‘My Hero Academia’ Season 7 Episode 11 review: “Light Fades to Rain” leaves a mark

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 11 delivers the series’ most devastating sequences to date. 

Katsuki Bakugo defines what a strong character arc looks like. At the start of My Hero Academia and as the series’ deuteragonist, he’s an unrepentant bully to the protagonist, Midoriya. And while his bullying antics slow throughout the show, especially once he and Midoriya view each other as rivals instead of clashing forces, his fundamental shift happens in Season 6. After risking his life to save Midoriya in the ultimate save-to-win gesture, his body moves on its own accord in a striking parallel to when Midoriya saves him in the show’s premiere, and he then apologizes to him. This is crucial and healing, and it is what the show is ultimately about as characters make decisive choices that define what kind of hero they’re destined to become. 

And it’s this growth and trajectory that make “Light Fades to Rain” such a bruising experience. Because it’s not just that Bakugo (seemingly) lays down his life to save everyone while facing immeasurable odds. It’s that Bakugo has come so far and has shown such significant progression as simply a student and a hero that his sacrifice is all the more tragic. Because he’s just now beginning to show his true capabilities and heroism, having become better and stronger. Without his terrorizer beginnings and without the cathartic speech to Midoriya in Season 6, this moment wouldn’t land. The impact is undeniable with visuals that heighten the experience, entirely breaking hearts in the process. 

“Light Fades to Rain” is wise to contain itself in the coffin in the sky, as Bakugo, Jeanist, and others seek to keep Shigaraki at bay until Midoriya arrives. Shigaraki taunts Bakugo, telling him that it’s almost good he can’t use decay as it means he’ll get to leave behind Bakugo’s corpse to taunt Midoriya with. Because even Shigaraki noted during Jaku that, after seeing Bakugo hurt, Midoriya lost control of his overwhelming power. Already severely injured following Episode 10, Jeanist tries his best to subdue Bakugo to keep him from fighting when he can hardly stand. 

But Bakugo remains tracking Shigaraki’s movements as the Big Three step in. While never much of a personal fan of Mirio, his leadership shines here, as does his and Nejire’s belief in Tamaki’s abilities. As Suneater, his quirk gives him the greatest chance of stopping Shigaraki due to its limitless possibilities. And his hybrid creation is superb in its rendering, a force of nature straight out of Annihilation for how it bends itself to Tamaki’s will. But even that isn’t enough. The focus on the three gives us a necessary reprieve from the doom that follows Bakugo. 

In the end, though, Bakugo stands up. He takes on Shigaraki despite the warnings and despite Jeanist reaching out for him. We see his true form as he utilizes his ultimate move in his efforts. Directed by Shōji Ikeno and storyboarded by Akiko Ōtsuka, the episode paints his heroism with an ensuing sensation of dread. From the tears that leak from his eyes to capturing his steps from the ground level, every moment feels potentially catastrophic. But it’s not until Bakugo meets with the All Might vestige that we realize how grim a note this episode will end on.  

Nobuhiko Okamoto delivers a tremendous performance, capturing the fatigue and demeanor shifts. His talk with All Might as he bares his soul is the softest we’ve ever heard the actor and most contemplative. It’s one of the moments where we realize the beautiful cruelty of a well-orchestrated OP, realizing that the opening to the first cour of the season was teasing this moment all along. If the moment wasn’t heartbreaking enough, the episode further proves Bakugo’s youthfulness and simultaneously points out his immense capacity for change in one breath.

The direction finds even greater footing as we watch Jeanist, Mirko, and the Big Three desperately trying to reach for him as he’s thrown back while Aizawa yells in the distance. Everyone is devastated, and everyone is trying to save him. While the series doesn’t lean as heavily into the notion of teenagers seeing the ugliness of humanity as say Jujutsu Kaisen does, the series hints at it. They’re all protecting his future and potential. 

The way the shot tracks his body as he falls is beautifully animated with the necessary weight and impact. There’s a palpable thud. The seemingly permanent blue skies make sense in an episode like this because it’s emotionally poignant once the shift takes place. The episode ends, and the rain begins to fall, and the tone shift is stifling. 

Bakugo needed to be a bully — to be unlikable — at the start of the series for this payoff to land. We care because we journeyed with him as he grew from selfish, mean-spirited pest to the hero people believed he could be. To have that light potentially extinguished is suitably gutting. 

Deeply mournful, “Light Fades to Rain” earns its name.

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 11, “Light Fades to Rain” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.

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Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.