’My Hero Academia’ Season 7 Episode 8 review: “Two Flashfires” sparks excellence

Steeped in melancholy, My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 8 lives up to the long-gestating standoff between Shoto Todoroki and his estranged criminal brother, Dabi. This pivotal battle unleashes itself in “Two Flashfires,” an episode that marries immense emotional impact with some of the best visuals of the series. The heat of Dabi’s destruction and the pain of Todoroki’s plight burn throughout as the series continues to demonstrate the harms that come from a society built on the significance of power. 

Dabi is a divisive character who has only grown more engaging over time. While Season 6 unveiled his true identity, “Two Flashfires” best captures the magnitude of the tragedy that is his life. After waiting for Endeavor to show and burning himself beyond recognition, he’s brought in by All for One. There he’s rebuilt by Garaki, the doctor who also worked on Shigaraki. He wakes three years after the event, his voice deeper, and his body forever changed. Stunned and panicking, he is asked to be a member of All for One’s league. To, effectively, be a spare if Shigaraki was to fail. 

But he refuses their rule and runs, becoming a wayward criminal to one day defeat Endeavor and earn his attention, copying his moves in his efforts. His relentless resentment towards his father made him uncontrollable even to All for One, and considering his body was meant to give out on him after a month, they didn’t worry at first about tracking him. It adds an extra layer of devastation as we realize that, once again, Dabi was extra weight, outshined by others, and left to rot. 

But while his tragic origin is unmistakable, the series through Todoroki reminds us that his choices were still his own. Dabi weaponizes acidic, verbal abuse as he calls Todoroki nothing but a half-baked doll, a tool for Endeavor. Todoroki agrees that their family is doomed and their father terrible. However, it’s only Dabi out of all of them that takes the lives of innocents. Dabi, mangled and monstrous as he climbs over the wreckage he wrought, is still using his dad’s signature move with flashfire. He’s spiteful even as the flames consume him. Todoroki, meanwhile, creates his own move, a symbol of his intent as a hero. 

The backstory is necessary, but My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 8 truly shines in this decisive battle between brothers. Dabi notes their differences and we see them visualized through the astonishing direction. Episode director Shōji Ikeno, storyboard artist Kō Matsuo, and the many key animators build a beautiful and beguiling spectacle as these two forces of nature unleash the full extent of their powers against one another. 

Dabi’s moves are sloppy and unrefined by power, and his heat is more powerful than even Endeavors. Todoroki, meanwhile, demonstrates control, regulating both sides of his body to produce cold flames. The sound design captures the wind and the fury of the fire, creating a sealed vacuum effect as sound distorts itself. Every visual detail of the episode is tremendous, and the animation of the flames and the action cohesively follow the brothers. 

In the end, for now, Todoroki seems to win. Dabi’s flames are intense and impressive in their destruction. But it’s the depiction of Todoroki’s new move and his signature ice that stuns. There’s a level of catharsis to Todoroki’s side of the fight, too. He reminisces on a moment shared between him and Midoriya while showing off his new move. In a sweet, understated scene, Todoroki tells him:

“Midoriya, it’s my power. Thanks.”

This little sequence showcases the growth and character journey Todoroki has gone on. It also reminds us why Midoriya — who isn’t in the episode — is such an inherent hero. His words reach people. It adds to the catharsis of the episode as Todoroki gets to say his piece. He lays into Dabi while making his final blow that renders Dabi unconscious in Todoroki’s arms. 

But there’s nothing inherently victorious about this fight. Here are two brothers who both suffered abuse from this power-hungry and ego-driven father. Todoroki got the chance to heal through friends’ actions, the safe space he found at U.A., and through Midoriya’s critical words of strength during the Sports Festival. Todoroki learns to use both sides of his power and makes them his own. Dabi only ever learns to burn. He’s ready and willing to burn through his skin and muscle to achieve complete and total carnage. Both of them are victims, but Todoroki found support. 

It’s why their battle through its all-consuming destruction and gravity-defying visuals is, ultimately, tragic. It’s sad. Yuki Kaji and Hiro Shimono deliver tremendous voice performances that ache with despair and furious indignation mid-battle. But perhaps the most heartbreaking moment comes in the impact panels in the final push.

In this moment we see images of their child selves, the colors stripped. Because that’s genuinely what this amounts to: two children let down by parents and society meant to raise and protect them. Their decisions since their destructive youths are their own, but it doesn’t dampen the somber note it leaves us on. Dabi has been a walking corpse since he was reborn, and Todoroki, the son, meant to reckon with it. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 8 is a pure, volatile spectacle. From the details of Dabi’s scarred and singed skin that clings to his face and the flames that burn through his mouth mid-fight to the heavy slump of his body at the end, the animation visualizes this battle’s emotional and physical magnitude. The scale and depth of the animation stuns, along with the story at the heart of the episode. Refusing to pull away from this central fight, the focus and pacing achieve our full attention as we watch two brothers in their efforts to confront and run from their father’s failings. 

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 8, “Two Flashfires” is out now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.

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Images courtesy of Studio Bones/Crunchyroll.