’My Hero Academia’ Season 7 Episode 2 review: Star and Stripe shines in “Specter”

One of the best elements of My Hero Academia has always, and will always, be the way it handles new characters. We see it with introductions of pro-heroes like Mirko in Season 6 when she lays to waste high-end Nomu with gusto and feral glee. This strength is evident when we get to know the Big 3 during the Overhaul arc and Lady Nagant’s appearance during the Dark Hero Arc. Mangaka Kōhei Horikoshi possesses a keen understanding of what makes a flashy, memorable introduction, so much so that it helps justify why we’d spend time away from our main characters. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 continues that trend. We met the brilliant, strong Star and Stripe in the season opener. In “Specter,” we watch her tumultuous, bittersweet fall. We hardly knew her and yet, after simply two episodes, are still left with tangible grief in her defeat, made more potent by the waste she lay in her demise. She might’ve died by Shigaraki’s hand, but she didn’t make it easy. New Order is a formidable, destructive skill that poses a genuine threat if in the hands of a villain. Star knows this and, in her final moments, makes a single rule that undermines Shigaraki and All For One’s ultimate plan — she turns the quirk against other quirks. 

The effect ravages Shigaraki’s body as Star’s crumbles. The action of the first two episodes is sublime, with subtle color shifts that make for a more mature aesthetic without dimming the overall superhero effect. Star’s character design was already distinctive, and the animators let loose in the scene where her visage tears apart the quirks lying within Shigaraki. It’s a brutal sequence for a series that doesn’t always go as deep in violence as the manga does. The pummeling Shigaraki takes is seen both from outside of his body and within, the mini earthquakes rattling him, forcing him to leave the battle to force the New Order quirk onto some hapless civilian. 

It’s an adrenaline-inducing sequence as we watch Star’s last moments. We know the moment that Shigaraki lays his hand on her, it’s game over. But the shock of how she manages to lay out her final play is invigorating. It’s the perfect setup for the season as a whole, emboldened by distinct visuals and a generous amount of action that leaves us breathless. The series understands that despite its youthful heroes at the center, the tone needs a level of sobriety to make the emotional moments land. 

Because these young heroes are very much official soldiers now. There’s a fun, subtle visual gag in the background as All Might informs the students that, due to Star and Stripe’s last stand, they have a week now before a “final battle” of sorts commences. The humor is the complete disarray the characters are found in, half-dressed and/or changing into their hero costumes as if All Might caught them completely unaware. It’s a testament to how much the group has grown, learned, suffered, and triumphed together and the easy camaraderie because of it. 

All Might and Deku might’ve been missing, but that doesn’t mean that Class 1-A stopped training. In a notable callback, All Might once again smugly realizes that All For One has bit off more than he can chew by underestimating these young heroes. No, it’s not okay that they must fight a war that even adult pro-heroes have decided to abandon. But if they have to, they, like Star, will put up a tremendous fight. 

It all adds to the tension fueling the season as we await the next major confrontation. As the students ready themselves with the remaining pros, there’s a real sense of gravitas. Yes, there’s always been threats against these characters. But while Season 6 brings consequences, My Hero Academia Season 7 demonstrates what happens after the dust of the first battle has settled. What happens when even the most powerful among them lose their life in a desperate struggle? As is their school motto, they go beyond, and it, as always, remains one of the most exhilarating elements of the series, even as we await some inevitable, devastating hardship. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 2, “Specter,” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday. 

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Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.