’My Hero Academia’ Season 7 Episode 4 review: “The Story of How We All Became Heroes” sets the stage

Despite lacking physical action, My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 4 bursts with movement. Exercising its ability to go broad with humor while balancing the subtler, introspective character moments, “The Story of How We All Became Heroes’ sets the stage. After the adrenaline-inducing Star and Stripe battle and the reveal of Aoyama being the traitor in Episode 3, the latest might seem slow in comparison. But what it lacks in significant setpieces, it makes up for in careful plotting as the countdown to the decisive battle begins and the heroes take their places. 

Aoyama’s story is tragic, and the series highlights as much. Yes, he became a pawn to the immense evil of their times, but he was a child ignited by fear for his and his parents’ lives. His classmates and Aizawa look to rip that fear out of him and replace it with hope. Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A still wish to save their friend. Even Bakugou, who no doubt suffered the most at the training camp due to Aoyama’s reporting. It’s their innocence that sparks potential as they, with Aizawa’s help, realize that Aoyama can now be used to trick All for One. 

All of Aoyama’s story is moving, and My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 4 truly allows us to wade through his grief. His and Midoriya’s tears mirror one another as Kirishima pleads with Aoyama, telling him that none of their classmates judged Midoriya after learning he was quirkless and that he should place his trust in them because of it. But the real heart-wrenching moment comes when Aoyama faces Aizawa/Eraser Head in the episode’s closing moments. 

The art direction continues to be sublime. The early moments of their discussion play heavily with shadows and split perspectives. Speaking through a glass barrier with Aoyama restrained, the two standings have clear visual cues. Aizawa, again, the lit, white background, is on the side of good, while Aoyama, backed by a black room and shrouded in darkness, believes himself to be on the opposing side. Aoyama is afraid, he tells his teacher. Both fearful of the threat of All for One but also of himself, especially as his friends continue to believe in him. He fears that he’ll make the wrong choice again, never able to live up to their expectations. 

Kosuke Kuwano does a tremendous job of conveying Aoyama’s desperation and fatigue as he confesses he wishes to hide in the shadows and wait for death. But Aizawa doesn’t allow as much. He tells him that he can fight and that he isn’t expelling Aoyama yet or casting him aside as a lost cause. He refuses to teach his students to “live a life feeling indebted to others.” It’s here where the backgrounds fade away, leaving the two without any walls separating them or restraints binding Aoyama. Two people who both have the potential to be heroes in a moment of peril. 

My Hero Academia’s score is always a series highlight, with pitch-perfect themes that amplify any emotionally stirring sequence. But there’s a notable arrangement in this sequence that builds on the whimsy of youth without ever sacrificing the major, thematic developments. Yuki Hayashi’s compositions are beautiful, sweeping yet subtle, refusing to overpower. It’s what a score should do, and it, like the shift in visual direction, only serves to remind us that we’re in the back portion of the story now. As the characters mature, so too do the design and musical elements. 

That doesn’t mean that the episode doesn’t have time for levity. Midoriya and Iida’s trip to visit Hatsume from the support course is proof of this. Hatsume only makes brief appearances throughout the series; each time, it’s a highlight. From one of the funniest Midoriya reaction shots as he leveled with Hatsume’s chest to their shock at Hatsume’s seeming initial ignorance of the chaos going on outside her workshop. The episode plays with sound and visual gags as she speedwalks away from the duo after they put in their request for new support pieces for their costumes. 

Of course, she can help, and the moment allows for humor while reminding them and us that there’s more at stake here than just the hero course. The support course is doing its part to help, demonstrating its heroism through innovation and invention. It’s a small way to showcase the depth of the world. We get it too in All Might’s meet-up that includes Hawks and other trusted professionals as they devise plans for their attack. It’s the only real momentive slump in the episode and even still it’s necessary. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 4 pulls through on Aoyama’s story’s emotional impact while spotlighting the other students’ maturity and growth. With Shinso appearing in the episode’s tag, the battle plans continue to develop with a broadening scope. As the episode title suggests, this battle isn’t about one figurehead leading the charge but an all-hands-on-deck approach to stop the insidious nature of All for One’s evil from spreading. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 4, “The Story of How We All Became Heroes” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.

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Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.