Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 114

 The Raid begins!

Last time on My Hero Academia, we caught up with Izuku and his classmates after their Work Study training. Everyone has improved significantly, even the non-main characters. All Might in the meantime has gathered all the information he could on the previous One For All users and their powers. Later, while the students celebrated, All Might revealed to Aizawa that he’s decided to do his best to keep living but is frustrated at how little he can do as a retired hero. Aizawa cheers him up by saying his presents makes people better. Around the same time, Eri’s powers are finally starting to hit critical mass and Aizawa plans to start training her. The episode ends with Izuku and co getting told they’re all going to be on a “Expeditionary Operation” through their Work Studies, which means they’re helping out on the raid of the newly formed Paranormal Liberation Front bases. Neat. Let’s get to it.

 

Interestingly, I believe this is the first season since season 2 that doesn’t begin with a filler episode that’s just meant to refresh returning or introduce new viewers on the basic concepts and characters of the series. Ya knows, a quick cute story that just shows us Izuku, Bakugo, Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida and the rest of the class, gives us their powers and the basic structure of their superhuman society.

 

Hawks got his serious face on.

We join Hawks as he continues to work with the Paranormal Liberation Front. He’s pulled aside by Twice who wants help figuring out a credo to inspire the troops. Why Hawks? Mostly because the others are in meetings, Giran and Dabi doesn’t care, and Toga is too cute to ask. Hawks reveals that the PLF has been split into regiments, there’s Black headed by Twice, Violet headed by Gitan and Dabi, Carmine headed by Toga and Skeptic, and Brown headed by Mr. Compress and Spinner. The top three members of each regiment serve as aides to the lieutenants. Hawks reveals that he’s been under surveillance since he arrived, and he has only been able to gather the intel that he has thank to his training. He gives Twice a wordy credo and sends him off. Hawks thinks the future looks dire. The plan is to attack major cities across Japan, killing leaders and heroes, and Shigaraki and Trumpet will hand out weapons to lead the new anarchist society. Twice thanks Hawks as he walks off. Hawks reveals that he has been purposely targeting Twice, as since he overcame his trauma, he has become a one man army. He dubbed Twice the villain that most needs watching.

 

Shigaraki's squad sure got scary fast...

Hawks flashes back to when he gave Twice some info on heroes in a classroom setting, Twice saying that he really needs to get Hawks in front of Shigaraki to show that he’s legit. Twice lets slip that Shigaraki is in the mountains for the next four months, but it shouldn’t be a problem that he told Hawks, since he’s been working so hard. In the present he dubs Twice friendly but far too trusting.

 

Hope this hospital is insured...

We jump over to Izuku, who gives us the info the heroes have on Garaki. Supposedly, he’s quirkless and started his hospital as part of Quirk based community outreach. Rocklock calls him a true villain. This is part of a meeting consisting of him, Endeavor, the Wild Wild Pussycats, several other heroes, and Detective Tsukauchi. Tsukauchi reveals that a spy was sent in and found a forbidden area that no one besides Garaki could enter, the only entrance is in the morgue and the spy got a shot of a tiny Nomu inside the room one time when Garaki entered it. Tsukauchi says that it’ll be easy to capture Garaki, but if they do it sloppily, it could be another Kamino ward or Hosu incident. Those really rocked the public trust in heroes, and they cannot risk it happening again. They’re going to hit this hard and with all available resources. They’re breaking the heroes into two teams, Endeavor is leading one and they’re going after Garaki, Edgeshot the other and his team will attack the Paranormal Liberation Front’s mountain villa. The Work Study students will help with evacuation.

 

Edgeshot and his team are preparing to attack the mansion. The leadership of the PLF are inside and hopefully cut off from their usual escape route as the teleporter they use is at the hospital. Komori (grows mushrooms) asks if the students should be this close, but Midnight comes over to encourage her that they need their help. And promises that they’ll just need them for the first few minutes of the fight and after that they’ll fall back and join the rest of the students on the evacuation team. Kaminari, Tokoyami and Honenuki (softens non-living material with a touch) are in the front with the bulk of the heroes, Kaminari freaking out about being on the frontlines and saying he never thought he’d miss his class so much.

 

Is it possible to insure an entire city? Cuz they
might need it...

Back with the class, Yaoyorozu theorizes they were brought to the front as all of their powers specialize in taking out large groups at a time, hence why they’re up there. Edgeshot mentions that all the auxillery bases of the PLF are all encircled too. Endeavor realizes that Hawks was the one that told them about this and asks where he is, but Tsukauchi tells him it’s classified. He walks off, telling himself he’d been preparing like Hawks warned him to do.

 

In Deiki city, the raid begins. How? By Death Arms grabbing Slide n Go, the PLF’s local hero and mole in the city. Izuku and co move in to start the evacuation.

 

At the hospital, Endeavor leads the troops in. Most of the heroes stay up front to fortify the location, but Endeavor sends Mirko (rabbit themed hero with powerful kicks) in ahead after their spy to get to the morgue. Deep inside the hospital, Garaki is super pleased with how things are going, right up until Endeavor shows up and threatens him.

 

Meanwhile, Natsuo and Fuyumi are leaving the new house together, discussing the fact Endeavor told them he’ll be out of touch for a while on a mission. This is way more information than he tends to give them, which stuns Natsuo a little, enough for him to say he hopes it doesn’t turn out like the fight with the High End Nomu. Now that’s something I doubt he’d have been able to say before his near murder. Character growth.

 

Garaki tries to run but he’s tripped by Aizawa’s capture scarf, who then cancels out his Quirk. It shows that he’s got a Quirk, a regenerative type that keeps him younger than he physically is. From the near corpse like look of his face without his Quirk, he has got to be 100+. They realizes that this is quirk, be it natural or artificially created somehow, is how All For One has lived so long. (We’re never given an exact date from the first quirk to now, but I’ve always guessed minimum of 80 years, but possibly as much as 120.) Present Mic grabs Garaki and demands to know why he’s using a power like Super Regeneration for evil. He demands to know what he did to his friend but is interrupted by two passing doctors who try to help Garaki. They’re evacuated and Aizawa gives Garaki the breakdown of what they know. He’s making the Nomu, without commands from specific individuals they’re basically corpses, and that they’re now going to take something important from him in retribution for all the things he’s taken. Damn, dark. Mirko found the secret room and burst inside. She reports to Endeavor what she’s in and that Nomu are starting to pop up. A moment later, a tunneling Nomu burrows through the ground and stabs Garaki. It’s revealed that he’s a Twice Double, and Garaki notes that it’s fascinating that Aizawa’s quirk doesn’t undo the cloning. The Nomu start attacking on mass.

 

And thus begins the Mirko arc.

We cut to Garaki, laughing to himself that the heroes didn’t consider that he’d clone himself to devote all his attention on his main project. He is still in the hospital, but in its bowels with the nearly complete Shigaraki. He reveals that reproducing a Quirk is a resource and equipment heavy process, hence why he’s still in the hospital. He won’t lose his catalogue of abilities, or so he claims. Mirko meanwhile flexes her legs and plows through a ton of Nomu to reach Garaki, crushing and killing the little Nomu he uses for teleportation. She asks him “What’s up doc?” and guesses he’s the real one. Ha, nice reference Mirko.

 

I think this was a great start to this new arc. Izuku and co were on the back burner as the pros got into position, but ya just know that something is going to go horribly, horribly wrong and Izuku is going to be duking it out with Dabi or Spinner in like two or three episodes. I initially questioned sending Endeavor into the hospital, as I’d thought that they’d want the heaviest hitter attacking the main base… then I remembered there’s a high chance of High Ends being in that facility, so him leading that charge was good call. I totally get why Mirko is now a fan favorite of the series. She’s both anime girl hot, but ruthless in a way that is just so fun to watch. Like, I know it’s technically fan service when we’re shown her visibly flexing her legs before she goes on a kicking spree, but when she does go on that spree, she decapitates several Nomu before crushing Giraki’s teleporter with a door. That’s so freaking cool that I can let a little fanservice go. And that’s really all I can say about this one, as it’s almost all set up. But what a beautiful set up it is. See you next time. 

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