The final season of My Hero Academia streams new episodes in the UK every Saturday on Crunchyroll.
Synopsis
Synopsis herIzuku has dreamt of being a hero all his life—a lofty goal for anyone, but especially challenging for a kid with no superpowers. That’s right, in a world where eighty percent of the population has some kind of super-powered “quirk,” Izuku was unlucky enough to be born completely normal. But that’s not enough to stop him from enrolling in one of the world’s most prestigious hero academies.e
Review
My Hero Academia is not slowing down much for the final season!
Episode 4 kicks off with a flashback for the evil All For One, showing his horrific birth, demonic mindset from a young age, and even how poorly the world initially reacted to those with Quirks! It’s something the anime has tapped into in the past but never really gone into the ‘deep end’ of examining.
We’re shown his rise to power, his toxic relationship with his younger brother (who would go on to become the first wielder of One For All), and how each subsequent user eventually fell to All For One in his quest to steal back his brother’s Quirk.
In my opinion, this entire flashback and the journey of the One For All Quirk should be a movie in itself. It would be incredible to witness all these users do their part in this epic journey before ending on the climactic battle with All Might that left them both physically scarred.
Back to the present day, AFO is furious at Bakugo (a “pebble,” as he calls him), as this ‘nobody’ is actually getting the better of him. He notes how much Bakugo looks like the second One For All user, Kudo. But I’m afraid it’s just that they happen to look similar and not because they’re secretly related.
All For One makes one final, last-ditch effort to get to his new body and uses a kaiju-sized mass of Quirks to blast his way past Bakugo. Even All Might looks on with defeat, but as we have come to know with Bakugo over the years, he never backs down! He blows AFO away, along with his mass of Quirks, and sends the villain flying into the ground. Now reduced to nothing but a baby form, unable to speak but desperately crawling to his goal, Bakugo lands and almost faints before making sure AFO is finally gone with one last blast.
The animation calms down a bit from last week’s colorful explosion but still delivers some glorious shots, one of which echoes All Might’s last punch against All For One back in Season 3. It’s a yellow/gold sketch styling where Bakugo echoes his idol in the moment where it counts most.
And yes, we saw Bakugo take down the world’s greatest evil (in the form of a newborn baby), and it was everything you’d hope to see. That was the end of the original All For One. The man who caused global chaos and almost brought Japan to its knees was bested by the hero known as Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!
My Hero Academia’s final season has been nothing but phenomenal so far. The pacing, animation, and voice work are all coming together in perfect harmony, complementing Horikoshi’s original work as best as animation can.
Verdict
We are down to the final battle now: Deku vs. Shigaraki! Deku’s goal is to reach through to the scared, traumatised boy deep inside Shigaraki, but these next few episodes will determine if he has what it takes to be granted the title of the World’s Greatest Hero!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
