Friday, April 28, 2023

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero

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