Last time on My Hero Academia
Endeavor and Hawks faced off against AFO. While the other battlefronts were
bolstered by hearing that Shoto had defeated Dabi and brought him into custody,
Endeavor seemed to have mixed feelings about it. Which, ya know, I get, I’d not
be sure how to feel if my youngest beat up my oldest regardless of the situation.
Unfortunately, he’s dueling with the self-proclaimed Demon Lord, so he’s really
not given time to process his feelings. Endeavor and Hawks fall into a stalemate
against AFO quickly, as all three are exhausted and still recovering from the various
injuries they’ve sustained the last few weeks. AFO keeps poking the ‘you’re a
bad dad!” nerve on Endeavor. Endeavor doesn’t take the bait at first, but then
AFO reveals he’s the one that stole the injured Toya away from the Mountain
that night. That infuriates Endeavor, who tries a big burst, but AFO takes the
opportunity to slash his side when he does. Endeavor falls, Hawks sends some
feathers down to help cushion his fall and then prepares to die as AFO fires a
shockwave at him. He’s saved by the timely arrival of Tokoyami, who is flying
on Dark Shadow, and Jiro who is riding them both. Her heartbeat sonic blast
cancels out AFO’s shockwave. Hawks tries to get his former Work Study student
to flee, but Tokoyami refuses. They want to help, and Tokoyami insists that they
work well together. Frustrated by the constant interruptions from people he
thinks of as NPCs, AFO unleashes a massive energy blast, destroying one of Jiro’s
earphone jacks, hurting Tokoyami, and stabbing Hawks in the confusion, asking if
they really thought they could stand up to him. While this is going on,
Endeavor gets up but he’s still lost in his own head about the whole “son” thing.
We’re also shown groups of villains attempting to release Gigantomachia and
Kurogiri from their prisons. The Gigantomachia guards hold their assault off,
but the Kurogiri defenders are going up against Spinner. The lizard man was
given a Gigantification extra Quirk from AFO, so he’s a legitimate threat now. Enough
recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?
We open with AFO gloating about how
powerful he is and how much all these heroes suck compared to him. Jiro tells him
that his words don’t matter, actions do, and his actions involved making her
friends cry, and she takes exception to that. She hits him with a full power
sonic burst. AFO isn’t impressed, as the attack isn’t particularly strong. But
when he tries to retaliate, we enter the mindscape to see the Vestiges of some
of the Quirks he’s stolen reacting to the fight. The Vestiges grab onto him,
slowing him down and keep him from attacking Jiro. She calls out to Hawks, who
rushes the distracted AFO. As he begins his slice, we learn that he’s been very
deliberate in this fight thus far. Every time he’s tried to attack AFO, he’s
aimed at the same spot in the helmet. While AFO brushed all the attacks off,
thinking Hawks weak or stupid, he was actually wearing down the metal of the
mask. His next slash, boosted by the sonic of Jiro’s attack (somehow?),
shatters both his feather sword and AFO’s Mask. Jiro leaps off Tokoyami’s back
and tells him he’s up. She uses the force of her sonic attack to slow her fall.
Knowing that Hawks isn’t recovered enough to finish off AFO, he focuses Dark
Shadow around his fist and tries a Black Abyss punch. After wrapping Jiro’s
jacket around his fist to reduce the risk of touching AFO and losing his powers,
of course. AFO is distracted by the Vestiges attacking him in the mindscape and
thus can’t dodge. His hit obliterates the mask and AFO drops. Tokoyami flies
back up and grabs Jiro. Hawks makes another feather sword and charges, saying
AFO shouldn’t have underestimated them.
As he drops, AFO is confused by how
this happened. He knows he should have dodged Dark Shadow but somehow wasn’t
able to react in time. He’s blind, yes, but he’s spent the last decade and change
prioritizing gathering extra-sensory Quirks, allowing him to sense into the
infrared, vibrations, and so on. He thinks it’s because of the rebelling
Vestiges, which is also confusing because this hasn’t happened in his 150+
years of life. He thinks it’s because he’s using a copy of AFO, without the
original his hold over the Quirk’s Vestiges have weakened. Hawks tries to
finish off AFO with a final slice, but AFO regains control of his Quirks and he
strikes out with his stabbing tentacles. Hawks dives in front of the kids to
protect them but is saved as well by Endeavor leaping in the way. AFO rebuilds
his mask with his tentacles. AFO claims that his ideals have left him warped
and dubs him Endeavor the Failure. Endeavor shrieks in defiance, charging
forward, losing his skewered right arm in the attack.
We flashback to the injured Endeavor
laying on the forest floor. The blood loss, head trauma, and sorrow of the
moment make him see a vision of himself as a UA student. Young Enji says that
the last few weeks have weakened Endeavor’s resolve and shown what a little
person he really is. He claims to be barely able to look at his older self
right now. Enji says he’s not a superhero… but to not forget his origin. He
flashes back even farther when he watched his father die in a fire when he
attempted to save a kid stuck in a burning building. Enji also tells him to
remember the frustration and shame he felt when he saw All Might, a real
hero for the first time. To remember what the name Endeavor means, a name that
reflects his failures as well as his efforts. Enji further judges Endeavor,
saying that he’ll never be a real hero, not like All Might or even Deku. He hides
his shame behind bravado and fury. Endeavor, pissed off, starts strangling Enji,
who grows his iconic burning mustache and beard. Enji tells him that he can’t
be reborn as something better, he has to keep cursing the weakness in him and
burn hot enough to keep it at bay. Endeavor charges up and flies off to face
AFO.
We rejoin the fight as Endeavor’s
arm is ripped off. Rather than react, he uses his Hellfire to make himself a
burning fist and punches AFO in the face. He tells the villain that he is persistent,
and there will never be a day when he has peace again, but his duty is to fight
against AFO, and he is going to do it. AFO blocked the hit with an air shield. His
mask is still damaged, but he was able to hold onto most of it. He admits that Endeavor
is actually giving him flashbacks to the day when All Might nearly killed him. He
says that wounded heroes are the most frightening of animals. Before he can
react, Endeavor charges, pushed along by Hawks’ feathers. He reforms the burning
fist and slams it into the ground. The attack disturbs some heroes and villains
fighting nearby. Hawks asks why he didn’t do a Prominence Burn, and Endeavor
says that it wouldn’t have mattered because AFO threw up a shield at the last
second. He knows he only has a few Prominence Burns in him, and so he has to
make it count. He must break through AFO’s shields and obliterate him. Hawks
compliments him keeping a cool head, but Endeavor disagrees, saying his rage is
all consuming. He tackles AFO into the ground in a massive hit. One hero suggests
helping, but Kamui Woods asks if he has a death wish. Endeavor isn’t playing
around.
Endeavor grabs AFO and drags him
along the ground, breaking up his mask and disorientating the self-proclaimed
demon lord. AFO is panicking at this point, he’s injured, exhausted, and Endeavor
is laying on the damage. He tries to grab Endeavor to steal his quirk, but
Endeavor bursts out heat vision to fry AFO’s hands. He says those hands have
ruined enough lives already. AFO tries to throw that back at Endeavor, but he’s
beyond self-pity at this point. He can’t change the past, but he’ll do
everything he can to change the future. He takes off and the two shoot into the
sky. He swears to do everything in his power to make a better future for Shoto
and the other students. He grapples AFO, hooking his legs around the other man,
and gripping him with his arm, flexing his muscles to keep him steady. He vows
to win this fight and then keep looking at Toya. AFO shrieks at Endeavor to release
him, and Endeavor unleashes a full power Prominence Burn. The firebomb he
creates is like a mini sun in the sky for a few moments. Endeavor relaxes, knowing
that AFO didn’t have Super Regeneration, and even if he had some other Quirk up
his sleeve, the burnt husk he’s holding isn’t bouncing back from that. So you
can imagine his shock when Hawks tells him to get away from AFO. AFO, in a
strained voice, asks if Endeavor really thought he’d show up without an ace in
the hole. He claims that he’s done with this body and because of that, he was
willing to try something a bit crazy. We see the Quirk Bullet that Shigaraki stole
from Overhaul fall, and a flash of Eri to drive what’s about to happen home. He
says that Heroes aren’t the only ones who become scary when backed into a hole.
Just before his left ear and right eye regenerate. Well, shit.
We return to UA. Tomura is using his giant finger
tentacles to overwhelm the heroes. They’re still repressing his other powers,
but a few giant tentacles can be destructive all on their own. Amajiki gets
knocked to the ground, Nejire tries to help him but gets knocked aside for her
trouble. Jeanist tells the others to keep moving and not get distracted. The
tentacles are a big problem, but using them has limited Tomura’s movement, and
his main body is an obvious weak point. Edgeshot uses his power to slice up one
of the tentacles, but it regrows within moments. He is weirded out that this is
simple growth and not a quirk. Tomura claims that the quirks within him are
forcing his body to reshape to adapt to the new powers. The transformation is
also affected by external pressures. He claims that once this transformation is
finished, the world won’t look the same. He monologues about how he’s going to break
the system and use everyone equally. Bakugo tells him to shut up, he doesn’t
care if he’s Tomura or AFO at this point, he just wants him to shut his mouth. Bakugo
unleashes his new support item, a bunch of turrets powered by his explosive
sweat. He starts unloading on Shigaraki and tells the others to do the same. He
knows that this is their best chance to stop him, while he’s trapped, powers
suppressed and with the support guys and Yaoyorozu giving them ground to stand
on. He reflects on Tomura’s words, about how misunderstandings lead to fear and
rejection, and his relationship with Izuku. He says that he came to terms with
that crap a long time ago, and he’s going to work towards a better future the
slow way, like Izuku is trying to make. He says they don’t need any meddling
from “Nutsack-face’s lacky!” Jeanist is inspired by his former Work Study
student’s words. Bakugo unleashes his new attack, Howitzer Impact Blaster.
Underground, the system is starting
to break down. Shigaraki’s growing form is just too much mass for the trap to
handle and they’re going down. This is all being recorded by business course students…
who I guess felt left out? This one kid with crazy haircut says that he’s doing
this to promote the heroes and make a real documentary on how they defeated Tomura
Shigaraki.
We return to the fight and Bakugo
hitting the him full force. The explosion shakes the entire structure, which is
a sign to everyone that knows him that Bakugo was involved. The hero Kaminari
is working with asks if Bakugo is insane, but Kaminari defends his friend. He
says that Bakugo has an insane attention to detail, and because of that, even
if it looks like he’s attacking wildly, he’s actually performing incredibly
precise movements. Shigaraki realizes that Bakugo was doing his best to focus his
attack and limit the risk to anyone besides the two of them, which is impressive…
but futile. He caught Bakugo’s arm and breaks it with a hard squeeze. He says that
he’s not interested in Bakugo or his journey. Jeanist and Mirko rush in to save
him. Tomura mocks their decision to try to attack him up close, as he’s actually
stronger up close. He throws a huge blow and knocks everyone back. Shigaraki
says that there’s only one thing about Bakugo that he’s interested, and that’s
his connection to Izuku. He knows that Bakugo is Izuku’s Frenemy and because of
that, he’ll definitely be coming to save Bakugo. And then the credits roll.
Damn.
Damn, that was intense. I like
getting a bit more of Endeavor’s past and what made him want to be a hero.
Watching your father die for any reason would mess a guy up, but seeing him try
and fail to save someone would be especially rough. Endeavor gets a lot of flack
about his desire for atonement, if he’s really worthy of it, if he can ever do
enough to make up for the damage he’s done, and all that. As they say, actions
speak louder than words. And the big bruiser willingly sacrificed an arm to
protect three people and then risked life and his other three limbs to try to
finish off AFO in one massive fireblast. It was hype as hell. Shame it didn’t
work. I have to say, if you’d given me a bunch of guesses, I’m not sure I’d
have come up with how the Quirk-Destroying bullet would be brought back into
the story. I’d assumed it’d be used at a pivotal moment again to try to remove
a hero’s quirk, like what Tomura tried to do to Aizawa. But somehow using it to
make AFO regenerate would not have come to mind. Damn. I also liked that the
story took a moment to give Jiro and Tokoyami a chance to shine a little.
Horikoshi clearly wanted to give each of his characters at least one hype
moment by the end. And letting these two minor characters join in on wailing on
and nearly beating AFO is a BIG highlight. It sucks we had to jump away again,
but I assume a revitalized AFO is going to factor in the finale, so I can let
it go. Tomura’s tentacles of fingers is disturbing and I wish I didn’t have to
see so much of it. It’s a shame that he’s just too strong at this point for
anyone less than Izuku with his special boy powers to beat, because Bakugo
firebombing him into oblivion would have been sick. Especially after his little
speech about believing in Izuku and a better future. Sucks that Bakugo had his
arm broken, but hey, this is a shonen battle, odds seem good that won’t slow
him down much. But we’ll need to wait and see. See you later. Have a good night
and stay safe.
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