A hero’s duty
What They Say:
In the future, mankind is blessed with superhuman abilities called Quirks and in a response to the growing crime rate, superheroing becomes a viable profession. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya dreams of one day becoming a great hero like his idol All-Might, but he was born completely quirkless with no powers at all. However, when Deku ends up having a chance encounter with All-Might in the flesh, it changes his destiny forever.
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Continuing off of last week’s momentum, this latest episode really kicks things into high gear as the kids find themselves in a showdown with the hero killer. There’s quite a bit crammed into this one, and it’s chock full of the show’s strongest elements from storytelling to direction. Like the Deku v.s. Todoroki fight a few week’s back, this episode is another example of what the series is capable of in its prime and while this one isn’t quite as strong as that was, it’s definitely one of the biggest standouts of this season.
As the Nomu clones cause chaos through the streets, Deku rushes in to help and quickly discovers that Iida has gone missing. Since Hosu City is where the Hero Killer normally operates, Deku is quickly able to put two and two together, realizing that there might be a connection between the Hero Killer and The League of Villains and that Iida’s gone straight after the killer. Iida tries to fight the killer on his own but quickly finds himself outclassed and the Hero Killer berates him for being consumed by his thirst for vengeance. Deku arrives on the scene to help but despite his improved control over One-For-All he doesn’t fare much better and tries to make a call for help. Said help arrives in the form of Todoroki who’s finally comfortable enough with his fire abilities to use them in an actual fight and the situation quickly escalates into an all-out brawl.
For all of MHA’s strong qualities as a shonen series, it hasn’t had too much in the way of major one-on-one fights up until recently, and it’s a shame because those always seem to be where the series is at its best. While it doesn’t deliver on the exact same level of spectacle that the fight between Deku and Todoroki did, this episode is a pretty close second as the action sequences here are all extremely well-polished and the visual direction does a great job of making the Hero Killer look downright terrifying as he easily lays waste to the kids and spews his twisted sense of justice. I’m not always impressed with the show from a production standpoint, but when it gets it right it really gets it right, and everything here was such a blast that I actually found myself saying “wait that’s it?” when I got to the end credits and the battle was still going strong. As pretty much anyone who’s watched the average Bleach or Naruto episode can tell you, stretching out a single fight to last more than one episode can feel extremely tiring when done purely for the sake of padding out the material, and the fact that this one was able to leave me clamoring for more really speaks to how well the anime staff nailed the execution this time around.
Of course as always, a shonen fight is only as good as the motivations behind it and this one has plenty to go around. The Hero Killer might be totally off his rocker but he makes a good point when he calls Iida out on prioritizing his thirst for revenge over saving the other hero he just attacked and by doing so, Iida has betrayed the very essence of heroism. This makes for an interesting contrast with Deku, who upon arriving on the scene, immediately decides to call for back-up and prioritizes getting the others to safety over stopping the Hero Killer. Iida gets pretty frustrated over this since the last thing he wanted was Deku’s help, but as All-Might himself once told Deku, stepping in where you’re not wanted to provide help is part of what being a hero is all about, and with Iida still determined to settle things on his own, it’s a reminder he desperately needs.
By far the most interesting piece in this episode has to go to Todoroki though, which is kind of funny considering he technically has the least amount of stake in this fight. Where we last left Todoroki’s character, he went to see his mother in order to reconcile with his past and while we still thankfully don’t see that conversation take place, we learn his mother believes that the easiest way for either of them to forgive themselves over what happened is for him to keep moving forward towards his dream of being a top hero. To that end, Todoroki decides to do an internship with Endeavor, not because he’s his father, but because for all his negative qualities, Endeavor is still the #2 hero in the world, and there’s a lot Todoroki can learn from him. It’s a real sign of maturity on his part, and one that’s downright refreshing to see happen so quickly in a shonen series, as these kinds of character resolutions tend to take a lot longer in similar stories and it really demonstrates how much Hokoroshi has learned from his predecessors. It also makes for another strong parallel to what’s currently happening with Iida as he’s too fixated on his own little world to see straight, and Todoroki wants to help Iida break free of that in the same way Deku saved him. It’s a great moment that adds another level of dimension to an already excellent fight, and with how spectacular the anime’s execution was this week, I’m more excited than ever for its conclusion.
In Summary:
MHA cranks out one of it’s strongest episodes this week as Deku, Iida and Todoroki square off with the Hero Killer. The fight managed to keep up enough momentum to leave me genuinely wanting more, and the material behind the fight is just as strong as the contrast between Deku and Todoroki’s desire to help a friend in trouble, and Iida’s simple desire for revenge quickly become apparent. The quality of MHA’s adoption can leave me feeling pretty mixed at times, but it’s episodes like this that show what the series is truly capable off when it manages to line everything together just right, and I really hope that it can pull this off a lot more often going forward.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation, Crunchyroll, VRV
