OP: “Polaris” by BLUE ENCOUNT

There are already many traditions when it comes to the Boku no Hero Academia anime adaptation.  Confusion over episode numbering.  Anime-original recaps to start the season.  Manga readers whinging on about anime-original recaps to start the season.  It’s all part of the journey for a franchise that’s become a worldwide sensation and a staple of my anime writing life.  Horikoshi Kouhei’s first successful series has made the jump into the mainstream, and at this point it’s far too big for the narrow little world of manga and anime to contain it.

I’m not going to question Bones and the choices they make at this point.  Even with the odd misstep here and there they’ve more than earned our trust when it comes to BnHA, proving beyond a reasonable doubt both that they care about it and have the talent to succeed in adapting it.  Even with Nagasaki Kenji stepping back into a supervisory role (to focus on the new film) and Mukai Masahiro making a huge level-up into the director’s chair, there’s really no reason not to think things will be just fine.  This is already Bones’ longest-ever series and they’re clearly committed to making it work.

That being the case, whatever issues might arise with Season 4 will likely arise from the manga itself.  And in my personal view this upcoming stretch of material isn’t Horikoshi’s best with with HeroAca, though it certainly has its share of outstanding moments.  The anime chooses once more to reintroduce the series with what amounts to a recap episode, though I appreciate that they deliver one consisting almost entirely of original material.  Original both in the sense of never having aired and having been written directly for the anime.  Haters will call it filler, but for me and the gang at Merriam-Webster filler is not a four-letter word.

The vehicle chosen to do all this is a newspaper editor scrambling for a juicy angle for their “All Might Retires” story.  And freelance reporter Tokuda Taneo (Hanawa Eiji) thinks he has one, and it all ties into All Might’s iconic “You’re next” moment after defeating All For One.  Tane suspects that All Might wasn’t in fact issuing a warning to other villains, but a reminder to his chosen disciple. In order to get to the truth he needs access to Yuuei, which the editor manages to score for him under the guise of writing a story about students adjusting to living in the dorms.

For the most part, yes, this is a way to reintroduce the cast to the audience.  But it works quite well as drama in its own right, especially after Tane-san turns out to be a pretty decent guy in the end.  By process of elimination he’s drawn a bead on Deku as the probable successor, and Deku confirms his suspicions with his total inability to lie.    This is indeed a really big story, and certainly if Tane ran with it he’d have his name on the biggest news story of the moment in Japan.  But Tane, as it turns out, is an All Might fan too – and he realizes the danger implicit in this information getting out to the public.  In truth he just wanted to confirm his own suspicions that a successor was out there – though once Izuku comes forward with the truth on his own, all bets are off.

I rather like the idea of the truth slowly leaking out, because it represents a sinister undercurrent to whatever the main storyline of the moment is.  Not everyone is going to be as idealistic as Tane, or as bound by their own personal motives as Bakugo – sooner or later someone is going to discover the truth and force All Might’s hand.  But that hasn’t happened yet, and for now Midoriya-kun is still free to grow at his pace and All Might to bide his time and wait for the right moment.  But cracks in the protective facade All Might has built around his protege are already starting to widen.

ED: “Koukai no Uta” by Sayuri