Hero Killer Stain Returns

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 138 wasn’t a great episode. But, it was still vastly better than Episode 137, which was the worst episode of the season. I was pretty sure Episode 138 wouldn’t steal that distinction. But, since this is MHA, that was always a possibility.

One thing I was hoping for from this episode was more Stain content. We did get Stain content. And it was pretty good Stain content. However, I would have liked to see him do a bit more. For example, wouldn’t it have been crazy to see him and All Might actually team up?

Instead, the extent of Stain’s help was giving All Might data collected on All for One by Tartarus. Well, that and giving All Might a pep-talk. Then, he leaves and says that one day All Might should come to defeat him.

What I liked most about Stain’s appearance in Episode 138 is that it doesn’t appear to be a one-off. Stain’s parting message implies that we’ll get to see him again later on. And when we do eventually see him again, it should be for the conclusion of his character arc.

Now, he mentions that All Might should be the one to stop him. But, that doesn’t seem very likely considering All Might’s current condition. So, my guess is that Deku will once again be the one to stop Stain. And when he does, Stain will probably recognize Deku as All Might’s successor.

If you recall, Stain’s whole thing is that he hates false heroes. He hates heroes who are in the business for fame and fortune. And he hates heroes who don’t have the ability to back up their words and save everyone. Recognizing Deku as a true hero would be a fitting end.

The Band Is Getting Back Together

One thing I can’t say I was expecting from Episode 138 was a jumpscare. The scariest thing I’ve seen in a long time was Jirou suggesting a Class A band reunion concert. The culture festival was already the worst part of the series. Don’t make me relive that trauma.

The good news is that I didn’t have to suffer through another band performance in this episode. The bad news is that Season 7 (which is happening) might include this performance in Episode 1. I’m really hoping we get to skip over it, though.

Honestly, this season was actually better than most when it comes to boring content at the end. From what I remember, most My Hero Academia seasons end with a slice of life episode. And, I couldn’t care less about the daily lives of the students.

Sure, we still got some of that slice of life content in this episode. But, the majority of the episode wasn’t like that. Only about a third of the episode featured this type of content. The first third was about Stain meeting All Might. And the final third was about preparing to take down All for One and Shigaraki.

Speaking about taking down All for One and Shigaraki, there isn’t much time left. Based on the data they retrieved from Dr. Garaki’s lab, they assumed they had 2 months. But, the new information from Stain suggests they have less time than they expected.

According to this information, Shigaraki only needs 38 days to be ready to become All for One’s vessel. And that’s 38 days since he was prematurely awakened from the test tube. It’s already been 35 days since then. So, there are only 3 days remaining until Shigaraki is ready.

Heroes From Around the World

I hate to say it, but I’m actually looking forward to Season 7. Not because we’re getting closer to the final battle, though. The reason I’m looking forward to it is that we’re going to get some new pro heroes thrown into the mix.

The end of Episode 138 introduced Salaam, Big Red Dot, and Star and Stripe. All 3 are top heroes from other countries. I’m assuming Salaam is from Egypt. I have no idea where Big Red Dot is from. And we’re told that Star and Stripe is the #1 hero from the United States.

And yes, I know that both Salaam and Big Red Dot were in My Hero Academia the Movie 3: World Heroes’ Mission. But, guess what? I haven’t watched any of the MHA movies and I have no plans to. So, for me, these are brand-new heroes.

Based on Salaam’s appearance, I’m going to guess their quirk has something to do with being 2D. The fact that they seem to be 2D could be their entire quirk. Maybe they can turn sideways and virtually disappear. Or, they could be able to turn things they touch into 2D objects.

There’s even less to go on when it comes to Big Red Dot. He has a lion’s head. So, does that mean he can do everything a lion can? Or, is there more to his quirk than that? I assume there has to be more to it.

Finally, there’s Star and Stripe (not Stars and Stripes). She looks like a female All Might, so could she also have super strength? That would be a bit boring if her quirk was effectively the same as Power Storage. But, she doesn’t look like she’d have some wacky, niche quirk.

Conclusion

What do you think about the final episode of My Hero Academia Season 6? Were you hoping that Stain would stick around? Do you want to see another performance by the Class A band? And, what do you think Star and Stripe’s quirk is? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

New and Improved U.A. Defenses

My Hero Academia Episode 137 was the worst, most boring episode in Season 6. The entire thing was the civilians getting mad about nothing. And then we saw the heroes telling them they’re getting mad about nothing. That’s all that happened.

With that in mind, today’s review is going to be rough. There’s really not that much to discuss. But, I’ll try my best. And I’ll start by bringing up U.A.’s new defenses. In my Episode 136 review, I questioned how much this wall would actually protect those within it.

Principal Nezu had to reassure his students that U.A.’s defenses are more than just a wall. After all, villains breached this wall before. So, if they could do it in the past, what’s stopping them from doing it again? And, we need to consider that the villains have gotten stronger since the last time they got in.

For starters, Nezu mentions that U.A. has the same defensive capabilities as Tartarus. That’s great and all. But, Shigaraki was able to break into Tartarus very easily. So, while those defenses might stop random villains, they’re not going to stop him.

This is where Nezu’s personal touches come in. He used his own brainpower (and money) to further enhance the school’s defenses. It turns out that the school can actually move. But, it can’t move in the way you might have hoped. I thought the whole school was actually going to get up and move.

No, it can’t do that. Instead, each section within the wall can descend into a network of tunnels. The sections can then use these tunnels to get away from the danger. And, there are layers of reinforced plates underground to protect against Shigaraki’s Decay.

Uravity’s Rooftop Speech

Uravity’s rooftop speech was pretty pointless. All she did was state the obvious multiple times until the civilians listened. Oh, and have you noticed that Ochaco has been saying “hero academia” a lot recently? She’s been so close to having a “this really is My Hero Academia” moment.

There was only one part of Ochaco’s speech that I was even remotely interested in. It was when she paused for a moment to think about Himiko. This happened as she was saying that she wants to be able to smile together with everyone in the future.

So, what does this mean? It seems pretty obvious, to me, that Himiko is to Ochaco as Shigaraki is to Izuku. Izuku wants to save Shigaraki even though he’s a villain. And Ochaco is now realizing that she feels the same way about Himiko.

Ever since Himiko’s introduction, I’ve felt that she could become an ally of the Class A students. And now, we’re finally seeing how that could come to fruition. It’s not going to be Deku who brings her over to their side. It’s going to be Ochaco, and probably Tsu, who saves her and gives her a place to belong.

This also makes sense if Deku’s goal is to save Shigaraki. We know that Himiko views the League of Villains as her friends. She views Shigaraki as her friend. So, the fact that the hero students plan to save Shigaraki seems key to getting Himiko to defect.

What happens when Himiko and Shigaraki join the heroes’ side, though? Well, they’re still kind of mass murderers. So, I could see them helping the heroes take down All for One. But, they’d still have to go to prison afterward for their past crimes.

The Heroes Who Remain

We need to talk about one of the big misunderstandings the civilians have. They have a lot of misunderstandings. For one, they believe everything that’s going wrong is the fault of the heroes. Personally, I’d place more fault on, you know, the villains. But, what do I know?

They also don’t see how they themselves are partially at fault. They pretend like they have nothing to do with the current situation. And that’s not the case. As Ochaco understands, civilians play a huge role in helping heroes fight. When civilians are cheering heroes on, the heroes can overcome anything.

And as we saw in Episode 135, it works the other way around, too. If all the civilians do is complain and harass the heroes, it demoralizes them. This is where the big misunderstanding the civilians have that I want to talk about comes in.

After Ochaco’s speech, one of the civilians gives a speech of his own. And in it, he claims that many (most) heroes were only in it for fame and fortune. And, he points to how many heroes have quit recently as proof of his claim. But, this is false.

Sure, some heroes would have quit for those reasons. However, based on what we’ve seen, that’s not the case. Most of the heroes who quit did so because they lost the support of the civilians. They got tired of risking their lives every day to protect people who are actively hostile.

At least, there was one good thing to come out of this guy’s speech. He pointed out that the heroes who remain are doing it because they actually want to protect people. Though, again, that misses the point that heroes who retired also wanted to protect people.

Conclusion

What did you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 137? Did you find this episode to be as boring as I did? Are you expecting Himiko and Shigaraki to help in the final fight against All for One? And are you as annoyed with the civilians as I am? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 138 is available now.

Deku vs. Class A

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 136 wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. I expected a lot more from the fight between Deku and Class A. What we got wasn’t really a fight. It was the Class A students trying to stop Deku so they could talk to him.

What I wanted to see was the Class A students actually fight Deku to bring him back by force. Think about the fights between Naruto and Sasuke throughout the Naruto series. They served the same function — Naruto wanted to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf Village.

However, the major difference is that in Naruto, we actually got fights. The Naruto vs. Sasuke fights are some of the best in the entire series. So, why couldn’t we get something like that from My Hero Academia here? Is it because all the characters involved are heroes?

At first, I thought that the characters being heroes may be what stopped us from getting a real fight. Even though Deku and the students of Class A have opposing goals right now, they’re still all heroes. Heroes wouldn’t fight amongst themselves, right? Well, I’m not so sure about that.

Are you going to tell me you couldn’t see Bakugo beating some sense into Deku? To me, that seems exactly like the kind of thing he would do. And once he initiated that, I could see the other students joining in. It’s not that they’d want to beat up Deku. It’s just that this might be the only way they see to stop him.

Again, think of Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto (generally) never wanted to hurt Sasuke. But, he knew that Sasuke wouldn’t listen to reason. The only way to get through to him was for Naruto to use his fists.

Is Best Jeanist the Strongest Hero?

Who do you think the strongest hero is currently? As far as we know, Endeavor is still the #1 ranked hero. But, does that mean he’s the strongest? I don’t think he is — and it sounds like Hawks doesn’t think Endeavor is either.

There’s a good amount of evidence pointing toward Best Jeanist being the strongest. So, let’s go over this evidence by starting with something Hawks said in Episode 136. When Class A was failing to capture Deku, Hawks came over the radio to ask if Endeavor if he should send in Best Jeanist.

According to Hawks, Best Jeanist could “settle this quickly.” Now, I get that Hawks himself is injured. And I get that it’s raining so Endeavor might not be at his full power right now. But, what I’m interested in is their confidence that Best Jeanist could stop Deku’s One for All.

Okay, but what other evidence is there for Best Jeanist being the strongest hero? Allow me to take you back to the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front and Shigaraki. As you may recall, things weren’t looking so hot for the heroes toward the end of that fight.

They weren’t able to capture or kill Shigaraki. And then Gigantomachia and Dabi showed up, to make things worse. But, who was it who showed up at the last moment to save the day like a true hero? It was Best Jeanist. If he hadn’t shown up when he did, the heroes likely would have lost.

Now, sure, Shigaraki and Dabi escaped. But, Best Jeanist was still able to capture Gigantomachia (with help from the students). And it’s unlikely that the villains would have had to flee if Best Jeanist hadn’t shown up. He single-handedly turned the tide of the battle.

Returning to U.A.

At the end of Episode 136, the students of Class A are able to convince Deku to return to U.A. with them. But, the U.A. Deku returns to looks far different than the one he left. A giant wall surrounds the school and nearby community.

When Deku sees the wall, Sero points out that the wall is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to U.A.’s defenses. And, I certainly hope that’s the case. The wall isn’t going to do much to stop an attack by All for One and his followers.

I believe Gigantomachia wasn’t freed from prison. So, that’s one positive. The wall won’t have to stand up against his brute force. However, there are countless ways to get passed a wall, no matter how large it is. All for One could do something as simple as fly over it.

Something else I want to point out is that it appears the ground has been reinforced. So, that seems to imply it would be a bit more difficult to attack by going under the wall. But, I have a feeling nobody’s trying to go under it. Going over seems far easier.

And, of course, I can’t talk about Deku’s return to U.A. without bringing up the civilian protests. In my Episode 135 review, I said that if the civilians learned Deku was All for One’s target, they’d turn on him. And, that’s exactly what we see happening now.

Not all the civilians seeking shelter at U.A. are against letting Deku in. But, a significant enough number of them are. And their argument makes sense. If U.A. lets Deku shelter there, as well, then that will make the school a target for All for One.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 136? Do you wish we got a real fight between Deku and Class A? Who do you think the strongest hero is? Did you notice Bakugo called Deku by his given name for the first time? And, should U.A. allow Deku in? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 137 is available now.

Heroes and Civilians

The pro heroes have a problem at the start of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 135. Every day, more and more heroes are resigning. The latest hero to resign was Death Arms, who previously worked to root out all the spies among the hero ranks.

But, why did Death Arms retire now, when the world needs heroes the most? Because the civilian population doesn’t appreciate the work of heroes anymore. It doesn’t matter how many people the heroes save or how many villains they stop. It’s never enough to satisfy the people.

Now, these hero retirements are important for 2 reasons. First, as more heroes retire, that puts more pressure on the heroes who remain. And second, these retirements highlight the role public opinion plays in being a hero. When the public has a negative opinion of heroes, it makes it harder for them to do their jobs.

That second reason is why Endeavor doesn’t want to reveal the truth about Deku’s quirk to the public. Mt. Lady suggested they do so because it could force All for One’s hand. But, Endeavor realizes that releasing that information could actually backfire on the heroes.

If the civilian population finds out that Deku is All for One’s target, how will they react to that? There’s going to be a large portion of the population that thinks the heroes should give Deku up. If All for One gets his hands on Deku, then maybe he’ll call off the villains.

Also, consider that they might blame Deku for everything that’s happened. If not for Deku, would All for One have broken out of prison and released all the villains? Would the battle against the Paranormal Liberation Front have happened? Deku would become a scapegoat — and that would harm morale.

Becoming a Villain

We know why the heroes don’t want to reveal Deku’s secret. But, why isn’t All for One revealing it? Endeavor believes it’s for the same reason the heroes aren’t. If Deku’s secret comes out, the heroes would have to take him out of the public eye. They’d have to hide him.

Why wouldn’t All for One want the heroes to hide Deku, though? Is it because it would make it harder for him to get his hands on Deku? That could certainly be part of it. But, I don’t believe that’s the main reason.

To me, the reason is that Deku being in the public eye actually does more harm than good to the heroes. All for One is using a hero, Deku, to help shake the public’s faith in heroes. And if you think about it, he did the exact same thing with All Might in the past.

The fight between All Might and All for One ended with All for One’s defeat. But, he was actually the real winner. Why? Because the people of Japan witnessed the end of All Might. After this fight, All Might had to retire. And that led to an increase in crime.

Now, All for One is doing something similar with Deku. He’s using Deku to once again cast doubt on the heroes’ ability to protect the people. But, he’s going about it in a different way this time around. He’s making the civilians fear Deku.

Look at Deku’s appearance right now. He doesn’t look very heroic. And the fact that he has multiple quirks really isn’t helping. Because the public doesn’t know about Deku’s One for All, they fear his multiple quirks. They see someone using multiple quirks and assume they’re a Nomu or allied with All for One.

Friends to the Rescue

At the end of Episode 135, we see Deku’s classmates come to his rescue. They want to stop Deku from going after All for One on his own. But, for now, their plan isn’t to achieve this by joining him.

Deku’s classmates teaming up with him to defeat the big bad seems like the logical conclusion. I’m very confident that’s what’s going to happen in the end. But, right now, they want to bring him back to U.A. where he’ll be safe and sound.

We know that in the next episode, the students of Class 1-A are going to fight against Deku. He’s not listening to reason, so they’re going to have to use force to stop him. And, for what it’s worth, I think they’ll succeed. But, I also don’t believe U.A. is as safe as they think it is.

If U.A. is actually safe, we’re about to have a pretty boring next arc. Or, we just won’t be following Deku and the other students for a bit. My bet, however, is that U.A. won’t be safe. A villain or group of villains is going to attack and cause chaos.

But, who would attack U.A.? There are some obvious options, like All for One and the League of Villains. We could also see Dabi break off from the League and attack on his own. Or, it could be a villain we saw briefly in this episode: Stain.

I’m not completely convinced that Stain would attack U.A., though. We saw him stalking All Might (and Deku). So, it could be that we’ll see him go after All Might for some reason. But, he doesn’t seem like the kind of villain to attack U.A. outright.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 135? Should the heroes reveal the secret of Deku’s quirk? Do you agree that All for One’s plan is to use Deku against the heroes? And will Deku’s classmates be successful in bringing him back to U.A.? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 136 is available now.