My Hero Academia S7 Ep 9 Review
The war against All for One continues but is still far from being finished. Shoto might have secured his front (for now), but the fighting continues everywhere else. And right now, the most important fight, the one against All for One himself, isn’t going well. Not only does the self-proclaimed Demon King know how to mess with the heroes’ heads, but he even degrades them by calling them “extras.”
Man, that guy is a jerk!
The War is Far from Over
So, when I say that Shoto handled things for now, I mean Dabi isn’t done yet. The heroes don’t realize it, but he’s still got one last card to play. And when he plays it, things will get a lot worse!
Regardless, news of Dabi’s apparent defeat spreads across the fronts. Most of the heroes are encouraged by the news, while villains like Spinner react with disbelief. The super-charged Spinner is now leading an army of Heteromorphs (people whose Quirks permanently altered their appearance) to free Kurogiri. That fight won’t become relevant until later, but it’s one of the more interesting battles to be fought. I won’t spoil it, but it provides some commentary on how badly people get discriminated against in Quirks. It seems like no matter era, there are always those looked down upon.
Side note, Pinky’s front now includes villains that played a hand in killing Class 1-A’s teacher, Midnight. They’re gonna pay.
All for One is a Troll of the Highest Order
The back half of the episode focuses exclusively on the fight to keep All for One busy, and it’s working…to an extent. Endeavor and Hawks can keep him at bay, but neither is 100% and everyone knows it. And unfortunately for them, All for One knows what buttons to push to set them off.
Case in point: he asks Endeavor if they could never find Toya’s body.
The look on Endeavor’s face as he realizes the truth. All for One abducted Toya and made everyone think he was dead! And he just told Endeavor that! How messed up is that?!?
Say what you want about All for One being a villain, but he’s genre savvy. He knows how to be a great villain and how to get the results he wants. Endeavor and Hawks don’t die right away because Tsukuyomi and Earphone Jack arrive just in time to save their hides.
Don’t Underestimate a Supporting Character, All for One
But All for One is not done. He proceeds to trash-talk the students of UA, calling them extras that gathered around One for All. The man is so genre-savvy, he’s calling out the fact that everyone else is meant to be a supporting cast member for the main protagonist. And he’s not wrong. That is often how things work in stories like this. Plus, the only times the main antagonist gets brought down by a side character is when they turn out not to be the final enemy. I liked how the series calls out this trope, as it seems like a way to criticize the idea of protagonists in life and how everything has to center around them. The man proceeds to terrify Earphone Jack by ripping off one of her jacks!
Here’s the thing, though. I’ve read a lot of Shonen manga over the years and learned that a story can be only as good as its supporting characters. They’re there to help the hero shine, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have their moments to stand out. I’ve seen it so many times in One Piece. My favorite moments in Naruto happened because his friends did something awesome. And My Hero Academia is no different. Scared as they might be, Tsukuyomi and Earphone Jack aren’t going down that easy. And as the episode ends, Endeavor’s shown needing to recover from his injuries. Not just the physical ones, but the mental ones. He needs to pick himself back up, which means we’re getting an origin story.
I’m looking forward to seeing this, since I don’t remember it from the manga. Whatever it is, though, I’m hoping it will go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!!!
