After a week’s break, everyone’s favorite school/superhero anime My Hero Academia is back! This week, the show seems to test the limits of how much fantastic content can be crammed into twenty-two minutes, we get some more detailing of Overhaul’s plans and some good old Midoriya/All Might bonding time. Read on!
1. Patrol!
Even considering all the tension between them setup by Nighteye, it’s nice to see Mirio and Izuku bonding together during their regular patrol. Mirio has such natural big brother energy around Izuku that it makes me clamor to see them with All Might as their Dad in one big family (no, YOU’RE weird). Other than that, it’s just good to see superheroes doing actual superhero things in this superhero world, and having them stroll around in a mundane manner is a refreshing, down-to-earth way of doing so.
We also get a little more into Mirio’s motivations, as he reveals that his superhero name is “Lemillion”. Allegedly, it means that he’s gonna save a million people in his superhero tenure, which is some inspiring and respectable career confidence. When Izuku reveals that his own codename is Deku, it feels appropriately silly and light-hearted.
2. Awkward street meetings.
This episode ramps up the tension almost immediately by having the boys run into our pal Overhaul in the first… six minutes? Honestly, by the time this confrontation was over, I felt like the whole episode had run its course already – in a good way! Not just this occurs, however: we’re shown that mysterious horned girl from the title sequence, who Overhaul reveals to be his daughter, Eri. Mirio cleverly treats our Yakuza buddy completely friendly given his on-the-books innocence, whilst we viewers personally relate to Izuku as he seethes, seeing that Eri is obviously distressed and this bad guy is acting completely normal out here in the open.
I love how smartly Mirio acts in this scenario. He’s clearly putting on a show to distract and keep Overhaul happy, but he manages to keep him and Izuku safe with a few quick actions. He makes sure Izuku is masked, not only to hide his identity but also his dreadfully obvious facial expression, and also dodges around questions that could reveal they are working for Sir Nighteye.
3. Heroic instincts
The reaction that occurs to this incident might seem shocking considering the way Mirio was handling the situation, but Izuku rationalizes it really well. He indulges himself and expresses his concern for Eri and asks for the reason behind her fear and health problems, as he thinks ignoring them would be even more suspicious for a hero. They follow Overhaul down an alley before he… “reveals his murderous intent” that makes Eri obey again? This part was a little nebulous, but he definitely does seem scary enough to bring her back under his fold.
The pair contact Nighteye, who still acts like an ass and scolds Izuku for being a hothead. However, he makes sure they regroup at the office to make sure this is all being discussed under wraps. Meanwhile, Overhaul chillingly brings Eri into a cold, clinical room and reveals to the audience that she’s the secret behind his operation. Spooky!
4. All Might’s revelation.
Back at UA, Izuku tracks down All Might for a confrontation about Mirio. All Might, being the good dad that he is, was out jogging and exercising his old, defeated body. When Izuku starts to mention Mirio, All Might begins to object, showing the viewers a less confident side to him we’ve never seen since before his final fight. He reveals that Sir Nighteye, like Izuku, started off as a big fan of All Might’s. Their partnership, however, dissolved after All Might’s first big battle with All For One. We get an emotional scene of Nighteye demanding that All Might retires, revealing that he used his Foresight to see that continuing in this direction will lead to his death within six or seven years.
We see at this moment a side of All Might that has completely resigned to his death: he’s been trying to take steps, like passing on One For All to ensure that there would be a new hero, but it’s a genuinely emotional moment as we see a superhero who once embodied the preservation of his life accept that his own would soon be sacrificed.
Continued below5. All Might’s resolve.
MHA now ramps the heck out of the emotions by this point. We find out that despite Nighteye and Nezu (UA’s principle) recommending Mirio, All Might ended up choosing Izuku as his successor. Nighteye and All Might argue about it, and it’s honestly saddening to see the pair at odds, but gives a lot of precedence for why the latter has been out of the picture for so long. We also learn that Nighteye has been training Mirio as a kind of petty revenge, which totally checks out.
The kicker of this episode, however? All Might has been regaining his will to live through nurturing Izuku. Ever since he promised Izuku’s mother to raise and train him like he was his own, we see that All Might has slowly regained a purpose to cling to his life, regardless of how superpowered it may remain. There’s a heavy, heavy stream of tears and emotions, which make these characters not just compelling, but ultimately so vulnerable and human, which is where MHA excels.
That’s it for this week’s recap! Did you also get misty-eyed when All Might told his tale? Were you spooked to your dang core by Overhaul’s whole deal? Comment and discuss, and check in next week!
