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My Hero Academia Final Season Ep 9 Review

Well, the heroes did it! They won! They beat All for One, Shigaraki, and the League of Villains. Deku and his friends are the heroes who saved the world. But just because the war is over doesn’t mean that everything will go back to normal. In fact, for some people, things will never be normal again. The war has scarred them too deeply for that to be possible. With the climax of My Hero Academia over, now comes the falling action and then the epilogue. And much like how it was in the manga, I cannot help but feel like the anime didn’t do as good a job as it could have.

To be fair, though, the Naruto manga never really dealt with the aftermath of its final arc. The next chapter just skipped straight to the epilogue.

Bakugo’s…not Happy about Deku Losing his Powers

With the death of All for One and Shigaraki, the final war against the greatest villains in history is over. Now comes the harder part: cleaning up everything. The fighting between the heroes and villains tore up huge chunks of Japan, so there’s going to be a lot of rebuilding to do. Thankfully, a practical perk of living in a world where superpowers are the norm is that it doesn’t take long to start rebuilding. Japan will be back on its feet in no time.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the heroes. Many of them are scarred, both mentally and physically, some even permanently, like Hawks. Others like Bakugo are facing a protracted period of physical therapy to make up for the injuries they suffered. Bakugo even refuses to get a prosthetic arm since he needs them intact for his Quirk to work. Everyone knows that he’ll be fine, though…at least, physically. Emotionally, though, he’s devastated by the toll the war extracted. Not on him, but on Deku.

Given how badly Bakugo reacts to learning that Izuku sacrificed One for All, I think Horikoshi was using him to voice the fans he knew would be upset by this. I should know, as I was one of them! I understand why he had to do it to save Shigaraki’s soul (which he did), but it still felt unfair. Without a Quirk, he wouldn’t be able to be a hero for much longer. His dream was now over! Just when Bakugo was getting used to the idea of the two of them pushing each other to the top, this happened to them. I mean, everyone knows that Deku is a hero, but this means that the actual profession is beyond him.

Still, this is a small price to pay compared to what a family like the Todoroki’s have endured.

The End of Endeavor

The Final War had plenty of moments where each of the main cast got to shine, but out of all of them, I think one of the best were the ones with the Todoroki family. The reveal that Dabi was the brother and son they thought long-dead almost destroyed the family. But at the same time, it drove them to come together as an actual family for the first time to stop Toya. Now they all bear the scars of that fight, and they’re never going to fully heal.

Endeavor officially retires as a Hero. Not because he lost an arm, but because he doesn’t feel deserving of being one after everything he did to his family. His other son makes it clear he’s cutting all ties with him, which, while sad, is understandable. Not everyone can forgive someone even after they start making amends.

As for Toya himself, he somehow managed to survive his attempts to go nuclear. His injuries are so great, though, that his death is inevitable; the most the doctors can do is slow it down by keeping him asleep most of the day. Despite this, the Todoroki’s still reach out to him. It’s touching to see how much they care about Toya, even after everything he’s done. But they’re doing it because they want to make peace with Toya before the end; otherwise, they will never find peace.

A Celebration Overdue

The war is over, but scars have yet to heal. Yet all is not doom and gloom. The Big 3 of UA High are able to have their overdue graduation ceremony, much to everyone’s joy. Knowing them and how amazing they each are, they’ll be in the top ten heroes of Japan right off the bat. They deserve it for how amazing they were in the final war. As for Aoyama, while everyone at UA chooses to forgive him for being All for One’s unwilling spy, he still chooses to leave UA, wanting to atone on his own terms. The plus side is that Shinso will be joining the Hero Course alongside Class A. Too bad that we will never get to see how he fits in with everyone because the series is ending.

I really wish that the anime had decided to extend this epilogue for a few more episodes. Maybe build on everything that the cast went through in a way that the manga couldn’t. At the same time, though, I’m grateful that we managed to get what we did, knowing we could have gotten nothing. It evens out, and to its credit, the final chapters are pretty good at being emotional. Come back tomorrow and you’ll hopefully see what I mean as we go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Epilogue: The Hellish Todoriki Family” a 4/5

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My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 17 Review/Recap

Well, I think this may be my least favorite episode of the entire season of My Hero Academia. When we left off, Bakugo, Shoto, Camie, and Inasa had to rein in a bunch of problem elementary school students. When words failed to reach them, they resort to humanity’s other, time-honored solution: violence. Or so it looks like: in truth, they’re just trying to reach those kids hearts.

Recap

So, the quartet of heroes-in-training let the kids unleash their Quirks on them while the adults watch in shock. It’s then that the “Quirk Singularity Theory” gets brought up: it’s the idea that Quirks are growing stronger with each generation. In time, they’ll become so powerful, and people won’t be able to control them, hence why these grade-schoolers are so strong.

Fortunately, the young heroes prove that raw power isn’t enough; there’s also imagination. By combining their skills, the quartet’s able to put on a fantastic display of their abilities that wins the kids over. As for their leader, Bakugo lectures him on not acting like he’s better than everyone or else he’ll never learn. With their task complete, everyone returns to school.

Back at school, Midoriya ends up bonding with Aoyama over the fact that both have Quirks that can be harmful to their bodies. That’s about it.

Review

I am not sorry when I say this: I slept through the second half of the episode. I understand what the anime’s trying to do with Aoyama: like Midoriya, his Quirk can be a hindrance more than it can help. Thus, it’s natural for the two to bond over that. That said, I couldn’t get myself invested in that. On top of that, going from one story to the next in the middle of the episode felt a little sloppy, and even jarring. The fact that Sir Nighteye’s funeral is only shown onscreen for a few moments also felt like a disappointment. We saw that guy die and got broken up about it!

What I did enjoy, however, was the character development we see in our resident anti-heroes, Bakugo and Endeavor. Bakugo was an arrogant jerk when we first met him, but his time at U.A. gave him a lesson in humility. To hear him pass on what he’s learned shows how far he’s come in those past few months. Then, we see Endeavor own up to the fact that he’s been a bad dad to Shoto. Shoto doesn’t buy it, but I can tell that deep down, he’s happy to hear his dad say that.

There’s also the “Quirk Singularity” theory that got brought up, and I was intrigued. In Marvel and DC comics, I’ve seen beings with superpowers have children with powers of their own. Some of them, like Franklin Richards or Rachel Summers, can end up having god-like power. It’s a nice callback to Horikoshi’s inspiration, I think.

Beyond that, though, this episode was a snooze fest. Speaking of festivals, though, that’s going to be the focus of the next arc. From what I remember reading in the manga, it’s going to be a good one, too! Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!

I Give “Relief For License Trainees” a 2/5. Also did this kid copy the Destructo-Disc?

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Why Malty Melromarc is the Worst Girl in Anime History

Without a doubt, The Rising of the Shield Hero’s one of the best anime I’ve seen in years. Not only does it offer plenty of action and drama, but it gave us the best girl of 2019, Raphtalia. However, it also gave us the only woman in fiction that I despise more than Cersei Lannister. That woman’s name is Malty Melromarc.

To say I hate Malty would be an understatement; I loathe her very existence and actions. Which is why I called my review of the episode where she gets her just desserts “Naofumi’s Best Day Ever”. Since I already gave my pick for best girl of 2019, I wanted to give you guys my pick for the worst girl of 2019, Malty.

Sin #1: Made Naofumi’s Life Hell

When Naofumi and the other three heroes get summoned to this new world, no one wants to join Naofumi. They all see Naofumi as weak since, being the Shield Hero, he can’t attack. The only one to help him out is a girl named Myne who seems nice at first. Then she reveals her true nature as a bitch.

Myne’s an alias Malty uses as an adventurer, and then she uses her status as Princess of Melromarc to frame Naofumi for attempting to rape her. If he had been anyone else, Naofumi would have been executed. Instead, the kingdom treats him like an outcast and with contempt. As a result, Naofumi develops the bitter and cynical personality he retains for the rest of the series.

While this was only the first act of cruelty Malty inflicted upon Naofumi, there are two things that make this truly heinous. Firstly, she has no ulterior motives whatsoever; she only does it because she can. Secondly, it’s pretty much confirmed in the web novel the anime’s based on that she’s done this to multiple men in the past, all of whom were executed. In other words, she’s a psychopathic serial killer.

Sin 2: Trying to Take Away Raphtalia

After her framing of Naofumi, Malty went on to join the party of Motoyasu, the Spear Hero and the first to believe her lies. The man’s a shameless flirt, though, and when he started hitting on Raphtalia, she got jealous. Refusing to let Naofumi have any happiness, she manipulated Motoyasu into dueling Naofumi, then cheated to ensure he won, setting Raphtalia free.

On the surface, this looks like another petty way to hurt Naofumi by taking away his only companion, and it is. However, in the web novels, an even darker motive comes to life. It turns out that free demi-humans had less rights than slaves in Melromarc. Had Raphtalia chosen to remain free, Malty would have likely killed her for sport. What an absolute bitch.

Sins #3, 4, and 5- Tried to murder her sister, frame Naofumi, and seize control of Melromarc

After that, Malty’s actions are limited to being a continued nusiance to Naofumi’s party. However, they’re immediately cranked back up to eleven with the return of her younger sister and crown princess, Melty. Due to her awful personality, Malty’s mother chose to make the younger Melty the heir to Melromarc’s throne. As a result, Malty schemed to reclaim what she saw as hers.

This ultimately led her to side with the Shield Hero hating Church of the Three Heroes to frame Naofumi for kidnapping Melty. She then used this as an opportunity to murder her sister in cold blood so she could become the next heir to the throne. She went so far as to burn an entire forest to the ground to flush Naofumi’s group out of hiding.

Luckily, though, the Church of the Three Heroes turns on everyone in order to seize power for themselves, leading them to be brought down by the efforts of Naofumi. The Queen of Melrocmarc then returns and begins setting right everything Malty’s done.

Justice Can Be So Cathartic

So, let’s review everything Malty’s done. She falsely accused Naofumi of trying to rape her, tried to take away his only friend and companion, repeatedly got in his way, framed him again, and turned him into a wanted criminal. She did all this while having no reason beyond the fact that she could do it, too. In other words, Malty Melromarc’s a petty, vindictive, and overall waste of human life, effectivley making her Cersei 2.0.

Fortunately for everyone, Malty’s even dumber than Cersei was. Once everyone became wise to what she was doing, it was only a matter of time before everything blew up in face. When it did, though, the results felt absolutely cathartic.

Seeing Malty scream in pain as every one of her lies became undone was an absolute joy to watch. I know that sounds sadistic, but considering everything that she unjustly did to Naofumi, it felt justified. I was perfectly happy letting her be executed. However, in a moment of true Cersei stupidity, she had the nerve to beg Naofumi to spare her life. So he did. What he chose to do her instead, though, was just as amazing.

As punishment for all her heinous deeds, Malty would lose her title as Princess, her level got reset, and her legal name was changed to Bitch. Depending on the medium, her adventurer alias got changed to “slut” or “whore”. It was absolutely perfect.

What Happens Now?

The Shield Hero currently only has one season under its belt, and its unknown if it will get a second one. If it does, though, I will tell you guys this: Malty Bitch will not learn her lesson. She actually gets worse.

Even though she’s a selfish, vindictive, petty, narcissistic psychopath, Malty’s Bitch is also a complete an utter idiot who will betray anyone who sides with her. Once people are wise to her ways, then she’s not much of a threat. However, in the web and light novels, that doesn’t stop her from continuing to manipulate and use others to get revenge on those who she think wronged her. As a result, Naofumi eventually downgrades her from a Bitch to a Witch. If the web novel’s are any indication, though, Malty Bitch Witch’s fate will end up being worse than death.

And that’s why Malty Melromarc is the worst girl in anime history and now sits at the top of my hate list. Fortunately, the anime balances it out by giving us the best girl of 2019.

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