The kids are all grown up. But two of them still need a little push.
Last time on My Hero Academia,
Izuku got on with his life. He passed his classes, got his hero license and
graduated from UA. He inspired people to do better and helped change the world
for the better. Eight years after his second year, Izuku is now a teacher at UA
high and is training the next generation of heroes. His friends are doing well,
but there is a bit of distance between them now what with their jobs and his
retirement from active hero work. He meets a young man named Dai at the All
Might statue whom he encourages to try for UA, Dai’s dream school, even if his
Quirk isn’t impressive. He too can become a hero. Izuku heads into school the
next day, where he’s met by All Might. All Might just got back from a trip to
the US and he brought back a souvenir. Using the Data from his Hercules system,
with the help of Mei Hatsume and his ‘friend’ over seas (its Melissa Shield
even if they didn’t use her name) and funds raised by his classmates
(especially Bakugo) they designed Izuku an Iron Man suit that let him mimic his
old powers. With his new suit, Izuku rushed out and got to fly again along side
his class as they banded together to deal with a landslide. Enough recapping.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
Uraraka wakes up in a field. She’s
confused about why she’s here, but can’t worry about it, she has to get back to
work. She turns to find Himeko Toga standing behind her. She says, “Hi Ochako,”
before Uraraka wakes up. She fell asleep at her desk, it seems and has been
having this dream a lot, she mutters that she’d had it ‘again.’
Uraraka (we learn that she’s 24 on
the chart) meets with Tsu (34), Mirio (1), Nejire (7) and Amajiki (18) as the
four are going to help her with her Quirk Counseling gig. She tells them not to
be fooled by kids who seem like everything is fine. They need to have patience
and help those that are reticent talking to adults to open up. She thinks this
will take about a month, and they have a lot of support from her own staff and
the PSC. Hawks is even pitching it to try to take her program nationwide…
though he sounds like a con artist when he talks about it.
Amajiki notes that this must take
up a lot of her time and wonders if Uraraka is making time for herself. She’s
stunned by this question, but the students come running up and start begging
for attention before she can answer. They get Mirio to do ‘the thing,” which is
to jump into a tree and use his phasing power to make his ass appear in
multiple places while shouting, “uh-ho, time to harvest some peaches.” I doubt
he realized that this would be his signature ‘thing’ when he said it to Tomura
Shigaraki. Nejire looks despondently at her friend and mutters, “So awkward.” The
kids start firing at his ass with their quirks. From how everyone is reacting,
this is something Mirio does for kids a lot. Uraraka notices one kid is
hesitant to participate and offers her hand in encouragement. She floats the
kid up; he gets in close and hits Mirio with a beam from the kid’s helmet. The
kid, Oshima, got the first hit on Mirio in about a year. Oshima gets cheered on
by his classmates as Mirio climbs out of the tree. Uraraka is excited to see
the kids happy and is just happy that this is her job. Nejire complements her
and says that she sounds like Amajiki. He’s embarrassed by that and grows a
mole claw to dig a hole to hide in. Uraraka explains that she works with Tsu a
lot for this, and she gets to see her other friends as well. She says she has
plenty of free time for herself… but Tsu gives a look proving this a lie.
Uraraka and Tsu head home together
on the train. Uraraka tells Tsu about the dream, saying that she’s been having
it for about a month. She’s spoken to a doctor about it, but they couldn’t find
anything medically wrong with her and wonders if it’s just stress. Tsu tells
her to get a second opinion, as Uraraka tends to let things like this build up.
Uraraka wonders if Himeko is trying to reach out to her, like she’s a Vestige.
One she gained from Himeko transferring her blood into Uraraka to save her
life. There’s a spooky visual of Himeko’s head being reflected in the glass
behind Uraraka instead of herself. Tsu leans in to put her head on Uraraka’s
shoulder and tells her to figure out the dream.
We jump over to Izuku, Bakugo, and
Kirishima driving. Bakugo is pissed he’s playing chauffer for them. Izuku
thanks him for the lift, and Kirishima says that he should lighten up. This is
just the excuse he needs to show off his car, and they’re headed to the same
place anyway. Bakugo angrily says that he’s only driving them because Kirishima
threatened to do hardened punches on the hood if he didn’t. Kirishima (revealed
to be #12) tease him about crumbling to threats when he swore he never would.
Izuku tries to make small talk about the car, but Bakugo demands to know WHY he
needs a ride, is he really that hard up for time. Izuku says that he is, and
that this ride let him finish a lesson plan for his kids. Kirishima asks if any
of the students might be a good fit for him as a sidekick. He says that Fat Gum
(11) and Amajiki have helped him out, but now that he’s gone independent, he
wants to not rely on them as much. Kirishima says the others are doing well,
but a few of them went independent before him so he wants to catch up. Izuku
says that he heard Bakugo got a lot of applicants, but he scared them off.
Bakugo tells him to shut it. Present Mic narrates, saying that Bakugo debuted
as 4th but dropped to 15th after some gaffs. Bakugo
angrily says that he’s waiting for an applicant that claims he wants to surpass
him, and that he’ll hire that person on the spot. Izuku notes that Bakugo still
carries his All Might signed trading card on a lanyard. Bakugo asks if he’s
staying at UA. Izuku says he is, he’s working part time as a hero like All
Might and Aizawa used to. He says that he’s doing two different, but important
jobs. He claims that even if he still had OFA, he’d still want to be a teacher.
He thanks them both for their support. Kirishima starts laughing hard,
revealing that Bakugo was going to ask Izuku to join his agency, but Izuku
turned him down before he could ask. Bakugo tells him to shut it and tells
Izuku to start thinking more highly about himself or he’ll miss out on things.
“If everyone is special to you, no one is,” is how he puts it. Izuku is
confused by this and gets sucked further into the backseat, Kirishima finally
asking what is up with those.
We cut to their destination, a
party with the former Class A to celebrate Shoto making it to the number 2
spot. He thanks everyone for coming to celebrate him, which Kaminari (44) kind
of ruins by saying that he’d take any excuse to party. That makes Shoto a bit
depressed, but Kaminari tries to back peddle on that. Sero (38) says that maybe
44 shouldn’t tease 2, and Kaminari asks that they not litigate that again. Iida
(14) is on his side, saying that the chart is more expansive and diverse now,
so the flat number doesn’t mean as much. Yaoyorozu (19) points out that things
like philanthropy and other good deeds are being factored in, Shoji (9) nods in
agreement. Mineta tells Sero to show some restraint as “Numbers are Hurtful!”
and it’s revealed he’s 108. I imagine he gets dinged a lot for his… antics.
Ashido (28) and Jiro (30) shockingly tell him that this number is still
respectable… even though I’m pretty sure he’s the only one in their class that
is in triple digits. Which includes Izuku, who’s been back on active duty for
like a month. Shinso is revealed to be an independent and thus isn’t on the
chart, he can’t relate to wanting that kind of exposure. Hagakure (39) isn’t
shocked by his attitude. Sato is impressed that everyone could make their
schedules work for this (he’s unranked) and Ojiro (32) points out that they’re
all so busy despite villain rates dropping. Tokoyami (17) says that despite
them, crime is ever present, and Aoyama (unranked) agrees.
Tokoyami points out that the other
big heroes are still working hard as well. Best Jeanist (5), Mirko (6 with two
weaponized prosthetic arms) Mt. Lady (3), Gang Orca (21), Kamui Woods (4), Wash
(how the hell is he 8th?) Death Arms (42, and I’m glad he got back
to work), Ryukyu (40) and Present Mic (45) are all still active. He also points
out their generation is going strong. We see several heroes from around their
year, but only Yo Shido (20), Monoma (10), Kendo (23), Honenuki (14),
Tetsutetsu (26), Fukidashi (33), Tokage (22), Yoarashi (16), Shishikura (41)
are ranked. I’m sorry, they aren’t translating what exactly characters like
Camie are doing, but she and others are apparently still working. Tokoyami says
they’re all fighting for a better world where they won’t be needed. He wants
the job of a hero to fade into obscurity. He then puts down his drink and vents
how his ad agency has asked him to try to be more fabulous, which he took
offense to as he IS the darkness. Ojiro asks if he’s drinking a ‘mocktail’ as a
subtle way to check how drunk Tokoyami is.
Everyone gets comfortable and
enjoys the party. Shoto, Izuku and Bakugo sit together and Shoto starts
talking. Bakugo warns him not to brag. Shoto says he’s not sure he is and
points out how folks are always talking about how he overcame a ‘difficult fate’
and that he’s doing his ‘duty.’ Shoto says that when he hears about destiny and
fate, he feels like he’s a player in someone else’s story. All of his words are
played over his career highlights, the sports festival, fighting Dabi a few
times and reconciling with his older brother once he was in hospice. He admits
that to combat this he’s taking an artisan class that teaches how to make bowls
and chopsticks. Such a rich guy hobby. He’s doing it because he figured Soba
would taste better with handmade tools. They ask some questions about it, and
Shoto says that he got the idea while praying at Toya’s alter. FYI, this is
confirming that Toya has died at some point between episode 168 and now. Obviously,
one doesn’t pray to the shrine of a living person. Shoto says that its because
eating is something he enjoys, and that it shows the world he has other
interests besides hero stuff. Bakugo teases him about his choice. They get
distracted by Ashido squealing. She just heard the gossip that Komori the
mushroom girl and Kuroiro the shadow guy from Class B are dating. Sero upon
hearing this asks if Kaminari and Jiro are a thing, as they spend a lot of time
together and even have agencies right next door to each other. They deny it, but
the vibe is still there. Kaminari says he picked the spot as he just went solo
and felt he needed support from someone and when he saw the place next door to
Jiro was open he jumped on it. They very much have a ‘we’re seeing each other
on the down low and don’t want to talk about it just yet,’ vibe. But
maybe I’m reading too much into it. Bakugo mutters Kaminari needs a villain.
Izuku thinks about inevitability.
He says that he’s living the life that he wants, has the career he wants, and
is doing well overall. He remembers his last words with Tomura when their minds
connected, and the troubled villain told him to ‘do (his) damned best.’ Izuku
wonders if he’s been overlooking something… right as he looks at Uraraka. An
alert goes off that there’s been a carjacking and that quirks involved make it
a dangerous situation. Everyone suits up, and Sero mutters that this is why
they can’t get drinks together.
They head out... and imagine you’re
doing a carjacking, and you get met with a sizeable chunk of the top 100 heroes
in Japan to stop you. Its overkill is what it is. Iida speeds ahead and causes
the car to swerve, letting Bakugo blast the door off, Izuku captures them in
his artificial Black Whip, and Shoto to stop the car with an ice wall. Everyone
else lands and poses. The thieves are taken away. Bakugo claims he got their
first, but Izuku says that Iida technically did. Iida mentions that random
crimes like this will always be an issue and the others agree. It’s also
revealed that while Izuku has the most advanced version of power suit,
basically everyone has a transforming briefcase that holds their equipment.
The students break up for the
night, promising to meet up again sometime soon. Shoto admits that he paid the
bill so they can all go home. Ashido yells at him for doing that when everyone
was supposed to treat HIM as the guest of honor, so everyone else pays him
their share. Bakugo offers to drive Izuku home as they’ve got an early morning
with Edgeshot tomorrow, but Izuku turns him down. Kirishima, Ashido, and
Kaminari all accept the offer he didn’t give. Kirishima and Ashido chant ‘brand
new car’ as they head to Bakugo’s car, making me pretty sure they’re a thing as
well, while Kaminari laughs. Bakugo says they’ll see each other soon, and Izuku
says he should come by the school soon, as Aizawa wants to give him another
lesson on good communication. Bakugo snorts angrily at that jab before walking
off with a wave. Izuku walks off and remembers what Bakugo said about ‘special
people’ to him.
Uraraka says bye to Tsu at the
train station and promises to see her bright and early the next day. She heads
off and thinks that she’ll be back at it again tomorrow. As she walks, she
remembers that because Izuku and her didn’t sit next to each other, they didn’t
get to chat. They made significant eye contact at one point in the night,
though, and she mentions that they see each other at work sometimes. She stops
as she remembers him saying that she was his hero back in high school. Right in
front of billboards featuring Izuku, Bakugo and Shoto, how odd. She thinks
about how everyone figured out what they wanted to do after the war. They’ve
stayed close and respect each other’s goals. She thinks she shouldn’t ask for
much more… but then she remembers her fight with Himeko and how she announced
to Himeko that she loved Izuku. She
admits that she wants more, and that she wished they could have talked more.
She looks up and sees none other than Izuku Midoriya running to her with a grin
on his face and saying how good it is she’s still here. She suddenly remembers
her dream, Himeko telling her that it’s okay. Izuku reaches her and tells her
that their class is special to him, and he cares about them all. He thought
that would be enough for him… but he admits that today that he had hopped he’d
get to talk to her more and that he felt that way a lot. She blushes furiously
at this admission and remembers more of her dream. Himeko says that she lived
life how she wanted, and she loves Uraraka. And that’s why she wants to push
her to love to. And as she said that, she shoves Uraraka forward, making her
stumble into Izuku’s chest. She remembers her conversation with Tsu and how
she’d had the dream for about a month… and realizes that about a month ago was
when she started seeing Izuku more as he got back on active duty. Izuku wonders
if spending more time together would be… cool, while blushing. Uraraka is
nervous, looks back and is encouraged by Himeko. So, she holds up a hand and
says “I feel the same.” They clasp hands, Himeko nods and fades away, and the
credits roll.
This is a headcanon, but until
Horikoshi says otherwise, I believe these two will be engaged by the following
Christmas. They meet each other’s parents after a month, Izuku goes ring
shopping after three, he proposes Christmas day, which in Japan is more of a
couple’s holiday. When you’ve met your person, ya know.
There’s not that much to say about
this episode. It’s kind of the epilogue equivalent of those recap premier
episodes that they did for the first few seasons. The majority of the episode
was just to show us where everyone ended up after graduation, and it did that
well. Everyone seems to be where they want to be, even if some like Mineta want
to be higher up on the popularity charts. I do wish they’d translated what the
kids not on the Hero Billboard charts were doing, but I don’t care so much that
I want to look it up for this summary. Everyone seems happy. Despite Izuku
feeling like they don’t see each other as much, like he said last episode, it’s
clear that these kids still have a strong bond and do enjoy being around each
other when they can make it. I like that Horikoshi took a moment to spell out
that Izuku would have ended up in the classroom even if he hadn’t lost OFA, as
Izuku is self-aware enough to know that’s where his heart lay. And I like that
he and Bakugo have clearly hit a point where they’re not actively fighting
anymore. They’re friend-friends now, not frenemies. And finally there’s the
Izuku-Uraraka relationship. There are some folks that were upset by this,
feeling that there wasn’t enough romantic build up, or feeling that this was
too ‘vanilla’ or that Izuku should have ended up in a queer relationship. To
those I say… tough. Izuku and Uraraka are pretty obviously the male and female
leads of this story, and while outliers obviously exists (Naruto, Bleach,
Dragonball, Harry Potter, etc) in the VAST majority of stories, I’d go so far
as to say 90% easy, the lead boy and girl end up together. That’s just kind of
how stories work. And, I’ll just say it, if you didn’t think there was that
much build up, you weren’t paying attention. Uraraka was the first girl that
Izuku spent much time around, and while that quickly changed as he got to know
his class, she was the one most often to make him blush or flustered in
situations. Same goes for her, hell, her subplot for at least a third of the
story was dealing with the fact that she had feelings for Izuku and what that
would mean for their friendship. I’m sorry if you’re a queer person watching or
reading My Hero Academia, really resonated with Izuku and were
disappointed when he ended up in a straight relationship… but like, Izuku being
gay was never in the cards. I’m not saying queer shonen protagonists don’t
exist, but if that’s the route the story is going to take it has to be the
focus. Izuku never showed interest in boys, that’s just fact. I personally am
in the opposite camp, I wish we could have gotten more than just both of them
admitting they wanted to spend more time together… but this is a shonen anime.
Romance is never really a focus of those… unless it’s written by a woman. Or Yukinobu
Tatsu (Dandadan). Besides, these two are incredibly shy and a bit
socially awkward. Izuku saying that he wants to spend more time with her
specifically was like at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist. If ya know, ya
know. As I said above, unless Horikoshi contradicts me, those two are endgame
and Ochako will be Ochako Midoriya before long in universe. I’m a hopeless
romantic, so sue me.
I should probably sum up my
thoughts on the series as a whole. … I’ve been watching My Hero Academia
for ten years. It was the second series I ever did a Viewer Log for. When it
began, I was 25, living with my parents and sort of coasting through life at
the moment. I still remember how I got started. My younger brother who was also
living at home at the time, ran into my room and said he’d just finished MHA
and I needed to check it out. I put him off for a few days, as I like to annoy
him by doing that sometimes. But I finally sat down and watched it… and I
finished season 1 in an afternoon. I started the writeups not long after that,
and I’ve been coming back to blog about it every few months to a year ever
since. It’s a story I turned to when I needed a pick-me-up and it’s one I
introduced to a few people, both IRL and I’d like to think with these 171
episodes and 4 movie posts gushing about how much I like the series. Is it
perfect? No. I think certain plot points are kind of rushed, the
anti-heteromorph stuff seems to just kind of come out of no where in the latter
half of the series, and the fact that this entire story, from Izuku meeting All
Might to the defeat of AFO is just over like 18 months is INSANE. But it’s a
very heartfelt story. It’s a story about growth and perseverance. It’s about
hope, and diligence. It’s about hard work and luck. Some argue that Izuku
Midoriya lied at the start of this series when he claimed that this was the
story about how he became the greatest hero, but I disagree. He fought and
defeated an evil so old and so entrenched in the world that eight of his
predecessors couldn’t stop him. He helped change his world for the better and
he kept doing it every day as he trained the next generation. He’s a hero
through and through, the greatest in my eyes. The story is over, but the
journey never ends. I’m just sorry this is where me and Deku part ways. In
short, as if 175 posts didn’t let you know, I love this story.
I’ll cover My Hero Academia:
Vigilantes at some point, but I’ve got a few new shows to cover. Like
tomorrow’s post. Season 3 of My Adventures With Superman. See you then.
Have a good night and stay safe.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/u2761062/posts/viewer-log-my-ep-165313228
Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
No comments:
Post a Comment