Quirk Marriages and Designer Babies

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 130 once again brought up the concept of quirk marriages. This might be the first time the phrase “quirk marriage” has been used in the series. But, the idea has been around long before now.

Basically, a quirk marriage is when two people get married to produce a specific quirk. The most obvious example of this happening is the Todoroki family. Enji has a fire quirk and Rei has an ice quirk. Enji married Rei because he wanted to produce a child with a combined fire and ice quirk.

As we know, it took 4 attempts to finally get the outcome Enji was looking for. Shouto has the half-hot half-cold quirk. And the benefit of this quirk is that he can regulate his body temperature. He doesn’t have to worry about overheating or freezing when using his quirk(s).

Now, there’s an issue I have with quirk marriages. And it’s one I know I’ve brought up in previous episode reviews. At the start of the series, we learned that quirks are random, not genetic. The quirk of a child isn’t supposed to be dependent on the quirks of the parents.

If I’m wrong about that, tell me in the comments. But, I’m almost positive that’s how the series set up the premise of quirks. And that’s part of the reason why All-for-One and One-for-All are so special. Those quirks let you pass your quirk on to another person.

Of course, there are still other examples of familial quirks. Iida and his brother have the same quirk. And Re-Destro inherited a version of his father’s quirk. But, for the most part, this doesn’t happen. Hawks’ quirk doesn’t come from his parents. And neither does Shigaraki’s quirk. It’s not consistent.

From Touya to Dabi

I think Episode 130 is my favorite episode of My Hero Academia Season 6 (so far). It did a lot to make me like both Enji and Touya more. And I know that might seem a little strange considering we saw Enji abuse his kids and beat his wife.

Here’s the thing about Endeavor, though: He’s actually not as bad as I thought. All the previous times in the series that we saw his past with his family were from his kids’ point of view. In this episode, we see the past from Enji’s and Rei’s points of view.

Of course, the bad stuff we already knew about Enji is still true. He didn’t treat his kids right and he even became abusive to his wife. But, now we also got to see the other side of things. Part of the reason Enji was hard on his kids was to protect them.

How Enji dealt with Touya is a great example. Yes, Enji wanted a child who could surpass All Might. But, when he learned Touya couldn’t withstand his own fire, he didn’t turn around and beat his son. He tried to divert Touya down a different path.

Enji didn’t want to see his son injure himself while trying to become a hero. He told his son he could be anything else he wanted and encouraged him to make friends. In that regard, he’s a good father. However, he still failed Touya in other ways.

Rather than outright denying Touya, Enji still could have worked with and taught him. The way Enji cast Touya aside and kept trying for a child who could live up to his expectations wasn’t good. And this is ultimately what led Touya to become Dabi. It was the neglect.

Reuniting Todoroki Family

So, it was Enji’s neglect that led to Touya becoming a villain. But, there’s a bit more to it than that. Why did Enji neglect Touya and his other children? Because of a character flaw that he recognizes in himself.

Once Enji decides what he wants to do, there’s no stopping him. Even if he knows he’s hurting his family in the process, he keeps pushing for the end result he wants. And he recognizes that Touya is the same way. This is why Touya couldn’t just give up on becoming the hero his father was searching for.

Touya’s the victim here, so I shouldn’t blame him. But, in a way, he holds at least some of the blame. He was unable to see why his father wanted him to stop — that he was hurting himself. And at the same time, Enji was unable to see what Touya really wanted — acknowledgment.

Then, there’s Rei. She’s also a victim, obviously. But, like Touya, she shares some of the blame, too. Much like Enji, Rei couldn’t figure out how to deal with Touya in a constructive manner. They both failed as parents to Touya.

With all that in mind, the reunification of the Todoroki family is exciting to see. They’re finally realizing that Dabi is a monster of their own creation. Every member of the Todoroki family failed Touya in some way — some more than others. Now, they’re coming together to fix it.

Well, I say fix, but I’m not sure if Dabi is fixable. I’m going to be pretty annoyed if they “defeat” Dabi through the power of familial love and accept him back. They either need to kill or imprison him. I can’t see their relationship with him recovering.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 130? Do you remember when it was said that quirks are random and not genetic? Did this episode make you like Enji, Touya, or Rei more despite showing their bad sides? And how do you think Dabi’s story is going to end? 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 131 is available now.

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.

Jailbreak from Tartarus

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 128 did something I wasn’t expecting. It brought back all the villains from earlier in the series. All-for-One wasn’t the only one who escaped from the supermax prison known as Tartarus. So did Muscular, Overhaul, and others.

Notably, Gigantomachia did not escape. But, that’s only because he wasn’t actually in the prison yet. So, it’s unclear what’s going to happen to him. Is All-for-One going to seek him out again? Or, is Gigantomachia actually out of the series, as I predicted last week?

Personally, I don’t like bringing back old villains. However, I have a feeling that the old villains won’t matter all that much. For example, Overhaul doesn’t have arms anymore, so he can’t use his quirk. Muscular might do something, but he’s more of a minor villain. At least, I’m hoping all these old villains don’t become important again.

What I found more interesting about the jailbreak scene was the new villainess. We don’t know her name, but she’s the one who released Overhaul from his cell. She’s also featured in the new OP, which I didn’t watch last week. I’ve watched it now.

Is Himiko the only female villain we’ve had in the series so far? I mean, I know there have been other, minor female villains. For example, there was the blue woman whom Himiko dropped using Ochaco’s quirk. But, as far as I remember, Himiko is the only female main villain. That might change now.

Oh, also I need to mention how easy it was for All-for-One to break out of Tartarus. I want to say Tartarus should have more robust defenses. But, because of quirks, there’s not much more that could be done. The best solution is to execute the prisoners there.

The Orochimaru Effect

In one of the earlier episode reviews, I said that All-for-One wanted to steal Shigaraki’s body. Why did he transplant his own quirk into Shigaraki? Was it to help Shigaraki? No, of course not. It was to prepare Shigaraki as his next vessel.

And how did I know this was the case? Because I’ve seen Naruto and nothing is new in shounen battle anime. This is exactly what Orochimaru did to Sasuke. And just as Naruto saved Sasuke through the power of friendship, Deku will save Shigaraki. I’ve said that before, too, and the current OP seems to confirm it.

The only thing I don’t understand is why All-for-One needed to break himself out of prison. I assumed that his consciousness would slowly take over Shigaraki. And at some point, Shigaraki would be a prisoner in his own body as All-for-One controlled it.

But, the fact that All-for-One wanted to free his current body implies that’s not how it works. And, logically, this makes sense. If All-for-One’s in prison, how would he “become” Shigaraki? It’s not like his consciousness left his body when it controlled Shigaraki’s. It was more like he was controlling Shigaraki from a distance.

So, it could be that what we’ve seen happening to Shigaraki is only the beginning. It could be that once his body is ready, All-for-One is going to perform another operation on him. His quirks were transferred over. But, next, it will be his consciousness.

For that, All-for-One is going to need Dr. Garaki. And I’m not sure where the doctor ended up. I don’t remember seeing him get broken out of prison. But, there’s a good chance he was in one of the other prisons that All-for-One attacked. After all, Dr. Garaki isn’t dangerous enough for Tartarus.

Sleeping Beauty

At the end of Episode 128, we find out that Midoriya is in a coma. He’s also in a full-body cast due to the damage he sustained in the fight against Shigaraki. And in addition to that, we see Bakugo saying that Deku better not die.

Well, I’m here to tell you that Deku won’t die, obviously. I’m not sure why the episode ended on that note. There are so many other ways it could have ended if it wanted a cliffhanger. Literally, anything that has to do with All-for-One would have been a good ending.

But, Deku being in a coma could be interesting. If he doesn’t come out of his coma for the rest of the season, that would be pretty cool. It would be like how SAO: Alicization was watchable once Kirito was in a vegetative state. Removing Deku can only improve MHA.

Now, let’s say Midoriya does come out of his coma. How is this going to happen? And how is his body going to heal? Is Bakugo going to kiss him so he wakes up like Sleeping Beauty? I certainly hope so. But, I doubt that’s how it’ll go down.

What about Recovery Girl? Can’t she heal his injuries? I guess she could. But, I’m also not sure if her quirk has any limit. I’m pretty sure she’s mentioned that she can’t heal extreme injuries. That’s why everyone had to tell Deku to stop breaking his arms and fingers in the past.

At this point, you may know what I’m going to say. Eri-chan could heal Deku’s injuries completely. She was able to revert Mirio’s body back to when he had his quirk. And she was able to heal Deku during his fight against Overhaul. So, why not here, too?

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 128? Are you happy to see all the old villains out of prison again? Why do you think All-for-One wanted to retrieve his current body? And, how do you think Deku will come back from his injuries? 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 129 is available now.

Mid-Season Recap

My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 127 was, in part, a recap episode. There were about 8 minutes of recap, from roughly 5:00 to 13:00. Personally, I don’t see the point in mid-season recap. If there’s going to be a recap episode, it should be Episode 0 at the start of a new season.

Putting recap in the middle of the season or at the end of the season is pointless. The viewers are already familiar with what happened — they watched it recently. At the beginning of a season is a different story, though.

So, why does Episode 127 feature recap? One reason is that there was no episode last week. And the other reason is that the series is moving into a new arc. You could argue that this episode worked as an Episode 0 of the new arc. That’s why we had recap.

There is another possible reason for there being recap in this episode. Since this episode was a wrap-up episode, there simply may not have been enough new content to fill the run time. Now, as for the wrap-up portion of this episode, it was very important.

If we moved right from Episode 126 into Episode 128, we’d have a lot of questions unanswered. For example, what happened to the Paranormal Liberation Front members? And, what about all the pro heroes we saw get injured in the battle? Well, thanks to this episode, we have answers to those questions.

I wonder how many people got to the recap part of the episode and stopped watching. There was some pretty important stuff they’ll have missed. And even if they skimmed through the episode, it’s still possible to miss out on things. I’m looking forward to their responses to Episode 128.

The End of the Paranormal Liberation Front

It looks like the Paranormal Liberation Front is no more. Heroes and police arrested over 16,000 members of the organization. And that includes most of its leadership. Re-Destro and a few of his lieutenants are among those arrested.

We also saw that Mr. Compress of the league of villains was captured, as well. That’s notable because it confirms that he’s alive, for now. He could still die of his injuries. But, at the moment, he’s alive, which means Twice is the only villain who died in the raid.

Also of note, the police managed to capture Gigantomachia. That’s important because he’s one of the strongest beings we know of. He’s up there with All-for-One and Shigaraki. If he ever escapes, that’s going to be a big deal. But, I have a feeling he isn’t going to escape.

To be clear, it’s not that I don’t think Gigantomachia can escape. Shigaraki and All-for-One could rescue him. They both have a quirk that will allow them to locate where the heroes are holding him. And they both have enough firepower to physically break him out. But, I’m not sure what his return will do for the series.

From the next episode preview, we already know All-for-One breaks out of prison. Do we also need Gigantomachia to break out? Sure, that would be an even worse situation for the heroes. But, I don’t see the point in it from a storytelling perspective.

Of course, I also need to mention the villains who got away. Shigaraki, Spinner, Dabi, and Himiko all escaped. We don’t know where Dabi and Himiko are. They might regroup with Shigaraki and Spinner. Or, they might go off to do their own things. But I’m still thinking Himiko’s going to join the heroes.

Midnight, Majestic, and More

For me, the biggest shock of the episode was the reveal that Midnight died. We knew she had severe injuries. But, I didn’t think her injuries were bad enough to result in death. At least it was Midnight who died and not Mt. Lady, though.

Some other pro heroes died, as well. Majestic was one. He’s the guy who could create floating platforms — and probably other things. I’m pretty sure some of the students interned with him. But, it’s not like he was as major of a character as Midnight was.

Also, despite Midnight’s death coming as a surprise, it actually makes sense. With Midnight gone, Yaomomo can kind of take her place. She studied under Midnight and is the one most like her of the students. She can even reproduce Midnight’s anesthetic. It looks like we’re moving into the phase of the series when the students surpass their teachers.

Think of all the major student-teacher combinations. Deku might not have as much power as All Might. But, he now has a better mastery of One-for-All’s true nature. We also saw how Bakugo grew through his connection to Best Jeanest. And with Endeavor’s disgrace, Shouto can become the top Todoroki.

It’s not only the main characters, though. Of course, I already pointed out Yaomomo and Midnight. But, there’s also Tokoyami saving his teacher Hawks. And even Ochaco and Tsu are becoming more competent as heroes in their own right.

Oh, and we can’t forget that the literal teacher of Class 1-A, Eraser Head, is out of commission. Many pro heroes died in the battle and even more were injured. The students, however, are in relatively good condition aside from Deku and Bakugo. That’s because a lot of them were on the backlines, but still.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 127? Did you skip the episode because of the recap? Do you expect Mr. Compress and Gigantomachia to come back at some point? And how do you feel about Midnight dying? 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, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 128 is available now.

Creature Rejection Clan

The first half of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 126 focused on the League of Villains. I tend to prefer League of Villains episodes over hero student episodes. They’re just more interesting characters. Yes, even Spinner is a more interesting character than any of the hero students.

To be fair, there’s not much difference between heroes and villains. The hero students each have their reasons for wanting to become heroes. And the League of Villains members each have their reasons for becoming villains.

But, someone deciding they want to be a hero simply isn’t that interesting or special. The society they live in promotes the idea of becoming a hero and saving people. It’s normal that many people would want to become heroes. So, I prefer seeing why people choose the opposite path. What made them decide to reject hero society and become a villain?

I’m sure we’ve heard Spinner’s backstory before. At the very least, we already knew he joined the League of Villains because he admired Stain. And the same is true for Himiko. But, the part I want to focus on here is that what’s effectively racism also played a role in Spinner’s decision.

Spinner looks like a reptile as a result of his quirk. And because of his appearance, many people treated him as if he was a creature, not a person. This is what made him lose faith in the current form of society.

During the flashback part of Episode 126, we also see a cult called the Creature Rejection Clan. This is a cult of regular humans who hate those with quirks. And it seems that they hate people like Spinner, who have mutated appearances, most of all. His appearance was the only one they commented on.

Mr. Compress’s Final Performance

Considering the title of this episode, I thought Mr. Compress was going to do something crazy. Like, maybe he was going to reveal the true power of his quirk and save the League. But, that’s not quite what happened.

To be fair, he did save Shigaraki to an extent. But, it’s unclear if his sacrifice resulted in more than that. So, let’s look at where each of the League of Villains members stand at the end of the episode.

Starting with Mr. Compress, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to survive. He had to significantly injure himself in order to escape Best Jeanist’s threads. And at the end of the episode, All-for-One (in Shigaraki’s body) abandons Mr. Compress and flees.

That sucks for Mr. Compress. But, it doesn’t look like he was alone in being left behind.

As far as I could tell, All-for-One didn’t take any of the other League of Villains members with him. I didn’t notice the Nomu carrying off Spinner, for example. And I don’t feel like Spinner would be able to escape from the heroes on his own. So, he may now be in custody.

As for Dabi, the last we saw of him, Mr. Compress compressed him. We never saw Mr. Compress release Dabi as he did with Spinner and Shigaraki. So, it’s unclear what’s going to happen to Dabi. If he’s released, he could help Spinner escape.

Himiko is off somewhere else, so we have no information on what becomes of her. But, of course, she’s going to reappear later in the series. And, All-for-One left Machia asleep on the battlefield. However, he can always get Machia back if he has a way to get in contact with him — unless the heroes keep him drugged.

Saving Shigaraki

It looks like the League of Villains are now understanding All-for-One used them. I mean, of course he did. He’s the ultimate villain. He’s not going to help this team of misfits without getting anything out of it himself. And the thing he wanted was Shigaraki’s body.

By the end of the episode, All-for-One is in control. And it’s pretty clear that this isn’t good for anyone other than All-for-One. Obviously, the heroes want to stop him because he’s the most dangerous villain to ever exist. But, even the League of Villains don’t want him around.

Shigaraki hates All-for-One and doesn’t want to give his body up to his mentor. He has his own goals he wants to accomplish. And, this is part of the reason why All-for-One taking over is bad for the League of Villains. The other members want to support Shigaraki.

The other big reason why this is bad for the League of Villains is that All-for-One doesn’t care about them. He has no problem sacrificing them for his own gain. So, it’s not like he’s a viable replacement for Shigaraki. If they follow All-for-One, he’ll use them and toss them aside.

Now, this could be the breaking point for the League. I don’t think Dabi cares all that much about it anymore. He’s only interested in Endeavor and Shouto. But, what about Spinner and Himiko? It makes sense to me that they would want to save their friend (Shigaraki) from All-for-One.

So, how would they do that? They don’t stand a chance against All-for-One. Well, that’s where the heroes come in. Deku mentioned how it looked like Shigaraki wanted to be saved from All-for-One. This could be how, as I’ve theorized for a long time, Himiko (and Spinner) join the heroes.

Conclusion

What do you think of My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 126? Do you like getting more backstory for the supporting villains like Spinner? Did you expect more from Mr. Compress’s final performance? And, will Himiko team up with Deku to save Shigaraki? 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. And, come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman 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 127 is available now.