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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