Two small moments in My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 5 speak to the ultimate strengths of the series. In the silent moments before the call to action, the Class 1-A students rally in unassuming ways in two distinct conversations. These characters go through the emotional ringer. And while the actions they face have yet to result in the pure devastation of shonen series such as Jujutsu Kaisen or Chainsaw Man, the effects are felt regardless. It’s a reminder of these characters’ depth and significant growth while also showcasing how the hope of the series is the driving force.
It’s an episode of conversations, most notably the one between Midoriya and Uraraka. Moved into a new stronghold away from the U.A. premises, the class has little time to themselves as the war progresses. But in one of the brief moments, Midoriya catches Uraraka to thank her for her speech in Season 6, which allowed him to step back within the walls of U.A. safely.
Her mind is elsewhere, however, conveyed through the off-kilter direction by Tsuyoshi Tobita that casts Uraraka diagonally across the sky. It’s a brief shot, but the framing perfectly captures her inner turmoil and the dissonance between logic and her heart. Because she’s thinking about Toga, a villain who helped lay waste to the city and whose violence cost people their lives. And yet she can’t help but want to help her somehow. At the very least, she wants to understand what led Toga to become the villain she is.
Midoriya can understand this, having seen a crying little boy when he looked at Shigaraki. He, too, wants to help and understand, even while both are past the point of forgiveness. It’s their empathy that drives them forward. This, paired with the image of Bakugou, Iida, and Kirishima checking in on Todoroki due to his troubled familial history, makes for a stunning one-two punch. These characters are mature, even if hardly a year has passed since they began school. However, the image of Bakugou, of all people checking in on Todoroki, indicates the apparent passage of time and the shift in their dynamics.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 5 lacks action but makes up for it through these conversations that are just as invigorating. They’re earned, pulling on threads and elements of these characters to build moments that are poignant and necessary to the ongoing plot. Even Toga and Dabi, at the start of the episode, lean into this. Toga, whose childhood bleeds misery and tragedy, and was born with a quirk that ostracized her from society. Dabi, the wreckage of a pro-hero who prioritized success over love, resulting in bitterness incarnate. And yet Dabi, somewhere, has a thread of some sort of care for those he’s allied with. It makes his destruction of Toga’s childhood home all the more integral to the plot.
While Dabi often seems like he’s on some suicide mission when it comes to Endeavor, he, too, has something to lose. The opening moment is another stunning instance of imagery, especially the haunting flashbacks as Toga remembers growing up, the threats of those who feared her written on the walls of her bedroom.
Despite these critical elements, the episode is primarily setup though it doesn’t falter because of it. Instead, the final leg of this stage ups the ante when it comes to tension, as we fear any misstep or poor footing the heroes take. My Hero Academia doesn’t take pleasure in misery. However, there are consequences when heroes work past their limitations. Both sides are readying themselves, the heroes saying goodbye to their families while the villains aim for society’s weak points. “Anyone can become someone’s hero,” All for One tells Spinner as he instructs the once Stain copycat into leading the charge of heteromorphs.
All for One seeks to weaponize the prejudices these quirk users face. It speaks to the power of All for One that he seeks this failing of society and reaches for it. So much of his power is preying on the desperate and disenfranchised. While Shigaraki remains the more interesting character, his dynamic with All for One makes him tragic. Because even he was a pawn.
There is a disappointing moment at the end for all of the episode’s strengths. While Aoyoama’s deception of All for One is a breathtaking sequence as we truly wonder for a moment if his fear won, the last frame lacks in comparison to the original manga panel. As heroes and villains appear on screen for the second, decisive battle, there is a lack of depth in these portals. The original panel is both ominous and triumphant, with the heroes meeting the villains with ferocity. There’s definite excitement, especially with the concern over these heroes, such as Miriko and Suneater, who we’ve come to care about. But considering this is the moment where the battle begins, it’s a shame that it lacks what it has narratively in spades in visual fervor.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 5, “Let You Down” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.
Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.
REVIEW RATING
-
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 5 — “Let You Down” - 7/10
7/10
Based in New England, Allyson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.
