My Review Academia S6 E15: Liberation of the Devil

You know, just once I’d love to see a maximum security prison actually do its job. I’ve seen so many of them in so many stories at this point that ‘maximum security’ basically means ‘is going to get broken into for sure it’s just a matter of time.’

Now armed with Shigurake’s body, All For One moves to free his main body. With what few forces he has left, he leads a raid on Tartarus, the most secure prison in the world. Lucky for him, he’s surrounded by some of the worst Quirk society has to offer.

This episode really hammers home just how fucked everything is. Spending over half the runtime with the villains was brilliant; it perfectly highlights how much stronger they’ve become than the heroes. All For One feels genuinely unstoppable, and his power only keeps on growing. It makes it all the more impactful when we finally do cut back to our heroes, all beaten and battered and thoroughly defeated.

It’s cool to see so many returning villains from previous seasons. Chisaki, Muscular, even Stain all come back for an appearance! Seeing how they all ended up after Deku and friends defeated them is nice, even if it’s only in small details, like Muscular’s new scar.

We’re also introduced to Nagante. She doesn’t do much, but she’s still cool. Her design is an immediate A+.

Unfortunately, once the episode turns its focus towards Todoroki, things somewhat nosedive. We’re once again bombarded by tons of flashbacks, only one of which is actually meaningful to Todoroki’s growth as a character. Why do we need to see Dabi taunting Endeavor again when we just saw that three episodes ago?

Although it does redeem itself in the last few minutes.

Animation wise, this episode is pretty strong. It’s got some impressive looking shots sprinkled among the rest, all of which looks pretty good. We get plenty of still-frames, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay for a solid overall picture.

The music popped the fuck off this episode! I especially love the track that plays when Shigurake confronts All For One (whoever played the violin for that one must’ve had a ton of fun), and all the rest are just as good! This is the best the OST has been since the early days of the show!

This is among the best episodes in the season so far. It’s got a few problems, but those are more than forgivable in the face of all it gets right. It’s got some great plot developments, it looks and sounds fantastic, it’s a strong showing all around. Hopefully this marks an upwards turn for the rest of the season.

But I’ve been proven wrong for being optimistic before.