Does the B in Class B stand for bland? Because that’s what this book is.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kohei Horikoshi
Translation: Caleb Cook
What They Say
In the third match of the joint battle training, the students of Class 1-A have their hands full dealing with the unexpected creativity of Class B’s Quirk use. These matches give everyone a chance to reflect on exactly where they all stand in comparison to each other and on the events in their lives that have brought them to this point. Then it’s time for Bakugo to show what he’s learned…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Following on from last time, we get the rest of the joint battle training in this volume. And sure enough, it takes up the whole entire book, which is a shame as… it’s still quite a drag. The battle from the previous volume just kind of abruptly ends anticlimactically, with our heroes just getting crushed out of nowhere. That means it’s time for match three, which is Todoroki’s time to shine! And this one starts out okay enough, with a Class B member called Juzo Honenuki making for a pretty decent showing with his softening Quirk. It feels pretty creative and fun, and is probably the best bit of this volume. And it’s a decent enough battle in general… but then it ends on one of the Class B girls just floating out of reach for a while and forcing a tie. Even if the author wanted a tie (though to jump ahead, I have no idea why as it removes what little stakes there are for this arc when it means Class B literally can’t win by the last match), it really could’ve been reached in a less lame, unsatisfying manner…
And so, we head into the fourth match, where Bakugo is the key player! To be blunt, it’s kind of distracting how bland the Quirks are in this one in particular. Like, you have a guy whose power is just glue, another who builds stuff quick which is only used to hold Bakugo in place for a second, and a third who just makes sharp blades. At the very least the last one is something a little different in that it’s a girl who can split up her body parts and make them float around, and that’s good and all… but it’s a little hard not to think “that’s literally Buggy the Clown’s power from One Piece, with a whole lot less visual flair.” It’s just kind of a shame when the one interesting ability on display (which is pretty much all this arc is good for) feels like such a blatant knockoff. But I guess there’s at least a halfhearted effort to show Bakugo is a bit better at working in a team, so that’s something, sort of.
Anyway, thanks to Bakugo’s team winning, Class A is literally no longer capable of even losing this dumb training arc going into the final battle, so that pretty much removes any tiny modicum of tension. However, right in the middle of the fight… shadows start shooting out of Deku and running out of control. Which feels sort of abrupt and out of nowhere, even with some tiny bits of foreshadowing awkwardly jammed in beforehand. But just what does it mean, especially when a previous wielder of the power suddenly appears?
In Summary
This volume is just more of the joint training with Class B, and unfortunately, that remains just as much of a drag as last time. Only one of the fights here feels halfway decent in terms of showing off fun powers, and even then, it’s ended in the lamest, most anticlimactic way imaginable for no apparent reason. We also get some real bland Quirks throughout despite showing those off being pretty much all the arc is doing, too. And we even get a worrying cliffhanger that sort of comes out of nowhere to top things off. All in all, this volume is likely the low point for the entire series thus far, and has me a bit worried about where things are going from here on out.
Content Grade: C
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: December 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $9.99
