Chase the green kid!
Last time on My Hero Academia,
Izuku started hitting the wall. All For One out thought Izuku and his hero
allies, luring them out to his hidden mansion just to play a message promising
the 9th Wielder of One For All that ‘Now it’s your turn!” to suffer
his obsessive attention. Izuku, growing tired and more desperate to protect his
loved ones, tells All Might to stop following him and that he’s okay on his
own. Class 1A have heard all about what Izuku’s been up to, and they’re all
worried about him, Bakugo most of all. He knows his old frenemy extremely well,
and knows that isolation and worry are just not good for Izuku’s mental state.
He and the rest of 1A convince Principal Nezu and Endeavor to let Izuku return
to the school. Izuku is nearly captured by a Tartarus Escapee called Dictator
who used an army of human puppets to overwhelm the exhausted vigilante, but he’s
saved by the timely arrival of his class. He thanks them for their help, but
tells them to leave, but they refuse. They’re here to bring him back to UA and
they will not take “I’m Fine,” or “go away” as an answer. Enough recapping. Let’s
get to it, shall we?
The episode starts with Izuku lying
to his friends that he’s fine and for them to leave him alone. No one buys it,
as their friend is basically in a Donny Darko version of his costume. Class 1A prepare
to take him down… For a nap.
Before the battle starts, Iida has
a flashback to when he said more or less the same thing to Izuku. Back when he
was at the mercy of Stain, the Hero Killer that maimed his older brother and
crippled him, he told Izuku to leave and not meddle in something that doesn’t
concern him. Izuku countered with “dude, that’s literally the entire point of being
a hero!” I’m paraphrasing but that’s the gist. Iida says that he knows Izuku
and knows that he’s too stubborn to be turned off a course once he’s on it.
Bakugo tries to taunt Izuku into acting, mentioning how Izuku has access to
more powers now, but he still isn’t All Might. He also mocks Izuku’s new
costume design, saying that it makes Izuku look like a villain. Izuku does
thank his friends for coming but then fires off a Smokescreen to hide his
movements. Bakugo blows it away with a blast. He sees Izuku in the sky above
him and says that now that Izuku is the all-powerful successor, he thinks of
the rest of them as extras. I think that’s your own damage, Bakugo, but I
appreciate you keep trying to make him mad since ya know he’ll screw up. Koda summons
a flock of crows to try to distract Izuku, begging him to come back with them. Izuku
tries to leap away, but Sero uses his tape attack to grab on. He says that
Black Whip makes him look scary and that its freaking people out to see him
like that. Izuku flashes back to when Sero gave him some basic advice on how to
use a Spider-Man web attack when he first developed Black Whip. Izuku rips the
tape away but then gets hit by Jiro launching a sonic blast from her speakers. He
leaps away but can’t escape Jiro saying that his help formulating her music
lessons for their school festival concert was a huge moment for her even if it
seemed small to him.
Ojiro catches Izuku in his oversized
tail and reminds him of how they bonded when Ojiro asked him to beat Shinso as
payback for Shinso mind controlling him. He tells Izuku they all know he’s running
on empty and begs him to just let them help him. Izuku is worried that All For
One will attack the school if he’s there and that’ll be like killing them all
himself. He breaks free of the tail but gets tackled by Tokoyami and Dark
Shadow into a building. Tokoyami pins him to a pillar with Dark Shadow. Sato
grabs Ojiro as he falls and carries him and Jiro to the ground. Jiro comments
on how much stronger Izuku. Sato asks him to just hear them out, reiterating Koda’s
comment about Nezu saying it was okay for him to come back. He decides to go
for the Jugular and say that if he doesn’t, he won’t help Izuku make candy
apples for Eri again. Izuku, still in his dark place, says that anyone can
treat Eri to those and that she doesn’t need him. Before he can struggle or try
to move, Yaoyorozu catches him in restraints. She says that their original plan
was to find him and fight with him in the streets, but Nezu, Endeavor, All
Might and the other heroes changed their directive to “bring that boy home!”
Izuku realizes that Yaoyorozu’s device is supposed to put him to sleep, so he
pries himself free and tells everyone to forget about him and go back to
campus. Before he can break out of Dark Shadows, Kaminari runs up and throws around
him, saying that they’re not abandoning him. Then, Shoji entangles them both in
his tentacle-like arms, which Yaoyorozu coated in electrical tape to protect
him. He reminds Izuku about when their group was attacked by the League at the
Training Camp, that he thought with their class they might even be able to take
on All Might. Tokoyami joins them and has Dark Shadow wrap him up even further.
He says that using Dark Shadow’s offensive strength protectively was Izuku’s idea
in the first place. The four of them try to get him to calm down, Kaminari
adding that he could really use a bath to break the tension, but Izuku freaks
out and tells them to just go! Kaminari prepares to shock him, but Izuku breaks
free and leaps away. The quartet are all impressed by One For All’s immense
power.
Izuku, clearly holding back tears,
tells them all to just leave him alone. He admits that he knows they’re there
for him, and that they want what’s best for him. He knows that for certain as
his Danger Sense isn’t going off at all to their attempts to restrain him. He
begs them to just go. His mask falls off during this speech and we see how
bloodshot his eyes are and how dirty his face is. He keeps saying that he’s
okay, but he’s not convincing anyone. Shoto summons a giant ice pillar and
Izuku dives headlong into it. He says that he can see that Izuku wants
to cry, but he’s not allowing himself to. He begs Izuku to just rely on them so
he can have an emotional release. Tsu leaps over and says that she’s not willing
to let him go, either. She reminds him of when she talked to him and the others
after they broke the rules to free Bakugo from the League and how she had to
vent her feelings to them so they could be friends again. She says that she
cried a lot during that, but she doesn’t do that anymore and begs her friend to
just rely on them. She tells him that he doesn’t have to do this alone.
We jump back to All Might Statue, where
Kirishima, Aoyama and Hagakure present a captured Dictator to Endeavor.
Kirishima is kind of bummed that all he got to do was chip the guy out of the
ice. Endeavor thanks the kids for their hard work, and asks them to help Hawks control
the scene. Hawks radios in to Endeavor and asks if maybe they should just bring
Jeanist in to stop Izuku as the fabric-based hero could end this in an instant.
Kirishima is vocally upset that he can’t keep up with Izuku right now, the
green-haired hero being so much more mobile than the red head, as there is so
much he wants to say to Izuku. Rather than wait around, he leads the other
three towards Shoto’s ice pillar holding Izuku. Endeavor tells Hawks to wait;
he wants to give the students a chance to settle this.
Izuku doesn’t want to stay put,
though, and starts breaking free of the Devil’s Tower of ice he’s in. Shoto
then points out the obvious, that this is probably AFO’s plan. By trying to
stay away from the people he cares about, Izuku is dividing their attention and
thus making UA more vulnerable. And on top of that, he’s exhausted and hurt,
and therefore extremely easy for someone with a ton of power and resources to
grab whenever they want. He asks Izuku to stand together with them and help
protect UA. Izuku remembers AFO’s “It’s your turn!” threat, and all of previous
wielders, he tells Shoto that this is a destined conflict between One For All
and All For One, and they can’t keep up. He breaks free of the ice, Shoto
leaping away to not get caught in the avalanche. Iida and Uraraka run up and
prepare for their next grab attempt. Tsu follows Izuku, grabbing Mineta (whom
Uraraka just made weightless) and tongue whips the purple little perv at Izuku.
Mineta catches Izuku with a whip of his super sticky beads. He says that he
never thought Izuku’s power was that cool. No, what made Mineta fall for Izuku
(his exact words) were all the times he saw Izuku do something brave despite being
scared. Like at the USJ when the original, extremely sucky League of Villains
attacked. Izuku gets him in a Black Whip and drops him on a roof.
Izuku attempts to get away by
combining his powers, using Black Whip as a slingshot, adding Fa Jinn kinetic
energy build up, and 45% Full Cowling to hopefully rocket himself away… but
Uraraka comes falling from the sky screaming that she’s not giving up on him. She
talks about how much everyone has grown over the year. Izuku blocks her out and
shoots off, but that seems to have been Uraraka’s plan. She says this is their
chance. Shoto makes a massive ice ramp, Ashido makes a super slick ball of her
acid that Shoto and Bakugo ride in, with the rest of 1A shoving to give it
momentum before Shoto uses his fire blast to rocket the two of them after
Izuku. Uraraka thinks about how much she wants to tell Izuku as she slaps the
passing slimeball, making it weightless. Shoto and Bakugo use their powers as
booster rockets to make the slimeball go farther and faster. Shoto drops first.
Bakugo thinks that he has so much that he needs to say to Izuku, but he is
willing to put it off just a little bit longer. Because he’s not the one made
for speed. The slimeball breaks up as Iida powers up his Recipro bust to
maximum and shoots like a comet after Izuku. As he shoots forward, his suit and
glasses breaking, he admits that Izuku is always ahead of him, but it’s because
of that that he’ll always be running after him. He says that he will always be
ready to challenge Izuku as he catches his hand and whips around to face him. We
see Kudo again as the second wielder says that the thing Izuku needs most right
now are friends that can keep up with him. Izuku tells Iida to let him go, and
Iida refuses, saying he’ll always race after him, as meddling when you’re not
wanted is the essence of being a hero.
Izuku tries to escape, but all the
chasing and struggle has finally worn him out and he collapses as Iida pulls
him into a grapple. He yells that he’s got Izuku and Uraraka releases her
power. They plummet to the ground, and it’s at that moment that Iida realizes
that he hadn’t thought about how they’re going to land. Thankfully Kirishima
runs out and catches them as they hit the ground. The force of the catch causes
Kirishima to skid backwards for like a mile, but he says they won’t break him.
He then adds that he saw a new report about some kid his age running to save
someone from a villain, and that he now knows for sure that that was Izuku. The
story blew him away. He tells Izuku that ya don’t need special powers or fate
to be a hero, just being there is enough. Everyone gathers and Ashido asks him
to stop running, the others all agreeing. Izuku gets up and admits that he
wishes he could go, but he’s too scared to do that. He knows that a lot of
people are taking refuge at UA right now and he won’t risk them or his friends.
Bakugo walks up and asks if Izuku
remembers what he said to Bakugo after he was stabbed by Shigaraki. Izuku
admits he doesn’t, and Bakugo says “Stop trying to win this by yourself.’ He elaborates
and says that the whole reason that he got stabbed was because he reflexively
got in the way to protect Izuku. He says that their whole lives he’s looked
down on Izuku for being Quirkless, for being less than Bakugo in so many ways,
but how he hated how it felt somehow also felt like Izuku was way ahead of him.
He formally apologizes to Izuku for being a dick all these years. He swears that
he and the others will handle the things that Izuku can’t. They’ll work
together and be better than they’d be apart. Izuku pitches forward, exhausted,
and Bakugo runs up and catches him. He says that he’s sorry and Bakugo says he
knows. Yaoyorozu says they’ve cleared the first hurdle, but things will get
harder from here.
A short time later, Izuku wakes up.
He’s being carried by Shoto and being looked over by the space themed hero 13. …
Whom I’m just learning is in fact a woman. Sorry for misgendering her in the
first season. She tells Izuku that most of the civilians have made it to
shelters and the only folks outside of those are criminals and anti-hero vigilantes.
She’s sure those won’t last much longer either as things are growing more
desperate and even those are looking for help. We pull out father to see that
they’re standing before UA campus, which is completely enclosed in a colossal
wall. How. Do. They. Afford. These. Things! Anyway, 13 tells him to relax and
leave stuff outside UA to the pros for now. Izuku is impressed by the wall, Hagakure
adding that they’ll be able to ‘merge’ with Shiketsu Academy in some way. Izuku
is moved by everyone’s earnestness but he knows that he can’t do this. They’re
interrupted by a group of protestors just inside the walls chanting ‘keep the boy
away!”
Inside a crowd has formed to
protest Izuku being brought in. They’re scared, confused, and know that All For
One is hunting Izuku. Present Mic and 13 try to keep them calm, but they keep
chanting. A very sad Deku turns to leave, but Uraraka takes his hand to stop
him. She tells him it’ll be fine, and she thinks about how she and the others won’t
let him go. The episode ends with Uraraka asking herself, ‘when a hero suffers,
who is supposed to protect them?”
Overall, this is a simple episode.
Izuku is shouting, “I have to go to protect all of you!” and his classmates are
all shouting back, louder, “Like hell you do!” It was nice that they found ways
to have the majority of Izuku’s friends get a chance to talk to him and say
their peace about how much he means to each other them. That alone would be
moving for this kid who a year ago in universe was shocked to have classmates that
liked him more than Bakugo. He’s had big impressions, like with Shoto, little
impressions, like with Jiro, good bro moments, like with Kaminari, and moments
that broke some fandom spaces, like with Mineta. Ya, there was a lot of discussion
on what it was meant when he said he ‘fell’ for Izuku. I’m not sure if
Horikoshi has ever addressed it, but the common fandom answer I’ve seen is that
Mineta is in fact bisexual but not really mentally or emotionally ready to
handle that, hence why he goes so over-the-top to showoff his heterosexual
interests by harassing the girls. I’ll just say that if that interpretation is
true, then it at least makes him more interesting than being the stock horny
pervert. Most of all I liked how this episode showed off that there is a genuine
friendship between Bakugo and Izuku at this point. Bakugo lead the charge in
trying to get Izuku back, he used all the right words and phrases to needle him
and keep him off balance so they could prep for their big plan, he knew what he
had to say in his apology to get Izuku to finally breakdown, and, most importantly,
he knew who had to speak to Izuku in order to slow him down enough so they
could all talk, Iida. Iida’s screentime has been severely reduced since the
focus shifted to Izuku as part of a trio with Bakugo and Shoto, but he was one
of Izuku’s first real friends, and they had a major bonding moment during the
fight with Stain. Like how Izuku knew that Kirishima had to be the one to offer
a hand so they could save Bakugo from the League of Villains, Bakugo knew that
Iida was the one with the right mindset to finally chip through Izuku’s
defenses and get him to stop. It shows a tremendous amount of growth, and then
we got the apology. When this show started back in 2016, I never would have thought
we’d get such a direct apology from Katsuki Bakugo. The kid was too angry, too
self-centered, too violent to have the self-awareness to apologize to Izuku,
the kid he irrationally hated for a long time. But here it was. We made it. Now
they just have to convince an angry mob to calm the heck down. I’m glad Uraraka
is going to be doing this one, as I imagine the next most likely candidate
would be Inko Midoriya. Nothing against her, I’m sure she’d do a great
impassioned speech to support her boy, but she’d definitely be backed up by
Mitsuki Bakugo… and she’s her son writ early 40s housewife. I think that says it
all. Ha. Have a good night and stay safe.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/viewer-log-my-ep-151838625
Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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