My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 129

Keigo “Hawks” Takami

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 129 starts off with Hawks’ backstory. Hawks’ full name is Keigo Takami. I don’t remember if his last name came up in this episode, but that’s what it is. We first learned his given name, however, back in Episode 117.

Back then, it was Dabi who revealed Hawks’ name. And now, we finally know where Dabi got that information from. I assumed Dabi had been in the same program as Hawks as a child. But, this isn’t the case. Instead, Dabi only recently got the information from Hawks’ mother.

We still don’t know how Dabi tracked down Hawks’ mother, though. You’d think that if he was able to do that, he’d be able to find out Hawks’ name without her. But, I guess the Hero Association successfully scrubbed Hawks’ background from the records.

So, where does Hawks come from? To answer that, we first need to look at who his parents were. Hawks’ father was a criminal wanted for murder. And his mother was a poor woman who hid his father. The family then lived in hiding and in poverty throughout Hawks’ childhood.

Growing up, Hawks wasn’t allowed outside the rundown shack his family called home. I assume this is because his father didn’t want police or heroes following him back there. But, Hawks’ life changed one day when Endeavor captured his father. After that, he and his mother went on the run and were homeless for a time.

It’s during this period that a government agency learned of Hawks’ quirk and scouted him. I don’t know how they knew his quirk was strong since he never used it. But, I guess the government already had information on Fierce Wings. This is the beginning of Hawks the hero.

End of the Hero System?

The middle portion of Episode 129 is all about the civilians’ discontent with heroes. The heroes weren’t able to stop the villains before they caused massive damage. They weren’t able to stop All-for-One from breaking huge numbers of prisoners out of jail. And they’re not able to stop those prisoners from committing crimes.

Right now, the heroes are overwhelmed. And the civilians can’t rely on the heroes to protect them and their property. So, naturally, they’re starting to question the point of the hero system. Imagine if every time you needed the fire department or police, they were busy.

We learn about these feelings of discontent through Best Jeanist and Hawks. They’re making their rounds, helping out civilians where they can. But, they can see that there aren’t enough heroes to go around. And they know how devastated the heroes’ ranks are after the raid.

What I found most interesting about this is how the civilians are responding to the lack of heroes. Most civilians have quirks. But, if you’re a civilian, your quirk probably isn’t good for combat. So, they’re getting their hands on powerful support items. With these, they can fight back against the villains.

Something to think about is where the civilians are getting these support items from. If I’m remembering correctly, Re-Destro’s company manufactures support items. So, this could all be part of his plan. With support items in hand, the civilians won’t have a need for heroes. And then, the hero system will collapse.

Once the hero system collapses, the PLF will be much closer to achieving its goal. It’s been a while since we learned what their goal was. But, they want to create a world in which everyone can use their quirks as they please. Heroes were in the way.

The Hellish Todoroki Family

Finally, we’re getting to the part of the episode it was named after. The very end of the episode features Endeavor reflecting on the job he’s done as a father. And, the conclusion he rightly comes to is that he wasn’t a good father.

He’s estranged from his wife. None of his kids like him very much. And one of his sons became a dangerous villain who wants to destroy everything Endeavor has. It doesn’t matter that Endeavor is (was?) the number 1 hero. His failures are now out in the open.

As long as Dabi’s out there, many civilians are going to see Endeavor as a fraud. How can they trust him as a hero when he’s responsible for creating one of the worst villains? What Endeavor needs is some damage control. And the Hero Association helped out a little bit, in this regard.

Because Best Jeanist is still alive, the Hero Association was able to cast doubt on what Dabi said. He claimed that Hawks killed Best Jeanist, which isn’t true. So, everything else Dabi claimed could be a lie, as well. But, they fell short of debunking Dabi’s claims about Endeavor.

The Episode ends with the Todoroki family visiting Endeavor in the hospital. As you might expect, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto are all there. But, unexpectedly, Rei — the estranged wife — also shows up. And what’s more, she says she wants to talk about their family.

It seems to me like the Todoroki family is going to help Endeavor with damage control. For example, if the civilians see them alongside him, they’ll be more likely to doubt Dabi’s claims. And they could put out a statement disavowing Dabi’s actions. That would go a long way toward restoring Endeavor’s image.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 129? Did you like getting to see Hawks’ backstory? Do you think Re-Destro planned for the civilians to start using support items? And, is there a path Endeavor can take to fix his damaged reputation? 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 130 is available now.