America! Coming to Save the Day in ‘MHA’ S7 Premiere

My Hero Academia, S7 Eps 1 & 2 Review

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this post. The seventh season of My Hero Academia started last Saturday, but it was May the Fourth, so I was focused entirely on Star Wars. As a result, I didn’t get around to watching My Hero Academia until the day afterward. Then, I decided to wait until this week and double-review the first two episodes. I’m glad that I made that decision, though. That meant that I got to see one of the most highly anticipated characters in the anime make her debut. Star and Stripe, the number one hero from America, the country that invented the modern-day superhero, arrived to end Shigaraki and All for One. And while things don’t go the way the heroes want, Star and Stripe still leave a significant impact. America is coming again to save the day!

Japan is in Complete Crisis!

At the end of the last season, Midoriya returned to UA High after weeks of operating as a vigilante. For the moment, he’s safe from criminals and villains and from his need to do everything alone. However, that’s the only good news. For everyone else, there’s nothing but bad news.

Say what you want about Horikoshi, but the mangaka knows how to emphasize how bad things are. Japan is a war zone thanks to All for One and Shigaraki’s actions. There are too many criminals and not enough heroes. In addition, things are even worse abroad. All for One has mobilized the world’s criminals to keep the Heroes bogged down. As a result, no one can afford to send aid. It’s everyone for themselves, which is precisely how All for One wants things.

Well, almost everyone for themselves. One Hero from America with a personal connection to All Might come rushing to help. Not only is she solid, but she also embodies (what I think) are the best traits of America.

Star and Stripe Embodies America

Meet Cathleen Bate, AKA Star and Stripe, the #1 Hero in America and someone who rivals Midoriya when it comes to respecting All Might. As a kid, All Might saved her while he was studying abroad, inspiring her to become a Hero herself when she grew up. 

I don’t know who created the concept, but when people think of superheroes, they think of America. Besides Deku being inspired by Spider-Man, the most obvious example of American influence in MHA is All Might’s design and move set. But Star and Stripe is the first time we’ve seen a hero from America appear in the series. Horikoshi wastes no time establishing how she embodies his perception of America. She’s loud, boisterous, confident, and quick to help others, regardless of the consequences or if it means beating someone up. And her costume screams American patriotism.

I liked Star and Stripe. She embodies the best traits that I think people abroad envision when they think of the USA. She’s a genderbent version of Homelander if Homelander was a hero. And she has the power to match. Her Quirk, New Order, lets her rewrite the laws of reality on anything she touches! If it weren’t for the limit to how many things she can use it on, it would be the most broken power in the entire series. Maybe even in all of anime. It’s so powerful that when All for One realizes she’s heading to Japan, he uses his duplicate in Shigaraki to intercept her. If Star and Stripe and Deku were to meet, All for One would be screwed! That’s how powerful she is!

America Goes Down Swinging

The fight between Shigaraki and Star and Stripe over these two episodes is epic, plain and simple. For most of it, Shigaraki is kept on the backfoot as Star and Stripe continues to punch him. The only reason that Shigaraki manages to survive is because Star needs to know the name of whatever she’s changing, which Shigaraki himself doesn’t know.

The fight is close, but in the end, Shigaraki proves too much for Star. However, if there’s one trait I can attribute to America as a whole, it’s our tenacity. Even when we’re about to lose, we prefer to go down swinging. And Star went down swinging.

All for One wanted Star’s Quirk to become invincible, but Star had one last ace up her sleeve. She rigged her own Quirk to destroy all other Quirks in case All for One tried to steal it! And the anime doesn’t skimp on the gory details. The sight of New Order, manifested as Star, tearing Shigaraki apart from the inside is gruesome. By the end of it, while the Star dies thanks to Decay, Shigaraki must abandon New Order altogether. 

Star and Stripe Bought the Heroes Tiem

Even though it looks like the last, best hope for Japan died with Star, All Might reveals two big pieces of news to Class 1-A. Firstly, thanks to Star, Shigaraki/All for One lost many of their Quirks. Secondly, the damage to Shigaraki is so bad that it will take him a week to regain strength. If that hadn’t happened, Shigaraki’s merger with All for One would have occurred the next day. In other words, they’ve gotten some extra time. And they’re not going to waste it.

This was a great start to what may end up being the final season of My Hero Academia if I do say so myself. Having read the manga beforehand, I still wish we had gotten more time with Star and Stripe, but it was still awesome to see her in action once. If she had made it to Japan, All Might, and Deku, All for One would’ve been cooked. But it’s time to focus on another lingering plot thread before heading into the final battle. No spoilers, though! Go Beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “In the Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick from the West!” and “Specter” a 4/5 Each

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