Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 87

 It's official, a new number 1 hero is chosen. And for his first mission, he faces off against a real beast.

Last time on My Hero Academia, the big show finally began! After seeing Gentle Criminal and La Brava were apprehended, doing his best to downplay their crimes in an attempt to keep the book from being thrown at them, Izuku raced back and made it just in time for the start of the show. Jiro sings her heart out, the band play their hearts out, the Dancers shake their grove things, and the effects team blew peoples minds. After, Izuku has a fun time with Eri, ending with giving the girl a homemade Candied Apple, which she absolutely loved. Gentle Criminal and La Brava, or Danjuro and Manami, were interviewed by police. Manami made it clear her loyalty clear, and Danjuro was given some words of encouragement by an understanding cop. As good an ending as these sorts of villains deserves. Enough recap, lets get to it, shall we?

 

Guess we're getting more of Eri.

We open with Izuku telling us that this is the first week of November. Much to Izuku’s shock, Eri is at UA, and it’s revealed that Eri is going to be taken care of on UA campus. So… the school is adopting her? I’m not sure if that works… Whatever, it’s fiction. Aizawa takes the students outside to explain. They’ve found that Eri has no known family. Her grandfather is in a coma, and her parents seemingly abandoned her. (Mom left after Dad was accidentally rewind into nothing). She has nowhere to go, and there is her power. They know that Eri’s powers are tied to her horn, and while her horn had been reduced to basically a large bump, it’s starting to regrow. The risk of her gaining so much power that it runs wild again kind of means it’d be dangerous to be put into the foster system. They’re going to set up a room for her in the teachers’ dorms, and Togata is going to be her de facto primary guardian while he’s on an academic break from school. Amajiki points out that if Eri gets her full strength back, she might be able to get his Quirk back. This seems to be the first he’s even thought of that, and is excited by the prospect. Togata is going to keep her occupied with some boardgames, Izuku wants to go along but Aizawa sends them back to the dorm, as they’ll be having visitor soon.

 

At the dorm, Tokoyami sneezes, prompting some to think that he’s got fans gossiping about him. This is a Japanese superstition, that if you sneeze, someone is talking about you behind your back. Uraraka points out it’s possible, as he did intern under Hawks, a popular hero, number 3 on the charts. He doesn’t think so, though, as he was kept too busy for people to notice him. 1A’s guests arrive. The Wild, Wild Pussycats come in, doing their usual entrance dance, civilian mode. The group isn’t staying long, they just wanted to say hi them and class 1B, and for Tiger to apologize to Bakugo for not protecting him. Bakugo claims he already forgotten about it. Izuku spots Kota and excitedly greets the boy. Kota tries to play it aloof, but that’s almost immediately ruined by Aunt Mandalay pointing out Kota’s shoes. They’re child sized versions of Izuku’s, bright red, at Kota’s insistence. It’s so cute.

 

Wild, Wild Pussycats, Civilian mode.

The main reason that the Pussycats stopped by to let them know that the group is back in business. The kids question if that means Ragdoll is back, but, no, the Pussycat’s locator is still Quirkless. She’s going to work as support staff for her team from now on. They reveal that OFA sent them a message from Tartarus Prison, offering clearly false remorse and offering to return Ragdoll’s powers to her. While, obviously, Ragdoll would love to get her powers back, the group decided that it’s better to not risk giving OFA a chance to escape. The Pussycats chose to return today as the Hero Billboard Chart announcement will be made soon. They’re currently ranked 411 in Japan. Present Mic exposition takes over for a sec, explaining that a hero’s rank is determined by the number of incidents resolved, their contributions to society and by their general approval rating. They’re ranked twice yearly. The Wild, Wild Pussycats dropped from rank 32. They’re actually quite happy with their current placement, as they’ve been benched for three months. Still being in the triple digits speaks volumes for their popularity. The kids all agree that it’s going to be weird to see a Billboard chart without All Might.

 

We cut to the Billboard chart presentation. This is apparently usually less of a spectacle, but they’re playing it up for this reveal, given their circumstances. The top ten heroes are as follows: 10. The Dragon Hero, Ryukyu; 9; The Equipped Hero, Yoroi Musha; 8. Laundry Hero, Wash; 7. The Woods Hero, Kamui Woods; 6. The Shield Hero, Crust; 5. The Rabbit Hero, Mirko; 4. The Ninja Hero, Edgeshot; 3. The Fiberous Hero, Best Jeanist (isn’t present, still in recovering after Kamino); 2. The Wing Hero, Hawks; and 1. The Flame Hero, Endeavor. Enji is sporting a fancy new armored costume for the occasion. Oh, and we learn that Mt. Lady is currently ranked 23, and that she’s super pissed she, specifically, and Deatharms, by association, weren’t allowed to be on the stage with Kamui and Edgeshot as the four of them are a team. She’s such a prima donna. Ha.

Hawks descends.

 

The Billboard Chart announcement is normally not such a spectacle, but they turned it into more of a show to try to drum up support for the new top ten. They turn the mic over to the heroes for a soundbite. Ryukyu wishes she could turn down her spot, because she didn’t feel she deserved the spot given the people she failed to save at Kamino Ward and the Shie Hassaikai raid. Yorio, “The World has changed, but our objectives have not. Wash, “Waaassh!” So eloquent. Kamui, “I’d like to honor every hero has changed, but our objectives have not.” He’s also humbled to be on a team with Edgeshot. Crust laments not being at Kamino Ward. Mirko threatens to send people flying if they cross her. If you’re wondering about the moon on her costume, there’s a Japanese legend about Rabbits making treats on the moon, so rabbits are often associated with them. Hawks looks rather bored. Edgeshot isn’t concerned with numbers, he doesn’t do it for the notoriety. Hawks, fed up with the soundbites takes the mic and starts talking crap. He takes to the air to add emphasis. He points out that, based on the numbers, Best Jeanist is #1 in popularity, he’s runner up, Edgeshot is 3 and Endeavor is forth. He thinks that they need to give greater emphasis to the approval ratings, to shake up the system, and encourage people to speak their minds. We get the fun facts that Hawks (22) began his career by starting a hero agency at 18 and cracked the Top Ten by the next Billboard announcement, the first to do that before 20. Endeavor takes the mic. He remembers asking All Might what it means to be a symbol before speaking. He says he’s not one for speeches and tells everyone to “Just watch what I do.” The only one to clap for him is Hawks.

 

Oh, hello, Hood.

After, Hawks apologizes for talking crap. Probably because Endeavor is holding him by the shirt collar and his head is on fire. He claims that he’d done it to build up Endeavor for his speech. Endeavor drops him and tells Hawks to apologize to the others. Hawks stops him, asking Endeavor to work with him on a case. He’s heard rumors from his home town of Kyushu about Nomu sightings.

 

We then cut over to Dabi. The burned young man opens the door to a bunker. Inside is a hulking Nomu with a long neck. Dabi calls it High-End, and thinks that this beast will not disappoint.

 

There's something familiar about that pink haired kid...

We then jump to Kyushu. We open with a man in a trench coat plotting revenge on his company. He complains about his life, how he’s been used by his company and such, classic “woe is me” type stuff. He’s decided not to take it anymore, having read “Metahuman Liberation Warfront” the biography of superhuman revolutionary Destro. He’s going to break it all down. Shouting “Metahuman Liberation!” he drops his coat. Then we get the Present Mic bio. This man is Teruo Hazukashi, age 31. His quirk is called Shame, he get’s more powerful based on the level of shame he feels. What a lame iteration of the Hulk. We don’t get to see him Hulk out, though, as Hawks knocks him down and out with his feathers, not even looking at the guy. He and Endeavor walk through downtown to go to lunch, Hawks saving and helping people with his detachable, controllable feathers as they do. They’re stopped by a crowd of Hawks fans for a few minutes. Endeavor hears a trio talk about how their one weirdly familiar pink haired, scarfed friend is an Endeavor fan. Endeavor goes up to talk and shake the kid’s hand, only for him to freak out and leave in a huff, saying the REAL Endeavor would never try to do that. Apparently, there are in fact people that like the Hatesink version of him. Endeavor is visibly confused, as that tactic had worked on the Shiketsu kid. Yoarashi, feel free to hate him again.

 

Hawks takes Endeavor to the top floor of this hotel for lunch. He tells the big hero that he’d wanted to scout Shoto after the Sports Festival, as having the #2 at the time’s son on his staff would have been great for his brand, but is happy he ended up with Tokoyami instead, since he, you know, passed the Provisional License Exam. Apparently failing once is something of a black mark on a potential hero’s brand if not their career. Endeavor wants to know why he’s here. And Hawks spills the beans. He’s been hearing rumors about Nomu. Lots of Nomu. All over, from people that have no links to each other or each other’s stories. He explains that a few dozen Nomu were seized from AFO’s lab during the Kamino Ward incident, even using that acronym, and they might have caught them, all but Hawks has his doubts.

 

The fact that this thing survived that shot is not encouraging.

Endeavor wants to know if Hawks has any real evidence, or if he’s all rumors and talk. Hawks is all rumors and talk. He believes that there might not actually be that many Nomu wandering about, that someone might just be spreading rumors to keep people afraid and talking. He mentions that flasher from earlier, and how he was inspired by the reprinting of Destro’s book. Things like that sell better in a fearful world. Endeavor demands he get to the point. And Hawks finally does. Basically, he just wants Endeavor to be a good leader. To look into this Nomu thing, and if they find nothing, tell the people so to calm their nerves, easy. He claims that he wants to endeavor (not apologizing) to be Endeavor’s producer. And claims that he wants to work toward a world where heroes have too much time on their hands. Their talk is interrupted when they see something streaking across the sky toward them. The High-End Nomu bursts in and… speaks?! Demanding to know who is strongest. Endeavor puts Hawks on evacuation duty. He hits the beast with one of his punches, Flashfire Fist, Jetburn! And knocks it from the building. He leaps out after, flying on his fire power thrusters, promising to show the Nomu who’s the strongest around here.

 

You know, with all the talk about of All Might being the #1 ranked hero, and of hero ranks in general, it’s weird that we’re only now just being informed how that system works. We’re almost 90 episodes into the anime and nearly 185 chapters into the manga before it comes up. It’s super odd. I did like seeing the heroes that ended up on the chart. It’s good to see some familiar faces, as well as some interesting new ones, like Yorio and Crust. I have no idea what Wash’s whole deal is. Hawks makes a memorable onscreen debut as well. He’s been mentioned several times before, but I believe this is the first time we see more than a silhouette. He’s a slightly abrasive, but incredibly charismatic hero. I like that he has the iconic bird wings, a staple of the hero genre, but a unique twist on them. He might have wings like Warren Worthington III aka Angel, but I’ve never seen one with feathers that he could control remotely. I also kind of loved Endeavors first attempt at being nicer blowing up so spectacularly. You can’t please everyone, I guess. Oh, and the reason the kid is familiar is that he’s very much an homage to Natsu Dragneel, one of the protagonists of the long running Fairy Tale series. Both are pink haired young men with scarves, with a love of fire. Though, Natsu is the Fire Dragon Slayer, so his love of fire is much more intense, assumedly. Oh, and both guys are voiced by Todd Haberkorn. Just a fun easter egg. Oh, and High End, damn, that guy is cool. A super Nomu, one with a very unique design, including a sizeable hood over his head and exposed brain. And. It. Talks! Considering that all other Nomu have been barely functional meat puppets that fall into a trance when not given orders, make this thing all the scarier. If The League of Villains has kept this beast waiting in storage for so long, Dabi must really want Endeavor hurting if he finally let it out. Endeavor hit the monster hard with his opening shot, but this fight is far from over. This will be a hell of a first fight for the newly minted #1 hero. I can’t wait to talk about it. I’ll start July finishing out this story, and My Hero Academia season 4, and then go through Loki. It’ll be an exciting month. Have a good night, everyone!

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 86

 It's Party Time. P. A. R. T. Why? because I Gotta!

Last time on My Hero Academia Izuku faced off against Gentle Criminal. He was able to apprehend them for a moment, but then La Brava used her Quirk, Love, to boost her Gentle into a powerhouse. Despite the power boost, Izuku was still too powerful for Gentle to overcome. We learn of La Brava’s history of becoming a NEET after a failed confession of love and only bringing herself out of her depression when she discovered Gentle’s videos years later. And Gentle’s past as being a failed hero student that accidentally caused someone to be killed (I don’t care what the dub says) in an accident and his own depression spiral. He created Gentle Criminal after an old classmate didn’t recognize him years later. Izuku finally defeated Gentle, but the villain threw him off in a bid to try to save La Brava from reprisals for their crimes. Enough recap, let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Dude is way calmer in the hands of what is 
essentially a werewolf than he has any right to.

Opens with Gentle turning himself in to Hound Dog and a group of Ectoplasms. Hound Dog has no idea who he is, but Ectoplasm recognizes him as that YouTuber that posts his crime videos. Hound Dog, seeing the destruction in the area and clearly smelling someone else, asks who Gentle fought. He insists that he tripped and fell. Hound Dog knows a student was here, and we’re shown Izuku landing a few yards away.

 

Izuku runs back to them after the opening credits. In time to hear Gentle Criminal say that he’s done a lot of evil things, but the worst was kidnapping and brainwashing one Manami Aiba. Mentally, he realizes that he’s lost everything save his heart that beats for another person.  His goal now is only to try to save his most devoted fan. He also mentally thanks Izuku for being his final opponent. La Brava start sobbing, as she’s fighting two impulses, one, to go along with what Gentle says, and, two, to do anything she could to be near him. Hound Dog asks Izuku if he fought with this man. Izuku does admit they did, but seems to try to downplay it, claiming they had just sparred, but everything is fine now. Snipe calls Ectoplasm, asking what happened. Hound Dog and Ecto tell him not to worry, a criminal just turned himself in, there is no emergency. Hound Dog and most of the Ectoplasms start hauling him off. Gentle stops them and tells Izuku that he once trained as a hero and that the guise of Gentle Criminal was the result of his failures. He hopes Izuku that he hopes that he can reach those he is hoping to reach and wishes him a bright future. One Ectoplasm stays back, telling Izuku he’s got about a half hour before the performance and offers to show him the fastest way back. Izuku, remembering the stuff he left behind to fight Gentle, says they have to run back to get them.

 

I feel like they should have been this concerned like
a half hour ago.

As Izuku runs to get his stuff, his classmates are finally starting to get nervous for him. Nervous and angry, in some cases, as they just think he got lost or something going to buy rope. As Izuku runs, he finds and retrieves La Brava’s camera. He muses that Gentle was so difficult for him to face is because he could see himself in the villain. And I roll my eyes.

 

He and Ectoplasm run into UA’s campus, meeting Aoyama. They arrive right at 9:50. Izuku hurries to get into the gear Aoyama brought, but Ectoplasm tells him to take the time to get healed up. As the audience will probably focus more on his bleeding face than the performance. All Might tells Aizawa that Izuku had been found. Eri, whom is with them, asks Togata if he thinks Izuku will make it, which he says will happen.

 

Jiro and the Edgelords.

It hits ten and the performance begins. In the crowd, Eri is up on Togata’s shoulder and Present Mic and Aizawa are watching from the back of the room. And the two General Studies students that Bakugo saw bad mouthing them are in the crowd to. Aizawa explaining the obvious, that folks like those two are just there to see class 1A fail. Jiro remembers her Dad telling her she can do whatever she wants. Bakugo shouts “Let’s start, damn it!” and the performance starts with a literal explosion. Jiro starts singing, with the 1A Dance team, Izuku included doing a choreographed dance number. They strike poses, Iida does the robot, and Izuku and Aoyama do this sort of mid-air grab, throw into the air and Aoyama raining lasers sparks down on people. Izuku runs off stage to start the next part. The two GS students are clearly acting like they’re more unimpressed than they truly are.

 

1A uses Kota’s birds to manipulate the lights. They also use Sero’s tape and Todoroki’s ice to make paths for them to walk around. Yaoyorozu fires off fireworks as Izuku carries Aoyama around and Kirishima runs across from them scattering ice. While this happens, Jiro has a moment where she remembers telling her parents she wants to be a hero instead of a musician and they’re super chill about it. Tsu throws Uraraka around with her tongue, who touches folks in the crowd so they can float about the stardust Aoyama and Kirishima make.

 

And with that, she's finally free of that shadow
strangling her.

We get this really cool looking visual of Eri, enclosed in a dark bird shaped shroud, the vestiges of Overhaul’s abuse, as she throws it off and starts cheering with everyone. Togata smile with tears in his eyes, asking in his head if Izuku and Sir Nighteye are seeing this. Even Bakugo looks less angry after the show closes. I’d definitely look up the sequence if nothing else, it’s a really pretty number.

 

After, we’re shown a few seconds of Romeo and Juliet and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Return of the King, which also rips off Star Wars. It’s a fine mashup story from the bit we’re shown. After, All Might chastises Izuku for not checking his phone. It looks like All Might had been calling him once a minute for his entire fight with Gentle Criminal. Hound Dog jumps in as well, telling Izuku made a bad call and he should have gotten one of the teachers to handle Gentle. They care about the school too. They send Izuku off to enjoy the rest of the day, and Hound Dog grabs All Might and starts shaking him angrily while growling incoherently. According to Ectoplasm, who’d been watching this whole thing, Hound Dog only forgets how to talk when he’s real mad.

 

Izuku returns to the gym, finding Togata and Eri. Eri rather excitedly describes the whole show, in that cute way kids do. Izuku is obviously overjoyed to see the reserved little girl gush like this. That is until Mineta runs by and yells at him to help clean up the ice. As they clean, a bunch of students come up to different 1A kids and thank them for the performance, including the two GS kids. Bakugo is quite smug as he announces that they won. I 100% believe he put in all of the effort he did just as a screw you to those two. And while Iida and some others wonder if everything will be okay, given that not everyone saw their show, the kids that did assure them they’ll spread around to everyone that didn’t see it the effort that they put in. Hopefully that’ll help restore 1A’s rep around campus. Bakugo wants to fight the doubters, but no one is paying attention to him. Mineta runs by and is super insistent that everyone focus on cleaning. Why? Because he’s not missing the beauty pageant, damn it! Show of hands, who is not shocked by this information? No one? Good.

 

A true queen.

We cut over to the pageant, where Kendo shows off first by breaking a bunch of boards in her dress. Neat. Kenrazaki then comes in, piloting a giant golden mech of her own head. She claims that the goal of beauty is to leave your audience dazzled. Then it’s Hado’s turn. She comes in and flies about on her energy spirals. She dances in the sky and is able to make a rose out of her energy trails. It’s real pretty. The students are told that the results will be announced at 5. The 1A kids decide on the activities they’ll do for the rest of the day, imposed over a simple drawing of Monoma loudly calling on people to vote for Kendo, Awase barely holding him back. Just for Kendo to walk up and knock him out. An oldie but a goodie.

 

And good luck getting her to eat real apples again.

We get a montage of the students doing various activities. They eat at different booths, go through a haunted house and obstacle course, see Hatsume show off her non-exploding Crimson Dynamo power armor, Izuku and Sato spend some time cooking something, and, ultimately, we learn that Hado won the pageant. Good for her.

 

That night, Izuku says bye to Eri. But he has one last treat for her. Tada, a candied apple. Togata is shocked because he couldn’t find anyone selling them. Izuku reveals that he’d seen that no one was planning on selling candied apples this year, so he endeavored to make them himself. Those were the things he bought on his convenience store stop and what he and sweet baking expert Sato had made at one point today. Eri bites the candied apple and smiles brightly, Izuku promising to make her another when they see each other again.

 

Hope for the hopeless.

In an after-credit scene, we’re shown La Brava and Gentle Criminal… okay, probably more accurate to say Manami and Danjuro being interviewed by the police. The cops are really shocked to find out that Manami’s computer skills were all self-taught. She claims her job is La Brava and that the only thing she wants in the world is to help her Gentle. Danjuro, meanwhile, is told by a Gorilla looking cop that they know Manami wasn’t brainwashed and he should drop the act. Danjuro keeps defending her though, claiming that he never let her be more than an observer to his crimes, so she can’t be charged equally to him. Gorilla, I feel like I should call him Darius for some reason, tells him that yeah, Danjuro failed a lot, but maybe getting caught was a good thing. He explains his personal philosophy is that the folks that say there are no do-overs in life are people that are either too lazy or just too unwilling to change. If Danjuro wants it, he could do it. The words bring Danjuro to tears, as I literally think those are the first non-Manami based words of encouragement he’s heard in over a decade. When the cop offers tea, Danjuro asks for Earl Grey and he loudly announces he’ll get what he gets and like it.

 

I really enjoyed this dance number. Seeing kids performing after several episodes of buildup was satisfying. They did the whole hero one knee land pose a couple times, Aoyama’s laser beams were really cool, and Izuku was very useful as a makeshift winch. It might be slightly unrealistic that this one performance that only a percentage of the school saw could completely wipe away the bad feelings most of UA has for class 1A, but I’ll give it to them. Way more unlikely stuff has happened in anime, let’s be real. I especially liked Eri’s… I guess release is the best term, release from Overhaul’s hold. The visual representation of it being a black cloak with his somewhat iconic bird-like plague doctor mask was great visual story telling. That could have been the only goal that succeeded for the UA kids and I’d have been satisfied. And seeing the little montages of them doing just normal festival activities was nice. A good little palate cleanse after Izuku’s fight with Gentle. I’ll say again, not a fan of this idea that Izuku could have been Gentle. Like, come on, if Izuku actually went full evil because he never got powers, he’d actually be effective at the villain thing. All I’m saying. But, I will admit that seeing Danjuro and Manami’s story end with a… ray of hope was kind of nice. They easily could have just had them go in chains and leave it at that, villains getting their comeuppance. Instead, they seemed to imply that there won’t be all that much jail time for them. While he didn’t finish the thought, it sounded like Gentle Criminal and La Brava’s crimes were relatively minor. Who know, maybe he’ll get off with community service. What really mattered was the cop basically telling him that he can do better. It seemed like that was all Gentle really wanted to hear, from the councilor, from his mother, from anyone, that he has a chance to do something despite his mistakes. It’s a fitting ending for someone that just wanted to feel like he mattered, and the person that did everything she could to make that happen. So, we’re all done with the school festival arc. Just two more episodes and that’s it for season four. And boy, are they a douse of a pair of episodes. But more on that later, good night everybody!

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 85

 Izuku faces off against the combined power of Gentle Criminal's passion and La Brava's love.

Last time on My Hero Academia, a simple jaunt to the hardware store really complicated Izuku’s day. He accidentally happened to cross paths with Gentle Criminal and La Brava as the dastardly duo were making their way to UA High to sneak in… for bragging rights, essentially. Izuku, knowing that the School Festival and Eri’s day would be ruined if it got shut down because of this really, really stupid plan, faced off against Gentle. The villain’s quirk, elasticity, made fighting him a challenge as he was able to for all intense and purposes fly at high speeds, bouncing off membranes of elastic air he created, and warp the battle field, turning any object into a bouncy form of itself. He ends up pinning Izuku under a steel beam and tries to escape. Izuku is able to get a hand free and almost hit’s Gentle with an Air Bullet curtsy of his new support item, a pair of gloves from Mei Hatsume. While he missed, he knocked Gentle off course and forced him to the ground. Enough recap, let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Take a sing at her, Kendo, you know you'll enjoy it.
Try Fight-fighting.

The episode opens pretty much as I described above, doing a thirty second recap of the encounter’s highlights. After that, we cut over to UA as the kids make last minute preparations. Monoma, Tetsutetsu and Awase find Kendo in her dress for the beauty pageant. Monoma laughs hysterically at this for some reason. The tomboy being able to pull off a pretty dress is the height of comedy for him, I guess? He explains that he signed her up for the pageant as part of an elaborate, convoluted scheme to make 1B look better than 1A, and to get a break from being hit constantly when he deserves it. He thinks Kendo is a shoo-in. Hado disagrees, not in like a bitchy way, but in a “the contest hasn’t even started yet, it’s anyone’s game!” way. Both girls agree it’ll be fun, but then Kenranzaki, the support course student that Hado always loses to, whom has eyelashes that are at least a foot and a half off her face, comes in and acts all haughty. The three girls have a staring contest, and a clearly uncomfortable Awase asks if this is a girl fight. Yes, and it’s best not to draw attention to yourself until it’s over, boyo. Togata, meanwhile, is driving up in a cab with Eri. He has an itinerary planned for things to do before Izuku’s class performance and Eri is clearly excited to see all of it, but that performance most of all. In the support course, Powerloader advices Hatsume to take some time to clear herself off before the show starts, with her just cackling and saying all the grease is just proof of her hard work. Finally, we’re shown All Might and Midnight in the teachers lounge, looking over Izuku’s form to get off campus for a bit. Both seem worried that he left and that he isn’t back yet. Oh, guys, you have no idea.  

 

Izuku. Show Gentle a picture of this girl. He'd
give up immediately.

We get back to Izuku’s fight. He was able to force Gentle and La Brava off course, forcing them to the ground. La Brava notes that she sees a bit of Gentle in Izuku, that he’s as unlikely to give up as Gentle will. She thinks that they should use her quirk, but Gentle advises to keep it in reserve until they need an escape. Izuku remembers what Gentle said about not being able to turn his power off, that the effects just dissipate as time goes on. Knowing that, he grabs onto the still bouncy crane and flings himself after them. He does his best to track Gentle’s movements in the air, so as to pinpoint where his air membranes will approximately be. He aims at Gentle as the pair land. Gentle is able to throw up another membrane to protect them. Izuku bounces off one of the membranes Gentle used to land and swings around them. He lines up a shot, but Gentle creates another barrier. Either expecting this or having honed his reflexes, Izuku is able to turn, aim, and fire, bouncing his shot off the membrane he bounced off earlier and hitting Gentle in the stomach.

 

So, I guess the Izuku's got pretty high spacial
intelligence.

Having stunned Gentle, Izuku is able to tackle both him and La Brava to the ground. He’s able to hold their wrists and tells them to stop resisting and surrender. La Brava notes that normally, Gentle would have rabbited the moment Izuku caught them outside the tea shop. She’s worried his passion for this mission is too intense.

 

We get a flashback to when La Brava was just Manami Aiba. At the time, she’d become a Neet. That’s an acronym for Not in Education, Employment or Training, and used for shut-ins in Japan, China and most of the rest of Asia. If you’re asking, how was she supporting herself; I assume either through hacking endeavors or through her parents. Apparently, it’s more frowned upon to have a child living on the streets than it is to just pay for them to survive. Anyway, she’d become a Neet after her first year of middle school, when she’d given a love note to a boy only for him to mock her with his friends. Not in the guy’s defense, but important things to remember are 1. Aiba hadn’t spoken to him before. 2. It was a multiple page document full of specific information, and 3. It seems clear that she was obsessively stalking this guy. Did she deserve to be laughed at, no, but like, I can’t pretend that Aiba didn’t go about that situation all wrong. Anyway, she was a shut in for the next several years, just spending time on her computer in the dark and contemplating killing herself, until she found Gentle’s first video. Instantly smitten, she cleans herself up, lamenting the dark circles around her eyes that were more or less permanent at this point, and goes to meet him. She hacked his account to get his contact info.

 

So he picked her up from this? Okay, Gentle Criminal
might actually be a good dude.

The two became inseparable instantly. We get a quick montage of them working and living together, culminating in a fairly sweet moment. Aiba is still self-conscious about the dark circles around her eyes. Gentle notices her looking forlornly in a mirror and picks up the hints. After, he announces that he’d thought of a codename for her, showing her La Brava. I guess the kanji that make up the word can be read as Honey. He tells her that he chose the name because she’s the perfect companion, and showing off that he’d applied a liberal amount of eyeliner around his own eyes in solidarity.

 

So he added the dark circles to make his sidekick/
girlfriend less self-conscious about her eyes?
Either be a villain or be a good dude. Pick a LANE!

In the present, La Brava tells Gentle that she loves him. Now, unlike the other forty times she’s said that since her introduction, she activates her Quirk while doing so. It’s then revealed by Present Mic narration that La Brava’s quirk is Love, by telling the person that she loves this information, she can enhance their abilities tenfold, based on her level of feeling for that person. Given that her affection for Gentle is her damn primary character trait, his power boost is massive. This buffs up Gentle, causing pink smoke to steam off him and his hair and mustache getting extra spikey. He’s able to throw Izuku off them and pulls them both away. He claims to abhor violence, hence why he edits them out of his videos, but will use it to see his plan accomplished. He tells Izuku to stay out of this and take a nap, hitting him in the back of the neck to knock him out. This actually doesn’t work, as Izuku is still conscious. He tells Gentle that he’s fought people stronger and faster than him, and so he hasn’t lost yet. He is able to raise a hand and ready an air bullet at Gentle.

 

Meanwhile, it finally hits 9 am. Hound Dog is searching the perimeter, and Present Mic takes his spot in his usual MC booth and loudly declares that the festival has begun over the PA. Izuku uses the momentary distraction to fire the air bullet, missing but is enough to keep Gentle distracted while he gets up. The two men start leaping and brawling in midair. Gentle is almost immediately concerned, as his enhance “Lover Mode” has always been enough for him and La Brava to overwhelm and escape opponents before but Izuku is proving too much. That’s what happens when the power of 2 go up against the power of 9, laddy. As they battle, La Brava apologizes, saying that her love isn’t strong enough to beat Izuku. Gentle isn’t done yet. He makes several layers of air membranes, dubbed the Gentle Sandwich, and presses Izuku under it. He leaps onto the stack of air, keeping Izuku pinned. He makes another vague declaration about being remembered, but this time seems to be recalling a man in a bamboo covered costume. How odd. He goes on to say that his dream, though, isn’t just about him anymore, implying its also about La Brava.

 

Izuku is able to smash his way through the ground and leaps at Gentle again. They’ve both come to understand that the other yearns for something with all their heart and soul, but Izuku claims that Gentle cares about nothing besides that dream. That he’s willing to make a whole lot of people, including a kid that needs to learn what happy is, to make himself feel validated.

 

Gentle Criminal gets hit with that flashback bug, and we see him as he was 14 years ago as 18-year-old Danjuro Tobita. He’s a second year Hero course student. He claims that he wants to be a hero, but his guidance counselor tries to get him to be realistic. He’s got very poor grades, has had to repeat his school year a few times, and has failed the Provisional Hero Exam four times. His mother is also beside him, her head in her hands. The teacher advices him to voluntarily withdrawal. Danjuro doesn’t want to, though. Outside, his mother comments that a classmate of his, Takeshita, has already been getting offers from hero agencies to be a sidekick. Danjuro tells her not to worry, he’ll keep trying.

 

Like... he's definitely dead.

Later, Danjuro is drinking tea at a café when he hears someone shouting that there is an emergency and to call a hero. He runs out to see a window washer dangling, one of the ropes of his scaffold having snapped. Without thinking, Danjuro forms an air membrane, intending on saving the window washer. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, a pro-hero flies in, tries to go for the washer but bounces off Danjuro’s membrane. The scaffold crashes and the Washer is definitely dead. Like, they try to claim that he was just seriously injured, but the crumpled scaffolding makes me think this as a dubbing thing. Danjuro was arrest for obstructing hero work and had to pay a hefty fine, his family was continually harassed because of this, he withdrew from school, and if the last image is any indication, he was rather angrily disowned. Four years later, he’s living as a “part-timer” probably working at a convenience store or something similar, talking about how he loves spring because it’s easier to forage for food. He runs into his old classmate, Takeshita, who is now a pro hero. He goes to talk to him, basically begging Takeshita to remember him, but the bamboo clad hero doesn’t. This causes something of a psychological break in Danjuro, realizing that he very well could die and be completely forgotten by everyone, and he goes back to his place to dig up a book on the history of supervillainy.

 

A COMEDIC VILLAIN SHOULDN'T BE THIS
HARD TO BEAT!!

Back in the present, La Brava is clearly upset to see Gentle use Lover Mode like this, embracing violence like he doesn’t normally do. He and Izuku keep clashing, with Gentle shouting at Izuku to not mock him or think him lesser during the fight. Izuku tells the deranged YouTuber that he isn’t mocking him, but can’t let him go, either. La Brava is able to boost Gentle’s power a little more, he and Izuku collide, doing the double hand grapple. He asks Izuku why he wants to be a hero as they do. Izuku claims that they’re the same, that his dream isn’t just his own anymore, that it belongs to all those that helped him along the way, and remembers some of those people like All Might, Togata and Nighteye. He announces that he wants to be someone that can show everyone a brighter future. Gentle is able to throw Izuku aside and into a tree after that.

 

La Brava, knowing that Gentle isn’t going to stop without getting onto the campus at this point, pulls out her laptop and tries to hack into the school’s security. She believes turning off security now will give them a greater chance to escape. She’s too far out, unfortunately, so grabs her computer and runs toward the campus, rubbing dirt on her face as she does to hide from Hound Dog. Gentle mentally yells at her to no go alone, but can’t get away from Izuku to follow. Izuku tries to follow but Gentle doesn’t allow him, either. Gentle tells Izuku he’s willing to throw away his pride and honor to defeat Izuku and that he should consider that a sign of respect.

 

La Brava only makes it a few yards before she runs into Hound Dog, him leading a group of Ectoplasm clones into the forest. She turns to warn Gentle. Izuku is able to hit the villain with one of multiple air bullets, stunning him for a moment. He’s then able to dive at the villain and hit him with a shoot style St. Louis Smash! Pancaking him into the ground as Lover Mode dissipates. And, unfortunately for them, La Brava has only a single charge to use each day. Izuku mutters to Gentle Criminal that he was his toughest opponent yet, as he was someone that Izuku could understand.

 

Muscular, Stain, and Overhaul, together, “Are we a joke to you?”

 

For them, the fight is over.

La Brava, sobbing, runs at Izuku and ineffectually hits him. She begs him to let Gentle go, as he’s all she has, he’s her “light” and she’ll die without him. Gentle has a flashback to just after they first met, with him telling La Brava that he can’t work with her as she’ll be an accomplice to his crimes. She doesn’t care, though, so long as they can be together. Gentle wonders if she’d have had a normal, happy life if she’d been able to run when he told her to, but doesn’t think so. To protect her, he’s able to draw on the last bits of Lover Mode to throw Izuku off and away, mentally telling the boy not to come back. He then grabs La Brava and hugs her tight. His plan is a simple one, to try to make their crime seem less serious by acting like a fight hadn’t happened. When Hound Dog and the Ectoplasms arrive, he claims to have taken a tumble in the park and ended up there. He surrenders to them as the credits roll.

 

See, this is why I characterize Gentle Criminal and La Brava’s relationship as something akin to Joker and Harley. It’s better than that, but I wouldn’t characterize it as healthy. La Brava is completely dependent on Gentle to even get through the day. Gentle, on the other hand, clearly enjoys her sycophantic devotion and seems to feed off of that himself. It’s a weird cycle. I think Gentle is right that La Brava would have found trouble herself again even if she had run. She’d be drawn again to someone charismatic as Gentle can be, but one more willing to abuse her talents than he is my guess. As to both their backgrounds, they’re both fairly tragic, but I could have used them a little earlier. Like, if they’d given us more flashes of Gentle’s past as he was introduced and we learn about his legacy obsession it’d have made him seem like less of a vain idiot with his really freaking stupid idea to sneak onto UA. It’s kind of got the same problem as another series, called Demon Slayer. Brief summary, it’s about a kid in 1920s Japan named Tanjiro who’s entire family was slaughtered save the oldest of his younger siblings by demons. He goes off to become a demon slayer and drama unfolds from there. Unlike your typical interpretations of demons as fallen angels or beings from another realm, these demons were all once human, but were infected with the original demon’s blood, turning them into monsters. In a way they’re more akin to superpowered zombies. Just about every major Demon that Tanjiro has defeated reveals as they’re dying their tragic background. One was a failed author and musician, one was a little boy that ate his brother after he transformed, and the third was a sickly little boy that ended up killing his parents. And you find this out as they dissolve into nothing. Kind of kills the mood a little to be revealing these tragic circumstances as they die is all I’m saying. And same goes for Gentle, as we had no idea about his screw up and basic pathological fear of dying and disappearing forever until it’s brough up here. Okay, we do know he’s obsessed with being remembered, but it comes across as bravado “I’m so great, the world MUST remember me,” more that, “Please, God, don’t make me disappear!” Just a few more flashes of Takeshita and maybe his mother screaming at him to get out is all I’d really need. And I’m not a huge fan of the comparisons between Gentle and Izuku. I’ve been doing this a while, and I know that a very common trope in these sorts of stories is the idea that had power not found the protagonist, they’d end up going down a darker path and ended up criminals. Spider-Man has done it (it’s the basis of the Spider-Gwen universe, if he doesn’t become Spider-Man he became the Lizard), so has Naruto (if his parents lived, he’d end up the avatar of their evil ninja goddess) and many others. I’m just not a fan of this idea that the difference between a hero and villain is so razor thin. I’d like to think that even if Izuku hadn’t met All Might, he’d have found something, become a cop or a business man, that he could have found peace and happiness as a quirkless man, even if a part of him always yearned for being a hero. All I’m saying. I do like that Gentle ultimately chose to sacrifice himself to help La Brava. As I said, I think their feelings for each other are real and I like the acknowledgement that her getting away or at least getting a reduced sentence ultimately means more to Gentle than escape or going out in a blaze of glory fighting heroes that are much, much tougher than him. And that’s all I have to say about that. Next time, the concert. I’ll see you there. 

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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero

Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 84

 A simple trip to the hardware store takes about a 180 degree turn to bonkersville. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku and Togata showed Eri around the campus. The little girl was incredibly timid, but she seemed to enjoy herself. While having lunch with her, he learned from Midnight that the school is on a tight leash. Even a false alarm will result in the school festival shutting down. Which would probably be bad for everyone’s self-esteem. Izuku also made a little progress with his new air pressure attack. He also tapped Mei Hatsume to make him a support item to help with his weaponized flick. Meanwhile, Gentle Criminal and his lady La Brava plan to sneak onto UA campus. Which, you know, would technically be a false alarm but slightly worse because an idiot broke onto the campus. Enough recap, let’s get to it, shall we?

 

One of the most potent powers in his world, and
he's using it for manual labor.

We open the night before the festival. The students are doing a last-minute run through of their performance. Izuku gets yelled at by Ashido for being a bit too stiff, advising him to “bring the Fire” for the performance tomorrow. Everyone seems happy but nervous for their performance in a few hours. They have him run to the catwalk and get Aoyama into the air, just before Hound Dog comes in and yells at the students to get back to their dorm. Dude is still super intense. As they head back to the dorm, Izuku realizes that it’s just one more sleep until the festival begins at 9.

 

Nightowls celebrate!

That night at about 11:30, Izuku and some of his classmates are just a little too wired to sleep just yet. Jiro advices everyone to get out of their heads and just have fun with it. Izuku and Aoyama are going over their gear for Aoyama’s rope stunt. Izuku notes that that rope they were using is looking incredibly frayed, probably from the extensive practicing. Kaminari suggest getting Yaoyorozu to make them a new one. This turns out to be a no go, as Ashido points out Yaoyorozu has already gone to sleep and they shouldn’t use her as a factory. A comment that makes Kaminari a bit depressed as he’s basically the whole class’s charging station. Izuku doesn’t want to make a fuss and says he’ll just run into town to get more rope in the morning after training. Kaminari points out that the performance is at 10 and that most places don’t open until 9, so he’ll be cutting it a bit close. Izuku isn’t worried, though. He knows a hardware store that’s about 15 minutes from campus that opens at 8, he’ll rush over get the rope and be back by 8:30.

 

Wait. A hardware store. By a little house. Close to campus. You see where this is going, right?

 

Izuku get's his new gear!

The next morning, Izuku squeezes in more air shot practice with All Might. He’s interrupted by Hatsume’s arrival. The greasy (both in terms of biological as well as mechanical), exhausted girl was able to squeeze in Izuku’s order when she took a break from her other work. Apparently, she intends to pass out and sleep for 36 hours once the festival is over. This girl is scary, but I have to applaud her passion. Izuku and All Might look over the gloves, the retired hero marveling at how small support item tech has gotten in the last few years. Hatsume rather proudly states that she designed them to match his costume’s color palette too, as a good designer makes products that work and look good while doing it. She gives Izuku the instructions and then races off. Izuku takes the gloves on a trial run on All Might’s insistence.

 

We skip to Izuku rushing to the hardware store. He got too wrapped up in using his new toy, making him not leave the school until ten to 8. He makes a convenience store stop along the way, hoping for rope but not finding any but also getting some goodies, before making it to the store. It’s 8:30 by the time he starts heading back to the school. He runs and cuts off a tall man in a medical mask and trench coat and his little girlfriend coming from the house tea shop next door.

 

Wow... just... wow. Terrible disguises.

These two are obviously Gentle and La Brava. Gentle yells at Izuku for nearly ruining the after taste of his Gold Tips Imperial, before remembering he probably shouldn’t interact with people before breaking the law and starts walking away. Izuku, recognizing the name of the tea, realizes aloud that the house next door must be a tea shop. Apparently, hearing someone that knows anything about tea makes Gentle compelled to chat with them about tea for a few minutes. It’s during their quick exchange that Izuku and Gentle put dots together and realize who the other is. Izuku knows the tea, recognizes his voice and the video he saw about Gentle Criminal drinking tea that corresponds to the difficulty of his task. Gentle notes that Izuku must go to an elite school if he knows Gold Tips Imperial, and that the closest elite school is UA.

 

This power is much more impressive in function
than it is in description.

They try to slip away, La Brava thinking that it’s not Gentle’s fault that they tipped Izuku off, even though it 1000% is his fault. Izuku put his stuff down and Gentle tells La Brava to get the camera. Izuku announces loudly that he won’t let Gentle Criminal near his school. Izuku makes a quick assessment of their surroundings. It's Saturday and there’s not a lot of foot traffic this early. And, for some reason, there isn’t a hero agency anywhere near UA, so he’s on his own. Gentle and La Brava reveal their real outfits and Gentle promises that he will infiltrate the school, even if he has to modify the schedule a little. Izuku rushes Gentle, but hits a wall. Not a literal one, but a bit of solidified, stretchy air. Gentle explains that his Quirk is elasticity, and that he can give the property to anything he touches, even the air. He made this little wall of protection when he threw off his coat, knowing Izuku would probably charge. He launches Izuku back and the two villains make a run for it. Apparently in their brief exchange, Gentle Criminal realized that Izuku was far too fast and strong for them to face head on. Dude makes accurate assessments at least.

 

Izuku gets up and runs after them. He almost catches them, but then Gentle turns and makes the concrete beneath them bouncy, throwing Izuku into the air with his “Gentle Trampoline.” Terrible name. Gentle admits that in his youth he also put a lot of effort into things like festivals, and that Izuku probably feels strongly for the school, but his desire won’t out match the desires of Gentle’s Mustache and soul. He makes several air trampolines to launch him and La Brava into the air and they sort of leap frog up into the air and toward the school. As they run, La Brava remembers Izuku, having seen him at the UA Sports Festival and remembering he broke his fingers to compete. They start jumping faster, hoping to carry out their plan before he can sound the alarm.

 

Air shot, fired!

Izuku is able to spin in midair towards them. He remembers talking to Togata and Eri and seeing how excited she was for the festival. He also remembers, in a scene we didn’t see earlier for some reason, showing Jiro his note taking techniques to help her train the other students to play their instruments. And seeing his lessons being used in real time with Tokoyami reading instructions from a notebook similar to his hero notes. He focuses his power. He remembers Ashido’s advice in their dance lessons to stay focus and in the moment and applies it. He shoots a “Delaware Smash. Air Force!” hitting Gentle and knocking him to the side. Gentle is able to correct himself mid-air and keeps going. Izuku is able to leap after them, catching Gentle and making them collide into the construction site Gentle mentioned before. La Brava lands on a roof and tells an old man watching the kerfuffle that there’s nothing to worry about, they’re working on a project. She’s a really bad liar. La Brava runs to catch up, realizing they should probably bail asap.

 

Wow, what a goofball.

Izuku lands, remembering talking to Hatsume about what he wanted his gloves to do. She sums it up as he wants an item that focuses his blasts and keeps them from going wild. Which her glove does. I don’t think they explain it in the series, but the gloves seem to work thusly. When he gets his hands into a flicking position and focuses, a cone extends up and out from his wrist and encircles his hand, effectively turning his hand into something akin to Megaman’s cannon. The barrel shape focusing the air current so he’s not knocking everything around with his air pressure. Gentle, it seems, hit a support beam and got stuck. He claims it and Izuku are but minor delays. Izuku demands to know Gentle Criminal’s scheme. He rather bluntly states that, as he’s not affiliated with the League or interested in kidnapping, his only goal is to sneak onto campus, record it, and then post the video online. Oy, this guy. Izuku tells him that it won’t work, as the school is on high alert and all he’ll do is ruin the student’s day. Gentle thinks otherwise, believing La Brava will disable the security, allowing them to slip in and out without notice. No one will know it happened until after he uploads the video.

 

Izuku knows that’s a dumb, selfish plan and tells him so. He lies to Gentle, telling the criminal he called the cops already, but Gentle doesn’t buy it. He gets off the beam and starts rocketing around the construction site, bouncing off his air trampolines and the steel beams that he makes super bouncy. Izuku can’t get a bead on him, as Gentle is really fast and can course correct on a moment’s notice on an air trampoline. La Brava runs up and says they should run. Gentle isn’t done yet, though. He slips out several bolts and then jumps up and down on the beam, making it extra elastic. He tells Izuku that he can’t turn off his powers effect once it’s begun, that the effect can only wear off on its own. And, while the beam is super bouncy in that time, it’s mass is unaffected, so it’s a heavy f-ing beam that will bounce for a while. Can you imagine the damage that could cause? He asks, menacingly. The beam drops, towards the old man from before watching from the street. Izuku rushes over and catches the beam before it can drop. He calls Gentle out on almost trying to kill the old man, but Gentle claims he would have knocked the beam out of the way himself if Izuku for some reason didn’t get there in time. The old man runs. He tells Izuku to sit tight and wait for rescue. He grabs a crane, makes it elastic and he and La Brava launch into the air.

 

It’s currently 8:45, and class 1A is prepping for their event. Jiro warns Bakugo to not freestyle during the performance, Uraraka and the others on the dance team do a costume check, and Todoroki and Aoyama prep for the disco ball stunt. Todoroki notes Izuku is still missing and how weird that is, but they’re too busy to stop and look for him.

 

If you want Izuku to master a skill, threaten his school.

Gentle announces that History will remember his name as he and La Brava fly toward the school. Izuku is able to hold the beam up with one arm, aim and fire an air bullet at Gentle, knocking him off course. Izuku is able to drop the now no-elastic beam and puts his game face on to stop Gentle. We’re shown that there’s only 69 minutes to the concert as the screen fades to black.

 

Okay, so I wonder if Horikoshi ever curses himself for making Yaoyorozu’s power so useful. Like, he had to contrive a LOT around her power to get Izuku to that hardware store in time to cross paths with Gentle. Yaoyorozu had to be asleep, Izuku had to be either too embarrassed or too earnest to ask for her help, she either had to not be asked or respect Izuku’s decision enough to not just say, “Hey, it’s cool, I can make rope!” Lot of contrivance. Then of course he had to make Gentle such a compulsive tea guy that he couldn’t not talk about it for a few minutes with Izuku, thus tipping him off. I roll my eyes at this. That said, I do enjoy the fight with Gentle and to see his powers in use. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for odd and unique powers. And Gentle’s elasticity does make for a hell of a power. He can make barriers, move at incredible speed and, for all intense and purpose, fly. Well, it’s really incredibly controlled jump and falls, but the result is more or less the same. I don’t agree with his methods, and his plan is, quite frankly, moronic, but his power is interesting. And seriously, this plan. So, you’re going to break into a heavy guarded high school… for bragging rights? That is just, so idiot. Never mind that if it gets out your girlfriend designed a key to their security system, that that sociopath Shigaraki or any other number of villains will want that shit, like, yesterday! She’ll be put in danger, and you, Gentle Criminal, will most assuredly be dead, but at least you got your bragging rights. Oy, my head. But, on a more positive note, gotta love Izuku’s new gloves. The Air bullets are going to be super useful in the future, and Hatsume never fails to make… memorable tech. I was going to say useful, but then remembered that like 90% of her items explode. Memorable yes, useful not really. The battle between Izuku and Gentle will ramp up next time, hope to see you there. Have a good night, everybody.

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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero

Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 83

 Eri comes to visit, Izuku trains his new skill, and a posh git plans to wreck everyone's fun. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku’s class ironed out their concert plans. They break their class down into three teams, the Band, the Effects and Dance Teams. Izuku ends up in the last group. Izuku also meets up with All Might and reveals his power increase and revealed his frustration at how it really didn’t help against Overhaul. All Might helped Izuku work out that he needs to develop his own long ranged attack. Combining some of his previous lessons, he begins trying to master using a focused 20% of OFA into a wind pressure flick. Finally, criminal YouTuber with delusions of Robin Hood status Gentle Criminal and his assistant/#1 fan/girlfriend La Brava begins to work on a scheme to sneak onto UA High’s grounds during the school festival. The fiend! That’s enough recap, let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Why you gotta ruin Eri's entrance with your butt,
Togata?

We open on the first Saturday that class 1A began working on their performance. The Band team are “encouraged” by Bakugo to “murder them with music!” Dude is so high strung, seriously. The Effects Team are working on ideas to make the concert as visually pleasing as auditorily. The Dance Team are practicing their routine. Izuku specifically is called out for being a stiff dancer. The kid has no rhythm, what are you going to do? Togata comes on them practicing, and plans to surprise everyone with a prank. An idea immediately ruined by Izuku noticing him. He tries to do a joke about showing his ass to them while introducing Eri, saying he brought a real peach to see them. I don’t get it, even slightly. Whatever, Aizawa joins them and reveals he got permission from Nezu to bring her. In a flashback, we learn the principle is for the idea but also wanted them to bring Eri through early to familiarize her with the school and to hopefully decrease the odds of something horrible happening. Hence why she’s here a month early. Some of the kids come up to Eri to say hi, but she’s real shy… for fairly understandable reasons. She does the cute “shy child hides behind an older family member’s leg” thing with Togata’s leg. Togata asks if Izuku would want to join them showing Eri around the school. He does and the rest of his class decide to take a break.

 

They show Eri around the campus. On the way, they run into some of Togata’s classmates that ask if his time off was to be with his secret kid. How fast do these teenagers think kids grow? Whatever. Their class is putting on a lecture and give both students a flyer. As they walk, they run into a few members of 1B carrying a dragon skull puppet. Eri is a little surprised but says she thought it was Ryukyu, the dragon hero she’d met earlier. Monoma comes up and does his usual prick routine. He tells Izuku that his class’s concert won’t match 1B’s play. It’s the “completely original” story, Romeo and Juliet and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Return of the King. Huh, they really just threw names into a hat to come up with that title, didn’t they? He keeps being a prick, right up until his classmate Awase (he’s the kid that welded the tracker to the Noumu during the League of Villain’s attack on their camp) knocks him out with a stick. They apologize, pointing out he’s a lot worse without Kendo to discipline him. Awase reveals she’s not around because she’s prepping to be part of the beauty pageant.

 

We then learn that Hado is also going to be in the beauty pageant and go to catch up with her, and Amajiki who seems to be part of her prep team. She’s super psyched to be part of the pageant again and wants to win this year, unlike the last two. Turns out she loses every year to a Support Course student named Bibimi Kenranzaki. Amajiki starts getting queasy at the thought of performing on stage like Hado will. Hado is super jazzed about it, though, which is nice.

 

It's always delightful when this mad (crazy) scientist
shows up.

We then cut over to the Support course’s workshop. Turns out all three years are working together on a big group project. Hatsume suddenly appears behind Izuku and explains that this is the highlight of the year for the support course. Some of them, specifically her, got to show off their gear a little during the Sports festival, but the School festival is their time to shine. She shows off baby #202, a big Crimson Dynamo armor. … It’s an Iron Man reference, its an alias several large Russians used for their much larger powered armor. Read a comic! Hatsume then asks Izuku how his soles are working out and offers to make him more stuff when he needs when she has the time. He thanks her and agrees, just as 202 starts on fire. Apparently, this is pretty normal for her tech, as only one student freaks out and another calmly asks where they put the fire extinguisher. Eri looks pensive as they flee the workshop, which is weird to say about a six-year-old.

 

They take Eri to lunch. When asked, she says that she’s not sure about the school, but seeing everyone working so hard on their projects makes her want to see the finished product. A sentiment that Midnight and Principle Nezu wholeheartedly agree with. After downing his immense wedge of cheese lunch, Nezu says aloud that he knew bringing Eri in would be a good call. He agrees with her that he loves seeing the students working hard and seeing the finished projects. Midnight muses that she wishes that they could get the police to understand. Nezu hushes her up, and gets up to leave. He as a flashback to the chief of police telling him to cancel the festival. They think that the villains growing bolder and the strikes to the heroes confidence makes UA a big target and if anything happens to the school it could break the heroes. Nezu thinks that its that very feeling of doom and gloom that makes it 100% necessary to do the festival. Give the kids a glimmer of hope and all that. He obviously won out, but it’s implied to be a close thing.

 

Once he’s gone, Midnight goes into a few more details, saying the school is going to be on an incredibly tight leash. If an alarm goes off, even a false one, they’ll have to shut the whole thing down. But she says the students shouldn’t worry too much, as the defenses have been beefed up substantially, and they even left Hound Dog off his leash to patrol the grounds. No, I don’t know if the leash is metaphorical or literal. She tells Izuku that his class’s concert idea is the talk of the teachers lounge and encourages him to make it, “pleasurable.” Midnight, you are a teacher and there is a child right there! Jeeze, this woman. Eri asks about the concert, and Izuku explains the idea, saying he’ll be dancing with his class in order to make her and everyone who sees it happy. Speaking of, he has to head back. Togata gives him some encouraging words and he heads out.

Ashido... why were the sunglasses necessary?

 

Then, the following week, Izuku is fired. I don’t know why Ashido decided to wear a suit and shades to tell him that. She’s an odd girl. Ashido decides that was too harsh and explains. It’s more like he’s being forced to transfer. The Effects Team thought up a plan to make Aoyama fly around the gym, lighting up the area and spread out the wow factor of his living disco ball act. The issue is the gym isn’t set up with pulleys or anything to make that work, so they’re basically begging superhumanly strong Izuku to carry Aoyama around manually to make this work. While a little disappointed that he won’t be dancing with the main crew for Eri, he decides that so long as he’s dancing while helping Aoyama, he didn’t lie to Eri, so agrees.

 

Been a while since Izuku hurt his fingers like this.
Glad they're not actually broken.

Izuku mentions that practice for the concert eats up much of his time moving forward, but he still makes time to practice his new move with All Might. He’s getting better at his air pressure flicks, but it’s not steady progress just yet. He’s having trouble firing while moving or consecutively. But progress is progress. He asks All Might if there’s a trick to it, but All Might doesn’t know. They’re once again having issues as All Might had more or less perfect control of OFA right away. It’s hard to explain how to handle problems one never had, ya feel me? He just reminds Izuku of their visualization exercise of the egg in the microwave.

 

Their practice is interrupted by All Might catching a flying drone of some kind. Hatsume runs up, explaining her flying eye baby went rogue. Izuku is initially worried about Hatsume seeing him with All Might, but like most things, Hatsume doesn’t seem to pay enough attention to everything around her to get that that IS weird. She does focus on Izuku and tells him that she’s working on his commission idea. Izuku is surprised by this as she said she wouldn’t be able to finish it until after the festival, but she had a spare baby that was on the track of his idea. Having something to work off of speeds up her process significantly, it seems. Hatsume runs off after her baby flies away again. Once alone, Izuku explains that he commissioned an item for Hatsume to help him with his flicks. All Might says that that’s a good idea, as items can be useful. Even the one he used to use. Izuku fanboys out a little when he hears All Might had a support item at one point, then gets a little depressed he didn’t know about it before. Apparently, his item was a battle suit that would have helped him were he a distance guy. But since he fights up close, he kept breaking it. All Might warns Izuku that, while an item can be helpful, he shouldn’t grow dependent on them. Lots of good heroes get screwed when the item they depend on is ruined.

 

That night, Yaoyorozu compliments Jiro’s ability to teach music. She’s apparently gotten Kaminari to an acceptable play level in just a few days. She seems to be proud of the compliment but downplays it. She turns her attention to Yaoyorozu’s tea. Apparently, Mama Yaoyorozu sent her a special rare tea called Gold Tips Imperial. She eagerly wants to share it with everyone.

 

Uraraka goes to see if Izuku wants any tea, but he’s distracted by shaming himself about not knowing about All Might using an item. Thank God this kid has hero work to distract him from his obsessive hobby, all I’m saying. He’s scrolling through YouTube to see if he can find a video of All Might’s item in use. He accidentally hits one of Gentle Criminal’s videos and he and Uraraka watch. It’s a short video showing Gentle’s completely tea-soaked cup. He talks about the tea he’s drinking, Royal Flush and how fancy it is. He closes by saying his next video will be an alarm. Which is cryptic and weird. Izuku mentions that he has heard of Gentle, a minor criminal that posts videos online, and that it’s weird that he’s been operating for so long but has yet to be caught. He wonders what he’s planning.

 

Wow, the ink well and quill make him seem even
more pretentious.

We cut to Gentle and La Brava at their apartment. Gentle is writing out his plan at his desk with a feather quill of all things. La Brava makes him some tea while he muses about the state of the world. Namely that heroes are losing face in the public eye and that the seem unable to handle complications to their day-to-day work. If they knew they knew they were in a crisis, they’d never dare to put on this festival. La Brava admits she’s not super okay with putting kids at risk. Gentle laughs it off, believing that him breaking into the school will be a wake-up call to the hero society and will ultimately make the students stronger. God, he’s an egocentric idiot.

 

He suggests they go over the plan. After a minor tech glitch, he explains. They’ll spend the better part of an hour walking backstreets and alleys and through a park to get as close to UA as they can. La Brava asks why they don’t fly in with his quirk, but he dismisses that idea as heroes patrol the skies. They’ll stop after about an hour at a local small café beside a hardware store for Gentle Criminal’s customary pre-mission tea break. He believes that the owners advanced age and small pool of customers will mitigate any risk of him indulging his habit before the mission. I’d point out that it’s that small customer base that would note an unknown weirdo and his tiny girlfriend at the store as unusual, but what do I know? He really wants to stop and take a 90-minute break at the shop because it serves Gold Tips Imperial, which he thinks is a sign of good fortune. La Brava points out this is way more research than he normally does before he continues. They’ll pass through a construction site and then climb through the forested mountain on the backside of UA to the main buildings. They’ll have to rub dirt and leaves on their bodies to avoid Hound Dog’s nose, but he doesn’t seem too concerned about that. Then, La Brava will use her hacking skills to break through the UA Barriers and they’ll be in. Gentle thanks La Brava for all her hard work.

 

This is kinda sweet and kinda sad too.

We get some of their backstory. Namely, before meeting her, he’d really just barely figured out how to post his videos online and was getting less than 60 views in a month. She appeared on his doorstep, with a massive backpack of her things. She was his original, only fan and had hacked hi IP address to find him. Since then, her efforts have caused his viewership to spike and now he’s on the path upward. He says he’ll be betting his soul and prize-winning mustache on this scheme, as well as her devoted love. La Brava hug tackles him to the ground, and he swears that no matter what, they will succeed. Kind of a sweet but sinister image to end on.

 

Okay, this is the last bit of set up before we begin the showdown between Izuku and Gentle. I liked seeing Izuku and Togata showing Eri around the school. It’s kind of a bonding moment that they can have with her, and Eri is just so damn cute with her shy attitude but curious nature. I get why he and Togata are trying so hard to help her smile again. I thought that the way Izuku got the info about the school’s dilemma was a bit clunky. Yeah, he needs to know about the heightened security and not-even-a-false-alarm is allowed policy, but having Midnight just spell it out to two students was a bit odd. I loved seeing more Hatsume. She’s got great energy about her, and when you do see her, you just know someone is getting an upgrade. Izuku’s new gloves are going to be lit. Now, to Gentle and La Brava. They’re still not my favorite villains of the series, but I do like hearing about their backstory a little. I stand by that they’re a slightly less dysfunctional Joker and Harley, with Gentle being very depended on La Brava’s work to function day to day, and La Brava being so in love with him that she’ll do anything he asks with few questions. They don’t ever explicitly say that they’re a thing, but, like, they’re a thing. I know where the story is going, and know there’s more to Gentle than his ego and glory seeking would have you believe, but I wish Horikoshi had telegraphed it a bit more smoothly. We just know that he’s been doing the criminal rogue thing for a while, he likes tea, and he’s tech inept. I’d have just liked a hint about his rather heavy backstory that’ll be coming up in a few episodes. All I’m saying. Now, we’ve had a fair amount of build up to this one, who is ready to see Izuku Midoriya face off against Gentle Criminal? I am, as it’s fairly interesting fight. I’ll see you then. Have a good night!

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