No wonder ‘Climax’ is the title for this latest episode of My Hero Academia! All the fighting, all the drama, all the suspense had me at the edge of my seat! I was totally drawn in! It was a great close to an intense arc!
Japanese Original Episode Title: 決着
No one ever wants to be a burden, so it was finally Iida’s time to shine! He couldn’t bear to see his friends bleed any more for him, so he had to do everything he could to make up for the trouble he caused. On the other side, just as Iida added to their fighting power, Endeavor was the one who came to aid the other pro heroes, as they were having a hard time just dealing proper damage to the Nomus. It actually seemed like he was the only one who stood a chance against them!
Retaliation: Once Iida forced himself to stand up and work together with Todoroki and Midoriya to defeat Stain with all they Hve, I totally felt like a mother who’s super proud of her children! They were just fledglings, but they were the only ones who managed to beat a villain who’s killed and seriously injured a lot of pro heroes! Maybe one factor’s due to how the tables have turned, as usually Stain’s the one catching heroes by surprise, thus ending the fight quickly once he’s paralyzed them. But here, multiple people attempted to attack him out of nowhere! There’s also that fact that he was outnumbered, even if they were still inexperienced. That kind of made the playing field somewhat even, huh? But at the end of it all, the trio, with their teamwork and their stronger resolve, had the upper hand and ended the fight. I’m just really so proud of them!
The pro heroes: I appreciated being able to see how the professionals handled the other side of the chaos, even though it was mostly Endeavor who did major hurt to the Nomus. He could do a lot of things using his quirk, and even had such strength to make the second Nomu fly a bit when he punched it! He may be a trash of a father to his son, but he really isn’t considered the Number Two hero next to All Might for nothing, even if he’s just doing his hero work for the fame. Yes, even if each of the pros had different motivations on being a hero, at the end of the day, they were all doing their jobs as best they could. They were still saving people, apprehending the villains, and keeping the situation under control as soon as possible. Like Endeavor said when the civilians asked why he was there, there’s not a more reasonable answer except that it’s because he’s a hero! I found it to be a good situation to compare with Stain’s ideology. Whether or not they have pure motives, isn’t saving people still the very essence of being a hero?
Iida’s remorse: Someone hug this poor baby! From the expressions on his face multiple times during and after the fight, you could really see that he regretted acting on his anger. People got severely injured in the process, and could’ve possibly died! Plus, it’s like he betrayed his own ideals about being a hero, aiming to kill someone first before saving another. However, no matter what Stain said, I’m sure that something already did change within Iida once he resolved to not let his friends shed more blood for him! He didn’t let himself wallow in his regret any longer, but did his very best to stop Stain! He saved Todoroki from getting his arm chopped off (That was a really close one!!) from that knife throw by sacrificing his own arm! I also can’t believe that he dared remove the knife stuck in his arm using his mouth and quickly fought back! That was so hardcore! He may have fumbled the ball at the beginning, but I think his actions at the end mattered most. As long as someone’s alive, there’s always room for improvement!
An unexpected incident: For once, I was glad that a villain managed to wake up after going unconscious and get out of his restraints! If not for Stain, our boy Deku might’ve been a goner! The injury Endeavor dealt on the Nomu making it bleed, plus Stain’s paralyzing quirk that came in handy, was quite a convenient situation! However, what’s more surprising was that he actually saved Deku, and that he didn’t off him along with the Nomu at that moment! He had our protagonist literally under the palm of his hand, but still didn’t harm a hair on his head! Maybe he was too focused on pointing out his ideals to the heroes? In fact, he was so focused that his unimaginable blood-lust instilled fear into the hearts of pros! Pros! They’ve definitely seen a lot of scary things and dangerous people, especially Gran Torino with his age, but they were all paralyzed with fear at that moment. Was he that obsessed with reforming society? I also have to wonder what happened with his nose…
Killing Intent: You might’ve heard this term a few times from some shonen anime, especially when it comes to very powerful characters. It’s like an aura or pressure that someone emits when they intend to do harm, or even if they aren’t but are capable to! Most of the time, seasoned fighters can detect this even from afar, and the most vicious ones have great amounts of killing intent that they can leave people paralyzed with fear. The latter’s what happened with Stain and the heroes!
This was just an amazing episode! The feelings of each character and those depicted in each scene, the intensity of it all blew me away! The ones that stood out to me the most was the expression on Iida’s face as he apologized to his friends, and Stain’s aggressive blood-lust before the heroes. I also liked the scenes expounding on how everyone, especially Endeavor, fulfilled their roles as heroes! Like I mentioned earlier, it posed as a clever contrast against the Hero Killer’s ideals of what a hero should be. What careful writing!
The trio left the dance with death with serious injuries, so I’m truly glad they’re finally safe and sound! Next week’s preview showed that they’re being treated together at the hospital. I hope there aren’t any grave repercussions! I bet you’re also wondering what Gran Torino meant at the end by ‘Young Todoroki becomes the Hand Crusher!’ Fans of the manga were probably amused at that part, but for the others, you’ll just have to wait and see!
And with that, I look forward to reading your comments below! Please keep on reading our other Summer 2017 reviews too!
NEXT: The Aftermath of Hero Killer: Stain (「ヒーロー殺しステイン」その余波)
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The first season of the new year is just one month away from its finale. It was a great start with many amazing titles that made these past months worth the extra hours we put in front of our sets. Now, it is time for the cold wind to give way to the pink hues of the sakura tree and for the Winter 2018 season to give the anime baton to Spring 2018.
