MY HERO ACADEMIA gives fans the fight they’ve been waiting for since the beginning. At long last, Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo get their all-out brawl. Both Midoriya and Bakugo show the depths of their powers, as well as their emotions. So much of what’s informed the whole series gets brought to the front. Everything a person could want from this fight gets delivered. The blend of action and emotion informs an important, large-scale episode.
The episode succeeds by focusing on the show’s primary rivalry. Midoriya and Bakugo are such strong characters, and this episode lets them shine. Midoriya has changed a lot slowly over the series, but he’s still a strong protagonist. However, the standout of the episode is absolutely Bakugo. MY HERO ACADEMIA exposes all of Bakugo’s feelings, especially as they relate to Midoriya’s relationship with All Might. Bakugo breaking down in tears, yelling about how he made All Might lose his powers, is a series highlight.
Throwing All Might into the mix was especially fitting for this duel. While the series revolves around the two young heroes, All Might is crucial to their development. All Might stopping the fight in place of Eraserhead goes to show how crucial he is to the boys’ developments. It’s important that he is the one who helps them reevaluate their rivalry (just like it’s important Eraserhead is who punishes them). It’s the iconography of All Might that makes MY HERO ACADEMIA so dynamic.
What makes the episode shine is how much the age of the two boys is clear. In many ways, it’s easy to forget that MY HERO ACADEMIA’s protagonists are kids. This episode highlights how these kids aren’t just inexperienced – they’re immature and emotional. They have to deal with so many problems that the adults in the world caused, as All Might points out to Eraserhead. The fact these kids have stayed heroes, and not reverted to the Dark Side, is incredible.
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MY HERO ACADEMIA uses this episode to highlight all of its strongest elements. The dynamic fight between Midoriya and Bakugo works on so many levels. To see that catharsis and semi-resolution is so rewarding. This rivalry has fueled the series since day one, but thankfully, this fight isn’t the end of it. In many ways, it’ll be more exciting to see how their new dynamic changes them as heroes. That is, once they get off house arrest.
