I’ve got nothing against rugby (though I don’t have much for it, either – I couldn’t tell a scrum from a maul) but the one-week hiatus it caused for Boku no Hero Academia came at a pretty lousy time. This episode promised one of those tentpole moments that manga readers wait for, and this season will be a little more hard-up for those than the previous three. Bones has always delivered handsomely when those landmarks arrived, and that tradition continued here – old director or new, BnHA still knows how to hit in the clutch (to use an analogy from a sport that’s actually interesting).
Before that moment arrived though, there was the cliffhanger teased at the end of Episode 3. This was a pretty tense moment (and very well-adapted) thanks largely to the unspoken conflict between Mirio and Izuku about how to handle it. Both of them recognize Overhaul immediately, of course – but their reaction reflects both the difference in their temperament and experience. Tintin (hero name: Lemillion) is only two years older than Deku but it seems like much more. He knows the protocol is to avoid doing anything to arouse Chisaki’s suspicions and bring Sir Nighteye up to speed, avoiding any confrontation. Deku’s instinctive emotional reaction is understandable, but reflects his immaturity and inexperience.
That said… While it may be an oversimplification, their reactions also – to me – are exemplars of why All Might chose Deku over Mirio (who, to be fair, he’d yet to meet at the time) to succeed him. If Nighteye was choosing his successor, Lemillion would be a perfect fit. But is All Might a logical, “proper” sort of hero? His greatest weapon has always been the visceral affection he inspires in people and his own enormous heart, and in truth he could never smilingly walk away from a child obviously terrified and pleading for help. Of course it’s that quality that has him where he is now – which is an ominous thing to consider, to be sure…
The way Horikoshi ties all this together is really rather beautiful, and once you consider the reason why Sir and All Might split up very poignant. Nighteye’s caution is hard earned, and it’s his love for All Might that forced their separation – he’s gutted by what’s happened to his old master and by his own inability to prevent it. Worse, he’s seen it – and where it eventually leads, which is to All Might’s demise. And that “eventually” is not very far off, given that he used foresight and predicted All Might’s death in “six or seven years” almost six years earlier.
Perhaps it’s simply cruel fate that people like Toshinori and Izuku are destined to meet an early and tragic end, because they’re simply too concerned about others and not enough for themselves. And that it’s this quality about them that makes them perfect carriers for One For All – indeed, it’s seeing so much of himself in Izuku that caused Toshinori to choose him as a successor. For a man like him, knowing what that choice meant for a young boy’s future must have made it horribly painful. He must have hated himself for it – and that’s not even considering the implications of Nighteye’s prophecy about him.
While they’re not biologically related, I can’t think of a better father-son relationship in hero fiction than All Might and Deku. They’re both so kind, far too much for their own good, and that draws them closer together. The purity of Deku’s emotions here – his desire to change All Might’s future – is truly heartbreaking. But no more so than All Might saying that it was Deku coming into his life that give him a renewed desire to fight fate and live on. But simply wanting it to happen isn’t changing anything. Both of them are heroes in the best sense, better than their world deserves, but the world is cruel to heroes and loving another person isn’t enough to change their fate. Boku no Hero Academia has never pulled its punches in the big emotional moments, and this one was certainly no exception.
Stöt
November 9, 2019 at 11:32 pmRugby never interested me in the slightest, and has failed to garner any positive or negative emotional response until now. I think the world would’ve been better without this sport ever existing.
Great episode. I actually really really like this arc. I read the manga and now what’s coming, and I can’t wait!
Stöt
November 9, 2019 at 11:34 pm*know…
Geno
November 10, 2019 at 12:25 amAny way to dm you, or mail you, Enzo ?
Best regards,
Guardian Enzo
November 10, 2019 at 10:00 amFollow me on twitter and DM me, that’s the best way.
Arabesque
November 10, 2019 at 6:13 am“That said… While it may be an oversimplification, their reactions also – to me – are exemplars of why All Might chose Deku over Mirio (who, to be fair, he’d yet to meet at the time) to succeed him.”
My exact thoughts back when I read the chapter this episode was adapting years back, and still my thoughts after this episode.
Mirio is the sort of successor that is everything you want on paper. He’s experienced, hard working, quick on his feet, strong and always makes the logical, correct choices. His action during this episode with regard to accepting that the protocol is to prioritize the mission’s success over anything, to the point of ignoring a little girl who’s clearly afraid shows that, for better or for worse, he got a steel will to do whatever it takes to accomplish the best goal for the larger picture. So much work went into making sure that their mission is a success, so it would be a waste to throw it all away over an irregularity.
But then again, the man, who is behind the shinning visage of All Might, Toshinori as we seen to this point isn’t the sort of person who’d just do that. Even back in the 2nd episode when Bakugo was captured by the slime villain and Deku lunged himself to try and save him, all Toshinori thought about was how pathetic it was for him to hesitate about risking it all to save a single person. Revealing his secret to the world, being in pain, were nothing compared to someone dying on his watch.
It goes back to the point that we had from Deku v Bakugo, where while Bakugo was correct in admiring All Might’s strength as the hero who always wins no matter what situation he was in, Deku was the one who best understood the drive for All Might to save everyone, and what Toshinori ultimately deems the best quality for a successor for One for All should have.
Ko
November 10, 2019 at 11:23 amI also appreciate that while Mirio is trying to keep to the plan and not drum up any suspicions by getting Deku to drop it, more than just Deku not being able to let it go showing some suspicion when you see a terrified little girl asking for help would be the less suspicious reaction for a hero to have in this situation. While Mirio seems so much more experienced, ignoring the situation all together kind of speaks to his own inexperience in my opinion.
Then any time we get some All Might and Deku focused interactions in an episode is always a highlight for me. This arc is where I decided to take a break from the manga, so I’m really interested in how everything between Deku, All Might, Nighteye, and Mirio plays out eventually.
Orion Taylor
November 13, 2019 at 2:25 amMirio with One for All would be soooo broken. This fact is pretty important to the story of course, since it’s the opportunity cost of Toshinori’s choice to make Deku the successor. Still, it’s pretty fun to imagine the scenario in which Mirio was the successor instead of Deku.
Guardian Enzo
November 13, 2019 at 1:45 pmI would like to engage that hypothetical, because it’s a pretty interesting topic (I have views on why Mirio as OfA would never work), but I can’t think of a way to do so without spoiling the manga.