Despite what initially felt like a rushed push toward closure, My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 demonstrates one of the rare instances in which the anime improves upon the source material. Due to the nature of the medium, there’s time afforded to the story that might’ve otherwise been breezed by in the manga. All of which is to say that Uraraka’s (Ayane Sakura) grief and, to an extent, Midoryia’s, get a bit more time to breathe as the story comes to its final chapters.
Uraraka is a character who has, more often than not, been designated to the sidelines. When it comes to women characters in popular shonen adaptations, she fares better than others. But the bar is impossibly low. And My Hero Academia has historically placed more emphasis on the interior lives of supporting characters such as Bakugo and Todoroki, even though Uraraka’s story is just as integral to the overarching narrative as theirs. Hell, in the case of Todoroki, more so.
But when she gets moments to shine, the story delivers high-impact emotions that speak to the heart of the story. From putting a positive spin on “Deku” to her rallying cry to the angry crowd outside UA after Class 1-A brought Midoriya back from his bout of vigilantism, and her desperate attempts to understand Toga, her character arc has been a slow-burn unraveling.
The war might be over but Uraraka and Midoriya are battling inner demons.
She isn’t a character overwhelmed by unearned optimism or naivety, with very human reasons for becoming a hero since the start. But the version of her standing on the cliff, looking over the city, in My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 is vastly different from the one we first met.
But, as Midoriya says in their heart-to-heart, she’s also very much the same. She’s still the girl who prefers to withhold her emotions for the sake of others rather than release the torrent of pain. It’s what makes the moment work so well.
Uraraka’s support for Midoriya has often defined their relationship. But now it’s his turn, as he declares her his hero for all of those moments above where she stood her ground to help him. It’s the defining moment of the episode, as he reaches out to her and lets her grieve, messy and mournful, over the impossible devastation of what could’ve been.
Life moves on despite it all.
The animation stuns in this sequence, from the fat, Ghibli-esque tears rolling down Uraraka’s cheeks to the blinking city lights in the distance. Even the way the direction positions them, with Midoriya holding her, is cinematic in its framing, driving home just how vital this confrontation is.
And it speaks to the overarching theme that’s been coursing through the story’s final legs. Yes, the war is over. But the heroes at the forefront were kids. They’re carrying the weight of lost lives. They’re brooding over the hands might’ve reached but still weren’t able to save. Yes, they might’ve salvaged a soul, pieced together from their scrambled parts, but the burden of guilt they carry is heavy. It’s not just Uraraka. Midoriya feels it too, evident from his interaction with Spinner, who calls him a murderer. A comment that Midoriya doesn’t negate.
Life is moving on, and the world is rebuilding. There are a lot of fun, in-between moments depicting how their lives have changed, such as the sudden adoration Bakugo and Todoroki are flooded with. But the most significant challenges are the internal ones, where Uraraka wonders how she might’ve been able to save Toga, even if, ultimately, there was nothing she could’ve done.
My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 processes characters’ very real grief.
The other major one is the embers of One for All, which are slowly dwindling within Midoriya. Midoriya, who, despite feeling them weakening, is smiling despite it all, knowing he used some of his last remaining power to reach his hero in the moment she needed one the most.
For a series that doesn’t often interrogate the flaws of the presented world as it should, it’s all the more gratifying to see the story lean into the guilt and pain these characters deal with because it feels real. In a story about humans with extraordinary gifts, My Hero Academia has always maintained a human element through strong characterization and the protagonist’s struggles to adapt to his power. Midoriya, Uraraka, and co aren’t walking away from this war unscathed. Many still are walking around disheveled and adorned with physical scars. It only makes sense they wouldn’t have rid themselves of the mental ones yet, either.
My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 fully pushes us to the finish line. From the beginning of the new year of classes to Eri’s performance at Aoyama’s farewell party, there’s a real sense of melancholic closure to the story. With only one episode yet, the characters are this much closer to their curtain call. And the final season has taken great pains to ensure we’ll miss them once they’re gone.
My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 is available now on Crunchyroll with new episodes each Saturday.
Images courtesy of Studio Bones and Crunchyroll.
REVIEW RATING
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My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 10 - 8/10
8/10
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.
