My Hero Academia Episode 24 Review: Fight on, Iida

It’s quite common for anime protagonists to lose at first; it’s a step for them to learn and grow. So here in My Hero Academia, how did our protagonist respond to his loss? The third game of the sports festival is halfway over as well, but for the other competitors, it’s just getting started!

Japanese Title: 飯田くんファイト

Plot

Things seem bad for Midoriya. Not only did he lose his fight, taking away his chances of fulfilling All Might’s expectations, but many from the audience were already assessing just how effective Deku could be as a hero, given that he barely made it out in one piece due to his wounds. He also couldn’t keep injuring himself every time he fought, else he would risk permanently damaging his body. What’s an aspiring hero to do? Meanwhile, the remaining member of the Deku–Uraraka-Iida trio fighting in the matches reminded us that he was also bent on winning, not in achieving glory. He wanted to make his brother proud! It’s not a brother complex, though; he just really looks up to his brother as a hero, and just so, for several reasons that you’ll have to find out for yourself if you still haven’t watched this episode.

Episode Highlights

Aftermath of the battle: I like how the fledgling protégés talked with their respective elders once again, but with different sentiments this time. Todoroki, who used to be so consumed with anger for his father, now met him calmly, and even said that he was able to use his fire quirk because he simply forgot about him for a while. On the other hand, Midoriya, who was pressured by (but proud of) the expectations placed on him by All Might, was now filled with regret and shame for not fulfilling them. More so, when Recovery Girl warned them about the state of his hand! Those scars look so terrible! Everything seemed so grim, as if using his quirk would totally shatter his bones next time and render him immobile. No wonder Deku felt really bad, going so far as to suggest to All Might to look for another successor! But thankfully, All Might himself still seemed proud of his mentee despite his loss. Plus, who knew he was also quirkless once! So that’s why he was so moved with Deku’s heroism, though he was quirkless. They’re really such a heartwarming duo, don’t you think?

The rest of the matches: A lot of the battles ended really quickly, huh? Goes to show that how competitors are matched up also play a huge role on whether they have a big advantage or disadvantage, just like with Iida and Shiozaki, Tokoyami and Ashido, then Tokoyami and Bakugo. Then again, when you can’t really tell who’s got the upper hand, it’s all up to the battle of wits and endurance, as with Kirishima and Bakugo, then with Todoroki and Iida. Sadly, for the ones who lost, that’s just life: you win some, you lose some. What you do afterwards makes all the difference! Look at Deku and Iida, for example. They didn’t win despite how badly they wanted to, but they never wallowed in that despair. They felt sad, sure, but they chose to hold their heads up high again! As for the victors, Todoroki and Kacchan, well, just one more battle and we’ll finally know which of them is the best!

New threat: The figure that was previewed at the end of the first season finally made his appearance, and in quite a gruesome way, for his victim that is. Poor Tensei-niichan!! How will our Iida react to this news? And what’s Stain going on about heroes, and only getting killed by All Might? Plus, he was contacted by Kurogiri, most likely sent by Shigaraki! Just as the Sports Festival was drawing to a close, too. What’s going to happen?

Themes and Trivia

Looking up to someone: We’ve all got people who inspire us, either just as role-models, or who moved us to walk a certain path. And when these people are directly involved in our lives, their impact becomes even more effective. Like Izuku, who only ever admired All Might from behind the scenes, but once his mentor personally looked after him, he did everything he could just to live up to his expectations, and was super depressed when he failed. Once All Might told him how he saw him, though, he became encouraged once more. This is also evident on Iida, who has had his brother by his side all his life, and has seen him work as a hero. No wonder he looked up to him so much, never hesitating to say that he wanted to win the tournament for him and make him proud! And once he heard that something happened to his brother, everything went blank.

Comments

Compared to the previous episodes, there wasn’t a lot of flashy animations and effects this week, but I still couldn‘t help but admire how consistent the show is with the quality! It’s already hard to draw dynamic poses, but constantly animating action scenes is quite a feat! However, the thing that stood out to me the most aside from that was the voice acting! Of course, the seiyuu have always done exceptionally well in the episodes before. However, the part where Izuku was expressing his grief to All Might was especially notable to me. I could really sense his frustration and regrets, even clearly hearing that strain on your voice when you’re about to cry. That made the scene affect me more emotionally!

A New Challenger Appears!

For a show that’s always action-packed in every episode, it wasn’t at all surprising that it’s already starting to introduce a new arc, though there’s still one currently ongoing! We’re not yet at all sure how serious it’ll be compared to the arcs before, but someone already ended up in a bloody mess, so that’s saying something. Well, the cool Todoroki and the explosive Bakugo have yet to determine which one of them deserves to win the coveted first place, so let’s see how that unfolds for now.

Did you like Episode 24 of My Hero Academia? Let us know in the comments below by using either the forum or the Facebook tab! Join us in our new forum and let’s talk about our favorite series! Also, don’t forget to check the rest of our episodic anime reviews for Spring 2017.

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