Viewer Log: My Hero Academia ep 169

The best way to change the world is to support each other. 

Last time on My Hero Academia, everyone started adjusting to the new normal. Izuku and friends were taken to the hospital and given the emergency medical care they desperately needed. Bakugo’s right arm was pretty messed up, to the point where the doctor suggested he might want to consider amputation and a weaponized prosthetic, but he refused, wanting to do the physical therapy. He also learned that Izuku only has embers left of OFA after beating AFO, which was a gut punch to Bakugo. He really thought he and Izuku would be competing forever. Izuku and co were finally able to officially move up to the second year, they’ve still got Aizawa as their homeroom teacher because. They learn that part of their school activities this year is to help with the reconstruction of Japan and do PR for heroes. Aoyama announced that he’s withdrawing from school, but he intends to still become a hero, he just wants to start over and do it the right way. His spot is getting taken by Shinso, who everyone is excited to include. Uraraka looks like she’s holding some things back, but Izuku isn’t able to talk to her one on one to find out what. Shoto and his family visit Toya. The villain, formerly known as Dabi is basically a burnt corpse that the doctors are trying to keep as comfortable as they can before he dies. Enji, the man formerly known as the hero Endeavor, tells his oldest that he’s retiring from Hero work and that he intends to spend whatever time they have left being with him. He knows it won’t make up for much of anything, but he does at least want to be there for Toya in whatever capacity he can. Toya gets agitated and they try to sedate him, but Shoto asks him one last question, “what food do you like?” Dabi says Soba, and Shoto says that’s his too. Dabi starts tearing up as he gets put to sleep and apologizes to his baby brother for the fighting. Outside, Natsuo informs his family he’s going no contact with his parents, at least, and that he’s going to get married soon. Enji respects his decision and swears that he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to make up for some of the harm he caused. Natsuo tells him that that’s a hell of a thing to try to do. Enji says that that’s the dance he agreed to. The Todoroki children leave, but Shoto tells his parents that he has his friends and thus will be okay going forward. When alone Rei agrees that they’re in hell, when she realizes that they’ll be dealing with Enji’s former sidekicks as they ‘help’ their boss, and the new Public Safety Commission President, Hawks, calls in to check on him. Enough recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open on a very sweet scene, of La Brava and Gentle Criminal reuniting. The former wanna be Villain TikToker has been paroled due in no small part to his help during the battle and his fiancée’s help on the technical side. Like, they don’t say they’re engaged, but come on, he’s buying a ring for her with the first paycheck he gets. We then cut to Hawks… or I suppose he’s just Keigo Takami now, Takami having a meeting with Lady Nagant. She was paroled as well, but she’s electing to finish her sentence. She’s… apprehensive of someone finding a way to use her like the previous PSC, so she’s fine having her room and board covered by the taxpayer until Izuku Midoriya can prove he’s changed the world. So, no pressure on the 16-year-old.

 

We then cut to a TV documentary focused on ‘who is Tomura Shigaraki?” Tomura is obviously pretty universally despised after what happened, the man did try to overthrow the government and possibly destroy the entire island nation, but these folks obviously don’t have the full context. Was Tomura a monster? Yes. But he was the monster a madman and society made. Interestingly, one of the people interviewed is clearly the old lady that once met a crying Tenko Shimura and didn’t do much to help him. How interesting… A new reporter tells us that cuts in to mention that repairs across Japan are going well, but the widespread destruction across the country is just absurd. The reporter promises to inform everyone on who Tomura Shigaraki was in the second half of their special. As he speaks, Izuku is brought in to speak with Spinner.

 

The doctor on staff, the one with a mushroom cap on his head, says that Spinner was beginning to turn into a Nomu because of the extra Quirks he was given, but they’d found a way to reverse the damage as he wasn’t too far gone at that point. Spinner calls Izuku a murderer and says he’s got a lot of nerve showing up here. Izuku says he deserves that, but they need to talk about Shigaraki’s death. He gives Spinner Tomura’s last words, and that they were specifically for him. Not for Toga, Dabi and Compress, just him. Hearing that causes Spinner to snap, saying that Tomura was his hero and the man he looked up to. Tomura showed him that he was worth something and gave him hope that one day he’d be able to do something great. He hated being a heteromorph, but Tomura gave him a reason to live. He starts hulking out as he talks, he screams as Izuku that Tomura was everything to him as he grabs the boy in his claws. The doctor threatens to call security, but Izuku tells him to hold off. We cut back and forth between the news report and Spinners words here. The folks on the report all describe Shigaraki as a monster, some are more empathetic than others, but they all are wary of accidentally sugarcoating the situation and inspiring copycats. The classic, “ya, he had a traumatic childhood but is that REALLY an excuse?” type stuff. Spinner yells at Izuku that he and Tomura were both gamers, and they liked a lot of the same games, and he goes so far as to call Tomura his best friend, the first he’d ever made in his life. Izuku tells Spinner that Tomura said he had to be the league’s hero, to be their example, and that makes Izuku think that Tomura felt the same way about Spinner. The League was important to him, they were his friends.

 

Spinner starts to shrink down and admit that he got caught up in their movement. He thinks back to just before the fighting, when he saw Tomura in pain as he was processing the mutations that were given to him, and asks if he’d been braver, if he’d taken one more step, could he have saved Tomura. The report concludes with one of the interviewees saying that they always need to be on the lookout for the next All For One and Tomura Shigaraki. Izuku gets up to leave, and Spinner asks if he and the heroes will keep fighting. Spinner thinks that Izuku and the heroes will go off, be all smiles, and try to forget about him and the league. He tells Izuku that he’s not going to let that happen, he’s going to write a book about the Symbol of Fear, Tomura Shigaraki and how he tried and almost succeeded in tearing everything down. Izuku says that he hopes it’s a comic book. Spinner is angry at that comment, until Izuku says that he’s worried over nothing, they won’t forget. They had a mild stare off, and then Spinner tells Izuku to tell Shoji to keep up the good fight. Once alone, he admits that having illustrations in his book might be a good idea, pictures are super important.

 

Outside, Izuku meets with All Might and Tsukauchi. Tsukauchi tells Izuku that he fulfilled the request he made. The request? He arranged to have Overhaul get a visitor, his ‘Pops’ the former head of their Shie Hassaikai and Eri’s grandfather. They’d been able to reverse the coma that Overhaul put him in with a support item. Pops chastises Overhaul for all the damage he did and for destroying their organization. Overhaul begs for forgiveness, but Pops sternly tells him Eri is the one he should be begging for forgiveness from. He hopes his granddaughter will be able to forget about what Overhaul did to her, but he swears that he’ll see to it that Overhaul never will. Izuku thanks Tsukauchi for that and asks if they can make sure nothing like this happens again. Tsukauchi says no, they can only prepare. All Might jokes that Hawks could recruit an army of heroes but tells Izuku that he was joking when the young man gets excited. He tells Izuku they need to hurry back to UA to meet the new students. Izuku says that he’s not sure why, as upper and lower classmen rarely interact.

 

He’s proven that isn’t so true this year, as Bakugo and Shoto are being chased down the halls by exuberate freshmen. The new students gush about how cool they think Bakugo and Shoto are. Iida tells them all that their support is appreciated but to tone it down a few notches. Shoto and Bakugo, who were hiding behind him, agree. Shoto says that he’ll speak to people one on one if they like, and Bakugo tells Iida to give ‘em hell for running in the halls. Inside the classroom, Shinso says that he’d though Bakugo would like groupies, but Sero says that even Bakugo can handle only so much attention. Izuku tells him that this is also a bit new for Bakugo as girls have actively avoided him for… some reason. Bakugo tells everyone to screw off, and we see Mineta and Kaminari are extremely jealous that Bakugo is now so beloved. One of the students forces his way in just to say that he respects Izuku and he wishes he can be brave and help others like him. Izuku thinks about Spinners face and feels a weird intensity in his chest. Uraraka is apparently watching him very carefully during that exchange and seems to be feeling something similar.

 

We shift to the staff room where Aizawa, Present Mic, and Ectoplasm are working. Present Mic says that he’d gotten another interview request for class 2A. Aizawa says to just delete it. Ectoplasm points out that some of the students, like Mineta, might like the attention, but Aizawa says that some might NOT like it, so they’re erring on the side of caution.

 

Later, the students are sent out to help with clean up alongside Fat Gum, Best Jeanist and their sidekicks. The students start the clean-up, Shoto freezes a bunch of rubble into a glacier that Izuku shoves away. Bakugo has a moment with Jeanist and Edgeshot. Jeanist points out that he’s still looking warn out and maybe he should rest, but Bakugo ignores the comment. He notes that Edgeshot is still pocket sized. The ninja themed hero tells him not to worry as he is recovering, he’s grown back his hands after all. Bakugo asks if he’ll ever be back to normal, and Edgeshot says he’ll never settle for anything less. The students clean for a while, and some of the locals make them a big lunch. The spokesman for the group says that this is their way of thanking them for their hard work, as it didn’t feel right to just sit back and let others do all the work. Kaminari says that they need to finish the clean up so they can feel like they earned the food, but the lead man says that they’d need a few more workers for that. A bus pulls up and Cementoss gets out, saying his students insisted on coming out here to say they’re sorry for being nuances to class 2A. They do a group bow and then insist that they can help with cleanup. Cementoss tells them to find something small on the sidelines and not to get in the way. The headman says that he’s not sure of the whole story, but it seems like 2A’s work ethic is contagious. Izuku stands with Tsu and Uraraka, Tsu noticing Uraraka is zoning out and asks what’s up. She nods and say that the world is starting to look up before rushing over to get food. Seeing Uraraka eat food causes Izuku to feel that beat again.

 

… Like, kid, you know you have feelings for her, right? This isn’t news for you? I knew that that’s how this would go down in Uraraka’s debut episode for goodness’ sake!
 

Later, Ashido tells Tsu that Uraraka is headed home for a bit when the froggy girl asks. Tsu says the weird thing is that Uraraka is leaving her unread. Which is weird for Uraraka.

 

We flashback to the end of Uraraka’s battle with Himeko, as the Twice clones turn to ash and float away. We learn that there isn’t any footage of this part of the battle as the camera gal working with the reporter didn’t bring a fresh battery for the camera. Uraraka says that only memories remain. We find her standing back at Troy, looking over the city. She notices that the lights are coming back online and things are starting to get back to normal. She thinks about how things had just been getting progressively worse since the original USJ attack by Tomura and OG League. Now, they’re making repairs, people are getting back to their lives and are starting to smile again. Things are looking up, like she said before. And then her eyes start welling up with tears and she admits that she’s holding feeling in because she doesn’t want to spoil that happy feeling for everyone. She’s repressing her pain, as she feels like garbage that she’s alive because Himeko gave her all of her blood. I know I’m a 35-year-old man taking to a fictional 16-year-old… but to any actual young people who might be reading my work: Do. Not. Do. This! Repressing things messes you up! Anyway, she’s crying and holding her stomach like she’s about to throw up with Izuku leaps over to her.

 

She tries to hide her face and act like nothing is wrong and asks how he knew where she was. He remembered that they’d had an important conversation here before and had a hunch she’d be there. She politely asks him to leave her alone for a bit, but Izuku bulldozes past that and says that she doesn’t have to pretend to be okay. He tells her that she’s always hiding how she feels and focusing on what others feel. He realized that she’s always prioritizing others over herself. Hell, that was literally their first interaction. She’s always been supporting him and everyone else, giving them strength and support. He calls her his hero and refuses to take the strength she’s giving out for granted. He takes her hand and says that that sometimes eases the pain. She lets him se her face and her tears and admits that all she can think about how Himeko is dead because of her. She sobs at having failed Himeko and how she could have done something different to save her. He asks himself who is there to support heroes when they need someone to ease their minds. Izuku admits he’s been doing the same thing with his thoughts about Tenko. He knew that he couldn’t face the battle against Shigaraki like the others he has. He says that heroes might ‘meddle’ with other people, but when they reach out, they can help.

 

Their conversation is interrupted by the rest of their friend’s arrival. Everyone knew something was up with Uraraka and they came to the same conclusion as Izuku, that she needed support for once. Tsu specifically calls her a dummy for shutting her out like that, and that Uraraka should know she can tell Tsu anything. Izuku feels his ember grow a little smaller, but he’s happy. Bakugo asks about it and accidentally tips the class off to Izuku’s powers running out. He offers to tell them everything.

 

We jump forward and see that class 2B, formerly 1B, had busts-built commemorating them, and Monoma is, shockingly, being a dick about it. We then head into the dorm to see the students throwing a farewell party for Aoyama. Izuku narrates that he has completed OFA’s mission as Eri and Jiro set up to sing for the class. Izuku muses that he hopes that they can keep helping each other. He trails off, but the implication is that helping others is how you actually change the world.

 

In a post credit scene, damn it, this better be the last one, we see a crying child stumble out of a destroyed house. His hands are glowing with a dark light of some kind, and he asks why is it just him.

 

Once again, I like we’re taking this slowly to tie off loose ends. It lets me savor the ending. I liked Izuku’s meeting with Spinner. At this point in the story, I think everyone who has been paying attention knows that Spinner is just a lonely guy that got wrapped up in something huge. Despite designing his costume after Stain’s and talking a big game when he first appeared, he’s just a former shut-in that wanted to rebel a little and ended up becoming a supervillain and a figurehead of a social movement. Who hasn’t dealt with something like that? I like that he’s sticking to his personal ideals, that from his perspective, Izuku is the villain and he killed Spinner’s friend. I think he’s being a little dramatic when he says Tomura was his only friend, but I do buy that he saw Tomura as both a role model and best friend. It’s a real shame that they met like they did, as if the two of them had just been able to meet up in League of Legends game or something, they probably could have been friends without the villainy. I really like his resolve to write a book in order to not let Tomura Shigaraki and his other friends be forgotten or turned into one-dimensional monsters. And it being a comic book or at least having a fair number of illustrations is a good idea. AFO nearly destroyed the world because of a comic for goodness’ sake. I doubt history will ever look kindly on Tomura or the League, its good to have a multitude of perspectives out there. It was also nice to finally address Uraraka’s pent up guilt. In universe its been at least a few weeks since the battle, and it’s clear she’s been bottling up her emotions the entire time. I’ve never had to bottle up survivors’ guilt, but I am a bit experienced in repressing and it’s not good for you, man. Uraraka has been supporting her class a lot from the start, so I like it that everyone realized that she was the one having trouble for once and they rushed to help her. It’s the ones who lift other people up that often have the worst time asking for help. Izuku calling her his hero as she exemplifies everything he wants to be going forward, someone that is kind, and helpful, and wants to heal the world, was really nice. He recognizes her contributions. So… ya, we got one more main episode and then a flash forward epilogue-epilogue left. See you there. Have a good night and stay safe. 

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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social