The Gentle Criminal makes his online debut
What They Say:
Class 1-A get to brainstorming for the upcoming school festival performance, while Midoriya takes some time to visit Eri-chan. But lurking in the shadows of the internet, a gentleman criminal aims for online stardom. Who is this mysterious villain tag-team and what are they after?
The Review
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With everyone at U.A. back on the same page, it’s time for class 1-A to begin their preparations for the school festival. Kirishima asks an important question that’s sure to mimic the sentiments of a large chunk of the audience – do we have time to have fun at this festival? After the revelation of quirk-altering drugs and a steady rise in villain activity, is this really what we should focus on? These things are all true, but Aizawa-sensei explains that the festival carries its own significance. While the U.A. Sports Festival is a showcase for students in the hero course, the school festival is an opportunity for students in the other courses to show off their chops and make a name for themselves. The festival also acts as a mental cooldown for everyone. Society’s current circumstances have left everybody on edge, so the festival is meant to alleviate some of that stress.
Class President Iida takes reign and tallies up everyone’s suggestion for their festival activity. The students hurl out exactly what you’d expect from them – Bakugou wants a deathmatch, Kaminari wants a maid café, Midoriya wants to do a hero quiz – obviously, everyone has their own tastes (no matter how crude or unrealistic). After considering the other students participating in the festival, class 1-A rallied around the idea of creating an atmosphere where everyone can have fun. And so they go with a song and dance performance. Now all eyes fall on Jiro – the most musically-inclined student of the bunch. At first, Jiro is a bit nervous and reluctantly dismisses the idea. But with a little encouragement, even she can’t deny that it sounds like a great idea. With their maestro on board and Mina as their dance instructor, Class 1-A has a new goal laid out in front of them!
While the class set their eyes on the festival, Midoriya visits Eri for the first time since rescuing her. Eri wanted to properly meet the hero that saved her from Overhaul, but the guilt still hangs overhead. Eri feels at fault for everything that happened, despite her having no control over it. While Deku and Lemillion may have saved Eri physically, she’s still trapped by the mentality that Chisaki embedded in her – that everyone around her will get hurt. Eri is still unable to genuinely smile. In order to fix that, Deku comes up with an idea – let Eri come to the school festival!! It’s a long shot since she still needs to be heavily monitored, but Midoriya won’t miss this opportunity for Eri to have fun.
The episode ends with a marvelous introduction to this arc’s antagonists. Videos begin popping up online of a mysterious criminal. His dapper appearance and flashy demeanor give a lot of mixed signals, but his message is clear – he is the Gentle Criminal. Along with his sidekick La Brava, Gentle broadcasts his petty crimes to the web for all to see, and he’s looking for the next big chance to increase his popularity. How will this video-centric villain come into contact with the students of U.A.? And what exactly is his goal?
In Summary:
Class 1-A focuses on their festival performance as a new breed of villainy is about to go viral. Can’t wait to see what Gentle and La Brava have in-store and how class 1-A plans to steal the show at the school festival!
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu
