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My Hero Academia S6, Ep 10 Review

One of the unspoken things that I like so much about My Hero Academia is the themes. Specifically, the themes surrounding All for One and One for All. All for One is, for all intents and purposes, the Devil. His brother, the first user of One for All, is God. Which leaves Shigaraki as the Anti-Christ and Deku as Jesus/the Chosen One. Why am I mentioning all of this? Because this week sees Deku fight a battle inside his mind for the fate of One for All itself against All for One. Not Shigaraki, but All for One.

The Ones Within Us

After seeing Bakugo get skewered by Shigaraki, Deku loses himself in his rage and starts tearing into Shigaraki like it’s no tomorrow. Visually, it’s amazing to look at: the artwork is superb and the animation’s kicked into overdrive. It’s clear that the animation studio’s not holding anything back.

Sadly, the fight between the two young men gets cut short, as Deku puts himself within grasping distance of Shigaraki. Instead of killing him, though, Shigaraki tries to steal Deku’s Quirk for himself. Or rather, for his master, All for One.

As previously noted, All for One’s a Satanic archetype, a supreme evil that corrupts all he touches. In this case, by implanting his Quirk into Shigaraki, it allows AFO to take control of his student’s mind and body; at least, to an extent. Shigaraki fights AFO tooth and nail even as his master sprouts from his mental image like a hideous parasite. I thought the symbolism was pretty spot-on: All for One controls others, even his own allies.

In contrast to this, the imprints of the previous users of One for All appear as separate entities before Deku. They protect and support the young hero in a form of symbiotic relationship. It really hammers home how different the two Quirks are, and how only one of them will likely survive the end of the series. That, and Deku’s got crazy willpower to move while missing part of his body.

The Villain’s Time to Shine

Meanwhile, Gigantomachia’s rampage across Japan continues, with the heroes barely able to slow him down. Amidst all of this, the League of Villains hides away on the giant, until Toga decides to strike out on her own. Her target: Tsuyu and Uraraka, AKA Froppy and Uravity. 

I’ve always found the relationship between Toga and Uraraka to be an interesting one. While Toga is firmly a villain, she’s also a complex character with her own ideals and morals. She’s got a twisted view of friendship and love, but she does care about the people she calls friends. And after seeing her friend Twice die at the hands of the heroes, she’s got a right to be mad. Uraraka’s going to be in for a hard time.

However, the villain to truly watch out for isn’t even Shigaraki; it’s Dabi. If you’ve read the manga, then you know who he is and what he’s got planned. I won’t spoil anything, but what he’s about to do will rock the superhero society to its core. The worst part, though? It’s the fact that he’s not wrong in what he has to say. When we see Dabi in the next episode, it will be his time.

This whole arc, really, has been the villain’s time to shine. Despite looking like a lost cause, the villains now stand to win. If the heroes hope to stop them from destroying everything, they’ll need to live up to All Might’s iconic words: GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “The Ones Within Us” a 4/5

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My Hero Academia S5 Episode 22 Review

You know who my favorite member of the League of Villains is? It’s not Shigaraki, and it’s not Toga, who is considered a top-tier waifu despite being crazy. It’s actually Twice. I don’t know why, but I love Twice. His backstory and all the problems that he faces are just so sad that you can’t help but want to hug the guy. He’s not evil; he’s just been forced into villainy due to the world being out to get him. And that’s what makes this episode one of my favorite of the season. This week, we got to see Twice unleash his full power.

Twice, the Man Who Couldn’t Get a Break

Some people in this world just can’t get a break, no matter how hard they try. Twice is one of those people. His parents died in middle school, he lost his job thanks to an accident that wasn’t his fault. He just hit rock bottom, and that led him to abuse his Quirk until he came close to losing it. It’s very hard to not feel bad for the poor guy considering all that he’s been through. The poor man can’t even tell if he’s real anymore!

Which is why, when the bad(er) guys end up causing him so much pain that he realizes that he’s real, I couldn’t help but smile. This is the moment when Twice overcomes his inner demons and proceeds to unlock the full breadth of his Quirk’s power. In this case, he’s able to create enough clones of himself that even Naruto would be impressed.

It can take a lot to make a person want to root for the villain; and yes, having them fight a greater evil is an easy way to do so. Still, seeing Twice demonstrate his genuinely selfless desire to protect his chosen family is a heartwarming moment.

Thanks to Twice’s newfound mental stability, the League of Villains manages to turn the tide on the Meta Liberation Army, and Shigaraki and the others manage to make it all the way to their leader, Re-Destro. However, Re-Destro’s Quirk is extremely formidable, even for the League. And, to make matters worse, Gigantomachia wakes up early and starts heading towards the battlefield. Meaning that in less than an hour, the whole city will be leveled.

But that’s not what everyone’s focused on right now. Everyone is currently focusing on the next episode where anime-viewers will get to see the full scope of Tomura Shigaraki’s sad origins. The climax to the fifth season is about to begin. GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Sad Man’s Parade” a 4.7/5

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My Hero Academia S5, Episode 21 Review

I have been waiting all season for My Hero Academia to get to this point in the anime: the Meta Liberation Arc, AKA My Villain Academia. While the heroes have spent the entire season training to get stronger, the League of Villains has been trying to stay afloat. Now, they’ve been called out to the revival party of the Meta Liberation Army. And as this episode proves, this revival party is going to be absolutely glorious!!

The Revival Party Has Begun

The episode starts off with a brief flashback to the early days of the emergence of Quirks in the world. Back then, a Magneto-type figure called Destro called for society to allow the use of Quirks in everyday life, saying it was a right. However, his movement got squashed, and he died in prison. Now his son’s trying to finish what his Dad started, and the League of Villains stands in his way. It’s an interesting premise and contrast to the more Shigaraki.

At any rate, the League of Villains travels to the MLA’s private city for their “Revival Party”: the League members vs 110,000 members of the MLA. As a result, the League of Villains gets into the fight of its life.

In my experience, the hallmark to a good story is not just good heroes, but good villains. Many post-Dragonball manga in Shonen Jump have made it a point to flesh out the villains so that people understand their backstories and motives. But what MHA goes the extra mile in doing is making the villains not only real, but relatable. Even though they’re villains, we get so attached to these people that we sometimes want to see them succeed. Case in point, we have the League’s resident yandere, Himiko Toga.

The Curious Case of Himiko Toga

Himiko Toga is a very curious character, to say the least. Despite being psychotic, she’s also cheerful and friendly, in her creepy way. She’s one of the top waifu’s of the series. But is how she turned out nature vs. nurture?

This episode shows us a better look at her past. Due to her blood-related Quirk, she developed an unhealthy obsession with blood. However, rather than get her therapy to help her, her parents told her to “act normal” and “fit in”. In the end, this led to her losing it and becoming the yandere we know her as. However, she doesn’t regret her actions, as she sees her current self as “normal.”

I honestly have no idea if Toga’s mental state is due to her nature or because society failed her, but I cannot deny respecting her will to live life as she sees fit. And, I won’t lie, I was impressed when she discovered she can use her Quirk to briefly copy another person’s Quirk as well as appearance. Creepy, powerful, and fitting for someone who wants to be loved for who she is.

More About the Villains

This was clearly meant to be the best of the season, hence why they saved it for last. And it’s about to get even better, as the next episode will give us a look into the psychology behind Twice, the villain with the perpetual identity crisis, and one of my favorite villains in the League. And we’re also getting a look at the life of Tomura Shigaraki before he became who he is now. This is going to be fun! GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Revival Party” a 4.5/5

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My Villain Academia S5 Episode 20 Review

The anime-only watchers have been waiting for weeks for this arc to come. The manga readers have waited for years for it to come to pass. But at long last, My Hero Academia becomes My Villain Academia, and it is absolutely glorious! It’s the villains time to shine!

My Villain Academia Is Now in Session

Since this arc chronologically takes place in the middle of Season 5, the show back tracks to before the events of episode 13. While the heroes were making merry, the villains met with a powerful ally: Daruma Ujiko, the mad scientist who helped All for One create the Nomu. This guy looks like Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic franchise, and he’s got the intellect to match. However, he doesn’t believe that Shigaraki’s League of Villiains is ready to pick up where All for One left off. So, he gives them an ultimatum: take down AFO’s giant bodyguard, Gigantomachia, and gain his alliegance.

This is basically all that happened for the next few weeks. Besides the flashback to Shigaraki’s horrible childhood, though, there’s not that much worth saying about the first half of the episode.

However, it’s then that the real interesting stuff happens. You may recall my mentioning of the Meta Liberation Front some time ago? Well, now they’ve come into play, as their leader captures one of the League of Villain’s allies and gives them a choice. Either Shigaraki joins his army, or they all die. Being the villain he is, Shigaraki instead goes for the juggular: he’s going to go to war with the Liberation Front. And if you’ll recall the snippets we’ve gotten from previous episodes, we know how this turns out.

As someone who read the manga, I know for a fact that what’s about to happen is going to be beyond epic. Each of the villains is about to go through some serious character development that makes them even deadlier than they already are. In other words, Season Five will go out with a bang. My Villain Academia is about to begin, people! I can’t wait for next week!

I Give “My Villain Academia” A 4/5

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