Never Forget What the Villains Have to Teach us, Midoriya

My Hero Academia Final Season Ep 10 Review

We are at the penultimate episode of My Hero Academia, and the show is wasting no time in wrapping things up with its cast. I already know what’s going to happen since I read the manga ahead of time, but it’s still nice to get to see everything play out in the anime. Whereas the last episode more or less focused on the heroes of the story, this episode shifts our attention to the villains. As I’ve said before, I think one of the best aspects of MHA was its willingness to humanize its villains. While All for One could be seen as your generic ultimate supervillain, a lot of the supporting villains were people that society failed, and thus had genuine reasons to hate it. More importantly, they were the kind of villains who inspire the heroes to change things to prevent it from happening again or being forgotten.

Former Villains Get to go Free…Except Overhaul

The episode opens up on a very positive note, as we see Gentle Criminal and La Brava reuniting. Having stepped up to help the heroes in the Final War, the two get full pardons and are free to live their lives. And, honestly, they deserve it. They’re not bad, and without them, Deku wouldn’t have been able to defeat Shigaraki. Even better, the entire world now knows how they were overlooked and will not make the same mistake twice. They deserve to live a happy future.

In addition to Gentle and La Brava earning their freedom, another villain gets a full pardon: Lady Nagant. Though calling her a villain isn’t very accurate. She was a woman who was taken advantage of by those in charge to do morally questionable actions, and when she hit her breaking point, she got locked up for it. With the former president of the Hero Commission dead, though, Hawks is now in charge, and he’s working to ensure nothing like that happens again. Nagant, though, chooses to stay behind bars. She doesn’t want to leave until she knows that society really has changed thanks to Deku. That, and she’s getting free food and lodgings.

There is one villain who doesn’t get a happy ending, though, and that’s Overhaul. The former Yakuza is back behind bars while his old boss, Eri’s grandfather, is awake. As expected, he’s furious over the hell Overhaul put Eri through for nothing, with the Yakuza finished thanks to him. He’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars and forced to reflect on what he did, and hopefully, Eri will never see his face again. And after what he did to Eri and killing Nighteye, that’s the best ending he could hope to get. Some people deserve to be forgotten, just like there are those who shouldn’t be, no matter how bad they are, like Shigaraki.

Spinner, I Would Totally Read your Book

Now that Shigaraki is dead, the public is already trying to judge him for his actions, as the episode contains news footage of people offering their two cents about him. Some are glad he’s gone, others think what happened to him was tragic and pity him, and others say they shouldn’t pity him. However, none of them got to know Shigaraki as a person, or know what he went through, so it’s not like their opinions are wholly accurate. Part of this episode, though, focuses on two people who did actually know him: Deku and Spinner.

Spinner survived the War, and thanks to the research on Nomu, doctors were able to stop him from turning into one. Now that he’s behind bars, all Spinner can do is mourn the loss of Shigaraki, the first friend that he ever had. That’s when Deku comes to visit him and gives him Shigaraki’s last message: to the very end, he kept trying to destroy everything. He died trying to be a hero to the villains until the moment he died.

I always liked that notion of being a hero to the villains. It sounds like an oxymoron, but what it means is that Shigaraki wanted to be a hero to those that society had turned its back on or failed. As My Hero Academia has repeatedly shown, this world of heroes has managed to fail a lot of people who needed help the most, leading them to lash out as villains. Dabi, Twice, Toga, Spinner, and Shigaraki were all the results of a failed system, and I don’t think people should be so quick to judge them. After all, can these people say they could go through what they went through and not crash out over it?

Ultimately, Spinner decides he’s going to write a book on the story of Shigaraki, something that Deku encourages. Neither of them wants Shigaraki’s life to be forgotten, lest another Shigaraki or All for One rise in the future. As a fan of stories like Wicked, I think that what Spinner’s planning is a good idea. If it were a real book, I know that I would buy a copy for myself. If anything, it would make sure the heroes learned a lesson from Shigaraki’s life.

Uraraka, Live your Best Life for Toga

And with that, we have one final story to wrap up: the story of Urakaka and Toga.

Uraraka almost gave her life in the war to get through to Toga, and it was thanks to her that the Sad Man’s Parade was stopped. Fortunately, Uraraka managed to pull through thanks to Toga giving her her blood. Unfortunately, this final act cost the young villainess her own life, something that continues to haunt Uraraka.

Uraraka has tried to put on a brave face and act like nothing’s wrong, but inside, she’s heartbroken over Toga’s death. She regrets how things had to come to this, how she failed to help her when she needed it most, and how the world pushed Toga to become a villain. And now Uraraka’s, ironically, doing the same thing that Toga did: putting on a smile to keep people from knowing she’s suffering inside. But unlike Toga, Uraraka isn’t alone when she needs it the most.

Deku and Uraraka have a heart-to-heart at the place they spoke before the war, and he opens up about how much she means to him. She was the first friend he made at UA, the first one to believe in him, and when he tried to push everyone away, she stepped up for him. She’s one of the strongest people he knows, and he refuses to let her wallow in regret. Because as much as heroes have to give people hope, they’re still human. And even a hero needs help every now and then. And thankfully, Uraraka has her entire class there to help her.

The Best Heroes are the Most Human

This is honestly such a sweet lesson about what it means to be a hero. As much as we like to see them as these infallible figures, Horikoshi understands that the best heroes are still human, and there’s only so much us humans can do on our own. When we are struggling or suffering, we want help. And if we don’t get it, we risk giving in to despair and hurting the people around us. That’s as true for this anime as it is in real life, and that’s one thing that I’ve loved about My Hero Academia. It’s not just a power fantasy about being a hero. It’s about what it means to truly be a hero, and that means stepping up even when it seems scary.

And now, we are at the end of the story. The next episode is the last one. So, one last time, let’s go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “The Girl Who Loves Smiles” a 4/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.