‘My Hero Academia’ Just Blew my Imagination out of the Water

My Hero Academia S7 Ep 13 Review

One of the things I like about seeing the manga and light novels I read getting an anime is how they adapt the story into animation. I want to think I’m pretty imaginative and good at picturing what’s happening in my mind’s eye, but that’s not always the case. Watching One Piece and other series over the years has shown me how my imagination doesn’t always do a good story justice, and My Hero Academia is no exception. After a two-week break, the anime has returned to give us what we’ve wanted: the battle between Deku and Shigaraki. And this episode might have some of the best animation in the entire series!

My imagination didn’t even do the series justice; not even close!

Deku Almost Snaps

The episode starts with a recap of how bad things have gotten for the heroes. They’re barely holding on despite splitting the villains up along eight fronts. All for One has returned to his prime; Dabi’s gotten a power-up thanks to his hatred; and the fight against Shigaraki? Everyone’s backs are against the wall right now!

I’ll admit, I forgot how Deku got back so fast, but seeing him use Stars and Stripes’ team’s jets felt right. It’s the kind of move Spider-Man would do. Considering how Spider-Man was an inspiration for Deku, it’s a nice touch. However, that doesn’t change how horrified Deku is when he sees what Shigaraki did while he wasn’t there.

We’ve seen Deku get mad before, but because he’s so nice, it’s still surreal to see him snap and almost give into his anger. He did that at Jaku, and he nearly does it here. My imagination can’t even compute the image of him getting angry, it’s so surreal! Thankfully, LeMillion is there to calm him down and point out how everyone’s still alive. Even Bakugo might make it.

I Feel Like Horikoshi Really Gets Superheroes

This moment is an example of why I like how Horikoshi wrote the manga. He understands heroes and what it means to be one in ways that not everyone does. A core theme to My Hero Academia is that it’s not the powers or the tools that make someone a hero, but their will. That determination to keep going despite how hopeless things get. It’s moments like this that make wish I could meet the man in-person and just geek out with him about superheroes together.

More importantly, this moment shows that, despite how genre-savvy he is, All for One doesn’t get heroes. He doesn’t understand how they’re able to slow him down like this despite considering them mere insects. And the more he gets frustrated by this, the harder it’s getting for him to merge with Shigaraki, something that Deku is going to exploit for all its worth.

How Poor My Imagination Is

Once the fight itself begins in earnest, it becomes clear just how poor my imagination was when reading this in manga form. The studio did a fantastic job showing just how powered-up Deku has become, using the stockpile of Quirks in him to put Shigaraki through the ringer. One for All is the embodiment of the will to be a hero and how that makes one stronger, something All for One doesn’t get. As a result, Shigaraki gets beaten to a pulp here.

The true highlight, though, was when they started playing “You Say Run.” Easily the most iconic song from the entire series, “You Say Run” took over the Internet. Go on YouTube and you’ll find hundreds of videos using it under “You Say Run Goes With Everything.” I’m not entirely sure, but it got to the point where I think Studio Bones stopped using for fear of over-hyping it. Thus, my jaw dropped when I heard playing for the first time in forever. It’s like the anime itself was trying to tell us how serious things were. Granted, I thought using it in a moment that consisted of largely exposition about one of Deku’s Quirks seemed a little out of place, but who cares? It was awesome to hear the song again, and it showed just how poor my imagination could be.

However, the fight’s only starting. All for One’s anger makes Shigaraki heal and makes things worse. And I know for a fact that things will only get more epic. Sadly, the next episode will take us to another one of the fronts. But it’s also going to involve something that I wound up liking a lot from the manga. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!!

I Give “A Chain of Events, Across the Ages” a 4.5/5

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