That good enough for you, whiners?
Most of the general discussion surrounding this fourth season of Boku no Hero Academia has revolved around the perceived lack of sakuga animation as compared to earlier seasons. I have my own reasons for a slightly less enthusiastic take, but that’s not one them. I actually like the look the tweaked staff has brought to this season, even if it has relied a bit less on sakuga and more on style points. My concerns run more towards the story in general being unripe fruit, as Hisoka would say. You can see what it could have been with proper development, but that development never really came.
That’s why this episode, magnificent though it is, almost feels as if it should have come earlier in the arc – though of course that wouldn’t have worked as far as plot mechanics go. We finally get inside Overhaul and Eri’s souls a little here, to the point where what each of them is thinking and doing starts to take on a bit more gravity (less Uravity?). That’s good but we needed more reason to feel that way about them five or six eps ago, not in the penultimate episode.
As far as the sakuga though, it’s hard to imagine anyone complaining too much about what we got here (though what do I know). Legendary Bones top gun Nakamura Yutaka is back in the fold here working his magic, and there’s a reason why sakuga lovers hold him in such reverence. Nakamura obviously has no weaknesses when it comes to animation money shots, but I’m especially struck by the facial expressions (unheralded in sequences like these, but crucial) and the positively balletic choreography he applies to midair character movements. The final Deku-Chisaki showdown was a perfect canvas for him, and he painted a masterpiece.
There are several interesting developments playing out simultaneously here, starting with the League of Villains duo still playing spoiler with Shie Hassaikai. Their fake Deku is part of a larger strategy to seize the Eri prize for themselves, though it doesn’t end up going out that way thanks to reasons. The real Deku is just getting into Chisaki’s grill, and Eri is coming to the realization that these annoying heroes are not going to save themselves and leave her behind – they’re going to save her or die trying. Therefore she logically concludes that their only chance of not dying is by letting them save her, as unworthy as she feels she is and as unlikely as that possibility seems (especially to Sir Nighteye).
It’s only now, as we near the end of the arc, that we really learn the true nature or Eri’s quirk, “Rewind”, and why it’s as powerful – and deadly – as it is. And it’s only now that we see the full extent of Chisaki’s plan – to develop his drugs to the point where he’s selling the red pills to the villains and the blue pills to the heroes and everyone is beholden to Shie Hassaikai as he tries to rewrite the rules of the world. I can see where keeping Eri’s powers somewhat mysterious until now makes sense, but I don’t really get why we’d only now get to see the backstory with Chisaki and the boss. It’s not that he comes off especially well in it, but it does humanize Overhaul in a way that makes him more compelling as a character.
It’s thanks to Eri’s power being what it is that Izuku is able to finally utilize One For All at 100% without destroying his body. Which is to say he is destroying his body, but Rewind – which Eri has no real control over – is working to fix him as quickly as he breaks himself. As always it’s Izuku’s mind which is his real source of power – One For All is great, but it’s his ability to think quickly in combat and analyze previously unknown variables that really sets Deku apart. And it’s what allows him to end Chisaki’s struggle here on(c)e (and) for all, with a right cross that would do any Megalo Boxer proud. Thanks, Nakamura-san.
Overhaul may be down for the count, but the toll of this battle is still to be totted up. And then there’s the matter of the future the grievously wounded Sir Nighteye saw – the one which ended with Chisaki killing Deku and escaping. How did it change – was it Eri’s power, or something else? And what are the implications for the scope of Nighteye’s quirk – and the one particular Foresight he saw which forever changed the way he viewed his power?
Couch Tomato
January 12, 2020 at 10:12 amWhat I wanna know — what’s there to be prevent them bringing Eri to All Might and restoring him back to his serious injury? Her quirk is game-changing.
Simone
January 13, 2020 at 12:56 amIt’s a bit like Nanika in HXH – one power so broken that you know they’ll just find a way to write it out of the story and never bring the possibility of using it for good ever again.
That said, supposedly she can’t control it right now, so it’d be dangerous to do that, you never know when she’ll erase someone out of existence like she did her dad. However, if trained and taught to control it, she would literally become godlike. As in, actually able to bring the dead back to life.
Deluxe
January 12, 2020 at 12:08 pmJust as you said this episode should have happened way earlier in this season. If that yakuza arc was twice as short it would have been enjoyable but now it is dragging on for what seems to be an eternity. The main appeal of BNHA over most shounen series was how snappy teh pacing is regarding its narrative, but this season has slowed down things considerably.
Marty
January 12, 2020 at 5:26 pmI feel like Eri’s power and it’s utilization is kind of a bad plot device. It allows Deku to bypass the established limitations of One for All without any real risk or consequence. In theory, the writer could simply use this power to undo any damage a character suffers, regardless of how “permanent” it’s suppose to be (maybe except death).
I know he’s not dumb enough to do that right away, but Eri’s existence as a character always leaves that possibility open and lowers the stakes for me a bit.
Looks-wise this season looks just as great as the last 3, idk what people complaining about.
raikou
January 14, 2020 at 1:55 pmI agree with all you said,
It’s clear Eri’s power was meant for Deku to kick ass without OfA drawbacks. Deku’s choice of defeating Overhaul was only left to one option : overpowering him.
My favorite of Deku’s way of fighting is his planning and analyzing, but screw that because Eri.
Horikoshi really did not think this through.
dc22
January 12, 2020 at 8:19 pmIt was still underwhelming. This arc just doesn’t work.
Simone
January 13, 2020 at 1:03 amYeah, “underwhelming” is the word. It was too little too late, and the climax came and went too quickly to appreciate. Deku’s fight with Overhaul felt rather short, considered how much focus we had on stuff like “Red Riot gets punched by two pointless goons”. Also, the League of Villains’ involvement felt like just a token, it was pretty much pointless, and this episode also made me rethink of just how little sense Eri’s power and the use Overhaul has for it makes. She can rewind an individual, okay, but then she can also rewind DNA and evolution? So she can erase quirks? That seems a ridiculous logical jump, and not only that, it’s a pretty poor way to use such a broken ability.
sonicsenryaku
January 15, 2020 at 9:49 amThe idea is that Eri’s ability to rewind an individual inspired overhaul to take that broad concept and apply it to a person’s DNA, more specifically, their quirk. It’s not that Eri can erase quirks; it’s that her powers have that kind of applicability when used through lens of Overhaul’s ambitions. Anyway, people keep saying Eri’s powers resolve and trivialize a lot of the consequences some of our current characters are facing……and while that’s true when looking at the auspicious utility of her quirk, i still have to wonder why people frame it as egregiously as they do. Eri cannot control the power; she has no real grasp as to how to measure or determine when to stop an individual’s regressional rewind; she won’t be able to resolve anyone’s problems for a considerable period of time until she learns to utilize the power efficiently. Sure, the possibility of Eri’s powers undoing significant plot developments loom over the narrative, but I think discerning between possibility and actuality is very important here. Deku isn’t going to be carrying a 6 year-old on his back and risk her life every time he goes into battle just so he can use OFA proficiently (that’s just not practical from a realistic or narrative standpoint); and while Eri’s blood can be manufactured into a poison and antidote (basically a cure of Mirio’s quirk loss), there are still challenges and consequences established by the story that cannot be solved perfectly by her existence.
Passa
January 12, 2020 at 9:17 pmYeah I’m not a fan of this girl’s power at all. At the very least there should be some limitations on how she’s able to use it going forward. As someone else mentioned she’s a bad plot device.
Also, as morbid as this sounds when does someone actually you know, die?
I love this show but my main gripe is that no ones dies. Iida kun’s brother should have died in the Stain arc and there should have been some casualties here as well. It takes away so much of the weight when you see someone with a rock pillar stabbing them through the gut and still out here breathing…
Kurik
January 13, 2020 at 9:41 amI am with you on this…I don’t know how nighteye is alive to be honest…but hey. I would definitely like to see more consequence in this show as it would set it apart from other shounens in that regard (cough – Dbz). Overall (not haul) this was a decent episode but creates more questions than it answers. I can see this whole arc edited to be a movie and Eri ends up losing her ability as Overhaul accidentally shoots her with the quirk erasure bullet and we never hear of her again in the normal series. But I will have faith to see how it will turn out. FYI – Overhaul already has godlike powers as he can already bring ppl from the dead – and fix them.