Here we are, ladies and gents. The penultimate episode of My Hero Academia’s sixth season. Let’s see what they’ve got.
Class A has successfully brought Deku back to UA. Now, they must overcome their greatest trial yet: the civilians. Can they convince the near-to-rioting crowd to let Deku in, despite the dangers?
The mob’s reaction to Deku’s presence is honestly terrifying. Not just because they’re angry near to the point of rioting, but because they’re right to be worried. Someone basically brought a bomb into the bomb shelter. To them, scared and tired and angry, it doesn’t matter that the bomb has feelings.
Said bomb’s reaction to their outburst is equal parts sad and scary. Deku has worn himself to the brink of death for these people, and they reject him completely. His one safe haven left actively wants him to go, blaming him for their problems rather than seeing him as the hero who’s been saving them. The only one on his side is his poor mother, who can only clench her hands on her ears and cry as the people around her ostracize her son. It’s a gut wrenching scene only made more powerful by the horrified expression on Deku’s face.
Just as the tension begins to reach its peak, however, Uraraka steps up to plate. Her speech is definitely the highlight of the episode. She’s clearly unprepared, as she stammers and pauses, but her plea is heartfelt enough to make all the people there look at Deku not as a bomb, but for what he is: a tired kid with the world on his shoulders.
And all of this is further punctuated by the best use of flashbacks in the whole series. A simple, short callback to when Uraraka and Deku first met way back in season one. She was there to catch him then. Now, she’s doing it again. Good stuff.
We also get the satisfaction of seeing Deku’s good karma come back for him as the people he’s saved come back to save him. Kota, the furry lady from this season (it would’ve been a bit more powerful if she had a name), and… the horned guy from the very first episode who told him he could be a hero? A bit of a strange selection, admittedly, but that’s beside the point.
In fact, that might actually be the point. Because Deku has touched the lives of so many people, strangers included, those very strangers stick up for him. Which, in turn, helps the rest of the crowd get over their initial fears. It’s a heart warming circle of good deeds leading to further good deeds like a chain, much like One For All itself.
Honestly, I really like this sequence. It’s a good pay-off to everything this arc has been building up, between Deku’s exhaustion, the civil unrest, and Uraraka’s character arc. Sure, visually speaking, it may not blow your socks off – we’ll touch more on that later – but it’s still a powerful scene.
But the season isn’t done yet. The episode ends on an ominous note as All Might drives off with Stain following his heels. What will come of this meeting? Guess we’ll have to wait ’till the finale to find out.
If I remember right from the manga, it isn’t much. But all I can really remember is that it happened so… take that with a grain of salt.
Now, there’s one last thing I want to talk about in terms of writing. One thing that just kinda irks me a little bit. And that’s UA itself.
Apparently, UA became the most massive and elaborate defensive bunker of all time. Off-screen. They didn’t even need to close the building down for renovations! So now this school is more defensible then the most defensible prison in the country. And the only explanation given is that the principle had a, and I quote, “Gut feeling,” so he, again, I quote, “paid for it himself.”
There’s plot convenience, and then there’s that. Then again, this is the same school that hurled a Godzilla sized robot at the students for their entrance exam. So… I guess it checks out.
Visually speaking, there’s not a lot going on in this episode. Like, literally, there isn’t a whole lot of motion. Most of the episode is just people standing around talking, so the animators never really needed to go that hard.
That being said, there are a few impressive shots here. Deku’s aforementioned horrified expressions, the almost animalistic rage of the mob, this episode has some rock solid direction. It also makes great use of the music to emphasize the emotional punches this episode throws at you.
The episode may not look impressive by any means. But it also doesn’t look bad. It’s solid through and through, even if it’ll never blow you away.
Overall, this was a strong episode. It had some truly strong writing. Not without its issues, but the pros far outweigh the cons this time around. If this were the finale episode, it would’ve been a strong note for the season to end on.
Alas, there’s still one episode left for this season. Let’s see if they can finally stick the landing.
Jonah's Daily Rants 