Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 125

 The return of a king.

Changed my mind, we’re doing one more My Hero Academia episode and start next month with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Why? Because it’s been a while since I saw it and it’ll be on Disney Plus next month. Sorry, ya know how I like to get as much detail in these things as possible.

 

Last time on My Hero Academia, Tomura Shigaraki still refused to go down. He is on his last legs, though, his body more or less running on autopilot to protect himself. Gigantomachia finally arrived on the battlefield, grabbing Tomura, and asking his master for new orders. Dabi takes center stage, though and does his big reveal, that he has this whole time been Toya Todoroki, Shoto’s supposedly long dead oldest brother. Dabi edited together a video of himself airing out his family’s dirty laundry and revealing his father to be an abusive parent and spouse. We get a few flashbacks suggesting that Toya is exaggerating slightly, as there was a point where Toya was truly loved, and Endeavor wasn’t the worst dad. Dabi attempts to kill Shoto and Endeavor with a Flash Fire Fist: Prominence Burn but is stopped by the arrival of Best Jeanist and several high-tension cables. He tied up all the villains in one go and announced that he was back. Enough recap. Let’s get to it!

 

Yeah, this dude is unwell.

We open a few minutes back with Jeanist watching Dabi’s big reveal. He’s impressed with Dabi’s strategy and patience. He launches his cables and then leaps after them, saying that despite his time he hasn’t won yet. He captures Dabi and the rest of the League of Villains members int the cables, announcing that together they will spin the threads of hope. Dabi is shocked at seeing Jeanist alive, as the corpse he saw was real, Jeanist just saying that his greed blinded him. Shoto rushes Dabi, and the two brothers start battling. Spinner and Compress try to figure out what to do, Spinner realizing that Gigantomachia essentially powered down after reaching Shigaraki and that he’s now in standby mode waiting for new orders. Spinner tries to wake Tomura but he’s not listening, he bites his head to try to wake him. Nejire Hado prepares to blast them, but Dabi gets a sucker punch in, badly burning her and mocking his father for not stopping him. Shoto shouts at Dabi to just stop but he’s not listening. Jeanist gets him in more cables, but manipulating so many fibers is straining his body. He’s coughing up a lot of blood. Tomura, between nightmares about his family, regains consciousness enough to tell Gigantomachia to destroy it all and the beast starts rampaging.

 

Back with the other heroes, the Nomu stop fighting them and start flying or running towards the big brawl. Burning tries to follow, noting that the Nomu started working with more coordination earlier and is now worried something big is happening. A snake Nomu charges and almost eats her… but a bullet of a man in a red cape fly in and knocks it aside. Oh, whoever could it be…

 

Dangerously close to those giant jaws.

Gigantomachia continues to strain against his bonds, his immense strength straining Best Jeanist’s control to the limit. Shoto, meanwhile, is attacking Dabi and demanding to know why he’s doing all of this. He points out that that End psycho nearly killed Natsuo, which is so screwed up when you remember Natsuo was his emotional support according to everyone. Dabi just smiles and says he’d actually hoped for that, as a death of another child would hurt Endeavor that much more. Shoto says that he’s gone insane and Dabi agrees, saying that he can’t feel anything any more and turning up the heat. Spinner tries to get Tomura up to help but he’s still out. Mr. Compress sees and points out the Nomu are on the way. Izuku and Bakugo try to get the energy to fight as Iida takes Nejire away to get medical help, but their bodies are wrecked. As Gigantomachia is about to break free, as a Nomu is about to strike Best Jeanist and things will hit the fan… who should come shooting up from the ground screaming “POWER!” than Mirio Togata aka Lemillion. Proving that his six months of powerlessness hasn’t made him rusty, the phase-shifter leaps around the area, beating Nomu back with a giant grin on his Tin-Tin like face. He tells Izuku when asked that he’d been helping the Nighteye agency and they’d gotten a tip about what was happening from the villa raid. He then used his restored quirk to high-speed move to say the day. Remember, his favorite strategy is to dive into the ground than fly back up like a bullet due to the material he phases through not liking him being there. He muses that it’s been six months since he’s been in the field and that makes him tear up a little.

 

We flashback to just before the raid. He had a meeting with Aizawa, Eri, Izuku, Uraraka, Tsu, Nejire and Amajiki. He’d heard from Bubble Girl about the raid and wants to help. He’s been watching Eri train over the last two months and saw how her ability to use Rewind has increased. He begs Eri to try to use it on him so he can help. Eri gets a nod from Aizawa, her sort-of-dad at this point, and uses it on him, saying he shouldn’t be sorry because that’s why she’s been training.

 

Flying Fiery Fist of Fury!

In the present, Togeta is surrounded by Nomu, saying that he won’t go down easy but still calls out for Help. Bakugo flies in, using his explosion to blast back Nomu, and then Iida and Nejire rush back in to help as well. As Bakugo drops, he remembers Best Jeanist telling him to choose a hero name that truly reflects him. Bakugo reveals his hero name to Best Jeanist, “Great Explosion Murder God, Dynamite!” Everyone, the villains included, hate it… except Togata, who thinks it’s funny. The Todoroki’s are still battling. Dabi’s heat is burning both. He’s taking sadistic pleasure in torturing his father like this. He calls himself Endeavor’s greatest failure and wonders what he’ll look like when he sees Dabi destroy his masterpiece. I should note that some of the metal piercings keeping his skin together have broken off, so when I say his smile is disturbing, I mean it. Izuku flies in before he can finish Shoto, though, revealing to be using his tongue as a focus for Blackwhip. He modeled it after Tsu’s tongue attacks. Dabi blasts him back, saying this isn’t his business, but Izuku disagrees. Shoto is his friend and Endeavor is his mentor. He says that Dabi is obsessed with Endeavor and his fire, but points out (like to Shoto before him) that it’s his Quirk, not Endeavors. Unlike Shoto, the elder Todoroki isn’t impressed and goes on about how the broken hero system made him. Gigantomachia breaks free, Izuku reacting to it a moment before it happens. Dabi screams that the world they’re heading to is build on chaos. As Gigantomachia breaks free, Endeavor snaps out of his trauma trance and punches him down. Gigantomachia smiles… but then drops.

 

Remember the tranquilizer he ate an in-universe hour or two ago? It’s finally hitting. Best Jeanist points out that defeating Gigantomachia only happened because of the work everyone put in, the Work Study Kids, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, Midnight and the rest, chipping away at him and the League until they dropped. He says that while one thread might be weak, together they form a mighty rope. Together, they wove a tapestry of faith. He binds Gigantomachia. Shoto and Dabi are still duking it out, Shoto begging his brother to just stop. They have the advantage of endurance at this point, showing this off by rapidly cooling himself off by freezing his right size. Dabi still wants to fight. The kids refuse to back down, and after Gigantomachia is now down for the count, Best Jeanist devotes more of his strength to binding the other League members. Mr. Compress has a bit of an existential crisis at the thought that they will be captured. He’s not giving up, though, saying that it’s time for these philistines to see the greatest show on earth.

 

While not the focus of this episode, the lines we get here from Dabi do flesh out his mindset at this point. He’s gleeful at his father being paralyzed with shock. He is actively trying to murder Shoto. He talks about the potential death of his little brother whom is still actively mourning him as if he’s disappointed he’s not dead. He’s full-on psychotic here and it’s incredible to see. It’s weird seeing Dabi now being so expressive after dozens of appearances where he seems barely interested in anything. Think about it, while he executed orders and clearly took over as Tomura’s right hand after Kurogiri’s capture, he always seemed bored with whatever he was doing. Except when it upset a Todoroki. Then he’d smile, or laugh. The idea that this gleefully sadistic side to him was just barely undercover is scary. Like, he repressed so much of himself, just for this grand reveal and a chance to break his father. Insane. I liked Best Jeanist’s return, both for his fiber and clothing-based puns and for his hopeful insight. Dude is full of hope despite having been “dead” for several months and despite the seemingly impossible odds against them, which is refreshing. I honestly like Bakugo’s name choice… but just the last part, “Dynamite.” It has a nice ring to it, is true to his personality, and is a clear reference to All Might. It’s alternatively spelled DynaMight, but I can’t misspell like that, sorry. Oh, and Lemillion is back! I knew that Togata would be getting his power back, as I’d seen panels from the manga when he reappeared and was anxiously waiting for his return. I love that he seems to so effortlessly be back in the saddle after his time away and that he is still a damn wrecking ball once he gets his momentum going.  The heroes might have this all wrapped up, if it wasn’t for Mr. Compress’s comments. One should never discount a stage magician’s boast at being able to escape a situation is all I’m saying, but we’ll talk more about that the next time My Hero Academia comes up… which will probably be right after Ant-Man 3, as I can’t think of another show I want to do right now. See you then. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 124

Dabi reveals who he really is and will shake their world to the core. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, a battle of wills occurred in the heart of One For All. Tomura Shigaraki, henceforth referred to as Tomura instead of Shigaraki, attacked Izuku’s mental world while being partially controlled by AFO aka Shigaraki the elder. Izuku got backup in the form of Nana Shimura and Shigaraki the younger, Shigaraki’s younger brother. They were able to force the Shigaraki’s out. Tomura, badly burned and exhausted, is advised telepathically by Shigaraki to bail and recover. Meanwhile, Gigantomachia is getting ever closer. Dabi tells Skeptic, the Paranormal Liberation Front’s tech guy, to prepare to destroy a corrupt hero. Uraraka is pulled aside by a disguised Toga. Toga wants to know where the line is for heroes and decided that Uraraka was the best person to tell her. Let’s get to it.

 

He's bringing enough denim for everyone.
It's much more sinister than it sounds.

We begin with a high-speed plane flying toward the sight of the action, someone inside urging the pilot to fly faster. Who? Best Jeanist. Yep, turns out that the body Hawks gave Dabi as a loyalty test was a fake and Jeanist had been hiding out as part of the infiltration plan. He is impatient to get to the field and help stop the Paranormal Liberation Front.

 

Looks like his healing factor is hitting a bit of a wall.

          After that, we jump back to Izuku as he and Tomura exited One For All’s mental plane. Izuku urges Tomura to just stay down as he passes out and drops. Shoto is able to grab him and throw him onto his pile of injured people before ice sliding to the ground and putting them down. Endeavor is overheating and exhausted, all Izuku’s limbs are broken, and he is also exhausted, and Bakugo is probably, definitely, bleeding out. Not a great day. Shoto prepares to do emergency firsts aid of his friends… just as Tomura drags himself back up. He’s still horribly burned and barely conscious but is still looking to fight. Shigaraki telepathically tells him to escape, but Tomura isn’t listening. He keeps himself aloft on spider legs made from the spikes Shigaraki favors. He’s shot down a second later by Nejire Hado, who announces she’s found them. Iida zooms in and tells Endeavor the situation with Gigantomachia. Iida tells them to fall back, as they’ve warned the other heroes fighting Nomu already. Nejire sees the badly beaten-up Ryukyu and clearly sets her resolve to fight. They’re mentor and student in case you forgot. Izuku isn’t willing to leave, as he knows Tomura is still after One For All and he’ll just track Izuku wherever he goes to get it. Shoto notices that Tomura’s healing is slowing down, so he and Nejire resolve to take him down while they have the chance.

 

We jump over to Uraraka facing off against Toga. She flings Toga off her and resolves to take her down. Uraraka knows she needs to touch Toga to un-gravity her, and that she needs to do it without getting herself cut and her blood stolen, and she has to do it fast… no pressure! Toga tells her that when she sees someone she “loves” she has an overpowering urge to drink their blood, to use her quirk to take on their appearance and live inside their skin. I really, really want this girl to see a therapist. She tells Uraraka about her fight with Curious of the Meta Liberation Army, and how that “mean reporter” called her an unfortunate child and that her quirk was wrong. And how she used Uraraka’s Quirk from blood she stole to lift Curious up and drop her to the pavement. She explains that if she loves a person, she can use their power along with their appearance and that makes her happy. Uraraka, freaked out by these admissions, flings her cables at Toga to try to restrain her. Toga knocks her back and notices Uraraka dropped the All Might ornament Izuku gave her as a White Elephant gift. Uraraka wants her ornament back, reaches for it but Toga dodges out of the way. She says that Twice was precious to her, like a brother. She claims that they’re the same, going so far as calling them twinsies, and points out the obvious that Uraraka has a crush on Izuku. Frustrated by this topic of conversation, and probably seeing her ornament being chewed on by Toga due to her oral fixation, Uraraka decides to take her out fast. She levitates a bunch of the furniture around them, Toga figuring out she touched all the stuff when she fell, grabs them with her cables and flings them at Toga. She calls this technique Zero Satellites. Toga drops the ornament. They fight. Toga says that trying to force back urges only makes them worse, so she should be allowed to act on them. Uraraka tells her that if she threatens people to do what she wants, then she deserves what’s coming to her. Toga, deciding that’s her answer, grabs some knives and prepares to throw them. She thanks Uraraka for the chat. Before she can throw them, Tsu arrives and knocks them away with her extendable tongue. I bet the taste of blood on those things is overwhelming. Toga calls her Tsu and Tsu says that Toga is the one person who can’t call her that. The two hero prepare to fight, but a tremor hits from Gigantomachia, distracting them. Tsu is prepared to fight, but Uraraka says she left after seeing her ornament. As Toga runs to catch up with Gigantomachia, she laments the fact she and Uraraka couldn’t bond over talking about romantic stuff like she planned, but she got her answer and is resolved now.

 

… She… really through Uraraka would want to talk about her complicated feelings toward her best guy friend with her… while fighting with knives? I really hope they send Toga to therapy when she’s finally captured.

 

Gigantomachia finally arrives on the battlefield. Shigaraki is thankful at the fortuitous timing. He reveals that Tomura’s body is at it’s limit from all the fighting, Izuku’s full power OFA strikes and Endeavors Flash Fire attacks have him exhausted and his regeneration at it’s limits. It’s so bad that “rivet stab,” the name of the Quirk that causes the spikes to shoot out, is auto targeting enemies to protect him. He knows they need to tell Gigantomachia to retreat with them. Shoto rushes Tomura, hoping to take him out before Gigantomachia arrives. He and Nejire attack him together, greatly injuring Tomura. Endeavor screams “In coming!” just as Gigantomachia attacks. Bakugo, being carried by Iida, tells him to put him down. He needs a complete victory, or so he says. Gigantomachia captures Tomura and asks for his next order. Spinner climbs up on his shoulder and notes how bad their boss looks after all the fighting. Endeavor mentally apologizes to Hawks, for triggering Gigantomachia and causing so much damage. He resolves to finish Gigantomachia off, but wonders how well that’ll work with a collapsed lung. He remembers his promise when he was officially declared the number one hero for Japan to “just watch” him be the best and refuses to back down.

 

You know it's a cool reveal when I already knew
he was Toya but was still impressed by the execution.

Dabi climbs up, a bottle of water in hand and greets Endeavor and Shoto. He’s excited to see them. Endeavor growls Dabi’s name at him. Dabi scoffs, telling Endeavor to not be rude and act like they never met before. He drains the water bottle over his head… washing out the black hair dye he’s been wearing all this time and revealing snow white locks. He tells Endeavor to call him “Toya. After all, it’s the name you and ma gave me.” Dun dun dahhhhh, Dabi is Toya Todoroki. Called it right away but moving on.

 

We’re shown Skeptic using his computer skills to hack the news broadcasts and play a video Dabi recorded sometime before the raid began. The recording has him shirtless, showing off his network of scars and blackened skin. He reveals himself to be Toya Todoroki and shows off a DNA test to show Endeavor is his father. Oh, and the whole time his mom is watching the video too. You know, for the extra knife twist. Dabi complains to his father and brother that they didn’t recognize him. He knows his face is rather gnarly now, but he thought they might. Izuku, watching, has a flashback to the dinner he had at the Todoroki house, where Shoto and his sister Fuyumi told him and Bakugo about their deceased eldest brother. We go back to the recording, Dabi revealing that he’s killed 30 innocent people. He explains that his father was obsessed with beating All Might, and because he couldn’t do it on his own, forced his mother to marry him and attempted to make a successor that could. He claims that he was a failure, that his father gave up on him and left him. As he confesses this, we’re shown the destruction Gigantomachia wrought in his sprint across Japan, and that pink haired kid that cheered Endeavor on during the Hood fight, looking disgusted.

 

Dabi tells his father and brother that they may have forgotten them, but he has never forgotten the family and has been watching them from the shadows. He says that of all the people in the world, Endeavor should be beyond reproach, and to break that ideal, he’s streaming his reveal to all the devices in Japan. Dabi claps his hands and does a little dance, admitting that he’s finally having a bit of fun watching his father’s reputation crumble. He admits that ever since he was “burned” that destroying him was all he thought about. We get a flashback shot to Toya as a child, his hair partially red and partially white, sobbing. He claims he clung to Natsuo for support and that he didn’t know why he existed. He reveals that he’d planned on waiting for Shoto to be “complete” and kill him right after to crush his father’s dreams, but then he became the number 1 hero and he saw a better opportunity. He reveals that he was actually worried that Hood would kill him before his plan was ready, and that he lead villains like the glass controlling dude and End to his home to build his rep. He screams at his father that the public adoration must have gotten to him and that’s why he tried to bond with his children after all this time. He claims that the past never dies and declares “Enji Todoroki, let’s fall together!” Shoto and Endeavor both look on at this tirade with looks of utter horror. He tells his father to dance with him in hell.

 

Father and son in better times.

Endeavor flashes back to the incident that he thought killed Toya. It was a cold and windy day when Toya seemingly was incinerated in a fire he caused. The fires were raging at over 2000 degrees Celsius, that they were assured that the heat had destroyed even his bones, and that all they recovered was part of his jawbone. We flashback a little farther, to when the first bits of white appeared in Toya’s hair. He asks if Toya dyed it or something but Toya denies it and instead insists his father teach him an ultimate move. Endeavor reveals in voiceover that he knew that Toya’s quirk had a greater potential than his own… but the change in hair color was a reveal that this was a sign that Toya hadn’t inherited heat resistance from him but instead cold resistance from his mother. But, he still wanted to raise Toya as a hero and kept training him. He reveals that he and Rei had more children in part because he hoped for a child with the right combination of their powers, but also because Rei wanted a big family. Fuyumi didn’t have the quirk combination he wanted, either, but at the time he was fine as he had Toya and planned on making his son the ultimate fire elemental. He believed that Toya could succeed where he failed, that in his jealousy and frustration and rage that his son could be better. We’re shown the mental image he always had of the back of All Might, a great chasm between them, but Toya with red hair walking across a bridge between them and Endeavor smiling evilly.

 

In the present, Endeavor says that his son is dead, and these are disgusting lies. Dabi, a deranged smile on his face, says that no, he’s very much alive. He taunts his father for not recognizing him and asks if it’s because fire Quirks are so common, he didn’t stand out. Meanwhile, Spinner and Mr. Compress are trying to wake Tomura up so he can give Gigantomachia orders. But they take a moment to be impressed with Dabi hiding this from them for so long, and Mr. Compress notes that their group has impressive lineages. Dabi offers to do a DNA test to prove it and admits to him he’s already done it and released the results. Cutting back to the video for a moment, he admits to his father abusing his children even after he got the hybrid he wanted in Shoto. We’re shown Fuyumi and Natsuo seeing the footage too and being horrified. The pink haired kid tries to defend Endeavor, saying that these are obvious lies, but Dabi then reveals that he got footage of Hawks stabbing Twice in the back to kill him. He claims that heroes working Endeavor are just as bad. It’s reveals that adding the Twice stuff was what Skeptic had been working on and he says it was hastily done but fine work. Dabi reveals to his father he did digging on Hawks. The video also reveals that Hawks “killed” Best Jeanist to win favor with them. Hawks, we’re shown, is heavily bandaged and unconscious in a medical tent. Dabi’s video claims that Hawks’ father was a petty criminal that had been arrested by Endeavor. It’s the reason why Hawks kept his own past a secret. He’s unsure if this was fate or if his dad just draws damaged people to him. He ends the video by claiming that the heroes are just protecting themselves. A friend of the pink haired kid says that people are going to believe this just because Dabi revealed it first and there’s no evidence against it, much to pink haired kids shock.

 

Dabi puts his hands to his ears as if he can hear the negative comments rolling out and then thanks his father for living long enough to see this day. He leaps at Endeavor, screaming his name. As he charges, Endeavor is having a mental breakdown. He thinks about how he searched for Toya after the fire, that he always believed he was alive. Shoto ignites his flames telling his father to protect Izuku while he and Nejire fight Dabi, but Endeavor is stunned. Dabi ignites his own flames and preforms a Flash Fire Fist attack, Prominence Burn. Before he can hit, though, Best Jeanist arrive and uses his power to control threads to capture all the League Members in heavy cables. He announces that as of this moment he’s back. Hell yeah!

 

This episode was great. Just amazing. I will admit, from the attack on the training camp I assumed Dabi was the supposedly dead Toya. Extremely potent firepower, the glee he seemed to take on beating Shoto (a kid at that point he should know virtually nothing about), his obsession with Endeavor, the reveal that Toya “died” in a serious fire, all these things point to the deranged fire user with mysterious burns being something more than a serial killer walking in off the streets. Oh, and this was probably only obvious in the anime where everything is in color, but he has the same shade of blue eyes as Shoto’s blue one. Despite expecting it, the presentation was amazing. Revealing, not outright lies but a heavily biased towards the negative, information about their family history to destroy Endeavor’s career is indeed a masterstroke from Dabi. He wasn’t lying to Hawks when he said that he really was the one Hawks should have kept an eye on. I also liked that we did see some of the scenes from Endeavor’s point of view and that again, while I’d never go so far as to say he’s a consistently good parent, I would say there was a point where he wasn’t awful. Maybe Rei’s perspective will refute it, but I got the vibe that he genuinely loved his children. Would he be happy if one got the power set that he wanted? Yes, but, I don’t know, that seems like it was and would have remained a secondary priority if Toya hadn’t started burning himself when he used his powers. Also, having Dabi use Prominence Burn to try to murder his father was brilliant. I don’t know why, but there’s just something so… viscerally wrong in a student/mentor fight when the student uses a mentor’s attack against them. It’d be like if when Vader fought Obi-wan, he had the articulation to use a high guard stance against him. Including all his family’s reaction to his return was a nice touch too. Props for showing that it looks like Rei and Fuyumi are shocked but it’s the Todoroki boys that are like, truly horrified by it. The fact that Endeavor was so stunned and overwhelmed by this that he definitely would have been killed without Jeanist feels right. I liked Uraraka vs. Toga too, it was a short confrontation, but it showed off how much stronger Uraraka’s gotten, and that Toga is conflicted about everything. Even after saying this helped her make a choice. Again, great episode. Next time, we’re finally doing Ant-Man 3. See you then. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 123

 Ghost fight!

Last time on My Hero Academia, Aizawa was hit with a Quirk Deleting bullet. With no hesitation, he whipped out a short sword and amputated his leg to keep his Quirk. It’s a moment so bad ass that even Shigaraki had to compliment him. Shoto Todoroki arrives and keeps Shigaraki from killing Aizawa with an ice blast. With his Quirks back on the table, Shigaraki attempted to release a Decay Wave to kill them all, but Izuku has had it with this little bastard. He unlocks Nana Shimura’s quirk, Float, and use it and Blackwhip to get everyone off the ground. He then set about attempting to beat Shigaraki to death. He unleashed multiple 100% OFA punches, while Shigaraki’s Super Regeneration keeps him from not dying. Bakugo, knowing that Izuku is possibly going to kill himself trying to stop Shigaraki, gets the Todoroki’s in a last-ditch effort to finish Shigaraki off. Endeavor gets Shigaraki in a hold and tries to incinerate him, but Shigaraki unlocks his own power up by seemingly merging minds with All For One. AFO tries to kill Izuku, but Bakugo has his ‘my body just moved’ hero moment and took the blow for Izuku. Well, after that punch to the gut, let’s get to it.

 

Deku is pissed.

We open with Bakugo getting run through as he shoves Izuku out of the way. The blades that pierce his body break one of his gauntlets as well. He groans out “stop trying to win this yourself.” Shigaraki, trying to retake control, pulls his blades back out, dropping Bakugo. Izuku almost goes after him, but Todoroki is faster, catching Bakugo while also carrying his dad. Shigaraki, as Izuku looks on in horror, tries to re-exert control of his body. Izuku starts zoning out as AFO, speaking through Shigaraki, tells him that so much blood has spilled today for no reason. Izuku remembers Banjo, the fifth wielder of OFA, warning him not to use the Quirk in anger or it could consume him. AFO tells Izuku that Bakugo was killed here today because he mistook foolishness for bravery, and that sets Izuku off. He charges Shigaraki, Blackwhip surging around him and forming a mask over his face. He demands AFO take back what he said about Bakugo. I’m not sure if this is like… symbolic or literal, but we see AFO’s face peaking out of a crack formed on Shigaraki’s horribly burned face as he grabs Izuku. He announces One For All is finally his… and he and Izuku appear in the mental realm of One For All.

 

Izuku appears, most of his body obscured by his green-highlighted black energy. He sees Shigaraki and AFO there as well, AFO growing out of Shigaraki’s body like a parasitic fungus. Shigaraki demands control of his body back, but AFO isn’t letting go. He’s going full abusive parent again as he tells Shigaraki that he’d have died without him interfering. There’s no, like, anger to those words, but it’s the kind of comment that feels designed to chip away Shigaraki’s confidence in himself as an independent entity. Izuku tries to go to Shigaraki but stumbles. Nana Shimura appears, saying that Izuku can’t move here yet, but he just needs to let them handle it.

 

In the real world, Gigantomachia is still barreling through Japan to reach his master. He’s surprised to sense two “masters” now but doesn’t stop or slow down because of it. The Heroes, including Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu, are trying to help with evacuation efforts. Nejire of the Big 3 and two aliens riding surfboards… kay, are tasked with finding Endeavor and warning him what’s happening. Iida runs off to help, completely ignoring an order to stay behind. Nejire asks why he’s coming too. Iida says that he should be punished for disobeying orders, but three of his classmates are in danger, and he credits Shoto and Izuku as dear friends that he MUST help protect. So Nejire is cool with it. Uraraka, who is staying with the heroes, wonders if they’ve made anything better today like they were supposed to. She remembers when Shigaraki attacked the USJ and thinks that a great darkness covered the world that day, with no sun in sight.

 

Talk about a parasitic parent.

In OFA, Nana addresses All For One. … Seriously, someone call him by his first name, damn it. AFO introduces Shigaraki to his grandmother, explaining that Nana’s manifestation is due to “transference.” He talks about a superstition that after receiving an organ transplant, the receiver’s personality might change slightly to match the donors. While the reality of this is… dubious at best, there is some evidence that this can happen when Quirks are transferred. The evidence? AFO claiming he’ll occasionally have dreams of the original holders of Quirk’s he’s stolen raging at him. He claims that when he gives up power those dreams end. Garaki suggests that something about the original wielders forever reside in Quirks. Shigaraki remembers seeing Shimura’s picture and asks what she wants. AFO doesn’t notice, explaining how he gave his brother the stockpiling Quirk and how it mixed with the younger brother’s transference Quirk to make something unique. Nana addresses Shigaraki as her grandson, while Shigaraki says she’s someone he doesn’t know but still hates. Suddenly a violent burst of force appears, AFO saying that Shigaraki is wearing OFA down, forcing the quirk to be transferred without consent. Shigaraki attempts to disintegrate AFO from his body as well, but he’s tied tightly to Shigaraki. AFO says Shigaraki’s hate isn’t quite strong enough yet, as his brother is a stubborn one. The younger Shigaraki brother manifests, asking if Tomura Shigaraki is the next “you.” AFO chastises his brother for being stubborn. Nana and Shigaraki the younger force them back. AFO tells Shigaraki to just work with him and they’ll be able to consume One For All at last. AFO calls Izuku a loser, saying that he can’t protect anyone and that he lets himself succumb to his anger and let it destroy his body. While talking Izuku seems to focus on Tomura specifically and sees how much pain he’s in. Shigaraki the younger tells his brother that he’s wrong, but because he only uses people, he’s not surprised by that. He has faith in Izuku and his resolve to fight for others. Izuku, meanwhile, forces himself to his feet. Nana and Shigaraki the younger transform into energy and they with the other wielders in energy form merge with Izuku. Izuku rushes Shigaraki and forces them back.

 

Power of the ancestors.

Okay, going forward, I think I’ll refer to the Shigaraki’s thusly: “All For One” is Shigaraki, or Shigaraki the elder if his brother is in a scene, “One For All” is Shigaraki the younger, and Tomura Shigaraki is Tomura. Get it? Got it? Good.

 

In the real world, Izuku and Tomura drop to the ground. Izuku is relieved to still have One For All. Shigaraki calls out to Tomura again, telling his student that his body wasn’t strong enough to complete the transfer. He advices Tomura to run, regenerate and recuperate so they can complete his body and the theft of OFA. Izuku mentally begs Tomura to just stay down before his power cuts out and he drops.

 

Back at base, they’re trying to keep an eye on Gigantomachia. He’s running at about 150 kph and they think he’ll reach Jaku city in ten minutes. On Gigantomachia, Skeptic has gotten a visual on Tomura, informing the League of Villains that he’s fighting Endeavor. Dabi smiles evilly, telling Skeptic to be ready to help him tear down a false hero. Mr. Compress asks Toga if she’s alright. He noted that she seems to like some of the students they were fighting with and asks if she’s okay with their plan. Toga asks where heroes draw the line, as if they’re supposed to save people, did they not see Twice as a person? She wants to know what heroes think about that, wanting to ask Izuku and Uraraka specifically. Heroes are scrambling to clear the area and preparing to stop Gigantomachia somehow. Mr. Compress looks over Skeptic’s system and is impressed by his satellite uplink. He asks for some camera views and spies Uraraka and Tsu among the heroes. Toga, seeing them too, is inspired and asks Mr. Compress if he has her equipment. She puts on her blood siphoning mask and prepares to leap off. Mr. Compress tells her not to jump, but she doesn’t like feeling confused so wants to remedy that. Dabi doesn’t care, but Spinner gives her an eloquent speech about how they’re misfits but they need to stick together, and that she needs to at least make sure she comes back to them.

 

Oh this is gonna get violent.

Uraraka and Tsu are helping with evacuation. Tsu is almost crushed by thrown debris, but Uraraka pulls her out of the way at the last minute. An old lady begs for help moving her husband…damn it, I know what’s happening here. Uraraka runs off, telling Tsu to help with the evacuation. The old lady starts sprinting away, leading Uraraka into a back-alley house, only to reveal herself as Toga. She leads Uraraka into a house. She says she wanted to talk to her and Tsu together and asks how her froggy friend is doing. Remember, in her somewhat warped mind, she believes that she’s good friends with Izuku, Uraraka and Tsu since she likes how they look covered in blood. She bursts from a wall, attacking Uraraka the “hero” what she wants to do to a villain like her. She flings it back on Toga, asking if she killed that old lady to asks a stupid question. Toga is affronted by that comment. Uraraka apologizes, sort of, saying that she plans on saving as many people as she can and Toga is in the way of that. So, she’s going to take her down. She flings Toga off her and prepares to battle. You go girl.

 

This is another great episode. I like that a good chunk of it was just filling in some gaps in our knowledge of One For All and how things like the previous users manifesting might work. I like the idea that there’s something about a quirk that is unique to the user, like the power and the person shape each other. It’s a nice detail. While within OFA’s world, I liked the visual of Shigaraki the elder growing out of Tomura’s body. I used the comparison to a parasitic mushroom both because The Last Of Us made that comparison extremely topical and because that’s how I am starting to view their relationship. While I doubt that he was such a puppet master that he somehow forced the situation that lead to Tomura murdering his family, it’s clear that at least since Shigaraki found Tomura he’s been prepping him for this transference and possession. I mean, it seems pretty obvious that possession is the endgame, right? He customized Tomura’s body with his power, and he’s capable of reaching out and communicating from a distance, and Shigaraki seems hellbent on immortality, all that points to a possession situation to me. The bit with Uraraka and Toga should be interesting. It feels like it’s been ages since Uraraka has had a focus episode, so letting her and Toga have a brawl should be fun. It seems like it’ll at least be partially talking about ideals, and honestly, Toga couldn’t have picked a better UA student to pick the brain of on the topic than Uraraka. Given her aspirations to be a rescue hero. So… Izuku has seemingly beaten Tomura, or at least left him so battered that retreat is the only good option for him, Bakugo is at minimum critically injured, Endeavor is also extremely injured and exhausted, Aizawa is maimed, Gigantomachia is on the way with the League of Villains brass, Dabi is planning on something that has the potential to destroy the hero system, and Uraraka is going to give Toga some fight therapy. Damn, and we’re only around the halfway point of the season. I hope no one dies. I’ll see you later. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 122

 In my experience, nothing is more terrifying than pushing a kind person to anger.

Last time on My Hero Academia, the Work Study students faced off against Gigantomachia and the League of Villains. Using a few traps, they were able to slow the monster down substantially, but the overwhelming power of Gigantomachia was quickly overwhelming them. In a last ditch effort, Mina Ashido attempted to fling a canister of tranquilizer into Gigantomachia’s open mouth, wiffed it because she remembered meeting this thing two years prior and was terrified, only for her personal Izuku, Eijiro Kirishima, to leap in and make the shot. It doesn’t seem to affect Gigantomachia, unfortunately, and he starts transforming. Meanwhile, Izuku, Bakugo, Endeavor, Ryukyu and Gran Torino tried to put a stop to Shigaraki. Even without most of his powers, he was physically strong enough to be a threat. He ends up possibly mortally wounding Gran Torino, ramming his fist through Ryukyu’s dragon hand and, unfortunately, launching a Quirk destroying bullet at Aizawa, hitting him. This rightly pisses of Izuku, who screams his teachers code name like bloody murder. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Aizawa loses a leg to save his power and everyone's
lives, fair trade.

We pick up immediately where the last episode stopped, Ryukyu screaming that the bullet is a Quirk Deleter and Aizawa getting hit. But we see he drew a sword he’d been carrying as the bullet hit. He thanks Ryukyu mentally for the heads up and… amputates his leg to keep the Quirk Deleter from Deleting his Quirk. He thinks of Eri as he does it, saying that he’s going to be rational and do what he must. And, in a terrifyingly badass moment, we see he doesn’t even blink as his right shin comes flying off. Bad ass. Shigaraki agrees with me here… but then also notes that Aizawa was still distracted for a second.

 

Izuku is playing for keeps.

Freed from Aizawa’s block for a moment, Shigaraki breaks free and charges Aizawa, getting a hand on his face and digging grooves into it. Izuku grabs him with Blackwhip but is too slow to stop him, but a massive icewall forms, knocking him aside. Shoto Todoroki has arrived. Shigaraki remembers seeing a third blip following Izuku and Bakugo earlier as he tries to get up, but before he can move, Izuku slams into him and sends him flying. He quickly grabs Aizawa and gets him out of Shigaraki’s reach. Shigaraki asks them what their plan is even at this point, they’re just delaying the inevitable.

 

We cut to Iida and Tsu who are helping evacuees. Iida is worried that he can’t reach Izuku, Bakugo and now Todoroki, despite Shoto’s promise to bring them back. Uraraka joins them and says they should go after them. Their attention is drawn to civilians watching a report. It’s revealed that Gigantomachia has overwhelmed the heroes battling him, we even expressly see Amajiki knocked out among other generic heroes, and the news is basically warning every person in every town between the sight of that battle and Jaku city to evacuate immediately. Uraraka reveals that nearly every hero of Japan was on this mission, so there’s no backup to stop Gigantomachia now. We’re shown Gigantomachia barreling through a downtown area as the Work Study students look on in horror. Sero asks Shoji if he can see any heroes still standing, and he cannot. He prays that Tokoyami, the only member of their group unaccounted for right now, is okay.

 

We’re shown Tokoyami in the ruins of the medical center. We see a brief flashback of him saving Hawks and a pair of doctors when Gigantomachia came barreling through and through boulders about. Back with the others, Yaoyorozu is frustrated their plan didn’t work, and that the only reason they weren’t taken out by Gigantomachia didn’t consider them a threat. One of the heroes, Majestic, was shown to use his powers to get them out of harm’s way just as Gigantomachia started rampaging. Mineta wonders if maybe they were doomed to fail from the very beginning.

 

Back at Jaku, Dr. Garaki is being taken away by the police and laughing at Present Mic for their failure. He admits that he was worried at the hospital, but now that Shigaraki is awake, the balance of power has forever shifted in their favor. He says that Gigantomachia is a living natural disaster that will stop at nothing to get to his master and reveals the Nomu were his attempted at making more of him. He deems the end is near.

 

Rushing has it's consequences.

Shigaraki seemed to have healed from his most recent injuries. Izuku and the rest of the heroes are exhausted, and Endeavor has turned off his flames to recover. While he has a greater tolerance for heat than most, he does have his limit. Shoto forms an ice barrier around his father to help him cool off faster, since they’ll need him to fight again ASAP. He waits a moment before activating his heat again. Bakugo, remembering Shigaraki attacking them all, is pissed. Izuku is standing with Rock Lock and Manuel as the two heroes try to get a tourniquet around Aizawa’s stump. Rock Lock tells Izuku to run. Izuku, who looks absolutely murderous right now, says not a chance. Shigaraki goes to use a decay wave, but at the last moment his chest rips open, and he doesn’t immediately regenerate. He’s confused by this, but then tries to remember the date and if it’d been four months exactly yet. Izuku, watching him, has the epiphany that Shigaraki is just like him, a vessel for the power he inherited… and much more importantly, his body still isn’t equipped to handle all the raw power of AFO like he hadn’t been for OFA yet. Shigaraki goes to use a Decay Wave again, but Izuku stops him. How? Wrapping everyone in Blackwhip and triggering a new power. The Quirk of the 7^th Wielder, Nana Shimura, Float! Gran Torino, who is still alive amazingly, confirms that this is indeed her power. Izuku, knowing that if Shigaraki touches the ground they’re all boned, resolves to stop him in the air, using every ability he has in his arsenal.

 

Believe it or not, he's walking on air.

Izuku, knowing that his control is spotty with Blackwhip, drops the others down and prepares to fight. Endeavor orders Shoto to help with Triage, in part because he’s already holding Gran Torino. Bakugo calls Izuku a dumbass and tells him to run, but Izuku points out who else is left to stop Shigaraki? Endeavor is furious at having to rely on his student when he should be the one in the most danger as number 1. Shigaraki promises to send Izuku’s ashes all the way to heaven after he steals OFA since he likes being in the air so much. He says he’ll do the same to Izuku’s friends, and oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Izuku pulls him in and starts wailing on him.

 

Bakugo, watching a rage consume his frenemy like he’s never seen before, is angry and shocked. We see a quick flashback to Izuku asking Sero, Uraraka and Tsu to help him figure out training methods to use with Blackwhip. Izuku is rocking an afro right now, as Bakugo had helped him with his training and blew up in his face one too many times. They ask why Aizawa isn’t helping with this, and we learn that this was when he and Present Mic were interrogating Kurogiri. Sero and Tsu are there to help him with tendril work, and Uraraka to help him figure out how to stop and redirect in midair. We start with Uraraka anti-gravitying them and telling him to treat it like swimming in the air. While Izuku figures out how to move in the air using his Air Force attack as propulsion, All Might goes to speak with a sulking Bakugo. He tells Bakugo that he’s hoping getting Izuku to practice floating a little might help him with Float finally triggers. Bakugo tells All Might that Izuku is going to have to reveal the nature of his Quirks soon. Bakugo knows that they can’t keep Izuku’s multiple powers under wraps if he manifests more. All Might says they’ll be careful and hide Izuku’s additional powers going forward. He points out this is to protect Izuku not only from villains, but anyone that might be tempted to take OFA. Bakugo starts asking tougher questions, specifically why All Might seems to be hiding how the 4^th user died. Bakugo noticed before that All Might had avoided answering when he asked before. All Might says that he doesn’t know for sure, and that he refuses to add that to Izuku’s mental weight until he’s sure. Bakugo, having accepted that he knows Izuku better than most at this point, says that he doesn’t think about himself and that selflessness freaks him out. All Might notes that this is why Bakugo is so quick to train with Izuku, as a means of penance for being a dick to Izuku when they were younger because of his unease. All Might tells him that he doesn’t believe Izuku sees it that way. He goes on to say that he’s thinks Bakugo is like Endeavor, in that they both actively have tried to change.

 

Izuku has mastered the fight face. 

In the present, Bakugo is clearly furious as he watches Izuku fights. Izuku is using OFA at 100% but Shigaraki is still smiling. He notes that Shigaraki isn’t healing as fast, though, so he thinks he’s overwhelming Shigaraki’s regeneration. His left arm is in it’s classic “I broke every bone in it” red pulpy look, as the two full power strikes with it proved to be too much for his bones. Despite this, his status as the current OFA user is to use his power to defeate Shigaraki once and for all. He remembers being told that if he breaks his arms two or three more times, he’ll lose the ability to use them. He doesn’t seem to care, though, as he unleashes several additional full power strikes on Shigaraki. Shigaraki notes that he’s healing slower with each hit and is furious that he exhausted himself fighting the other heroes. Well, the thinks that for a moment but then realizes that this kid is to blame, regardless of anything else. He prepares to blast Izuku with some kind of plasma ball and says that he’s holding Shigaraki back from his dream. Izuku screams “That’s exactly why I’m here!” as he rushes him again. He unleashes a Texas Smash, breaking his arm worse. Shigaraki flies back and starts going over his mental inventory of Quirks for a counter to Izuku’s power and whip.

 

On the ground, Manual asks if Izuku is really just a student. Bakugo says he is, but he’ll kill himself if he keeps this up. He knows that Izuku is destroying his body with each hit, and that there’s no way that he’ll be able to outlast Shigaraki if he can regenerate. He tells Todoroki to get over here and launch them into the air. He tells Endeavor to turn down the heat for now to power up for a final blast. Bakugo and Shoto use their powers to get themselves and Endeavor into the air, Endeavor warning them to wait until Izuku has Blackwhip fully extended and then to get out of the way. Bakugo remembers all the times he’s interacted with Izuku and accepts he’s a hero. Izuku knocks Shigaraki back and prepares for another strike, but Endeavor flies out, latches onto him and performs a Prominence Burst! It starts to incinerate Shigaraki… but then AFO calls out to him again, asking him to lend him his body. Shigaraki doe so and releases those weird tentacles AFO used to force Kurogiri to use his warp gate despite being knocked out. As Endeavor drops, he mutters “why won’t you just die!” Shigaraki, in a harmonized voice of both AFO and Tomura, calls out to his “little brother.”

 

Bakugo, remembering Izuku rushing in to save him from the slime monster, and then that time when they were kids when Izuku went to look after him when he fell in a river as a kid, says that his body just ‘moved’, and we see he knocked Izuku to the side and took the blow for him. Damn, Bakugo, that’s some solid character growth.

 

Damn, this was a good episode. Seeing Izuku go berserk and attempt to take on Shigaraki all on his own was amazing. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him use so much power it breaks his body, and it’s still a visually jarring experience to see his arms hang so limply after using multiple full power strikes. And his reveal of Float was amazing. Shigaraki is about to unleash his one hit KO, but Izuku’s like “Nope!” The fury he unleashed here is chilling, but I suppose after seeing two mentors maimed, and hearing this psycho threatening his friends, it’d be weirder if Izuku hadn’t gone berserk. I think he has the right idea that his power is made for defeating All For One, but I’m worried that believing he MUST do it by himself is going to get him hurt. I love Bakugo’s flashback in this. We get to see how Bakugo’s views on Izuku has shifted since they had their scuffle and started working together more routinely. He sees how shitty he was to Izuku growing up and now much of his selflessness and kindness were a strength that repelled him when he was weak. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. And that ultimately being what lead to his “hero moment” where his body moved without thinking to protect Izuku, damn that was just perfect. The fact that AFO has seemed to take the driver’s seat in Shigaraki’s body is… troubling. Putting his over a century of knowledge into a body that is young and whole and fit is a recipe for disaster and I think everyone knows it. Hopefully Izuku will be able to hold them off. But we’ll see next time. Have a good night. 

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 121

 How to stop a rampaging titan? Pit trap!

Last time on My Hero Academia, the Heroes face off against Shigaraki. While Aizawa keeps him from using the bulk of his new powers, he’s nearly as powerful as All Might all on his own. He knocks the Heroes around quite a bit and goes to kill Aizawa. Izuku rockets in and stops him, begging his mentors to let him help fight his nemesis. Izuku and Bakugo join the fray and the battle is on. Back at the villa, Gigantomachia has gathered the old League of Villains members and Skeptic of the Meta Liberation Army and is racing to reach his master. Mt. Lady is doing her best to slow him down but is having real trouble. The rest of the Hero Course students are tasked with stopping him. They’re all terrified but are going to try to knock him out. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

We open with Gigantomachia sprinting for all he’s worth with Mt. Lady angrily clinging to his back to slow him down. Yaoyorozu explains the situation to the Work Study students, Gigantomachia is about 25 meters tall, that he’s got the League of Villain’s members on his back, and that the plan is to knock him out with tranquilizers. The tranquilizer she made is usually injected but that’s just not an option with how big he is and how fast he’s moving. The plan is to use their combined powers to set a trap for Gigantomachia, to slow him down long enough to get as much of the stuff into his mouth as they can. They begin with Honenuki using his softening ability to turn a stretch of ground into a bog to snare him. They also added a bunch of Sero’s tape, Mineta’s sticky balls, and a bunch of dynamite that Yaoyorozu added at the last minute, for flare.

 

Gigantomachia approaches their trap. It’s revealed that part of the reason that Mt. Lady has clung on so long as she has is for Kamui Wood’s sake. He’d wrapped his root like tendrils around Gigantomachia’s legs to cling on, but was knocked out by that big blast earlier. She’s obviously not going to willingly leave a colleague and teammate in that situation. On Gigantomachia, Spinner suggests they do something about Mt. Lady, but Compress says that’s not in their skill set.

 

Yeah, topple that Titan.

Gigantomachia steps in the bog and trips, knocking Kamui and Mt. Lady from his back and he begins to sink. The kids wrap him in ropes, vines and tape and use their Strongmen type students to try to drag him back to the ground. The bindings they made snapped off almost immediately, but they tried. The ropes they prepared that were tied off with Mineta’s sticky balls remain stuck to his chin, though. Shoji, Aoyama and Ojiro run up to try to fight some of the villains. Jiro tries to hit them with one of her sonic weapons attached to her earphone jacks but gets burned in the attempt by Dabi. Using Reiko Yanagi of class 1B’s poltergeist quirk, they fling Kaminari’s electric targes all over Gigantomachia’s back near the League and then she lifts Kaminari himself to aim. He prepares to fight an electric blast but is hit by debris from Mr. Compress. It’s at this point that we learn that his prosthetic left arm has been upgraded to include essentially gun barrels in each of his fingers, allowing him to shoot his compressed balls as shrapnel. Kaminari is hit and knocked to the ground.

 

Keep pepper away from this guy.

The kids on the ground get Gigantomachia’s mouth open and hurl their tranquilizers at him, but he exhales with enough force to knock the canisters and the kids back, and then Dabi unleashes a fireblast to destroy the canisters. He mentions that Gigantomachia’s been outfitted with several Quirks that make strong, give him nearly unlimited endurance and the inability to feel pain. So the kids are basically throwing themselves up against a moving brick wall. The fire that Dabi created severely limit what the kids can do, and Gigantomachia is able to crawl out of the bog they tried to sink him in. As he steps a little deeper, Yaoyorozu starts setting off her bombs to try to sink him deeper into the bog.  Spinner points out that Gigantomachia is an expert tunneller so this won’t stop him. Only for Mr. Compress too point out that him digging with them on his back will probably kill them. Heroes arrive on the scene to back up the students. Mt. Lady leaps onto his back and does her bests to force Gigantomachia’s mouth open again to give the kids an opening. Ashido comes flying out of the fire, covered in slime and with a whole bunch of canisters.

 

The Midoriya in this pair finally gets to save
their Bakugo. And yes it's weird Ashido
is the Bakugo of these two.

We switch over to the kids on the ground outside the fire. They’ve got Kaminari who is hurt but not unconscious. The fire is keeping them in place, and they look on in apprehension. We learn that Ashido’s move here is called “Acidman” and that the liquid of her acid is keeping the fire from affecting her. She swears to do everything she can to save people, even if you’re frozen with fear. She prepares to throw. Gigantomachia seems to come out of a trance, it seems, lamenting how all these people have been slowing him down too much to get to his master and him saying that he won’t allow them to hold him up anymore. It’s at this moment that Ashido remembers meeting Gigantomachia two years ago, back when Kirishima was in his mopey phase, where the creature was asking directions to some place. I wonder why the giant monster didn’t ring any bells before but given her reaction here maybe she blocked the encounter out. She remembers being absolutely terrified by the creature after meeting him and breaking down crying. This seems to throw her off and her throw is too high.  Gigantomachia reacts, throwing Mt. Lady off and going to crush Ashido. At the last second, Kirishima in his unbreakable form knocks her aside and takes the hit. Tetsutetsu runs up and grabs her, saying she needs to regroup with everyone else. They’re planning to have Honenuki sink the fire into the ground. She’s not having it, though, as she knows Kirishima needs help. He laments the fact Kirishima ran ahead.

 

Gigantomachia grabs his companions, saying the insects have been handled. He prepares to run, only to notice Kirishima crawling up his leg with rock talons. He lobs a canister at Gigantomachia, but Toga throws needles to block it. He then reveals he grabbed Ashido’s dose when he shoved her aside and thinks to himself he’ll channel her chivalrous spirit and use her dose to finish this off. The jar breaks in Gigantomachia’s mouth and he swallows some. Tokage of 1B grabs him and pulls him out of the way as the other students use artillery guns Yaoyorozu whipped up to bomb Gigantomachia. Girl, LEAD with those! Honenuki uses his powers to sink the burning trees into the dirt. The rest of the heroes arrive, as well as Amajiki and Hado of the big three, and things start looking up. Yaoyorozu tells everyone that the sedative will work faster if they keep him moving, so they plan to do that. Then it hits the fan. Gigantomachia activates some Quirk of his that increases and shifts his armor around and the dude starts burrowing underground. Well… crap.

 

Dude looks absolutely miserable as he's winning.

Meanwhile, Izuku and co are still dealing with Shigaraki. They have him down at the moment. Endeavor tells him that it’s over. Shigaraki, freaking out, says that in an effort to protect strangers, heroes hurt the people that love them. This obvious sticks Endeavor in the gut. Shigaraki gets up, saying he has a goal to reach. Aizawa is hitting his limit, though, and he’s mentally begging Endeavor to finish Shigaraki off. Shigaraki keeps chastising the heroes, saying the world is so rotten it’s infested with maggots. It’s the usual “you think you’re the good guys but you suck” type monologue. Endeavor, sick of this, tries to incinerate him. Shigaraki survives the blaze, leaping around and tries to get Endeavor. Gran Torino leaps around and kicks him in the head. Unfortunately, Shigaraki flips around and grabs his leg, crushing it and drawing blood.

 

Eraserhead, what are you gonna do with that knife?

Gran Torino flashes back to Shimura giving up her son. He sobbed horribly as she left him with the family that would raise him. We learn that she did this specifically so All For One wouldn’t find him and target her through her son. … Feels a bit like this was a self-fulfilling prophecy just a little bit, not going to lie. Gran Torino asks Shimura’s memory if they did the right thing, just before Shigaraki drove his hand into Gran Torino’s stomach. Izuku, enraged, rushes him. Shigaraki dodges around him and goes for Aizawa again. Ryukyu gets in the way, but he drives his whole fist through her Dragon hand. Izuku leaps onto his back and starts trying to strangle him, saying that Shigaraki is the only person he can’t forgive. Izuku uses Blackwhip to bind him. Trying to keep him bond long enough to incinerate him. Shigaraki pulls out and reveals he’s holding a Quirk deleting bullet. Izuku, not wanting risk him using that on any of the heroes here, tries to use a 100% Wyoming Smash. But Shigaraki catches his arm in his teeth. He launches the bullet, and it hits Aizawa in the leg as Izuku screams his teacher’s code name.

 

Okay, that was a great episode. Seeing the other students formulate and execute their plan to stop Gigantomachia was amazing. They created a plan with multiple steps in order to at minimum delay the beast for a few minutes in the worst cases, or stop him completely in the best. Using the muddy, softened ground not only as a pitfall of sorts but also to hide the bomb backup plan was great strategy on their part. It showcased a lot of their unique skills, and even though the plan seems to have failed at keeping Gigantomachia pinned indefinitely, they at least kept him from turning Izuku’s situation into something beyond hopeless. Also, loved that Kirishima got to, in his eyes, make up for not helping his middle school classmates when they met Gigantomachia by being the one to get the tranquilizer into him. He and Ashido seem to have a similar, but significantly more friendly, rivalry between the two of them as Izuku and Bakugo. With Ashido being the one with talented hard worker (Bakugo) and Kirishima being the one talented at working hard (Izuku). Also, if they don’t hook up by the end of the series I’ll be shocked. What? They also have a similar vibe to them as Kaminari and Jiro and I’ve already predicted those two being a thing, too. As to the Izuku fight… damn, that’s all heartbreaking. Seeing Gran Torino take what is more than likely a mortal blow and then witnessing Shigaraki go in to kill or maim Aizawa is just hard to watch. I feel Izuku’s rage as he tries to strange the monster and then cave his head in when that doesn’t work. The fact Shigaraki caught Izuku’s arm in his mouth is insane but I kind of love it, too.  The idea that Aizawa might lose his powers here is scary as hell, as Shigaraki off the chain will kill just so many people it’s going to be insane. The fight is going to go crazy here and I am here for it. Have a good night, everyone.

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Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 120

 The two opposing forces finally meet.

Last time on My Hero Academia, Shigaraki started letting lose with his enhanced power. Endeavor does his best to hold him off, but Shigaraki is simply too powerful. He’d probably would have been killed, but Shigaraki is compelled to fight Izuku and get One For All. He uses the stolen Quirk Search to find and start chasing Izuku. Izuku and Bakugo, the only two that know the full situation, Blackwhip web-swing and explosion fly away from the civilians. Shigaraki nearly captures the boys, but they’re saved by Gran Torino at the last second. Endeavor and other heroes battle Shigaraki, thankfully Aizawa is there to turn off Shigaraki’s enhanced powers. Unfortunately, Shigaraki has also had his body enhanced so he’s supernaturally strong without a Quirk. The other heroes arrive to serve as backup, but Shigaraki summons more Nomu to back him up. Well, this isn’t going to end well. Let’s get to it.

 

Toshi, dude, PG 13 new report.

We open with a news copter letting the world know that about a 1/3 of Jaku City has been destroyed, the Heroes are doing their best to evacuate everyone, and that chaos is running rampant. All Might is watching this on his computer with Eri… bro, she’s like 5, don’t show her this! Anyway, All Might is watching and once again clearly lamenting his lost powers. We’re also shown Mrs. Midoriya, Todoroki’s siblings and mother, and Mrs. Bakugo all going about their day blissfully unaware that the people they love and/or have complicated feelings for (looking at you Endeavor) are in a fight for their lives. Hell, Mrs. Bakugo is sitting looking through an old photo album labeled “Katsuki Memory,” ya know, just to twist the knife that she doesn’t know her baby was like .00005 seconds away from dying. We’re then shown All For One in his prison cell, smiling as the reporter asks if this is the new normal of a world constantly in peril.

 

What hurts more, Endeavor's pride or his ribs...

We return to Endeavor battling Shigaraki, just before his backup arrives and the Nomu rises from the rubble. Endeavor unleashes a hail of fire blasts as Ryukyu flies up to aid him, but Shigaraki flips around and slams both into the ground. He lands on Endeavor and mockingly asks if he copied Endeavor’s pose right from when he beat Hood of the High End. Endeavor knocks him off and asks where these Nomu came from. He knows Shigaraki unleashed his power in the lab and that from everything he’s seen before that should have meant that the Nomu would be destroyed too. Shigaraki reveals that he now has total control of his quirk, so he simply “willed” the pods to not be affected by decay, so they weren’t. He destroyed some but the High Ends are active. Garaki, who is happy but seems to still be going through some sort of breakdown, explains that he’s impressed with Shigaraki’s use of strategy to get the High Ends active. Using his radio’s radiowaves to give them the electrical spark to awaken them. The good news is that these Nomu weren’t properly tested so they’re basically rabid animals. The bad news is that these are rabid animals with multiple quirks, higher than normal power and a kill instinct like no other. Damn. Garaki dubs them “near High Ends” due to their lack of intelligence. Gran Torino flies off to help Aizawa, telling the boys to stay hidden. Izuku asks himself what is worse than a world without One For All.

 

Aizawa thanking God mentally that he didn't Flunk
Izuku Midoriya on that first day. 

Shigaraki locks eyes on Aizawa and rushes him. Rock Lock, who’d been keeping Aizawa up, dodges to the side and goes into an attack. Aizawa refuses to die here, as he believes it’s his duty to look after class 1A until they graduate, mentally promising Shigaraki that if he thinks Aizawa is a problem, his students will blow his mind when they’re ready. He draws a blade from his belt and prepares to fight. Gran Torino flies in, but he’s going to be too slow to make it. Izuku rockets in and knocks Shigaraki aside. Izuku realized that he can face Shigaraki so long as Shigaraki’s powers are blocked. He begs the pros to let him and Bakugo help fight. He knows there aren’t enough heroes to battle him and the Nomu, and that if Aizawa is taken out it’s literally all over as Shigaraki will just disintegrate everything. He realized that the worst thing that losing OFA is losing Aizawa, his teacher, mentor, and center point of his class. Plus, ya know, literally the only one able to stop Shigaraki from unleashing his full power. Bakugo flies in and he and Izuku take Shigaraki on. Izuku binds the villain with Blackwhip and lets Bakugo unleash AP shots on him. Shigaraki is powerful enough to withstand the attack but is clearly annoyed by Izuku’s whips binding his movements. He leaps at Bakugo, but Endeavor flies in and knocks him aside. He asks where Shoto is and is told he’s outside. The heroes reorganize. Manual and Rock Lock are going to help keep Aizawa safe and using Erasure to keep Shigaraki’s powers at bay, while Izuku, Bakugo, Endeavor and Gran Torino do battle with him. Endeavor tells them protect Aizawa. Shigaraki rushes them again, wondering if it might not be better to just grab Izuku and run, but is hit with another psychic wave that tells him to steal OFA. A scar forms over his right eye and he says “Come to me, little brother” freaking Izuku and Bakugo out. Shigaraki tells his master that AFO’s ambition is far too big and that this is his body and his power now. He sees a mental image of AFO reaching out to him. He wonders how a being calling himself the lord of evil could be beaten by someone. He thanks his master for raising him, but refuses to succumb to his influence completely, saying he wants to be better. He says he’ll take OFA because he wants to! Gran Torino flies in, knocking his arm aside. He’s confident that he’ll be able to take on Shigaraki as, while one blow might be fatal, he’s an expert dodger and trained All Might, so is used to battling superstrength. He says he won’t let Shigaraki besmirch Shimura’s memory anymore and attacks. Endeavor almost hits Shigaraki with an intense blast from behind Gran Torino, but he dodges, knocking them both back with the blast.

 

Shigaraki goes for Izuku, but Bakugo, flying above, reveals Izuku is the bait and unleashes a full power blast from his gauntlet at him, knocking him back. Remember, that gauntlet stores up his nitro sweat and increases the potency like 10x. And he’s gotten a LOT stronger since he last used it. Izuku and Endeavor hit Shigaraki hard, Endeavor telling himself that it doesn’t matter if he can’t beat Shigaraki alone, he WILL stop him.

 

Back at headquarters, they are still flying blind. Edgeshot’s team has captured several villains but are obviously still working on it, given the whole… shitstorm they’re dealing with. Jiro, meanwhile, uses her earphone jacks to do recon and lets everyone else know that something huge is underground and moving, revealing Gigantomachia has entered the fray.

 

The beast reaches out and grabs Compress as he rises, revealing that he’s also grabbed Spinner and Toga. Compress tosses Toga a spare change of clothes when he notices her. He tries to grab Dabi but Dabi refuses to go without grabbing one more, Skeptic of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Skeptic doesn’t want to go… but obviously Dabi is the one making the final call as he’s the one the giant behemoth is listening to at the moment. In the background, Mt. Lady is still trying to swat Geten like a ice flinging fly. Gigantomachia uses his nose and catches Shigaraki’s scent, he rushes blindly toward him, but Mt. Lady gets in the way, doing her best to slow him down. Jiro’s earphone lets her know the thing is on the way. The heroes go to try to slow him down, telling the Work Study kids to stand back. Skeptic demands to go back and help Re-Destro, but Dabi tells him to shut up to hide the fact that Gigantomachia is carrying passengers. Geten tries to hold off the heroes, but Cementoss captures him in concrete. Re-Destro digs himself out and orders the Meta Liberation Army to follow Gigantomachia and go to their leader.

 

Yeah, Mt. Lady, push that living mountain back!

Mt. Lady slows Gigantomachia for a bit, but Gigantomachia grabs her by the leg and tosses her aside. Seeing her thrown aside so easy freaks out her teammate, Kamui Woods.  He is so freaked out that he call out to her using her real name to check on her, but his passenger won’t let him stop to see if she’s okay. Said passenger, Midnight, tells him to get in close to Gigantomachia, ripping her outfit to expose more of her skin. She realizes that if Gigantomachia gets to Shigaraki, they’re basically boned, so she’s planning on hitting him with as much of her sleep pheromones as she can. They’re stopped by Dabi popping out and fireblasting them. The fire stops Kamui Woods, because… obviously, wood man, and Mr. Compress throws compressed debris to knock her to the ground. She asks herself what hero could stop Gigantomachia but can’t think of anyone that is still standing.

 

Worst. Fieldtrip. Ever. But let's make lemonade out
of these lemons.

Midnight contacts the Work Study kids and tells them they need to stop him. She tells Yaoyorozu to either use her quirk to make tranquilizers for Gigantomachia or to get out of the way if she doesn’t think she can do it. She’s cut off by Paranormal Liberation Members reaching her and starting to fight. Knowing that they literally have no good options, Yaoyorozu rallies the students, telling Jiro and Shoji to track Gigantomachia’s movements and for Honenuki to get ready to use his softening quirk too. Jiro says that it’ll be on them in less than a minute, but corrects herself when she notes Gigantomachia is slowing down. Why? Mt. Lady leapt on him and is trying to use her body to slow him. She’s got a good line as she’s being slammed up and down on the ground, saying that Gigantomachia will “Pay for this! I haven’t clung onto a guy since MIDDLE SCHOOL!” Yaoyorozu starts making canisters of something for all the 1A and 1B students. It’s the 36 or so students vs. Gigantomachia. Well, there’ve been more lopsided anime fights.

 

This episode was great. Much like the Kamino ward incident, we’re seeing how the battle is escalating and how the populace is starting to react to it. I imagine we were specifically shown Mrs.’s Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki just going about their day specifically so we can juxtapose how their days will shatter when they realize their boys (and estranged husband in Rei’s case) are quite literally fighting for their lives. Shigaraki with all this power is terrifying. He’s got all the physical strength of a Strongman like All Might, plus a power that can destroy anything with a touch, regeneration, and a whole host of other powers he hasn’t gotten to try out yet. He’s a ball of death that they’re just barely keeping contained by Aizawa’s power and everyone else’s fists. And it’s interesting to start seeing the side effects. It looks like AFO included some means of influencing Shigaraki’s mind in whatever was done to enhance him. Maybe it’s an effect of sharing a Quirk, maybe it’s an attempt to make the same spiritual connection OFA users have, it’s too early to say. It is clear that AFO has got a bigger plan at play here, and that Shigaraki might be less of a king and this than he thinks he is. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops. Plus, he and Izuku are about to throw down and that’s going to be glorious. I liked Izuku throwing some credit Aizawa’s way. All Might is his inspiration and his mentor, but Aizawa has also been putting in the work to train Izuku, has done a lot to try to push Izuku to be the best (within the rules) and helped inspire him as well. Seeing Izuku realize that Aizawa is integral to this defense and his education was neat, I thought. Setting the bulk of the Hero Students to fight Gigantomachia was a brilliant thing to do, too. It gives the lesser characters something to do, and will give a legit reason as to why Gigantomachia isn’t leaping in, further screwing everything up. They’re going to have a hell of a fight on their hands since Gigantomachia also has back up, but I’ve faith in them. The beat down is about to begin. I’ll see you next time. 

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