RJ Writing Ink

My Hero Academia Final Season Ep 5 Review

All for One is dead. The greatest villain in history is finally dead. But the battle is not over. Thanks to All for One, Tomura Shigaraki has been molded into someone who wishes to see the entire world reduced to dust. If Deku doesn’t stop him, he will destroy everything, starting with Japan. However, this is when the series decides to do something that never sat right with me. It may have to do with the themes of heroism, or Horikoshi couldn’t figure out a better way to end this, but for Midoriya to beat Shigaraki, he has to give up something important. Something that he shouldn’t have to give up in the first place. Deku really is like Spider-Man, but in this case, that’s not a good thing.

Shigaraki is Really Just that Tough!

With All for One finally dead thanks to Bakugo delivering the final blow, all that is left is for Deku to defeat Shigaraki. A task that is made infinitely harder by virtue of the fact that Deku, despite everything, still wants to help Shigaraki. Or rather, he wants to help Tenko Shimura, the little boy that Shigaraki has suppressed for all these years. Having spent years watching Naruto try to save Sasuke from his own darkness, I get where Deku’s coming from. However, Shigaraki’s gotten to the point where beating him by conventional means may no longer be possible.

Then it gets worse. Using the All for One Quirk, Shigaraki manages to reach into Deku and grab the fourth user, Shinomori, and his Danger Sense.

Suddenly, the game changes entirely. With Shigaraki now having anime Spider-Sense, Deku’s forced on the defensive, and the show really sells to us how bad this is. Even worse, Shigaraki manages to bring their fight to Mount Fuji. AKA one of the most important symbols of Japan as well as an active volcano. If Shigaraki uses Decay on it, it will erupt and take Tokyo along with it. In other words, even if Midoriya wanted to run (which he doesn’t), Japan would be screwed. If he stays and fights in his current state, Deku is screwed. He’s effectively boxed in with no way out. And this is when Deku and the past users of One for All come up with a truly insane plan.

A Plan of Self-Sacrifice

Thanks to Star and Stripe’s Quirk Vestige, a tiny crack appeared in the mental barriers that Shigaraki created to suppress his childhood self. If Deku transfers each Quirk Vesitge into Shigaraki, they could break the sphere and let him reach his true self, taking away his reason to be evil. However, the catch to all this is that this means Izuku Midoriya will have to sacrifice One for All forever. He’ll be Quirkless once more.

I’m sorry, but even as I was reading this in the manga, I was not okay with it. Becoming a Hero was Deku’s dream, and he worked so hard to make it come true. It won’t be impossible for him to keep being a Hero without a Quirk, but it won’t be the same. And I hate that he has to make this kind of decision!

I’m Still Upset about Spider-Man: No Way Home

My reasons for hating it stem from my feelings about Deku’s inspiration, Spider-Man. I’ve been a fan of Spider-Man most of my life. I’ve read the comics, watched the cartoons, played the games, and seen the movies. For many, he’s the ideal hero. But despite deserving all the happiness in the world, the universe (and the writers) find a way to screw him over. I told myself that he could keep bouncing back, but then I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home. I watched as Spidey had to wipe the entire world’s memories of him to save all of reality, and I hated it.

No Way Home was my breaking point when it came to watching Spider-Man suffer. Yes, he did act impulsively and didn’t think things through, but he was a teenager. That’s what most teens are like! But he had to watch as his secret identity was outed, his name unfairly dragged through the mud, his aunt died, and his friends had to forget he ever existed. For God’s sake, Spider-Man doesn’t deserve to suffer that much! Is it so wrong for him to want to think about his own happiness a little? Because looking at Deku, I’m reminded of this exact thing, and I hated it!

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility

In the end, though, I have to remind myself that, powers or not, Deku doesn’t need them to be a hero. He’s always been a hero at heart, and nothing can take that away from him. Granted, he technically needs those powers to have a job as a Hero, but Horikoshi has already shown us the workaround for that. In other words, I’m just bummed that Deku won’t be as strong as before. But if he weren’t willing to give up One for All for the greater good, he wouldn’t have been worthy of it in the first place. So, for one last time, it’s time to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “History’s Greatest Villain” a 4.5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

My Hero Academia Final Season Ep 4 Review

In fiction, there are many different kinds of villains, but a lot of them can be broken up into one of two categories. There are villains who become evil because of things that happened to them, and villains who might have just been born naturally predisposed to evil. In the case of someone like All for One, though, I would say that he was born evil. From the minute he was conceived, he was going to end up being a menace to society for the next century. But despite all his attempts to become the ultimate villain who rules the world from the shadows, All for One’s story is about to come to an end. And I think the way that Horikoshi chooses to end his story is nothing short of poetic.

The First Quirks

At the beginning of My Hero Academia, we got an explanation at how mankind evolved to develop superpowers, or Quirks, as they came to call them. Officially, the first Quirk was the glowing baby in China. However, that was only the first recorded case. In reality, the first people to be born with Quirks might have All for One and his twin brother, Yoichi Shigaraki, as we see in a flashback to their origins.

The world might be comfortable with Quirks by the time of the series, but as this flashback shows, when Quirks first began emerging, the world acted in a very realistic manner. While some reveled in having superpowers, others were afraid and acted accordingly. It’s like looking at how Mutants are viewed in Marvel Comics: some celebrate them, while others fear and hate them. In a way, My Hero Academia is like looking at what the best future for the Marvel Universe could be. However, while many worked to help Quirks become accepted, there were plenty of those whose powers people should’ve been afraid of. And All for One was one such example

All for One was born a jerk!

From the moment All for One was born, he saw himself as better than everyone else alive. To him, everything existed to serve him, and those who wouldn’t would be punished. And despite claiming that he did love his younger brother, it’s clear that what he felt toward Yoichi wasn’t love, but possessiveness. The narrator even says that All for One only saw Yoichi as something that belonged to him. And despite Yoichi trying to steer his brother right, he just kept abusing him and abusing him until he gave him the Quirk that would combine with his to become One for All. Yet as we see through these video journals that Yoichi made, he still thought that his brother could do good.

And you know what? Yoichi was right!

As a Quirk, All for One is not inherently evil. As Yoichi himself points out, that kind of power could help those with unwanted Quirks and give Quirks to those who needed them. All for One could have changed the world for the better, but instead, he only cared about himself. That would lead to his brother’s death, One for All passing onto its second user, Kudo, and All for One devoting his existence to trying to get back what he saw as his. He even went as far as to wipe out the families of One for All’s users, until All Might defeated him. And now, the consequences of his life of sin have finally caught up to him in the form of Bakugo.

Bakugo Ain’t No Side Character!

After All for One first pointed out their resemblance, there was likely a fan theory that Bakugo was a descendant of Kudo, One for All’s second user. Sadly, the manga never confirmed nor denied this, and the anime seems to have taken the same route. In the end, though, I don’t think it matters. If anything, it’s more important that Bakugo isn’t related to Kudo, but is just someone who made it to where he was on his own merits. He’s a guy whose will and determination have driven him to become one of the best of his generation of budding heroes, yet All for One arrogantly considers him as a side character in the story. As we know by now, Bakugo is not a side character. He’s the co-protagonist of the series. And more importantly, he’s smarter than All for One gave him credit for.

Using his sweat as a delayed explosive implanted into the villain’s body was pure genius. It slowed down All for One long enough for Bakugo to get in close and give the Demon Lord one of the greatest beat downs in Shonen history. And the sight of All for One’s stolen Quirks turning on him from within was just the cherry on top. Absolute cinema!

Good Riddance to All for One!

By the time Bakugo is finished, All for One is reduced to being a baby, crawling around, unable to talk, unable to fight. The big bad of My Hero Academia who’s spent a century terrorizing the world with his evil is a helpless baby, unable to stop himself from fading out of existence. It’s the most pathetic that we’ve ever seen him be, and when I read it in the manga, I couldn’t help but feel how incredibly cathartic it was to see him meet his end like this. Even better, it’s fitting that he meets his end at the hands of someone he considered a side character. Like I said before, Bakugo ain’t a side character. He’s got main character energy written all over him, and he earned this win for himself!

The fight is not over yet, though. Izuku still needs to stop Shigaraki, and with everything else taken care of, our focus can fall solely on the clash that we’ve been waiting for. Bakugo already did it, but it’s time for Deku to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!!!

I Give “Quirk: Explosion” a 5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

My Hero Academia S7 Ep 12 Review

My Hero Academia, the manga has come to an end, but we still got a few months left of the anime. And after what happened at the end of last week’s episode, I can safely say that this is where things get real. They were real before, but Bakugo being mortally wounded is when things for the heroes go from worse to downright hell. The villains spend the majority of this episode beating the heroes into a pulp, and for a few moments, it looks like they’re going to lose. Had Horikoshi been bolder, he could’ve killed more heroes before this was done. Then again, if there’s one thing superheroes are good at, it’s pulling off insane bs.

Too bad the villains can do the same.

Driven into a Corner

At the flying coffin, the heroes are aghast at Bakugo’s apparent death. They were barely hanging on against Shigaraki as it were, but now? Now they’re truly desperate. Mirko and the Big Three can barely slow him down, and Jeanist and Edge Shot are doing everything they can to save Bakugo’s life. And for the longest time while reading the manga, I was just as afraid as the heroes were that Bakugo might not make it! It was like the moment when Neji died in Naruto. At first you and try and deny it or think that something will be done to undo it! I was afraid that Horikoshi was going to repeat history, and while I knew plenty of people would applaud him for such a gutsy move, just as many would be angry.

It gets worse as the villains begin to counterattack across the frontlines. Dabi is the only one we see outside of AFO, but that alone was still terrifying. The man’s hatred and utter disregard for his own life has turned him into a monster from the pits of hell!

Why AFO Becoming Young Works

And All for One? If the heroes thought fighting him in his current state was bad enough, facing him in his prime flat-out nightmare fuel.

I’ll admit: All for One injecting himself with a duplicate of Eri’s Quirk to rewind his body to his prime feels like a stretch. Its a very convenient way for the story to take a bad situation and make it worse, and even reading the manga, I knew people would have problems with it. However, I would like to point out that AFO’s new god-mode is offset by the fact that it will rewind him until he ceases to exist anymore. Now both sides are up against the clock: the heroes to take AFO and Shigaraki down before they meet, and AFO getting his hands on a new body and One for All before he’s unborn. That’s a pretty good way to maintain stakes.

All hope is not lost, though.

The Second Round Has Begun

Mirio might be one of my favorite characters in the series for a reason. As powerful as he is, he knows when not to take himself too seriously and make people laugh. And while that “peachy keen” gag seems stupid to do on the battlefield, people say the same about Naruto and his Sexy Jutsu. And last time I checked, that was pretty good at distracting people!

It also works, too. It distracts Shigaraki long enough for Deku to make it back to the Coffin in the Sky. And I dont need to have read the manga to know that the next episode is going to see him livid at whats happened to his teachers and friends.

This episode essentially marks the start of the second round of the final war. Both sides are done warming up and are ready to go all out. It may seem strange since they were going all out before, but that’s how Shonen operates. The fights keep escalating until one side loses. And with everything on the line and nations already preparing to bow to Shigaraki, the heroes can’t afford to lose. Otherwise, they’ll live in a world ruled by darkness forever. Time to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Those Who Defend, Those Who Violate” a 4/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

My Hero Academia S7 Ep 11 Review

So, for those of us who read the manga in advance, we all knew that this moment was going to happen eventually—that big moment with Bakugo that wound up breaking the internet and freaking out the entire fandom. I knew it would happen eventually, but I thought we had more time to prepare for it. But I underestimated the anime’s pacing and how many chapters they adapt into a single episode. As a result, I was left caught off guard again when that big moment between Bakugo and Shigaraki took place.

And it’s just as horrifying as I remember.

The Big 3 Take on Shigaraki

Unlike the previous episodes, this one focuses solely on a single front of the war: the Coffin in the Sky, as the heroes are hanging by a thread against Shigaraki. It’s taking everything they have to stay alive, and the anime does a great job of conveying the sheer desperation they’re experiencing. If Shigaraki had his Quirks, they would’ve died long ago.

I liked seeing the Big Three take to the field and function as a team. They’re the top students at UA for a reason, but they’re also best friends. And when they work as a team, they kick serious butt. As a bonus, this episode gives us the backstory behind Nejire, and it’s sweet how going to UA gave her a chance to meet people who accepted her extroverted nature. I’ve become a fan of her dub actress, Lindsay Seidel.

As for Suneater, his Quirk continues to be utterly badass in my eyes. His ultimate attack against Shigaraki was something out of a video game! Had this been anyone else, the Big Three would’ve won. Too bad they’re fighting Shigaraki.

Speaking of whom, Midoriya was right about Shigaraki. For all his efforts and All for One’s, a small part of Tenko Shimura is still buried within him. And the more worked up he gets, the more Shimura slips through, as Lemillion discovers. It’s like with Darth Vader: there’s still that little light in his heart that the darkness can’t destroy. However, that doesn’t do any of the heroes any good, including Bakugo.

What Happened to Bakugo is Nightmare Fuel!

Even though Deku is officially the main protagonist of My Hero Academia while Bakugo is the deuteragonist, I don’t think that’s fair anymore. My Hero Academia is as much Bakugo’s story as Deku’s, and this episode cemented that for me. Despite knowing how outclassed he is against Shigaraki, despite breaking down in tears over that fact, Bakugo doesn’t give up. Even when the other heroes despair, he returns and walks toward Shigaraki. And, as we learn, he’s pushed his Quirk so hard he’s unlocked a state where he can release exploding sweat from his entire body! In other words, he just unlocked super speed!

But all this does is anger Shigaraki even more. Much like his evil mentor, he can’t fathom the idea of an “extra” pressuring him so much. And what he does…will leave a lot of fans in tears.

There’s a particular trope in anime and manga that I particularly enjoy. When the story wants to convey extreme sadness, rain starts pouring down. It’s like a way to demonstrate that the universe itself is crying. And seeing Bakugo lying there on the ground, his chest ripped open, there’s plenty to cry about.

I remember how fans reacted when we read about this in the manga. Everyone wondered if Bakugo would make it or if this was it for him! And if he did die, we didn’t know if we should respect the mangaka for being so bold, or curse him for doing this. Either way, we’re about to see a repeat of this for the anime-watchers.

And things are only going to get worse.

The Villain’s Counterattack Begins!

Everything that has happened in the war until now has merely been the first round; a warmup, if you will. Now, the villains are about to launch a massive counterattack, and things will get worse before they get better. In addition, there will be a two-week wait for the next episode. The Olympics start next week, so things are on hold in Japan thanks to that.

This was an excellent episode for the series, and I’m surprised it got to it this fast. If my calculations are correct, then the anime could complete the Final War Arc within this season and still have room for the (currently) ongoing epilogue. It’s sad, though. By the time the next episode comes out, My Hero Academia will be two days away from ending. However, with a world as imaginative as this society of superhumans, I wouldn’t put it past Horikoshi-Sama to write a sequel or some more spin-offs.

And pray for Bakugo. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA

I Give “Light Fades to Rain” a 4.5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.

My Hero Academia S7 Ep 10 Review

We are now in the second half of what may be My Hero Academia’s final season, and the final war continues to heat up. Despite the heroes best efforts to stop All for One, the Demon King won’t go down so quickly. He’s like that one boss in a video game that takes everything the players have to win! However, he shouldn’t write them off as “side characters” or ants meant to be crushed under his boots. Ants are robust and dangerous, and in enough numbers, they can take down an animal as big as an elephant.

No, seriously. Enough ants can bring down an animal that most predators avoid messing with. All for One shouldn’t underestimate people just because they’re side characters.

I love the new opening, by the way.

Don’t Underestimate the Supporting Cast

So, despite managing to maim Jiro and Hawks and trying to break Endeavor emotionally, do any of the heroes try to run from All for One? No, they don’t. Despite losing one of her earphone jacks, Jiro refuses to run away scared. Instead, she remembers the absolute hell AFO has put Deku and Aoyama through…and she gets angry and hits the villain with everything she’s got. Then, Hawks, Tsukoyomi, and Endeavor start to do the same. And surprisingly, it works! They smash his mask off!

It’s less of a case of them taking a level in badassery, though, and more of a sign that something’s wrong with All for One. Which there is. Inside his mind, All for One is surprised to find that the Quirks he stole from others have begun to fight against him.

I enjoyed this scene the most out of the entire episode. It shows how, after almost a century of getting his way and hurting countless people, All for One is starting to lose control. And the fact that he’s starting to lose thanks to the efforts of those he considers “side characters” and ants makes it all the sweeter.

As satisfying as it is to see All for One’s stolen Quirks turning on him, though, it’s still far from over. He’s already got another ace up his sleeve. And, having read the manga, I know it’s dangerous.

Shigaraki is Getting Stronger Every Second!

Of course, the other big highlight of the episode is the ongoing fight in the Sky Coffin against Shigaraki. Despite being vastly outgunned by Shigaraki, the heroes present are doing everything they can to make sure he can’t win. Bakugo and the pro heroes are fighting like crazy. Kaminari and the electric heroes are pouring everything into ensuring the structure stays on. Yaoyorozu and the support item department are working around the clock to keep it up and running. The entire thing shows us how this fight isn’t going to be decided by just one person. To beat All for One and Shigaraki, countless people work as one. That’s their big strength. Hence, anyone who considers them ants should be more of a compliment than an insult.

The fight’s far from over, and I wonder if they can fit all of it into the season. That being said, I’m still looking forward to seeing it through. With the manga due to end in less than a month, this makes the anime all the more meaningful! Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!!!

I Give “Wounded Hero, Burning Bright and True!!” a 4/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.