By Jonathan Klotz | Published
My Hero Academia has its share of detractors, and even those who have followed the series since the beginning have difficulty following the superhero saga. Yet with Season 7, the anime proved that it was worth watching Deku and the Class 1A students from the very beginning. “The Chain Their Far,” Season 7 Episode 16, and Episode 156 as a whole, was one of the most satisfying and cathartic episodes in all of anime, with a moment, a bullet, that transformed it from an anime that I thought was pretty good, to one of my all-time favorites.
Their darkest hour
In “The Chain Their Far”, Deku confronts the awakened Shigaraki, while the other heroes, scattered across Japan, are on the verge of defeat after Spinner’s successful mission to free Kurogiri. In the darkest moment of My Hero AcademiaDeku is weakened by Gearshift and cannot react to Shigaraki in time, while Skeptic, the villain’s expert hacker, has infiltrated UA High School and is going to crash the floating island, when suddenly, La Brava, the evil girlfriend by Gentle. Criminal, hacks Skeptic’s system and takes control.
Where La Brava goes, Gentle Criminal follows, and the villain from one of the most hated arcs of Season 4 makes a grand entrance to save an entire floating island from falling into the ocean. Gentle Criminal wanted nothing more than to be a hero, and it was only Deku who saw that, reaching out to him during the “School Festival” arc and giving him a chance, which finally bore fruit in one of the My Hero Academia the greatest moments. As satisfying as it was to see the two villains return to the side of the angels, it paled at the sudden shock of Shigaraki’s hand, moments from hitting the ground to spread his decay for miles, getting shot miles away by the world’s greatest sniper.
The greatest hero
Even My Hero Academia manga readers, who were aware of his return, took to social media after the anime’s revelation that Lady Nagant, her limbs covered in bandages, had shot Shigaraki from miles away atop the the hospital she had been in since she had barely survived All For One’s trapped quirk. during the “Dark Deku” arc. The sudden rescue by a character we thought was dead and would never be seen again took a second to justify the entire theme of the anime. Deku doesn’t become the world’s greatest hero because he’s the most powerful, he’s the greatest hero because he inspires everyone to be better.
Deku has been a controversial character among anime fans since the series premiere, from those saying he cries too much to others trying to insist that Bakugo is the true hero, but the arrival of La Brava, Gentle Criminal and Lady Nagant prove him right. Since the very first episode, My Hero Academia viewers have seen Deku try to uplift others, insisting that they are all in this together, winning over even jaded pro heroes, like Sir Nighteyes, with his boundless optimism. By choosing to see the good in everyone, even Shigaraki, Deku was able to convince three villains to change their ways when the world needed it most.
My Hero Academia is behind his contemporaries, Jujutsu Kaisen And Demon Slayerfor years, but with a prequel series, Vigilanteson the way and the cathartic roller coaster of season 7, the superhero series finally deserves to be considered one of the best anime of all time. When hope is lost, heroes lose and the world experiences its darkest moment. The World’s Greatest Hero saves the day not with a Detroit Smash but by being an inspiration. All it took was one bullet.
