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My Hero Academia Season 4, Episode 19 Review/Recap

A school for heroes is still a school, and in Japan, schools have festivals. With the U.A. Festival in a month, Class 1-A decides to put on a concert to make up for all the trouble they’ve brought. However, a small-time villain by the name of Gentle Criminal’s trying to attract attention for himself, and U.A. is a tempting target.

Recap

Having decided on a concert, Jiro leads the efforts to organize the class and figure out who’s going to do what. Slowly but surely, everyone’s talents begin to show. Bakugo earns himself the position of drummer for his mad skills. Yaoyorozu will play the keys. Kaminari and Tokoyami are on guitar. As for lead singer, Jiro shows everyone that she has the voice of an angel.

Meanwhile, Gentle Criminal and La Brava become frustrated at the lack of attention that their videos are getting. As a result, Gentle decides that in this day and age, people only care about big spectacles. And no spectacle would be as big as one that involves the school everyone’s talking about: U.A. High.

Review

To be perfectly honest, this episode was pretty boring. Just more of the slice of life stuff that we’ve seen for the last few episodes. I knew that it was going to be hard to top the Hassakai Arc, but the manga source material is not making it easy. However, there’s still a reason why this arc remains important: Eri.

As the last episode showed us, even though Overhaul can’t hurt her anymore, she still has a grip on her mind. She can’t even remember how to smile. This school festival is the best chance that Midoriya and Togata have to set her free. Especially now that she’s able to come to U.A.

I hate seeing a little girl like Eri so scared; we all do. Yet Gentle Criminal is planning to crash the festival which will ruin everything. In other words, we’re bound to get more action, and soon. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Prepping for School Festival is the Funnest Part” a 3/5. Needs more Shonen Stuff

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My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 18 Review/Recap

Ahh, the cultural festival, a staple of the Japanese educational system. It also happens to be among the things that I wish we did in the US. Every year, schools in Japan have open day festivals where people come to play games, eat, and have fun. And even though its a school dedicated to training heroes, U.A. High is no exception to this common trope of anime. That’s right: the next arc of My Hero Academia is a school festival!

Recap

With the Fall semester now here, Mr. Aizawa informs Class 1-A that the time’s come for the annual school festival at U.A. , so they need to come up with an idea on what event to do. Aizawa says that if they don’t, they’ll be stuck in a lecture the whole time. After multiple ideas being thrown around, they ultimately decide on an idea: they’re going to do a concert, with Jiro leading their band for it.

Meanwhile, Midoriya and Togata are finally able to visit Eri in the hospital, but the former can’t help but notice how Overhaul’s influence still hangs over her. Thus, he’s resolved to help teach her how to smile again, and asks Mr. Aizawa to let her come to the school festival. Unknown to everyone at U.A., a new criminal has caught the police’s interest. Known as Gentle Criminal, he records himself committing crimes and then posts them online to gain attention. Right now, he’s planning something big for his next video.

Review

Well, I’d say that a villain posting videos of their crimes on social media is a first, but I’d be lying. In truth, I’ve seen supervillains in other media do that before, and some jerks in real life have done that, as well. That said, as someone who posts videos on YouTube to gain views and subscribers, I can weirdly relate to what this Gentle Criminal is doing. At the least, his video’s are good.

It’s actually not him that’s editing everything, though. He’s got an assistant named La Brava, who reminds me of a downplayed version of Harley Quinn; one without the tramuatic backstory. They’re both a big step down from Overhaul and All for One. However, after remembering the manga, I know that they’ve got some moderately interesting backstories.

The big draw of this episode, though, was about the legacy of Overhaul and the effect it’s had on Eri. When I heard her ask Midoriya and Togata how to smile, I felt my heart breaking in two. No child should ever have to grow up not knowing what it means to be happy or know what love is. Like Midoriya says, Eri hasn’t been fully saved yet, and he takes upon himself to do so. That’s why I’m invested in this school festival arc we’re headed into.

So, this U.A. school festival arc doesn’t have the action or the stakes of the fight against Overhaul. However, I still think that it’s worth paying attention to. It’s continuing the story that started Season 4, and will help Midoriya grow as a person and as a hero. That, and school festivals in anime tend to have a lot of shenanigans. Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!

I Give “School Festival” a 3.5/5. Soft Start to a Quiet Arc.

By the way, who else thought Jiro’s reaction to being asked to put on a concert cute?

A Quick Announcement

So apparently, the last few weeks have seen Kohei Horikoshi get a lot of flak. First, it’s revealed that a mad doctor in his manga has a name that, in Japanese, translates to something that references the horrorific experiments the Japanese performed on prisoners during World War II. Then, it’s revealed that Bakugo’s birthday is April 20th, the same day as a certain evil dictator. Needless to say, he’s got a lot of grief over this. Now this article from comicbook.com speculates if Horikoshi will pull the plug on his manga.

My advice: go to Twitter, go to Horikoshi’s account, and let him know that we support him. His series could become one of the best manga in history, and in this age where superheroes are in, My Hero Academia stands out like a shining star. Don’t let this gem of a series end like this.

That is all!

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