I like a lot of what Boku no Hero Academia is doing this season – a minority opinion perhaps, but not a solitary one as I know from the comments here.  But damn if it doesn’t seem like this season is cursed to piss off fans even when it’s doing things right (often with the last few moments of the episode).  I was rather surprised by the preview myself (I’ll get to that in a bit) but as to the rest of this week, well…  If your complaint is “there’s no damn action!” (and I’m reading a lot of that) I’m afraid that’s where we part ways – Horikoshi can do this sort of material so damn well that I’m never sorry when he does.

Let’s also be clear here, there was some action this week – the first in a while, but it was on-point and character-driven.  Things seem innocent enough as Endeavor makes to drive the kids home (well, his wacky chauffeur – “Ke!” – does).  Bakugo comes as close to pleasantries as he gets, demanding the mapo tofu recipe from Fuyumi.  And Fuyumi thanks Deku for being such a good friend to Shouto (as well she should – he is).  This after Endeavor thanks her (as well he should – she’s better to him than he deserves) for trying to do what he can’t – hold their family together.

The rain on this parade is Ending (Taniyama Kishou, excellent as usual), and old adversary who Endeavor captured seven years earlier.  That resulted in jail time but what Ending wanted wasn’t that – it was to have the hero whose darkness and rage he so admires end his miserable existence.  As soon as he’s released he goes about finishing the job, kidnapping Natsuo as a means to an end.  Freaks like him are, I suspect, the sort that an anti-hero like Endeavor would attract – as Chauffeur-San notes, this is the second nutjob to target him in less than a week.

This is a relatively short fight by HeroAca standards but it’s a very eventful one, for any number of reasons.  In the first place, Endeavor hesitates in the moment of crisis – the presence of Natsuo being a damn good reason to, but a huge error for the #1 hero just the same.  It’s fortunate that he has the three brightest lights of the next generation backing him up, and they outstrip his reactions for once.  Bakugo (as usual more practical in battle than you’d predict) jumps right into saving Natsuo, while Shouto goes after the villain.  As for Deku, this is a huge moment for him – he’s able to use Blackwhip while under fire, saving the motorists that Ending was trying to take out as inducement for Endeavor to violate the hero code and end him.

While Bakugo admitting he’s thought of a hero name (though he insists he has someone else he’ll share it with first) is kind of a big deal, the aftermath here is really about Endeavor and Natsuo.  I really feel for Natsuo here – he was closer to Touya than anyone – and it’s clear his inability to forgive his father isn’t petulance or stubbornness, but who he genuinely is.  Endeavor himself sums up the situation – “I don’t want your forgiveness, I want to atone”.  Natsuo may believe there’s nothing Endeavor could possibly do to do that, but his idea is simple – the best way for him to do right by his family is to distance himself from them so they can heal in peace.  That may not be what Fuyumi wants, but it’s hard to argue against Endeavor’s line of reasoning here.

And then there’s “that”.  Fans were assuming the postponed Meta Liberation Arc (known almost universally as “My Villain Academia”) would finally kick off next week. That would have left 7 episodes to deal with about 23 chapters (about twice the anime’s usual pacing).  But it turns out things are being reordered yet again, with the first chapter of the following arc coming up next week – which would compress MVA that much more.  The queue-skipping for the Endeavor Agency Arc at least made sense for tying in with the third movie – this particular change is one I honestly find pretty baffling.  Maybe things will be clearer after next week’s episode.