fact it breaks his body to use it, but with flairs all its
own. Seeing Izuku take on this immense threat relatively easily was so damned
cathartic. I’ve been waiting to see Izuku beat Overhaul into the ground and
destroy that plague doctor mask all season. The fact doing so violated Nighteye’s
vision will have lingering consequences, me thinks, but we’ll get into that
later. Have a good night, everybody.
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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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