Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 95

 Iida races forward. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, round 2’s battle intensified. Using the reality warping powers of Manga Fukidashi (he says words and sounds that manipulate the environment around him), Yaoyorozu was cut off from her team and forced into a brawl with the physically more powerful Kendo. She fought valiantly against Kendo’s huge hands but was at a stark disadvantage. She ultimately chose to sacrifice herself to lob a bang of provisions she created for her team and tried to take Kendo out with her by tangling them both in ropes. Aoyama was captured but using the Thermal vision goggles and anti-fungal spray that Yaoyorozu made, Tokoyami and Hagakure almost etched out a win, but Tokoyami was beaten by a lung fungus Komori released and Kendo was able to drag herself, Yaoyorozu and a damned Cannon and grabbed Hagakure in her huge hands. So its 1:1 on the 1A vs. 1B matches. Onto round 3. Let’s get to it.

 

Yayor-sad-u.

We open with Komori offering Tokoyami cough drops for his throat and advice to see Recovery Girl when he rejects it. Yaoyorozu is carried to Recovery Girl via the robot helpers, who have a pair of funny quotes. “Humans can’t get stronger without training? What inefficient beings.” “Why must we carry the injured? Rescue protocol needs reform.” Shinzo notes that the destruction of the training field was a lot more severe than in the first match. Aizawa warns him that this is just what hero training is like but does point out that they went a little overboard. Vlad King seems to agree and advises Kendo and Fukidashi to be more mindful of their surroundings and limit damage next time. Insurance premiums in a world of heroes must be through the roof already. The teachers agree to have their students take a bit of a break and to shift locations to another area following that match.

 

That dick Monoma is mean spiritedly mocking class 1A for the decisive victory his class took, which I mean, come on, bro, it can’t actually be fun to be such a colossal asshole, right? Kendo walks up and knocks him out again. Mineta says he’s a broken record that should be set on fire and it’s weird to find myself agreeing with the little purple bastard. The students mingle a little during their break. Uraraka notes that Izuku is taking a lot of notes and points out that he’s grown quite a bit too when he compliments everyone else’s growth. All Might comes up and gets Izuku’s attention. Mineta notes that Izuku spends a lot of time with All Might. Uraraka says that she thinks he’s getting a lot of extra help from All Might outside of class. Ashido good naturedly ribs her friend about having information on Izuku’s schedule due to her obvious to everyone except Izuku crush. Uraraka once again denies it and accidentally sends Ashido floating skyward when she does. She doesn’t mind too much though, as she starts spinning in the air and tells them to “Clock this breakdown.” It is fun to see a character constantly making lemonade from lemons.

 

Bakugo has a point...

All Might asks his protégé if he’s noticed anything strange since his vision last night. Izuku hasn’t. He’s planning on asking Gran Torino if he has any more knowledge on the subject. He warns Izuku to be careful in his match, just incase Shinzo somehow triggers a vision again like in the Sports Festival. Bakugo cuts in, pointing out to them that they’re being stupid with how obvious their secret meeting is. He asks if something happened, and Izuku spills the beans because he wants additional insight. Bakugo just tells him to master One For All and stop sucking, which is a very Bakugo thing to say. All Might muses about Izuku facing off against the one who triggered his visions again and asks the memory of his master for Guidance.

 

In the nurse office, Recovery girl looks in on Yaoyorozu. She’s recovering quickly. The break ends and the students prep for round three. Round three is Todoroki (Fire and Ice elemental), Ojiro (Big tail), Shoji (Tentacle arms he can grow additional sensory organs on) and Iida (superspeed) vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu (Metal Shifter), Pony Tsunotori (Launchable horns), Sen Kaibara (can rotate any part of his body like a drill) and Juzo Honenuki (Softens any unliving material he touches).

 

It's a good group.

Izuku thinks that the team ended up extremely well balanced, as Todoroki has range, Ojiro and Iida have close combat skills and Shoji is a recon specialist. Minta thinks it’ll be an easy win given they have Todoroki, but Ashido is less confident. Tokoyami pulled Todoroki aside and says that he performed shamefully and wants Todoroki to make it up for him. Why? Because they both trained under the top two heroes, so they need to carry that legacy. Todoroki still, understandably, has a lot of baggage regarding his dad. He flashes back to training with Endeavor as a child where his father “trained” him. In a more psychotic rant than normal, Endeavor demanded that his young son stop acting weak, that he needed to be more like Toya. Toya, in case you forgot, is Shoto Todoroki’s eldest brother who died under here to for unrevealed circumstances. Endeavor praises his late son’s power, saying Toya had greater fire power than him, but was cursed with his mother’s weak constitution. He tells Todoroki to perfect a move that he’d been showing him. Iida pulls him out of his flashback and the team get ready for their fight. They note that Iida is extremely chipper right now, and he reveals it’s because his older brother Tensei is recovering nicely. In case you forgot, Tensei Iida was a pro hero codenamed Ingenium, but was attacked and severely wounded by the Hero Killer Stain during the sports festival. Iida says that he also gets having a hero legacy as a subtle hint to Todoroki that he knows what he’s going through. Subtle to the characters, anyway, who might not know what Todoroki is going through, not to us.

 

Tetsutetsu is annoyed with 1B’s situation for this match. Their team is combat focused without any scouts. Kind of a terrible place to be in when the other team has a recon expert like Shoji. Tetsutetsu starts smashing things to “level the playing field,” extremely ironic as he was also just whining about being stereotyped as a meathead brawler. Vlad, sighing, thinks that maybe he needs to just start shouting directly into Tetsutetsu’s face.

 

1A sees the rampaging from their position. Kaibara tells him to calm down as the other team has Todoroki, but Tetsutetsu isn’t listening. Honenuki is chill about it, which just annoys Kaibara further. Shoji deduces that Tetsutetsu is breaking things, and they decide to face 1B head on.

 

Meanwhile, we see a villain riding down the highway on a bunch of hand and feet-based rollers. He’s lead directly to Endeavor who makes the guy turn tail and run. He sees some kids and intends to grab a hostage, but Endeavor grabs him. He gets the villain to surrender. Endeavor gets complimented for leading the villain to the harbor. The kids thank Endeavor for what he did, despite being scared, and run off happily after thanking him. Endeavor’s sidekicks let him know another hero wants to team with him, to which Endeavor makes non-comital noises at. He’s much more focused on the fact he finally has Shoto’s contact information. … Bro… you pay for the phone, why did you need Fuyumi’s help to get it? He's been trying to get in contact with Shoto to tell him something important, but his youngest is ignoring his texts. He also remembers the training session where he told Shoto to stop pretending to be weak. He says he wants to teach Todoroki “that” technique, this time the right way, but his son is obviously ignoring him. His sidekicks, still watching, point out that Shoto is in class, implying that he might not be answering because of that. The other sidekick thinks the “SHOTO!” shouting is getting worse each day.

 

Ookie.

Shoto sneezes as they go for class 1B. That’s a Japanese superstition, if you sneeze, someone is gossiping about you. 1A split up and prepare. Tsunotori is yelling at Tetsutetsu for being an idiot, saying 1A won’t attack them if he’s making a racket like that, thinking it’s a trap. But Honenuki thinks that they will attack, and calls out their strategy, use Shoji to find them and then use Todoroki to ice blast them. Which he does, freezes Tetsutetsu in place. Iida and Ojiro are watching from a distance. Iida believes that with the ice as a coating over the ground, they should be able to work around Honenuki’s softening quirk, and he and Ojiro plan to take them all out in one go. He powers up a Recipro Burst and charges. Unfortunately, the ice turns to mush, as does most everything around them. Turns out, Honenuki has been training has allowed him to start effecting things other than the ground. Intermittent narrator Present Mic reveals that Honenuki was another of the students let into UA on recommendation, implying that he’s an impressively skilled student. Ojiro plans to fall back and try to counter later but gets stuck on a gooey pipe. Honenuki reveals he softened a bunch of random stuff around their area specifically to limit movement.

 

The students watching are impressed with Honenuki, as he either predicted the big ice attack well in advance or reacted super quickly.

 

Ojiro is facing off against Kaibara. Kaibara wears a sort of drill shaped finger coverings on his hands to make his spiraling punches have more oomph. He hits Ojiro’s tail and knocks him back. Iida tries to run to him but slips on a gooey pipe and sinks into softened ice. Honenuki lets him know the ground is softened too, and that he plans to leave Iida stuck in the muck since his power makes him so dangerous.

 

Izuku, watching, notes that 1B’s strategy of controlling the field effectively neutralizes their lack of scouts. Shinzo also points out that without ice, Todoroki is effectively working at half power, and that Dick Monoma thinks they’ve got another wash on their hands.

 

Todoroki notes that they’ve got him at a disadvantage by taking away his ice and dithers on whether he should leave Shoji on his own or not. The decision is taken from him as Tsunotori arrives and fires her horns at Shoji, knocking him back. She launches another two at Shoji to pin him, and then launches Tetsutetsu at them with another set. He tackles Todoroki. With his metal coating, he’s got a distinct advantage over Todoroki as he’s essentially heat and cold proof while shifted.

 

Kirishima is impressed his opposite number is doing what Aizawa told him to do after his match, force a one on one brawl, but Kaminari doubts he’s thinking that hard. He deduces that Honenuki is calling the shots.

 

Recipro Turbo looks so damn cool.

After getting a shot of all the fights in progress, Ojiro vs. Kaibara, Tsunotori vs. Shoji, and Todoroki vs. Tetsutetsu, we jump back to Iida and Honenuki. Honenuki is leaving Iida to be stuck in now solidified ice, his power lets him turn off his softening effect too, to help Tetsutetsu. He notes that Iida’s Recipro Burst has a time limit and points out that it’s kind of dumb to use that sort of technique early. Iida says that the time limit was from a long time ago. He breaks free of the ice, revealing that he’s improved from classic Recipro Burst to Recipro Turbo! He charges at Honenuki. As he does, he remembers seeing Tensei, who complimented Iida on getting his provisional license. He and mama Iida tell him of a way to improve his speed as a sort of “congrats.” He just has got to pull out the mufflers that grow from his calves. It hurts like hell, but his body regrows new mufflers with a higher capacity. Iida did just that, so now he can use his power continually at max speed for ten minutes. He announces that “For Ten minutes, nobody can stop me!” as he charges.

 

Okay, this is what I was more hoping for with the last match. 1A is on the defensive here, but it’s not so one sided that it feels like it’ll be a blow out if they lose. I liked the reveal that Honenuki is the one leading this team. He’s been a visually distinctive background character up to this point, he’s the student with exposed teeth in a somewhat rictus grin, but he hasn’t done much up until this point. Seeing how he seemed to work 1A into a corner single handedly was impressive as hell. It is also nice to see Iida’s growth. He was obviously sidelined for a while during the last arc, so it’s good to know he took the time off to improve. The bit where he breaks free of the ice is just a rockstar moment. Seeing Todoroki continue to process his relationship with his father is also interesting. The flashback was a nice touch to imply there’s a be-all-end-all fire skill that Todoroki is aware of but never got a handle on. And to further drive home that his brother’s death messed up Endeavor. Like, obviously he wasn’t “right” before, but vocally lamenting his son’s death and the wasted potential is even more so. Try to remember what he said about Toya having his and Shoto’s mother’s weak constitution. That’ll be important later. Shoji and Ojiro are… there, but obviously they don’t have such big emotional hurdles to get over like their two teammates, so there’s less to talk about. They’re in a tight spot, but things aren’t completely bleak now that Iida has unleashed the beast. I’m looking forward to this match’s conclusion. See you later. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 94

 Mushrooms, mushrooms and more mushrooms.

Last time on My Hero Academia, after the Round-One contestants got evaluated by their professors, it was onto round 2. Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Tokoyami, and Aoyama were brought in to fight Kendo, Komori, Fukidashi, and Kuroiro of class 1B. Kuroiro, a fellow dark warrior, (literally his skin, eyes and clothes are all coal black) lead the charge against class 1A, seemingly targeting Tokoyami. This was, as it turned out, a misdirection so he could go after his real target, Aoyama. He grabbed the sparkly bugger and tried to run off, but he was chased by Tokoyami. Tokoyami was able to follow Kuroiro thanks to him learning how to use Dark Shadow to fly after him and catch Aoyama. Class 1A has Kuroiro cornered when Yaoyorozu and Hagakure both start sprouting… mushrooms? Oh my. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

My nightmare.

We begin the episode proper with 1A cornering Kuroiro, only for mushrooms to start sprouting everywhere. Mushrooms literally pop up all over everything, including Yaoyorozu and Hagakure. It’s weird seeing her silhouette after nearly a hundred episodes of her being a pair of gloves and boots outside of the classroom. Komori lists off the scientific names of all the mushrooms she is growing, while spraying the air with a pair of spray bottles. As she walks, you can see the light dusting of mushroom spores coming off her. Intermittent Present Mic Narration pops in to explain that her Quirk is called Mushroom, that she releases spores and can make mushrooms grow instantly, and that her powers are stronger in high humidity. Hence why she’s just kind of spraying the air.

 

With the audience, Mineta is a bit freaked out by seeing fungus grown out of people. He compares it to a horror movie. I’m included to agree. But a 1B student explains that the mushrooms Komori creates vanish in a few hours, so there won’t be any lingering effects to having toadstools growing out of people. The mushrooms get so bad that the camera is covered.

 

As Hagakure and Yaoyorozu try to brush off mushrooms, Kuroiro (who is hiding in a black mushroom) flashes back to the planning stage. Kendo explained Plan A of having Kuroiro hijacking Dark Shadow. When Kuroiro points out that when they catch on, he’ll be by himself and vulnerable, Kendo brings up using the very light they’re using against him as a signal for them to step in. He slips away.

 

Certainly a distinctive power.

Yaoyorozu is impressed by Kendo’s multilayer attack, just as they hear Fukidashi’s voice shouting a “boom, crash, kapow” and so on. When that happens, giant kanji in the shape of those words erupt from the ground, scattering the students. This is Fukidashi’s quirk, Comic, he can make sound effects and onomatopoeia materialize as solid words. Imagine watching the 60s Batman, when Batman or Robin hit someone, and “POW” appeared on the screen. Now imagine if the word POW was just… there. His power in a nutshell. Certain words can affect the environment in other ways, as he shows in just a sec. He shouts a few more words and completely separates Hagakure and Yaoyorozu. When Hagakure is by herself, she sees “Damp” written in the air, and the air becomes damper, causing the mushrooms to grow faster. Damn, that’s a weird power.

 

Mushrooms have grown over everyone. Vlad King makes more biased remarks about how much his kids rock and class 1A sucks. The other students are impressed by 1B’s tactics, and Sato asks the important question: If they all go overseas, would Fukidashi need a translator? Uraraka and Izuku note that the word wall had separated Yaoyorozu from everyone else.

 

I would never feel clean again after this.

Kendo attacks Yaoyorozu, noting that she’d cut off “the brain” of the team so now she just needs to beat it up. Her huge hands pack a lot of power, crumpling the tungsten shield Yaoyorozu creates reflexively to protect herself. She charges Yaoyorozu again, planning to not give her time to think. Yaoyorozu keeps throwing up shields, with Kendo overwhelming her. She got this plan from the sports festival, somewhat ironic given that Yaoyorozu was fighting Tokoyami at the time and plans to just keep wailing on Yaoyorozu relentlessly.

 

Back in the stands, Tetsutetsu praises Kendo for her planning ability. He is impressed with Kendo coming up with a situation that gives her such an advantage. Todoroki isn’t so sure that this’ll be the wash that Kendo is hoping for, though. He claims that, if they did all of this for fear of Yaoyorozu’s planning ability, they might have misjudged her. He remembers working with her during the end of the end of semester exam, and how she quickly came up with a plan that let them win against Aizawa. He thinks that this situation is well within her ability to predict, so they might have wanted to try to disrupt her plan earlier.

 

Kendo, who’d been wailing on Yaoyorozu the whole time, throws the shield back, only to see Yaoyorozu counterattack… she grew a cannon. She needed time to make something so big, hence why she let herself get hit so much.

 

Meanwhile, Tokoyami and Aoyama are still flying about. They’d lost sight of Hagakure and were considering going back to find Yaoyorozu, when Kuroiro attacks again. He grabs Aoyama and slides off down a line of black mushrooms. Tokoyami flies after, but a combination of Mushrooms and word barriers cause him to crash. Thankfully, Fukidashi’s getting a bit hoarse, so perhaps his power is waning. He runs into Hagakure, who is now totally visible because she’s so covered in mushrooms. He tries to help her get some of those off and laments the predicament they’re in. He knows that they’ll need to find all three to clench victory and how tall an order that is.

 

Yaoyorozu aims her big cannon at Kendo. The spectators think that maybe Yaoyorozu lost her mind, threatening a student with that BFC, but Izuku in the stands, and a second later Kendo in the fight realize what is happening. Yaoyorozu is in actuality going to use the cannon to punch a hole in the wall, she just threatened Kendo to give herself a chance to aim. Kendo rushes the cannon, Yaoyorozu just barely getting it out of the way of her huge fists. She swings around for another attack but Yaoyorozu fires, not hitting the wall, but lobbing something over it. She also creates something that goes off in her and Kendo’s faces.

 

Tokoyami sees the bag that Yaoyorozu fired flying over the wall. He flies Hagakure up and they catch the bag. It’s labeled Yaoyorozu’s Lucky Bag.

 

Komori and Kuroiro link up, Kuroiro reporting he’d captured Aoyama and put him in their cell. Komori congradulates him, and she goes back to growing mushroom. Kuroiro notes “something” coming at them. It turns out to be Tokoyami flying in while wearing thermal imaging goggles. “When I stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at me!” Dude really needs to write some death metal songs, damn. He remembers going through the bag with Hagakure, it was filled with the goggles and anti-fungal spray. He wonders if this was Yaoyorozu’s backup plan the whole time and is impressed with her ability to communicate what they should do without saying a word. Fukidashi sees him as he flies by, confused about him moving straight at his team. Its at that moment that Hagakure reveals herself, having become truly invisible again after disinfecting herself, and noting that 1B must have done the same thing to protect themselves from the mushrooms. She decks him, and then starts wailing on him. You go, invisible girl.

 

Tokoyami closes in, overlaying himself in Dark Shadow in his Black Abyss: Sabbath technique. He hits them hard, Kuroiro prepares to escape, but Tokoyami throws his cloak at him. Once in the cloak, separate from the ground and other dark patches, he’s trapped. Neat. Dark Shadow also grabbed Komori.  He tries to order Dark Shadow to drop them off into the cell, but Tokoyami starts violently coughing. Turns out, Komori had an ace up her sleeve, a lung fungus.

 

Waa waa waaaaahhhhhh.

Hagakure is holding off Fukidashi, but unfortunately, Kendo arrives and grabs her. Turns out, Yaoyorozu’s final gambit was to tie Kendo up in ropes attached to her and keep herself attached to the cannon to try to slow her down. Obviously, it slowed but didn’t stop her. With Hagakure captured, and Tokoyami coughing violently, class 1B is declared the winner. Everyone watching is impressed with the fight, Todoroki and Izuku hoping that Yaoyorozu not get too discouraged by this as they did come really close to winning. The episode ends with Vlad gushing at his student’s victory and 1A again protesting his biased commentary.

 

A solid fight episode, although I’m a little disappointed by the result. We got to see incredibly unique combination of powers on display, with Fukidashi throwing words around and shaking up the whole battlefield and Komori spreading fungi around the area to slow and distract 1A. The focus of the episode was Yaoyorozu vs. Kendo, both the actual physical altercation as well as their abilities as leaders. Kendo had a leg up with her initial strategy, but I do have to give the win to Yaoyorozu for thinking on her feet. Her biggest flaw seemed to be hesitating on implementing her plan early yet again. Had she handed out the thermal goggles and anti-fungal just a bit faster, they might have beaten 1B. Hell, if she’d tried tying up Kendo, or blinding her with a flashbang, she might have had more time to work with and reorganize her team. Honestly, I think what bugs me about the 4-0 loss is that a huge part of Yaoyorozu’s character development has been devoted to the inferiority complex that she has developed from her early losses, so she ends up losing again? Just seemed… mean. They could have at least grabbed Fukidashi or Kuroiro but still end up losing to Komori. Giving her the lung fungus was pretty much an auto win for them, they could have lost one guy, so it wasn’t a blowout. All I’m saying. So yeah, a fine episode, but a bit annoying to me personally. Next time, round 3, see you then. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 93

It's goth kid vs. goth kid in rough 2. 

 Last time on My Hero Academia, the first round of the 1A v 1B continued. Class 1A took two losses early on, with Kirishima and Koda both being captured, but the remaining members Tsu, Kaminari, and Shinzo got one in return. They used Tsu’s acidic mucus to hide their scent from the beast Shishida, and then Shinzo’s new voice mimicking device to disable Shiozaki the vine manipulator. They ultimately defeat Shishida by confusing him with his teammate’s mimicked voice, and Tsu using said teammate as a flail with her tongue to knock him out. High fives all around. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Chewing out in progress.

We open with each the students giving Aizawa an assessment of how they did. Kirishima learned that he needs to get better at brawling, Shishida’s superior strength overwhelmed him and left his Quirk kind of useless. Koda thinks he needs to be able to give more detailed instructions to the animals he speaks with. Kaminari is kind of high on winning, and so doesn’t contribute to the discussion. Tsu laments losing two members early. Shinzo is frustrated that he didn’t do enough with the binding cloth. Aizawa tells him specifically not to sweat it too much, as the scarf is a difficult tool to master. Aoyama notes that the work study students, Kirishima and Tsu, had the best assessment of what happened. Sero points out that makes sense what with the whole deadly raid on the Shia Hassaikai they were apart. Jiro chuckles at Kaminari being an idiot. Aizawa tells Kirishima to focus on forcing opponents to brawl with him, that Koda does need to learn to give better commands, Kaminari needs to work on being serios from the start, and Tsu needs to focus on recovering from a mistake and not wallow in the mistake itself. He dismisses them.

 

Shinzo remembered being captured and begins toying with his scarf. Midnight, who is watching with All Might, compliments him on already going over what went wrong with the match in his head and thinking of how to improve. Damn, she must be psychic, because he just looks like he’s moving the cloth around to me.

 

Vlad chastises his students for not having a better strategy and not having a true “focal” point to their strategy. Basically, according to Vlad, they should have built a strategy around either Shishida’s strength and tracking ability or Shiozaki’s vines, not both. That dick Monoma was impressed with Shinzo’s fighting and is looking forward to working with him. He tries to get Shinzo on his 1A hate train. Izuku and his team and the others get together to try to strategize. Jiro, Sero and Sato want to strategize too, but Bakugo’s big advice is to tell them to stay out of his way. Team captain material, right there. Izuku and Uraraka want to focus on taking out Shinzo while Ashido shouts out combo attack ideas, Iida’s team settle on using Shoji for recon, and Bakugo angrily shouts the other team is dead. Bakugo, find ways to vent your anger better, buddy. As the students converse, a robot rolls in and advices injured students to see the nurse because, direct quote, “Humans are inferior beings whose parts can’t be replaced.” Midnight is super “jazzed” by the strategizing and passes out. All Might notes that it’s nearing the end of the year and he’s impressed by all his student’s growth. Izuku specifically, but everyone has impressed him of late.  All Might tells the other teachers that Shinzo is impressive and that the fact he was frustrated with the loss first and foremost was a good sign. Aizawa points out that if Shinzo does well, he might be able to transfer, so thinks his next match will be even more impressive. Vlad calls the students for the next match.

 

This round will be Yaoyorozu (creates objects), Tokoyami (Dark Shadow), Hagakure (Invisibility/Light refraction) and Aoyama (Naval Laser) vs. Itsuka Kendo (increase the size of her hands), Kinoko Komori (Fungus manipulation), Manga Fukidashi (Onomatopoeia manipulation, will explain more later), and Shihai Kuroiro (merge with dark surfaces).

 

Issuing challenges is totally normal for hero high 
school, right?

As they walk to the field, Kendo asks why Yaoyorozu why she wasn’t in the beauty pageant during the cultural festival. Yaoyorozu pleaded ignorance of the event, and also says that with band practice she couldn’t have made it work anyway. Kendo mentions that after working together for their internship and being in a commercial together, she feels like people have been sort of lumping them together as similar heroes. Yaoyorozu doesn’t get it at first but Hagakure compares it to people assuming that idols in the same group have similar personalities. Todoroki scoffs at the dangerous practice of "idolatry,” and that creepy guy Kuroiro smiles creepily. Kendo says that she wants to be her own kind of hero so she’s going to gun for her specifically. Kuroiro issues a similar challenge to Tokoyami, saying they are “brothers in the shadow.”

 

Vlad tells his students to rip 1A to pieces, and a group of 1A students led by Ashidoe hold up signs protesting the biased commentary.

 

Sero, speaking with Tetsutetsu, points out that Kendo seems like she’s kind of big deal to class 1B, which Tetsutetsu loudly agrees with. This sparks a quick clip of her using her powers to help fight the League of Villain’s Mustard during the summer training arc and knocking out Monoma. Tetsutetsu gives her credit for the fact class 1B HASN’T killed Monoma yet.

 

Yaoyorozu and her team start recon, with Tokoyami sending Dark Shadow to search. His sentient shadow quickly stretches out and swerve about until he finds them. He attacks them as soon as he sends a signal to Tokoyami that he’d found them. 1B scatter, with Kuroiro leaping into the shadow of some pipes, going around to another pipe shadow and dive at Dark Shadow’s back. Dark Shadow returns to 1A, but instantly starts attacking Tokoyami. It takes the students to realize that somehow Kuroiro got inside Dark Shadow and is manipulating him. Dark Shadow corners Aoyama, but Hagakure uses her light refraction attack to hit Dark Shadow with a blast of light, weakening Dark Shadow enough that it had to return to Tokoyami’s body, and expel Kuroiro. Yaoyorozu tries to catch him with nets, but he passes into another shadow and slips away. Kuroiro swears to defeat Tokoyami. Tokoyami throws off his cloak and announces that he’ll use this rivalry to show off a skill he learned during his work study with Hawks.

 

He can Fly! Which, given his head, makes sense
but still, he can fly!

We flashback to Tokoyami’s internship just after the Sports Festival. Hawks single handedly takes out a diamond thief, leaving him with his sidekicks to handle the paperwork of the arrest. Tokoyami tries to follow Hawks, running after his hero despite Hawk’s speed. He got frustrated with just running after Hawks. Hawks says that he can’t slow down and let things potentially get worse just to give Tokoyami practice. He asks why Hawks recruited him then if he wasn’t really going to let Tokoyami work. He explains that he wanted to speak with a 1A student about the League of Villains, and he decided to go with the top ranked student that was also bird themed. Tokoyami is… less than pleased to think he got such a prestigious internship because he has a crow’s head. Tokoyami gives Hawks the details of the USJ incident when asked and that makes him angrier. He’s “Not a messenger pigeon.” After his internship, Hagakure asks about his internship, and he plays it off as just “interesting.”

 

We then jump forward to his Work Study with Hawks a few weeks prior. Tokoyami shows off his new skill with Hawks, covering himself in his Dark Shadow and leaping after his boss. After they clock out for the day, Hawks invites Tokoyami out for a flight. He flies around town carrying Tokoyami under his arms. He admits that 20% of the reason that he brought Tokoyami back for the Work Study was the bird thing, 50% was for updates on League info, and 30% on a belief that he was wasting his potential. He thinks that while training up his short-range combat skills is good, he should work more on flexibility. He believes that those who CAN fly SHOULD fly.

 

In the present, Kuroiro starts moving through the shadows, trying to disorientate his opponents. Tokoyami thinks that Kuroiro is going to go after him. Kuroiro reveals that no, in fact, he is not. He specifically told Tokoyami he was his ‘rival’ to make him think that. He claims misdirection is the key to the designs of the “Scheming Hero: Vantadark.” He rockets around and attacks Aoyama. He grabs him by the cape and pulls him along the pipes. He believes that with the pipes giving him shadows to move through and Dark Shadow being limited to Tokoyami’s general area, that they won’t be able to save Aoyama. That’s when Tokoyami shows off his new technique, Dark Fallen Angel. Basically, he has Dark Shadow hug him and uses Dark Shadow to fly. He also covers Dark Shadow in his cape to cover Dark Shadow to decrease its exposure to light and increase his strength. Izuku is super jazzed by this new skill. He grabs Aoyama and they fly out of Kuroiro’s range. Aoyama bombards the area with his lasers, lightening the area to force Kuroiro out. Hagakure and Yaoyorozu try to corner him, but he’s weirdly confident. Before they can grab him, mushrooms start growing from their body. Kuroiro rather smugly says that Kendo is better than Yaoyorozu.

 

A demon in a mushroom hat.

We cut over to Kendo, Fukidashi and Komori where they’d been hiding. Komori says a creepy rhyme about the situation, that too many bright flashes is the sign that their plan A to use Kuroiro failed, so now it’s plan B, her to create just a ton of mushrooms. Uh-oh.

 

This was a good Tokoyami focus episode. He’s one of the most visually distinctive members of class 1A, with his bird’s head, and Dark Shadow is such a cool power, I’m glad he’s got more screentime. Given what we’d seen of Hawks’ personality, it’s not shocking that his… lack attitude would get on Tokoyami’s nerves. But it was great to see it go back around and have him inspire Tokoyami to find his wings, almost literally in this case. Kuroiro is a creepy little bastard, so he really works as a “villain” for the episode. And the twist that he was manipulating Tokoyami to distract them from his real target was brilliant. And then to reveal that that him getting hounded by 1A was the signal for 1B to start its plan B is great. Smart enemies are a pain in the butt and so fun to watch. And including that this match will be a match between Yaoyorozu and Kendo as leaders/strategists was a nice touch too. Nothing makes a good fight more interesting than to have a little rivalry thrown in. We’ll see how useful being able to control mushrooms can be in the next episode. I’m looking forward to it. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 92

Shinzo gets a chance to shine.

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku got some advice before his next big test began. All Might confirmed to him that there are remnants of previous One for All users within the power and give their history to the current wielder, although All Might’s experience was different. They can’t speculate long as Izuku has a big exam against class 1B. The test is a mock 4-on-4 battle with Class 1B, with the added wrinkle of Izuku’s former Sport’s Festival opponent Shinzo being added into the mix, as he’s still trying to get transferred into the hero course. The first match begins, and Tsu, Kirishima, Kaminari, Kota, and Shinzo are quickly overwhelmed by Shishida, the 1B student who literally has a beast mode. But they’re saved from an utter wipe out by Shinzo using his new item, a mouth covering device he called his Persona-Cords, to copy Shishida’s allies voice to get him to answer and be brainwashed. Enough recap. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

As a reminder, this first match is Tsu (Frog powers), Kirishima (Hardens skin), Kaminari (electricity elemental), Kota (speaks to animals) and Shinzo (brainwashing) vs. Shishida (Beast mode), Rin (scaled armor), Tsuburaba (solidifies air) and Shiozaki (vine hair)

 

After a quick recap of the situation, we begin in truth with a flashback of Shinzo explaining his power to his team. He basically just has got to focus on a single person, thinking “Brainwash this person” and then have them respond to something he says to take control. A reasonable amount of force can break the trance, like Izuku breaking his fingers. He doesn’t THINK it can work on more than one person at a time, he can’t make his target talk, or give them complex orders that require thought. The example he gives that if he held up a sign of Tsu’s name and ask them to write it down, the victim could do that, but he could ask them “what is her name” and get an answer. He explains that his Persona-Cords were specifically designed to get around the obvious limitation of his power, that people have to respond to what he says for it to work. And then the exam starts.

 

If the hero thing doesn't work out, he has a career
as a bugzapper.

We jump to Shinzo and Kaminari facing off against Shishida and Tsuburaba and Shinzo using his modulator to sound like Tsuburaba to get Shishida to respond. Tsuburaba is stunned by this for a moment, but he quickly captures Shinzo in another air prison, and then hits Shishida to try to break the brainwashing. Kaminari rushes them, Tsuburaba jumps off Shishida’s back to get distance, but Shishida grabs him. Kaminari then uses the fact he’s a living bug zapper to give Shishida a good zap before being tossed into a wall. Tsu catches Tsuburaba and runs to get him to their prison. Unfortunately, Shishida shakes off the stun much faster than Kaminari expected and he gives chase.

 

Uraraka is concerned for Tsu, but Izuku tells her to have faith.

 

Kirishima breaks free of the rubble he was buried under and tries to break Kota out. A standard punch doesn’t work, but he shatters it after entering Unbreakable mode. Tsu leaps by, saying she won’t let Tsuburaba escape, and the two prepare to fight the pursuing Shishida. Kota calls up bugs to attack, and Kirishima takes an armored swing, but Shishida reverts to his “human” form to dodge around their attack before entering “beast mode” again. I used air quotes because Shishida’s human form is just his beast form but smaller. Knowing that Kirishima is the only one of the two that can handle his strength, he lobs the stone warrior into the sky towards Shiozaki. She wraps him in vines and Kirishima is captured. Tsu gets Tsuburaba captured too, so score wise they’re even. But Bakugo with the spectators knows that his classmates are at a disadvantage now.

 

I really hope she doesn't taste the things she grabs
with her tongue.

Shishida has Kota in a hold around the face, keeping him from calling for animal aid, and then sniffs out Tsu and Kaminari charging him. He dodges them and runs off to capture Koda as well. In the cell, Kirishima apologizes for being captured. And in the 1A cell, Tsuburaba seems to be processing the fact that Tsu carried him there in her tongue. He looks like he was into it? A conversation for another time.

 

Kirishima and Tsu try to break Shinzo out of the bubble with a pipe, but it’s tough. They do break him free after a few more good hits. With the teachers, Vlad King is running incredibly biased commentary on the skills of his class over 1A, and Aizawa, Midnight and All Might are giving him “You got to be kidding me,” looks. Izuku and Aizawa note that Shinzo’s inexperience is a detriment to him, with Izuku specifically mentioning him simply being too slow with his binding cloth scarf to be useful in the first fight.

 

Mad hops in beast boy. Gives Tsu a run for her
money.

Kirishima, Tsu and Shinzo try to strategize. Shinzo apologizes for not being good enough, but Kirishima and Tsu give him words of encouragement. Tsu has a plan that involves a mucus she secretes and Kaminari’s chargebolt pointers. Interesting.

 

With 1B, Shiozaki is lamenting being used as part of an ambush. Girl has serious issues with lying for some reason. Their plan, at the moment, is to grab Shinzo and Tsu, while avoiding Kaminari. A solid strategy, as Shishida is significantly stronger than either of them. Shishida starts sniffing and is… confused. He explains that he’s picking up 3 Tsu’s coming at them. They rightly deduce that they’re somehow fooling his sense of smell.

 

With the viewing students, class 1B is confused by Shishida’s statement, but Izuku and Mineta have an idea of what is going on. They flashback to their first real villain encounter with Tsu. Back in season 1, in the Shipwreck course, she explained her powers. She can jump high, stick to surfaces, use her tongue as a weapon, spit up her stomach to clean it, and the important point here, secrete a toxic mucus. The boys cheer “Toxic mucus for the win!” The team covered themselves in Tsu’s mucus to mask their scents in hers.

 

We flashback to their planning phase. Tsu tells Kaminari to look for his pointer targeting beacon. He launched one at Shishida and it stuck to his pocket earlier. A chibi (cute simplified drawing) of Hatsume interjects here, explaining how the pointer sticks to what it lands on and that Kaminari’s glasses can target them. Tsu theorizes that Shishida’s nose is 1B’s biggest asset and they need to assume that he’ll always know where they are. They’re planning to target him specifically to overwhelm him and remove him from the fight as he’s too powerful to take on one on one. Kaminari’s goggles are telling them that the pointer hasn’t moved.

 

Shiozaki uses her vine hairs to form a protective barrier between them and 1A. Shishida’s nose picks up where all three are, and their trajectory. And, unfortunately, Rin finally noticed the pointer on Shishida’s leg. Before they can react, though, Shiozaki captured someone and pulled them in. It turns out to be Kaminari, but before he can blast them with lightning, Shiozaki captures him in her vines. He tries to shoot at the pointer before being sealed in, as it works like a lightning rod and draws his electricity towards it. But Rin is faster, he uses his scales as projectiles, knocking the pointer off Shishida’s leg at the last second. Shiozaki lowers Kaminari down in her vine ball. Rin’s voice says to get him ready, to which Shiozaki agrees to do so, only then to realize that that had been Shinzo talking.

 

In a flashback, Shinzo remembers the strategy that Kaminari of all people came up with when they saw the vine field. He specifically got caught, as he knew that 1B considered him the biggest threat on the field, and that they wouldn’t want him to get close. He remembered Shiozaki’s vine shield from the Sport’s Festival and assumes she’ll pull that trick to protect herself again. He’ll force her to use as many vines as possible to capture him, and thus lower the amount she has got to work with. Shinzo, in the present, notes that experience is a really remarkable thing, if it allowed Kaminari to come up with a clever plan.

 

And they scored the win!

Shishida rushes off to where he smelt someone. He doesn’t react when Rin asks him where he’s going for fear of it really being Shinzo. Rin says screw it and tries to shoot at Shiozaki to wake her up, but Tsu grabs her and pulls her out of his line of fire at the last minute. She fights Rin, who can’t get Shishida to help him as, again, not sure if Rin is calling to him or Shinzo. Shishida has deduced that with how the scent is jumping around, the one behind him is the real Tsu, so the one he’s smelling in the factory area is Shinzo. He rushes Shinzo. Shinzo tries to mimic Rin’s voice to trick him, but Shishida isn’t fooled this time. Shinzo then uses his scarf to grab a bit of heavy pipe and drop it on his head, but that doesn’t even stun him. He rushes Shinzo to finish him. He assumes that the pleas in Rin’s voice are Shinzo’s last-ditch effort to try to brainwash him… until he’s called “Apoca-beast” which is an on the spot nickname that Shiozaki gave him only a few minutes ago. Turns out, it was Rin, who was thrown at Shishida by Tsu. Both are knocked out, and the win is given to 1A.

 

Izuku notes how impressive it was that his classmates were able to work together so well with Shinzo. Using Tsu’s mucus to hide their movements and using Shinzo’s Persona-Cords to confuse and make it difficult for 1B to communicate, they were able to clinch the victory. Izuku is impressed at Shinzo’s growth and determination. Tsu tells Shinzo that she doesn’t think that he’s not behind the rest of them, but he doesn’t agree. He wants to be a hero on his own, without being “held up” by others. A begrudging Vlad King names 1A the winners.

 

This episode was a fun brawl. We got to see not only some of my favorites like Tsu and Kaminari shine, but also got to see how 1B operates. Shishida is a pretty standard Hank McCoy type, a power that makes him a brawler but with a much keener intellect than he’d let on. Shiozaki is implied to be extremely religious (her initial hero name was Maria (as in Ave) and she dresses in Christ-like robes) and doesn’t care for things that go against said faith, besides smiting things. Rin was obviously the least confident of the group, preferring to fight from a distance with backup, and was quickly overwhelmed by the more experienced fighter that was Tsu. And Tsuburaba was… there. And might have a thing for Tsu now? I loved seeing how the strategy to beat 1B took shape, with the less powerful Shinzo and Tsu using tactics to weaken, separate and ultimately overwhelm Shishida, the one who probably could have taken them both out one after the other if they hadn’t coordinated. This was great showing for Shinzo’s growth particularly. Sure, he hesitated in the first encounter, but though quickly and strategically to systematically take out the superior foe. I’m not sure how he could be worked into a hero course class, (like would one class be 21 students big, or would a less impressive student get bumped out?), but I’m glad to see more of him and can’t wait to see him face off against Izuku. Next time, round 2 begins. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 91

 Hero class tests are crazy.

Last time on My Hero Academia, the plot thickened around Endeavor, Hawks, and the League of Villains. Hawks is revealed to be working as a Mole for the Public Safety Commission to get intelligence on the League of Villains, to learn more about the Nomu. Endeavor recovered from his injuries, returned home, and was chewed out by his second son/third child Natsuo for being still being a crappy Dad even if he is trying to change. Izuku had a vision of the first One For All (OFA) user, who tried to stand up to his brother, the man known as All For One (AFO), despite his physical weakness and how OFA was first created. OFA talks to Izuku directly, saying that he wanted to show him more, but he’d only used 20% of the power thus far. He warned Izuku they’re past the “Singularity point” but not to be afraid because he’s not alone before Izuku wakes up. It was a heavy episode. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Another day, another secret meeting with his mentor.

After a quick recap of Izuku’s vision, we begin the episode proper with Izuku on a morning jog. He flashes back to Aoyama checking on him after hearing the noise, and him playing off the noise as nightmare. He remembers that the dream ended when he touched OFA’s hand, and in that moment saw the other holders before waking. It looks like the First, All Might’s master Nana Shimura, and three other unnamed holders clearly, All Might is wrapped in some kind of energy cocoon and two other holders are completely obscured. He meets with All Might and tells him about the dream. All Might confirms that he's also had these visions, as they were his main source of information and training after Nana’s death. She had told him that remnants of previous holders remain within the power, which is how he knew to trust the dreams. Izuku thinks that they wanted something from him, which surprises Izuku. All Might has a flashback to Nana telling him about the vestiges. She explains that each person who held AFO was a unique entity, with their own hopes and dreams, and they leave an imprint of themselves on the power. That the remnants are the emotions of those that used OFA are woven into the power.  Young All Might was a bit freaked out by this thought, but Nana looked at it with home. Like if she died, she might see her student again. Izuku wonders if the Singularity is the Quirk Doomsday Singularity. It’s an idea that as Quirks mix, mutate and evolve with each generation, that new, dangerous, and unstable powers would continue to crop up until they destroyed humanity. Case in point, Eri’s Quirk. All Might wonders if something Izuku did was the cause or something ese. Izuku explained about the two he couldn’t see clearly, and All Might being wrapped in light, but that doesn’t give them clues. On a cheerier note, Izuku and All Might agree his master was pretty.

 

These two are kind of weirdly perfect for a 
master/apprentice relationship.

All Might and Izuku head out, crossing paths with Aizawa. After All Might tries to claim there’s no favoritism or special treatment going on here, without Aizawa saying anything, Shinzo comes out of the office as well. Shinzo, in case you forgot, is the purple haired general studies student that Izuku fought in the first round of the sports festival. He can control people if they answer a question or statement, he makes toward them. Aizawa tells Izuku to go start warming up before he can ask more.

 

Later, we’re shown class 1A getting ready for their next big assessment. Izuku and his classmates are suited up, with many of the students sporting winterized versions of their costumes. Keep in mind, it’s like November or December of their first year. Izuku praises Bakugo’s suit, as he notes that the suit should make him sweat more which would help Bakugo’s blasts, which just pisses him off because Bakugo doesn’t take compliments well. Ojiro points out Izuku’s costume has changed the most, which makes Izuku go off about his new duds, specifically his air pressure attack gloves. Uraraka, listening, remembers her most recent encounter with Hatsume, the time the lab exploded, and she landed on Izuku in a… suggestive manner, blushes furiously and hits herself, saying “Bad thoughts!”

 

NGL, I'd watch a class 1B spinoff. If Monoma
was expelled.

Class 1B and that dick Monoma (copies a quirk for a limited time) arrive. He mouths off about how great class 1B is and suggests this’ll be the chance to see which class is best. There’s a rollcall for class 1B, but we’re skipping over that until the matches. It’s 17 or so students that you’ve seen before but have no other context for if you’ve been watching along. Monoma shows off a biased survey he took about the student’s cultural festival entries, 1A’s concert vs. 1B’s play where 1B won by two votes. He gloats loudly, and Kendo (grows her hands) goes to knock him out again, but Aizawa beats her to it and he shuts Monoma up with a scarf chokehold.

 

Vlad King joins up and explains that they’ll have a special guest for this exam. Aizawa explains that their guest is a general studies student that is interested in switching courses. Shinzo arrives. Students note that he’s wearing his over version of Aizawa’s capture scarf and some kind of mouth guard around his neck. The students remember Izuku being brainwashed at the Sports Festival and him breaking out. Izuku downplays how that situation played out, but then remembers that was the firsts time he’d seen the Vestiges of his predecessors and wonders if Shinzo caused it somehow. Aizawa asks Shinzo to say a few words. Shinzo flashes back to every damn time people assume he’ll use his Quirk for evil. He basically says he’s here to compete and not make friends. They give him a little golf clap and then get ready for combat training.

 

The training today will be a match between class 1A and 1B. Teams of four will face off against each other. When a 1B student points out that Shinzo makes it an odd number, the teachers explain that they’re will be two matches with a 5 v 4 set up, with Shinzo on 1A’s side for one and 1B’s for the other. Vlad points out that with Shinzo’s lack of experience, the 5-person team won’t have as much of an advantage as they might think. They’re going to have to capture and disarm their opponents and bring them to a special Mr. Nezu themed cage. When 4 members of a team are captured (ie, all except for the Shinzo matches) the match is over. Both sides are to treat the other as criminals they are capturing.

 

Lots are drawn, the first team is Kirishima (hardening), Todoroki (electric elemental), Koda (talks to animals), and Tsu (frog power); second Tokoyami (dark shadow), Hagakure (light refraction), Yaoyorozu (object creation) and Aoyama (naval laser); third Ojiro (big tail), Todoroki (fire and ice elemental), Shoji (extendable tentacle arms) and Iida (super speed); fourth Sato (superstrength when eating sugar), Sero (tape elbows), Jiro (extendable earlobe earphone jacks), and Bakugo; and final Mineta (sticky balls), Ashido (acid sprayer), Uraraka (anti-gravity via touch) and Izuku. Shinzo will be working with Class 1A in round one, and against in Round 5. Who’d have guessed? Everyone, everyone could have guessed he’d be fighting Izuku. Izuku digs out his journal and pen and prepares to take notes on Shinzo’s new skills. Each match will be 20 minutes, with the winner being whoever has captured the most players if the time elapses.

 

All Might and Midnight arrive to observe the test. All Might notes that 1A has more combat experience, but 1B has gotten better grades, so the match might be more even than people think. I for one feel like combat experience in a combat setting > book smarts, but what ya gonna do.

 

Furry appearance, greater intellect that his power would
suggest... this kid is literally Beast from X-Men.

The first Match starts, with Tsu using her new camouflage ability to scout around. They try to figure out a strategy for their opponents. They’re facing off against Jurota Shishida (shapeshifts into a beast mode), Hiryu Rin (grows scaled armor), Kosei Tsuburaba (Solidifies air), and Ibara Shiozaki (Vine hair).  They plan to try to take the strongest opponent out first, Shiozaki, and protect their strongest Kaminari. A pair of birds fly to Koda and let them know Shiozaki is by herself to the left. She’s using her vines to try to tack them. Before they can react, though, Shishida attacks, knocking Tsu and Kirishima in one blow each. 1B knew that if 1A had time to plan, things might get hairy for them, so they used Shiozaki as a decoy, and then Shishida tracked them down with his sense of smell. Tsuburaba is also riding on his back. He uses his power to trap Koda in a soundproof air box. Shinzo toys with his mouth guard thing, and in Tsuburaba’s voice tells Shishida to take them out. Shishida responds and then immediately freezes. Turns out, Shinzo’s actual voice isn’t necessary to control people. Interesting. We learn that the faceguard he’s wearing is called Persona-Cords just before the credits roll.

 

This was a good build up episode. Class 1A vs. 1B has been a match that I’d wanted to see since the Sports Festival. Its good to see more of them besides that overcompensating dick Monoma and Kendo with her huge hands. Having Izuku go last is a nice way to keep the tension up as the two classes face off and they inevitably get into a 2 wins 2 losses situation with Izuku vs. Shinzo as the deciding fight. What? Just because there is a formula to this doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see it play out. Also, good to see Shinzo again. He left an impression after facing off against Izuku and expositing about his desire to be a hero despite having a seemingly “evil” power. The addition of the scarf and an item that lets him use his power more actively were nice touches. Oh, and Uraraka still wrestling with her feelings for Izuku will always make me snicker. Again, it’s a bit cliché, but a funny cliché. The heightened mystery of Izuku’s power and the weird vision he had was a nice bit of world building, even though it seems like that plot is getting sidelined for the fights. It’ll be interesting to see if round 1 goes to 1A or B. We’ll see next time. Have a good night, everyone. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 90

 Endeavor recovers, Hawks works an angle and Izuku has visions.

Last time on My Hero Academia, Izuku and his classmates took part in a hero drill. It was a recap episode, so we got to see all 20 students of Class 1A show off their skills as they battled a pair of villains, played by senior students Hado and Amajiki, and save a civilian, played by the third senior Togeta. Hi fives all around. The episode ended with current #2 Hero in Japan, Hawks, meeting with the League of Villain’s field commander, Dabi. This could be… complicated. Let’s get to it.

 

Sure is a lot of hate here. There's probably a story
to it.

This one opens with Endeavor, Japan’s #1 Hero, remembering his encounter with Dabi. The scarred villain surrounded them in a field of blue flames. Endeavor reminds us that Dabi murdered another hero, Snatch, but Dabi could literally not care less about that. Endeavor is too weak to fight, so it’s up to Hawks to defend them both. Dabi admits he was only here to try to recover the Nomu but is going to take the opportunity to take out the #1 and 2 heroes out right now since they’re half dead. As he charges, though, a woman in a rabbit themed outfit does an ax kick down and shatters the pavement. This is Mirko, an up-and-coming hero. If you’re wondering about the crescent moon on her costume, there’s a popular myth in Japan about rabbits making mochi, a Japanese treat, on the moon. I assume she’s themed herself after that. Dabi, realizing that the scales have shifted out of his favor, calls for an extraction. He pukes up some of the black goo that the League seems to use as an emergency exit when Kurogiri is out of commission and have been using since his capture and begins to disappear. As he vanishes, he tells Endeavor that they’ll meet again and he’s looking forward to that ‘chat.’ And until then, he can’t let anyone kill him. He punctuates his statement by calling Endeavor by his real name, Enji Todoroki. Mirko kicks at him but is too slow to touch him. Endeavor says that this is just the beginning.

Bum bum baaaaahhhh

 

In the present, Hawks puts a feather sword to Dabi’s neck and accuses him of not sticking to the plan. When Dabi asks about him having enough feathers to make that weapon, Hawks points out that if he’s going to meet a liar in a clandestine meeting, he’s coming prepared. Apparently, they’d struck a deal that involved the Nomu attacking a warehouse downtown, tomorrow, not the middle of the city, today, and that Hood was much more powerful. Hawks’ part was to bring along a “random hero” as part of this test, so both sides upped the ante as it were. Hawks, as it turns out, approached the League of Villains, claiming to sympathize with their cause, and this was his loyalty. Dabi notes that Hawks seems to have gone against the League’s survival of the fittest mentality by saving civilians, but Hawks counters by pointing out that he wouldn’t be much use as a hero if he loses prestige by letting civilians die. Hawks claims that everything he does is to advance the League. Dabi shrugs and walks off, saying that he can say that if he wants all he likes, but he’s still not meeting Shigaraki yet.

 

Hawks has a flashback, where it’s revealed he is in fact a triple agent, having been assigned to infiltrate the League of Villains by the Public Safety Commission. They freely admit that they screwed up the Kamino ward mission, in part because of the hostage and in part because they underestimated the resources and power of the League of Villains. To avoid such costly mistakes again, they need more intel on the League, specifically the Nomu. What are they really? How are they made? They think that Endeavor is the best fit for the job as he doesn’t actually give a damn about his current level of prestige and is more focused on his “long term goal” whatever that is. He mentally apologizes to Endeavor for what he has done and is going to have to do when he visits the injured hero.

 

Meanwhile, Dabi is standing out on a pier somewhere looking at the moon. He “remembers” Snatch, who’s last words were “Have you ever thought about the families of those you murdered in cold blood?” Dabi’s left cheek starts bleeding below his scarred flesh and claims that “I have thought about it so much, it’s driven me insane.” Damn, Dabi.

 

Two days later, Endeavor is released from the hospital and Hawks follows him. He tries to look on the bright side, pointing out that Endeavor did only have to be in the hospital for two days and his left eye is still functional, but then apologizes for not being that good at cheering him up. Yeah, Endeavor still has both eyes, but now has an enormous scar over the left side of his face. Endeavor believes that the Nomu targeted them specifically, noting that it seems like too big of a coincidence that the monster attacked right as they were talking about it. Hawks tells him not to worry about it, as the two biggest heroes in the country together must have just made the villains decide to take a swing at them. And admits to himself privately that he made such a spectacle before their dinner precisely for that lame excuse. He wonders if maybe the rumors of Nomu are being used to draw heroes to places to be attacked by Nomu, and if they shouldn’t get in contact with search teams for the League and get more info. Endeavor says he should be careful, and that he really needs a hero strong enough to defeat a Nomu to work with him. Hawks makes a joke about Endeavor caring about him so much to volunteer, which really pisses Endeavor off. He heads home via the train, saying that he might be taking a little R and R after his near-death experience.

 

We return to Hawks’ interview flashback, where the PSC are kind of strongarming him into being their mole. They’re using the fact that he wasn’t at the fight in Kamino Ward, which was location or timing based, as “evidence” to the league that he sympathizes with them and didn’t want to fight them. He flashes back further to when he was a child, when he used to hug an Endeavor toy. Young Hawks saved a large group of people from a major accident, and then the PSC approached is family to offer them financial compensation while they trained him to be a hero. Hawks in the more-present past bows and agrees to the plan. In the present-present thinks to himself that he’s “too fast for his own good,” and that he wants to live in a world where Heroes have too much time on their hands and will do anything to make that happen.

 

Oldest son: Dead, Oldest daughter: Trying to make it work
Middle son: Actively hates him, and Youngest Son: Indifferent,
formerly actively hating him. Father of the year right here.

Endeavor returns home to find his home to find his three living children waiting for him, Fuyumi (only daughter, oldest after eldest son Toya’s death), Natsuo (third born) and Shoto. Fuyumi mentions that Shoto got special permission to leave campus to have dinner with them all, and that Aizawa was invited in but decline. We’re briefly shown Aizawa waiting by the car, as a cat hisses at him. Shoto makes a remark about his father’s scar, saying it looks painful. I wonder if they thought that they now sort of match crossed his mind… Whatever. Natsuo doesn’t say a word and glares. Fuyumi scolds them both for being dicks and tells them to at least try to pretend to be in good moods for their Dad’s return home. She is very much the peacemaker in this house, and I must assume that’s exhausting. Natsuo puts down his bowl and says he can’t do this, beginning to storm off. Endeavor stops him and tells his son to talk to him. Natsuo, clearly letting pressure off anger that has been boiling for at least a decade, yells at his father for keeping Shoto so cloistered from the rest of them. In one of the most screwed up info dumps I’ve ever heard; it turns out that Natsuo was today years old when he learned his little brother likes Soba. Considering how close I am to both my brothers, not knowing something basic like preferred foods is super messed up to me. He accuses his father of keeping Shoto from the children he marked as “failures.” He also mad that Shoto and Rei (Mom) seem to be in a place where they can begin forgiving him for his past actions. He calls him a manic bastard that ruined their family. He blames Endeavor, rightly, for Shoto’s scar, their mom’s screams, and mental breakdown, and for whatever happened to Toya. Endeavor tries to tell him that he’s trying to be a better parent, but Natsuo won’t forget the past. He storms off. Fuyumi admits that given their mom’s progress, Shoto visiting her and his own growth, and Endeavor’s attempts at turning over a new leaf, that she kind of wanted to force a happy family moment with her father and little brothers. Obviously, she dreamed a little too big. Shoto points out that was the first emotional outburst he’d seen from Natsuo, so maybe there’s still progress being had?

 

A news report plays about the Nomu attack. Opinions on Endeavor’s fight are mixed, with plenty of people criticizing how he handled the fight and his struggle to win, with that one pink haired Natsu Dragneel looking weirdo yelling his praises, followed by a few others that agree with him. It also turns out that kid ended up going viral and is now known as “look boy.” Oy, modern culture. Endeavor remembers his conversation with All Might, realizing that something All Might built in his prime is breaking down. Shoto believes that his dad is making progress, but he agrees with Natsuo and still won’t forgive him for what happened with his mother. We’re shown quick shots of Natsuo looking angry outside and Rei staring at the flowers that Endeavor has sent to her. He’s willing to believe that Endeavor might be a better father now but needs to observe him more before he’ll say definitively. But he does know that a small change can completely change a person if they want it bad enough. Endeavor is frustrated by not becoming the #1 the way he wanted, and how that his legacy will be tainted by it. He remembers All Might asking him “Why is it so important to be the strongest?” In that moment, his resounding thought, while looking at Shoto playing with the preschoolers during his extra training, was that he must guarantee their future. And when he considers how he couldn’t even do that with his own family, remembering specifically Rei’s mental breakdown, then, how could he demand forgiveness from his kids. He goes to follow Natsuo, telling the other two that he is truly sorry for everything and that the should have done better with Natsuo.

 

Ooo, this is going to be neat.

We cut over to Izuku, who reveals he’d spent the evening training with All Might until he passed out from exhaustion. He has a vision of the previous One for All Users. He can see Nana Shimura, All Might’s Master, and four others clearly, with two more being obscured somehow. He sees the original One For All wielder and All For One. AFO scolds his little brother for not ‘meeting him half way’ about using his powers to ‘improve’ the world. OFA claims that he’s just stirring up chaos. AFO brings in two people to use as his example of how his system works. They are a man with a nice guy with a physically deforming Quirk (giving him a powerful crushing jaws) and someone without quirks who wants power, AFO takes the Quirk from one and gives it to the other, turning them into his acolytes. OFA claims his brother is still spreading chaos, as he doesn’t truly care about their problems, he just wants lackeys. OFA tries to fight him, but is taken down by AFO’s guard. He tells the guard to go easy on his brother as he has no power and a weak constitution. He offers OFA to join in and give him everything he wants, but OFA refuses. OFA is help prisoner by his brother until he is willing to cooperate, but instead refuse to eat. AFO comes to gloat, telling his brother about how his followers killed his enemies on a mere suggestion from him. He compares it to a comic they read as kids, a story about a Demon King that ruled a world and lived out his every desire, with OFA telling AFO that he didn’t read the final volume where a hero rose and stopped the Demon King. AFO says that fiction is reality, and reality doesn’t follow stock plots. He claims to have found a power that his little brother’s body can handle and forcibly infuses OFA with the quirk that would mix with his hither-to-unknown transference Quirk to become One For All. OFA manifests before Izuku, telling the “9^th wielder” that he wants to show him more, but Izuku has only tapped into 20% off his power thus far. He tells Izuku to be careful, they’re long past the “singularity point,” and that he is not alone. Izuku wakes up, breaking his window and seeing a black energy on his hands. Neat!

 

This was an interesting actual start to season 5. Finding out that Hawks is working as a mole for the Heroes with the League is a load off the mind, as I liked this guy from the start and the thought that he might be evil was a tad stressful. I also liked that little flash back that he at one point was an Endeavor fan as a kid. The idea that he might have gravitated to working with Endeavor, at least a little, as part of a childhood fantasy fulfillment makes me smile. Getting more hints that Dabi has a personal vendetta against Endeavor is good foreshadowing. No spoilers but he HATES Endeavor and for semi-legit reasons. The bit about thinking about his victims so much it drove him mad was cool too. Endeavor with his family was interesting look at his homelife. He has a daughter that seems to be going prematurely grey trying to keep her family together, one son that actively hates him, another son that is willing to believe he’s growing but doesn’t trust him yet, and a wife he literally drove insane. I like that he’s acknowledging their dysfunction is his fault and that he’s trying to make amends, just as much as I like that only Fuyumi is willing to forgive him now. It’s not real growth unless he works at it. Izuku’s vision is interesting insight into the history of the One for All and All for One. Seeing the villain that nearly killed All Might twice back when his power was more or less absolute was terrifying. I could see why he’d have legions of followers as he shuffled powers around from people who didn’t want theirs to people that wanted one about all. The fact that any heroes were able to force him into the shadows long enough for All Might to one day almost end him is impressive ass hell. We’re going to get a lot more on previous users in the coming episodes and I’m excited to gush about it. Have a good night, everyone. 

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