It’s been a pretty big week for Boku no Hero Academia. But then, this is a series that’s had a lot of big weeks, and will have many more. The movie opens this weekend, and I’m going to be very interested in seeing whether it claims the top spot at the box office (though beating out “Incredibles 2” for 2nd or 3rd may be more realistic, given the competition). The latest manga volume topped a half-million in its 2nd week, and the gap with Haikyuu!! grows ever tinier. A short walk through Sannomiya yesterday revealed a huge BnHA pop-up store at Tokyu Hands, complete with Deku, Kacchan and Ochako life-size standups, and HeroAca machines fronting the pachinko parlors.
It’s fitting that Horikoshi-sensei had an interview with Oda Eiichirou (my God, can he really be just 43!?) published this week, because while One Piece is the biggest franchise in Japan by far, HeroAca has to be in the conversation for eventual runner-up status. One senses that Horikoshi (who’s being interviewed all over the place at the moment) is awed and a little scared by all this attention. BnHA is acting like a true cultural phenomenon – it’s increasingly popular internationally (that was predictable) and in the Japanese non-otaku mainstream. Kids love it, adults love it, female and male otaku love it, gaikoukujin and Japanese love it. One gets the idea that the sky really is the limit here – plus ultra, indeed.
As the BnHA franchise is having its moment, the TV series is in full-on shounen mode, one of the many things it does exceptionally well (if not the most unique among them). Horikoshi is on pretty safe ground with this arc, as compared to some of his edgier ones – teamwork and solidarity are hardly controversial virtues – but even here, he manages to tease out some subtle nuances with his characters. And as ever, some of the best moments involve the secondary cast, who by now are fully formed people in their own right and not just glorified extras as they are in many weaker series.
Todoroki is hardly a minor character, but he’s also someone so strong that the notion of his failing never seems truly possible. He has a few struggles with the gang of opponents who have of course prepared for his quirk, but Todoroki is more than just raw power – like Deku, he can think on his feet. I like the fact that it’s his wits and not his quirk that gets him out of this jam, and he’s the 54th student to pass – but of course, his passage means that he can’t be of any help to his struggling teammates (whose time is quickly running out) even if he wanted to be (which, to be fair, he’s shown no indication that he does).
The bulk of the episode is spent with Momo, Tsuyu, Shoji and Jirou doing battle with Seiai Academy’s Saiko Intelli (Ueda Reina) and her legion of courtiers. Saiko is an interesting one – her “IQ” quirk offers no physical superpowers, simply enhanced intelligence when she drinks tea (I wonder which tea works best). Intelli has a good plan, built around neutralizing their opponents’ quirks one by one and freezing them out (especially effective against amphibians). It’s Momo’s resourcefulness that saves the day here (she conjured Deku’s image in her head to inspire herself at the darkest hour), and her friends’ refusal to abandon her foils Saiko’s last-ditch attempt to extract a little revenge.
As for Kacchan, he’s got his wingman Kirishima with him as usual, as well as hanger-on Kaminari. They’re confronted by fellow elite Shiketsu’s Shishikura Seiji (Furukawa Makoto), whose rather gross quirk turns Kirishima into something that looks like it belongs in The Abyss. Kacchan is not someone for whom an argument built around dignity is likely to be effective, but Seiji is clearly no pushover and Bakugo is short on allies at the moment. A direct confrontation between the two top schools is always an interesting element in this arc, and it’s clear that even for Bakugo this is not going to be an easy victory.
Finally, our hero and his current retinue aren’t totally ignored – Izuku, Ochako and Sero are safe but isolated, and their time is running out (Team Momo’s passage brings the total number of successful applicants to 60). As ever the strategist, Izuku still clings to the idea that restraining their opponents is better than trying to hit a moving target – to that end, he offers himself up as a decoy to the Ketsubutsu searchers in the hope that Ochako and Sero will be able to restrain enough of them for the trio to pass. Ketsubutsu teacher Joke seems bemused at Aizawa-sensei’s nervousness, but he knows his students (and which of them are invariably at the center of the best action) better than anyone – what she sees as anxiety may just be anticipation…
Passa
August 4, 2018 at 8:12 pmI had a friend who for longest time when I mention this series was not impressed. But he watched it couple months ago and HE was the one to drag me to new movie last night.
So I say my job is done :p
Anyways solid episode as usual. Love seeing Todoroki use his powers.
Also wondering just how big this series will get. Because we have had some shounen series flame out or plateau with its popularity especially in the West.
I don’t follow Black Clover but they positioning to be the next big. How’s that one doing with Japanese audiences?
Guardian Enzo
August 4, 2018 at 8:28 pmBlack Clover? It’s pretty popular – I think the last volume left the charts at about 250K (BnHA’s most recent is approaching 600K). But I don’t personally think Shueisha sees BC as “new big 3” material or anything – I could be wrong.
Stefan
August 4, 2018 at 11:21 pmNope, you’re not curtailing that part of this episode. It’s amazing how utterly, utterly wrong they got the IQ quirk — not piling on standard deviations (even then), downright MULTIPLYING? And the show producers successfully reverse-engineered the quality of reasoning of a mind with 150 IQ times multiplier! Boy, that quirk outbeats All for One, One for All, and all of UA combined.
Stöt
August 5, 2018 at 3:12 amStefan. It could be a multiplier of 1 =)
or 1.1 or something. I feel like you’re getting upset on the wrong things. And if you want to compare it to chess or something, chess still needs practice to perfect your game. How many times do you think this IQ girl has been in this situation before, with these pawns? And I really doubt a high IQ character is going to beat All for one//one for all without some massive help from lackeys, which is not guaranteed with a high IQ. Have you never seen a nerd getting beat up in high school, or something?
Stefan
August 5, 2018 at 7:19 amPoint taken, even if it relies on plausible deniability.
animealex
August 5, 2018 at 1:24 amI remember reading your first three reviews for the anime and thinking: “Ok, Enzo praises it so much and compares it to HxH? Well, let’s take a look. Three Episode rule and all. Even if I don’t like Cape-Series that much”. And now on the shelf behind me are all volumes which are released in my country, besides the soundtracks, DVD’s and the ultra archives book with the villain variant cover.
Hm, I’d like to think you did good and want to thank you for that! Even though I became a multi-shipper and far to invested in some of the characters and their potential futures and demises. 🙂
But for the episode itself: The “filler part” this episode wasn’t so bad as some people on other sites made it out to be, though the high IQ girl and her clique seemed a bit underwhelming, if you think the plot of that encounter through. But if I hadn’t read the manga, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.
Guardian Enzo
August 5, 2018 at 1:44 amExactly. To me, it’s anti-“filler” extremism at its most predictable.
Stefan
August 5, 2018 at 2:26 amI pretty much agree, but I couldn’t stop thinking that with an IQ multiplication quirk it scarcely matters who your opponents are or what they are able to do.
Simone
August 5, 2018 at 2:58 amPersonally, while her plan might not have been the best, the most eyeroll-inducing part was the ending and the “power of friendship” spiel. It was kind of silly because A) I don’t see why the haughty super-intelligent girl couldn’t anyway imagine as one possibility that the others would come back save their comrade (the one with the most useful Quirk of the group by the way, so it’s not even like friendship was the only possible reason); and B) it was all overdramatic anyway considering it’s an exam where – in theory – no one should be in real danger.
Guardian Enzo
August 5, 2018 at 4:05 amYeah, that friendship thing was a bit much…
Alice
August 7, 2018 at 5:57 amShe must have had some pretty cheap tea…