My Hero Academia Episode 34 Review: Gear up for Final Exams

My Hero Academia‘s latest episode was full of fluffiness, edginess, and laughs! Seeing the students focus once more on their studies warmed my heart and made me enjoy every second of their peaceful days. I just can’t get enough of this super fun but also super cool series!

Japanese Original Episode Title: 備えろ期末テスト

Plot

Exams are usually the least favorite part of the student life, but when you’re studying to be a hero, they can be pretty exciting! Written exams are still part of the hurdle though, so if our beloved Class 1-A wants to go to the summer camp together, then they need to help each other study to pass together! As for the practical exams, they got a hint on what they might be, but they could get more difficult because of their teachers who are devoted to drill experience in them!

Episode Highlights

Exam preparations: It’s always so nice to see classmates working together to pass, not by cheating, but by helping each other with their weak subjects! Somehow it shows that they don’t withhold what they know just because they fear getting surpassed by the others. Instead, they really want to help so they can all go and enjoy the summer camp! Yaomomo especially looked eager to assist and appreciated being relied on! But hot dang, the girl’s filthy rich! I’d wonder what her family does for a living, but given what her quirk is and that quirks are inherited, I’m not surprised with her social standing anymore. However, I am surprised with Bakugo! Not only did he come in third in the midterms, but he was also helping Kirishima study, albeit violently! I’d expect Deku or Iida or maybe even Todoroki to help out the others, but for Kacchan, it’s a step up from pushing everyone away with his anger! That’s amazing! Anyway, we can only wait to find out how everyone fared in their written exams. Although, from how the bottom two reacted, seemed like they did pretty well!

Competitiveness: What’s Monoma’s deal? His provocations didn’t stop even after the sports festival, and really sounded annoyed at Class-A getting all the attention. Not that being there when villains attack is something anyone would want, nor did they plan on it (except for Iida with Stain). Thankfully, Kendo-neechan was there to rein him in once more. Another guy who kept becoming heated up in competition was Bakugo! People would get angry at the thought of their style and skills copied, but to him, it didn’t seem to be just about that! He truly wanted to be the best, and looks like he thinks Midoriya, as well as Todoroki, are his biggest rivals. That’s a good thing for our boy Deku, right? At least he truly sees him as a threat. But also quite a bad thing, especially since…

Practical exam: The childhood rivals have to work together to beat the Number One hero? What a turn of events! Aizawa-sensei indeed knows how to stir things up, but only because he wants his students to learn effectively! No wonder U.A. is considered the best hero school! instead of just coddling them, the teachers took into consideration the current state of affairs so that their students will be more prepared for possible villain attacks! Robots truly would’ve proven ineffective enemies since the villains, especially those in the League, would definitely be stronger and smarter foes! Most of the ones they fought in USJ were small-time thugs, but the ones drawn to Stain, they might be another thing all together. On another note, the teachers have a lot of time and stamina on their hands, huh? Either that, or U.A. has a lot of teachers catering to each class?

Kirishima/Sato vs. Cementoss: We finally get a run-down on Sato’s sweet quirk. However, it was ineffective against Cementoss. Too bad for him and Kirishima! They should’ve taken their time to think their strategy through! But instead, they literally and figuratively went straight on, underestimating their opponent and the exam! Even if fighting instead of running will get them good grades, it’ll be useless if they fail! And so they did. Aizawa did a good job of matching them up for a battle of endurance and testing their judgement; they definitely needed this lesson. How will the others do on their turns?

Themes & Trivia

Effective teaching: Fortunate are the students who have teachers like the U.A. faculty, dedicated to teaching them useful things they’ll need in the future! They’re considered pro heroes, but you can certainly consider them teachers at heart for how committed they are! If you have a teacher who’s passionate for you to learn, make sure to thank them!

Fight or Flight: Even though the exam is something that won’t surprise the students unlike a villain attack, it’s still effective in training their response when the time comes. Like I mentioned, Kirishima and Sato’s approach is an example of underestimating your enemy and the situation, thinking they can just finish the fight directly, but they failed to take into account other factors. If they did, they might’ve resolved to escape instead, or attack another way. Good thing it wasn’t an actual villain fight!

Comments

I honestly still don’t understand the significance of the first scene before the opening credits, other than to show even further just how…ridiculous Mineta is. The boy came in eighth in the midterms but has garbage priorities. Amazing. The other small things I noticed made me happy though, like Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya spending more time together (my OT3!!), the way they took the time to show the rankings in 1-A to also give the others more screen time, and slowly focusing more on Yaoyorozu! They might be minuscule details, but if the seasonings on food make it more delicious, so do these small things for the episode!

Working on your weaknesses

Tokoyami and Tsuyu are up, and their opponent looked incredibly formidable! Will the two be able to capture him or escape safely? Or will they fail just like the pair before them? Seemed like we’ll also see Todoroki and Yaoyorozu’s exam, and could be focusing on the latter given the title! I’m super excited!

How about you? Are you also excited to see the next match-ups? How did you like this episode? Let me hear it in the comments section! We’re also near the end of this season, sadly, so our other Summer 2017 reviews are piling up and waiting to be read!

NEXT: Yaoyorozu: Rising (八百万: ライジング)