Y’all ready for the Power of Friendship episode?
Class A faces off against Deku, determined to save him from himself. But will they be able to keep up with the insane power of One For All? More importantly: will they be able to break through Deku’s infamously unbreakable willpower?
The concept of this fight is really interesting. Neither party is actually trying to hurt the other. The Class A kids are trying to appeal to him peacefully, only using their Quirks to keep him from running away. Meanwhile, Deku never once attacks them, acting entirely defensively as he pushes them away and tries to escape.
Where’s the cool factor in that, you ask? That’s surprisingly simple: the power gap. Deku on his own is more than strong enough to overpower his classmates. Thus, everyone else needs to come up with creative combinations using their Quirks to keep up with him.
And of course, it ends as the whole series began: with Deku and Bakugo. Six seasons of their relationship, building all the way since the very first episode, comes to a head here. Bakugo’s redemption, his acceptance of Izuku, his discarding of his ego, him catching Deku as he falls, it’s yet another incredible Bakugo scene that further cements him as the best character!
One of the biggest problems in any shounen series is when the protagonist becomes stronger than everyone else by a country mile. My Hero Academia took that issue and made it into an actual plot point, an issue for the side characters to overcome in order to save the protagonist. It’s a really cool, creative twist that’s a lot of fun to watch!
Is it perfect? Nope. But most of its issues are because of the show itself, not the setpiece.
I have criticized this whole season for the over abundance of flashbacks. Imagine my horror delight when this episode turned into flashback central! Remember all these moments Deku shared with his classmates over the seasons? Well, this episode isn’t going to let you forget about a single one!
Granted, it works better here than the rest of the season. But it still gets real old real fast.
Visually speaking, this episode is really strong. The animation is consistently solid; things are almost always moving, whether it’s a simple perspective shot of a character approaching or Midoriya pumping his legs to build up energy. Then when things kick up, we get yet more jaw-dropping sakuga! Even the OST is killing it, bringing back ‘You Say Run’ for the first time in what feels like ages!
Overall, this episode was incredibly strong! It’s a clever take that turns one of shounen’s greatest weaknesses into a strength, and it’s beautifully animated to boot! Despite its imperfections, this is still another showcase of everything that made My Hero Academia a smash hit!
Now, we take the final steps towards the end. Starting with an Uraraka episode! Glad to see season six continues to let her actually do things and be a character.
Unlike season five. I still haven’t forgiven it for that god damn beach episode.
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