My Hero Academia Final Season Ep 8 Review
I know I said that I was going to wait until the dub came out, but this episode was too big for me to ignore. I mean, it’s out now, but it wasn’t when I wrote this. It’s the final battle between the Heroes and All for One. It’s actually ironic that that is the name that the villain of My Hero Academia chose to identify himself with. To him, it symbolizes his belief that everything in the world exists for him. However, that’s not what it means. The phrase “One for all, all for one,” is about how everyone supports the collective whole, and in turn, the collective whole supports everyone. Everyone helps everyone, and is helped in turn. That’s one of the core themes behind My Hero Academia, and in this moment, at the climax of the series, Izuku Midoriya and all the other heroes truly embody this phrase.
Also, You Say Run really does go with everything.
The Final Stand
So, here we are, at the Heroes final stand against the evil Demon Lord All for One, now in control of Shigaraki’s body. Midoriya is all but spent, most of the Heroes are sporting some brutal injuries, and a lot of them can barely stand, let alone fight. But since they’re heroes, they can’t afford to give up and let All for One escape. If they don’t take him out now, then they’ll never get another chance! And so, the true final battle begins.
From the moment that the fight starts, the gamer in me could recognize where Horikoshi got his influence for it from: MMORPGS. This entire fight reeks of it being the final boss of a big dungeon, and I mean it in the best way possible. Battles on that scale require everyone to work together to take down a foe that they can’t on their own. In other words, it requires unity. Or, as MHA would put it, one for all, all for one, something that All for One could never hope to understand.
All for One is a Loser
Speaking of All for One, I’m not even sure if I can properly call what’s possessed Shigaraki to be All for One. Because despite getting the new body that he wanted, he’s still lost. One for All and Yoichi will forever remain out of his reach, meaning that he will never see his brother again. Without that obsession to fuel him, he’s little more than an empty shell, going through the motions and not caring about anything beyond surviving. Honestly, it’s pathetic and fits well with who Izuku pegs the villain to be at his center. At his core, All for One is a sad, lonely man who’s spent his whole life trying to fill a void in his heart that can never be filled. And the reason it can never be filled is because he never cares about anyone but himself. In contrast, because Deku and the other heroes care about others more than themselves, they are able to do what he cannot and work together for a common cause.
But never mind that. We need to talk about what might be the final instance of You Say Run in the series.
You Say Run Does Go With Everything
Since the very beginning of the series, You Say Run has arguably been the theme song for My Hero Academia. Its bombastic nature has made it one of the most famous pieces of music in anime history. It’s gotten so beloved that it became a meme, with countless people taking epic moments and adding in You Say Run to make them cooler. Given how it exists to hype up the series, it’s only fitting that, in this final battle, we get to hear it for what’s likely the final time. And by god, did Toho animation manage to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!
Everything about this final use of You Say Run is perfect. The way the heroes work to get Deku to All for One symbolizes the meaning of the phrase, “one for all, all for one.” The sight of everyone across the world, even the characters from the movies, cheering for Midoriya to win, is inspiring. Everything is pretty much perfect right up to the moment that Midoriya lands the final hit. Too bad it doesn’t work.
I would best describe what happens next as being the cutscene that occasionally follows the defeat of the final boss in a video game. Out of sheer stubbornness, All for One refuses to die, but he’s not fighting for anything at this point. His will is hollow, and everyone knows it. And he’s unable to save himself when the remnants of Yoichi’s consciousness rebel against him from within. Even better, though, Tenko Shimura gets enough strength to pay his “master” back for a lifetime of pain and suffering. And it leads to a final, satisfying scene where we see Deku and Shimura sending All for One off to Hell.
Good riddance to that waste of life.
A Worthy Climax to My Hero Academia
Wow. What a finale. No wonder this is the highest-rated episode of the entire series on IMDb. Everything about it was flawless from start to finish. It was as close to perfect as we can get. Regardless of the gripes that some people might have about the way the series initially ends, I think we can all agree that this was a good finale. And for one moment, Izuku Midoriya was the world’s greatest hero.
From here on out, the rest of the episodes will be nothing but the falling action. It’s not something I’m looking forward to, but if the anime goes as far as I think it will, it will make it worthwhile.
I Give “Izuku Midoriya Rising” a 5/5
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