With a title like this week’s, we could only assume that we were in for the very best episode in what’s left of Season 4. And while that can’t be said for certain just yet, it’s definitely an incredibly fun episode, and one that offers some well-balanced excitement with tight character focus.
My Hero Academia has perfected the art of balancing several disparate tones and atmospheres across its story, its characters, and even its aesthetics. And being able to expertly pull off the joyous atmosphere of the School Festival after such a gruelling battle with Overhaul is pretty impressive storytelling. Even more than that, introducing the camp and hilarious villains Gentle Criminal and La Brava now, during the School Festival, shows a degree of self-awareness that allows us as an audience to fully immerse ourselves in the light, celebratory atmosphere that this arc is throwing at us.
Watch the English dub trailer for the new MHA movie, Heroes Rising:
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/18/my-hero-academia-heroes-rising-official-movie-trailer-english-dub"]
Bakugo has become a personal best boy for a lot of My Hero Academia fans, and he certainly works for that status in the first half of this episode. Class 1-A has decided on a musical performance for their role in the School Festival, with Jiro the multi-instrumentalist taking center stage, so to speak. But as she attempts to build the band, she first needs to find a drummer. What she finds is Bakugo.
Now, while the drums are certainly a perfect fit for Bakugo’s rage-fuelled personality, and there’s a simple joy to be found in seeing him hammer out a short groove, the real beauty of this scene comes from seeing how Bakugo’s perspective and motivation have matured and shifted over time. Bakugo is a complex angry young man, and we’re seeing here that his anger has layers, that his waters run far deeper than we ever expected when we met him back in Season 1. Bakugo has very slowly and carefully been built up and torn down over time, resulting in a potential hero who isn’t just a controversial choice for best boy of Class 1-A, but who is genuinely a complex and lovable hero with a lot about him to respect and admire. And we get all of this distilled down into one fantastic little monologue from Bakugo after he picks up the sticks.
The preparation for the School Festival does, indeed, turn out to be an awful lot of fun as the students plan how to best use their own skills, knowledge, quirks, and imagination to build an exciting musical performance. It’s reminiscent of the movie School of Rock, with Jack Black finding a role for every member of the class, on and off the stage. That planning and preparation is even more hilarious and ridiculous here, with the brilliant idea of turning Aoyama into a twinkling disco ball.
The bulk of this episode is the sorting of roles for the festival, but the crowning moment of the entire episode is one in which Mineta attempts to play the guitar, only to lament in a pseudo-fourth-wall-break, “Because of my character design, my hands won't reach!” It’s a real laugh-out-loud moment and not only is it the kind of joke that My Hero Academia doesn’t usually make, but it might also be the first time Mineta has been anything less than dreadful.
Class 1-A of My Hero Academia is such an eclectic bunch of well-defined individuals, which means the manga and the show can, whenever they desire, build an arc that doesn’t focus around Deku and his growth as a character, which is typical of almost every shonen battle anime. This cast is almost equal in terms of how well we know and love each character. Rarely (in any medium) do we get such a large and likable cast of characters, and this School Festival is already proving to be a welcome chance to enjoy each and every one of them in top form.
That being said, this episode’s third act still provides us with some really gratifying one-on-one teacher/student time with Deku and All Might. It’s a bonding moment but, even more importantly, it’s a short step away from the School Festival where we get to see a little bit of combat growth from Deku. After all, he and All Might are still our main protagonists, and getting a little focus time on them is not only appreciated, but satisfying.
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