When I first considered what this arc of Boku no Hero Academia coming to anime would be like, I figured there’d be a lot of talk about how divisive it – and the characters it introduces – were among some manga readers.  But in context that word seems way too loaded now, and the whole arc rollout a much more innocent time.  The opportunity to obsess over trivial things is a privilege we tend only to appreciate when much more oppressive things are dominating the discussion, and I suspect many HeroAca fans would like nothing better than to go back to the days when the biggest controversy about the series were whether its antagonists were serious enough.

In hindsight I think Horikoshi was smart to insert the School Festival Arc when he did.  While the last couple of major arcs in BnHA were very different, one thing they had in common – aside from a dark and somber tone – is that there was very little interaction among the whole of Class 1-A.  For those of us (which I think is a lot) who feel that’s one of the best things about this series, there was a real sense of withdrawal.  This arc seems almost tailor-made to remedy that, and I appreciate that more now than I did at the time.  It may not have the sense of consequence the series’ biggest story arcs do, but it scratched an inch.

While there’s only so much you can do to differentiate what’s essentially one of the stock plot setups in anime (and Hyouka pretty much cornered the market on it anyway) Horikoshi-sensei does nevertheless do some things to make this a very HeroAca development.  After the expected round of suggestions and arguments over a class project, the story lands in an interesting place.  Because the hero class is continually demanding support from the others and claiming all the acclaim, the opportunity should be taken to use the culture fest to pay them back – do something to show appreciation for under-appreciated colleagues.

Where this debate lands (thanks to Iida-kun’s insistence on the idea of payback and Shouto’s surprising suggestion of a theme) is a music and dance performance.  That means if you’re a fan of Jirou Kyouka – one of the perennially overlooked members of 1-A – nirvana has arrived.  She’s the obvious person to be the focus of such a storyline, despite her reluctance to have what she sees as a non-heroic hobby make her the center of attention.  Kaminari seems especially intent to change her mind, and Jirou seems especially concerned with Kaminari’s interest in her.  Make of that what you will…

Meanwhile Eri has asked to see Deku and Lemillion – though in fact she didn’t even know Deku’s name, only that he’d saved her.  Aizawa-sensei comes along as insurance but it seems that Eri is like a battery that’s run down anyway.  She’s still busy blaming herself for what happened, and hasn’t even been told about Nighteye yet – which seems like a sensible white lie under the circumstances.  Eri having literally forgotten how to smile, Deku hits on the the idea of inviting her to the culture festival and Eraser is open to it.  As with everything Eri-related this is all pretty heavy-handed but thankfully there’s enough else going on that it’s not a major focus for the moment.

And so, we finally meet the major new additions for this arc – web video stars Gentle Criminal (Yamadera Kouichi) and his sidekick La Brava (Horie Yui).  It’s not everyday a series adds without an ounce of exaggeration not one but two of the biggest names in seiyuu history, but this is HeroAca – and these two roles are especially dependent on the actors to sell them, I think.  Yamadera and Hochan are wonderful as Gentle and La Brava, just as you’d expect two such wonderful seiyuu to be, but that doesn’t change the fact that not everyone is going to fall in love with this pairing as major antagonists.

Of course we need to let this play out, but it strikes me in hindsight (that has often been the case with this arc – looking back reveals elements I missed at the time) that Gentle and La Brava almost seem like characters from Vigilante more than the parent series.  And I mean that as a compliment, even if one might think otherwise – but it does reflect how different they are from the garden variety Boku no Hero Academia villains (the hilarious tea-pouring scene is like a statement of intent on that score).  As indeed is this entire arc, which is surely the main reason why it sparked a lot of debate among fans.  For me, it’s nice just to have something else HeroAca to talk about.