RJ Writing Ink

My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 18 Review/Recap

Ahh, the cultural festival, a staple of the Japanese educational system. It also happens to be among the things that I wish we did in the US. Every year, schools in Japan have open day festivals where people come to play games, eat, and have fun. And even though its a school dedicated to training heroes, U.A. High is no exception to this common trope of anime. That’s right: the next arc of My Hero Academia is a school festival!

Recap

With the Fall semester now here, Mr. Aizawa informs Class 1-A that the time’s come for the annual school festival at U.A. , so they need to come up with an idea on what event to do. Aizawa says that if they don’t, they’ll be stuck in a lecture the whole time. After multiple ideas being thrown around, they ultimately decide on an idea: they’re going to do a concert, with Jiro leading their band for it.

Meanwhile, Midoriya and Togata are finally able to visit Eri in the hospital, but the former can’t help but notice how Overhaul’s influence still hangs over her. Thus, he’s resolved to help teach her how to smile again, and asks Mr. Aizawa to let her come to the school festival. Unknown to everyone at U.A., a new criminal has caught the police’s interest. Known as Gentle Criminal, he records himself committing crimes and then posts them online to gain attention. Right now, he’s planning something big for his next video.

Review

Well, I’d say that a villain posting videos of their crimes on social media is a first, but I’d be lying. In truth, I’ve seen supervillains in other media do that before, and some jerks in real life have done that, as well. That said, as someone who posts videos on YouTube to gain views and subscribers, I can weirdly relate to what this Gentle Criminal is doing. At the least, his video’s are good.

It’s actually not him that’s editing everything, though. He’s got an assistant named La Brava, who reminds me of a downplayed version of Harley Quinn; one without the tramuatic backstory. They’re both a big step down from Overhaul and All for One. However, after remembering the manga, I know that they’ve got some moderately interesting backstories.

The big draw of this episode, though, was about the legacy of Overhaul and the effect it’s had on Eri. When I heard her ask Midoriya and Togata how to smile, I felt my heart breaking in two. No child should ever have to grow up not knowing what it means to be happy or know what love is. Like Midoriya says, Eri hasn’t been fully saved yet, and he takes upon himself to do so. That’s why I’m invested in this school festival arc we’re headed into.

So, this U.A. school festival arc doesn’t have the action or the stakes of the fight against Overhaul. However, I still think that it’s worth paying attention to. It’s continuing the story that started Season 4, and will help Midoriya grow as a person and as a hero. That, and school festivals in anime tend to have a lot of shenanigans. Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!

I Give “School Festival” a 3.5/5. Soft Start to a Quiet Arc.

By the way, who else thought Jiro’s reaction to being asked to put on a concert cute?

A Quick Announcement

So apparently, the last few weeks have seen Kohei Horikoshi get a lot of flak. First, it’s revealed that a mad doctor in his manga has a name that, in Japanese, translates to something that references the horrorific experiments the Japanese performed on prisoners during World War II. Then, it’s revealed that Bakugo’s birthday is April 20th, the same day as a certain evil dictator. Needless to say, he’s got a lot of grief over this. Now this article from comicbook.com speculates if Horikoshi will pull the plug on his manga.

My advice: go to Twitter, go to Horikoshi’s account, and let him know that we support him. His series could become one of the best manga in history, and in this age where superheroes are in, My Hero Academia stands out like a shining star. Don’t let this gem of a series end like this.

That is all!

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

Once upon a time, I was complete garbage when it came to writing; in fact, I used to hate it. Fortunately, my days in school helped me to improve my skill with the written word. By the time I left college, people were often telling me that I was a great writer, and I started to like doing it. However, as a side effect of years of lessons crammed into me, I became a bit of a grammar cop. I learned that that’s not necessarily a good thing when you like to read fanfiction a lot.

I say this because I’ve read a lot of fan fics in the last year or so. While most of them are very well-written, I’ve found my share that I feel have enough mistakes to hinder them. Then last week, I came across a fanfic called “The Celestial and the Princess.” The premise was an alternate re-telling of Star vs. The Forces of Evil; in this story, though, Marco’s not fully human. Taking a page from Marvel Comics and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, here Marco’s part Celestial, a race of beings that can manipulate the universe on an atomic level, letting them create anything they want.

Stepping In

I didn’t think much of the idea at first, but as I got into the story, I became interested in it. Like Star the Monster Princess, it was a premise that could potentially alter the outcome of the show. Giving Marco access to abilities on par with the magic in the show adds a new dynamic to Star and Marco’s relationship. However, there was one thing about the story that held it back: grammar. Spelling was off for several words, incorrect use of punctuation, and more. As a result, something inside of me snapped. I couldn’t stand by and watch an interesting premise be held back by the writing. So, after the author, ROTHEM, responded to my review, we wound up striking a conversation. From there, I showed him the edits I had made to their prologue, and they seemed to be impressed.

I don’t remember which of us suggested the idea, but somewhere along the lines, the idea came up of me becoming a beta reader for their story. ROTHEM admitted that English was not their first language, hence why they had such trouble with it. Then, before I could change my mind, I volunteered. So, now I’m a beta reader or editor or something. So far, though, I seem to be doing a good job of it.

Good Work

Since I started doing revisions and pitching ideas to ROTHEM, they’ve gone back and reworked the first few chapters. There were only two, so there wasn’t that much to go on. As a result, the story’s started to gain some traction. Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to give advice to ROTHEM on how the story can progress and ideas to include. They seem happy about the whole thing.

“The Celestial and the Princess” is still in its infancy; when I post this, I’ll have only just finished adapting the second segment of the first episode, “Party with a Pony.” As for what I gain out of this? I’ll be getting some experience as a writer that I can put on my resume, and that’s enough for me.

So, that’s all I wanted to say right now. Go check out the first few chapter’s of ROTHEM’s story and let them know what you think about it. I’m sure ROTHEM will be happy to hear your feedback.

Click here to see the story right now.

Click here to see my other reviews of fan fiction