What They Say:
In the future, mankind is blessed with superhuman abilities called “Quirks” and in 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 some portions of this review may contain spoilers):
It’s time for some much needed payoff this week as the Bakugo rescue arc takes a pretty major turn. After spending the last couple of episodes building up a clash of ideals for the heroes both internally and externally, the show is finally ready to get down to a clash of fists as the raid on the League’s hideout gets underway. However, while the conflict itself might be a little more simplified this time around, this arc still seems to have plenty left to say, and the threat the heroes face may be worse than they could have possibly imagined.
As the UA teachers continue their attempts to save face, the media continues to hound them with questions on how they could possibly let such a dangerous situation happen to their students. Although Aizawa brings up that they managed to avoid the worst possible scenario in having all of the kids tortured or killed, their failure to save Bakugo is still called into question, especially considering that his bad attitude could lead to him getting brainwashed into joining the villains. Aizawa however, feels confident that Bakugo’s sense of pride would never allow that, and sure enough, after his show of defiance last week, Bakugo is still busy working on a way to escape. While it’s nice to see how much faith the teachers have in these kids, I’d be lying if I said the media fallout stuff wasn’t starting to feel a little repetitive now that we’ve spent more than two episodes watching it play out. Fortunately, the show seems to agree with me on that one, because it turns out that the entire press conference was a ruse meant to trick the villains into thinking UA had no plan while in reality, the heroes have already made their way to the League’s hideout and are knocking on their front door.
This swift action from the heroes takes the League completely by surprise, and with their supply of Nomu clones having also been dealt with, the villains are left with no way out. Even in such dire straits though, Shigaraki’s hatred of All-Might refuses to let him surrender, and it’s here that we get another glimpse into his past. It seems that at some point he was abandoned by the heroes after a major crisis, and that led to him getting recruited by All-For-One since he was the only one who helped in his time of need. While this doesn’t exactly give us the full picture of what Shigaraki’s deal is, it certainly helps to give a better understanding of why he resents hero society so much and it really is going a long way in making him a better villain than when he was first introduced.
In the midst of all this chaos though, the big man himself finally arrives on the scene as All-For-One makes his big debut at the end of the episode. His mere presence is so utterly terrifying that it shocks the kids to their very core, and the show opts to emphasize that fear through some mixed visual direction as they imagine the slaughter that awaits if they cross him. The overly exaggerated facial expressions here kinda take some of the impact out of such a gruesome scene, but it does help to more or less sell the idea that All-For-One is a bigger threat than anything else they’ve faced and is one they aren’t nearly prepared for. With all these actors in place this arc is looking to heat up even more, and now that we’re finally getting to the action, the show’s getting more exciting than ever.
In Summary:
The Bakugo rescue arc takes a big turn this week as the heroes finally start their raid on the League’s hideout. While this doesn’t yet result in a gigantic spectacle, it still makes for a pretty good time, and Shigaraki’s reaction to coming face to face with All-Might again helps the show to dig a little deeper into Shigaraki’s hatred for him. Of course, all eyes are pretty much on All-For-One now that he’s finally made his long-awaited appearance, and if the reaction from the kids is any indication, it could lead to some pretty major shakeups.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Funimation, Crunchyroll, VRV, Hulu
