’My Hero Academia’ Season 7 Episode 20 review: Uraraka shines in “A Girl’s Ego”

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 20 once again ups its own ante. While Episode 19 remains a thematically emotional peak, Episode 20 chases that high with aplomb and levels us again with what happens to those forgotten and shunned by society. “A Girl’s Ego” offers mournful closure in Toga and Uraraka’s storyline. It also doubles down as to why Uraraka is such a pivotal character to the series, her quirk, and how she uses it to exact change without violence as she, like Midoriyia, weaponizes empathy as her greatest gift. 

“A Girl’s Ego” once again proves the considerable power of animation. The entire sequence in the manga is powerful, but the anime ups the ante and brings forth even greater emotional beats. At first, the animation falters in using CGI for the sake of the Sad Man’s Death Parade. The movements of the swarming doubles are just a little too stilted and awkward. They’re made more so by the contorted faces of the other heroes Toga begins to double. What’s meant to be intimidating, such as Tsuyu’s warped face, is silly in rendering. 

Luckily, those clumsy visuals are surrounded by stunning imagery. Firstly, there’s the assessment of where we are with the heroes. The image of them lying bloody, broken, and even defiant sometimes reminds us of the toll this battle has taken. From Todorokia laying passed out at the feet of his family, to Iida’s crumbled form watching the swarm from afar, to Hawks, quirkless and injured, his sword his only weapon standing against the mass product of hate that he was the catalyst of, the stakes are visible. Uraraka’s fight with Toga, her plea to be heard and to listen in return, is yet another undeniable hurdle to overcome. 

Furious and drowning in her own hatred along with the trauma of her past, Toga refuses to listen to reason at first. Tsuyu begs her to listen to Uraraka, and instead, Toga at first stabs Uraraka in the stomach in a swift, violent move. The series explores pieces of Toga’s past in earlier seasons. Episode 20 reminds us of the lonely upbringing she faced due to a quirk that had her craving blood. Her parents here are seen as shadowy figures. They’re toxic imprints on Toga’s life as she tries to explain to them and that her actions were out of love, not hate. Her loneliness envelops the episode. We see visions of her warp and configure until she stands as the monster everyone believed her to be. 

She doesn’t crave normalcy, like her parents and society pushed her to, she craves acceptance and understanding. And, in what will ultimately be a defining moment for My Hero Academia, Uraraka gives that to her and more. Bleeding out, Uraraka undergoes a Quirk Awakening. Suddenly, her Zero Gravity causes all of the Doubles and Heroes to float in the air. As the doubles disintegrate into clouds of pink dust, Uraraka reaches Toga, even if the latter continues to fight her brutally. 

Through sheer force of will, Uraraka tells Toga about herself. She shares her money insecurity growing up and what caused her to become a hero. She tells Toga that she fell in love with Midoriya and is jealous of Toga’s smile. After reckoning with her past self, in which the animation beautifully depicts the two girls facing one another as children, Toga returns the sentiment. She shares with Uraraka that she has only ever wanted to live her life as herself and that Midoriyia looks like her first crush. She wants to feel cute. This all culminates when Uraraka tells Toga she’s the “cutest in the world,” a moment of empathetic heroism that best defines Uraraka’s character. 

The writing of this sequence possesses ample potency due to how well-defined the characters and their parallels are. But it’s the technical aspects — the animation, music, and performances — that bring it to new heights. Yuki Hayashi’s score delivers a new theme as the two spin and embrace in the sky. The music is sweeping, heartfelt, and twinged with the necessary melancholy. So much of this interaction seeps itself in ‘what ifs’ — what if someone has expressed compassion to Toga? What if Uraraka knew Toga while they were both children? Bakugo needed to grow into understanding that Midoriyia’s offer of help wasn’t patronizing but kindness. Would Toga have returned Uraraka’s outstretched hand? Hayashi’s music underscores this exchange with a pulsating, cinematic heart. 

The animation is gorgeous once the two are airborne. Despite her quirk rendering her weightless, there’s definite gravity to how the show animates Uraraka’s fight sequences. As she drags behind Toga, the series captures the violent surge of wind that forces her either way. Directed by Tsuyoshi Tobita, the episode finds dynamic angles to help capture the whirlwind that Uraraka undergoes. Former Madhouse alum Tensai Okamura storyboards the episode. His experiences working on everything from Evangelion to Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo to My Neighbor Totoro and Naruto is evident. A kinetic sense of movement charges these scenes, electric, despite the opposing elements they’re facing. 

Similarly, the character designs flourish as they allow both Toga and Uraraka’s physicalities to shift and change throughout the episode. Toga, in how her rage contorts her face, the minute details, and her eye movements get the spotlight. But Uraraka, too, changes throughout due to her weakening power. While her quirk undergoes a tremendous change, her power skyrocketing, her physical form grows cold. There’s a bittersweetness to the fact that her warmth of character becomes so all-encompassing as her body shuts down. 

But more than anything, it’s the voice performances by Ayane Sakura as Uraraka and Misato Fukuen as Toga. The desperation in their voices is apparent, even if they stem from different places of longing. Misato Fukuen, in particular, delivers tremendous work. Toga’s typical girlish and airy voice adopts a deeper and sturdier undercurrent, which cuts raw with pain. Together, they capture the turbulent episode of reckoning they both undergo as they begin to finally see the other for who they truly are, stripped bare of pretense. 

“A Girls Ego” once again solidifies that My Hero Academia Season 7 will go down as one of the series’ greats. Fortified with tremendously moving performances and the culmination of seasons worth of character growth and challenged perspectives, it allows Uraraka the hero moment she and Toga always deserved. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 20, “A Girl’s Ego” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.

---

Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.