My Hero Academia Season 6 – Episode 119

To say the tide has turned against our heroes would mean the Pacific Ocean is wet. Not only have they been pushed back or suffered a blow — they’ve been hit over the skull with a steel chair and are about to fall down a 50-foot stairway that has a spiked pit at the top. After Shigaraki wakes up and calls Gigantomachia to action, there are now two walking apocalypses out there heading toward utter annihilation, and neither front has much hope of stopping even one of them.

That’s where we come in at the beginning of this episode, and even though the laws of story flow force the good guys to fight back in some way, by the end of this episode it still feels like the fate of the world is hanging in the balance. Throwing together whatever else they have, combining forces, and using Shigaraki’s goal of stealing One For All to distract him – all that is Juuuuuust enough to keep him occupied and make this a fight instead of a carnage. This tension continues to build throughout the episode, knowing that any mistake, surprise, or even the slightest outside interference could bring this teetering house of cards down. Combined with some great animations that show the intensity of Shigaraki’s new and improved powers versus Endeavor, this results in some of the most exciting action of this season in an episode that just flies by.

It also helps that our main characters are finally getting serious about combat. With most of the raiding party in Shigaraki’s entourage either crumbling to dust or being scattered to the winds, there is no buffer between Deku and the impending doom that his co-successor represents. This makes for a welcome return of the edgy green heart of the story. Always the self-sacrificing one, Deku books it in a deserted area as soon as he realizes the enemy is after him, but this time he’s not alone as Bakugo explodes next to him in what is probably my favorite scene of the episode. He may dress it up in practical terms – and then rationalize internally by insisting this is just to prove he’s still capable of fighting at Deku’s level – but it’s clear that Bakugo is here to protect Deku from his own self-destructive instincts, and that’s incredibly encouraging. These two kids have come a long way on the show, and it’s nice to highlight that before they join the fight and start risking life and limb alongside their mentors.

Speaking of which, I’m interested in the inclusion of Eraserhead and Gran Torino here. Torino is the last real link to the Shimura family, so I’m curious to see how he’ll feel as he takes on his old friend’s grandson as a new incarnation of destruction. Meanwhile, Aizawa has come full circle and once again takes down Shigaraki while acting as the only real barrier between his students and the horrific ending. His determination to pay for all the times others have saved him is, to quote Shigaraki himself, really cool, and through just one short scene he manages to bring this whole fight back to the characters.

That’s probably what I’m most looking forward to next week. This bigger fight was fun to watch, and the show took its time for more intimate story beats like Twice’s episode, but with the scope and active cast firmly established, it’s about time for the real fight to begin. I’m particularly interested in seeing how Deku and Shigaraki interact now that we have so much more context as to who our handy villain is and where he’s from. (Sidenote: It’s kind of crazy that this is only the third time they’ve directly interacted, eh?) While MHA’s action is always fun, it’s most impactful when it’s in the service of character drama, and it’s on the focus of the time.

Valuation:

My hero academy is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.