The Provisional License Exam has split up most of Class 1A, but now we get the chance to watch each group shine as individuals. Now that Midoriya has a much healthier perspective of what it is to be a hero, and how to protect himself as well as others, it’s important that we see how well everyone else fares. First we see Todoroki being ..well, Todoroki. He’s fine. But the real trial of the episode focuses on Yaoyorozu, Sue, and several other students as they try to play things safely. Little do they know they’re walking into the clutches of a particularly dangerous set of opponents: and Yaoyorozu gets another chance to truly shine as a member of Class 1A’s finest.

I appreciated that in this episode Momo was considered the biggest threat. In a lot of ways her failure in the Sports Festival stated a lot of things that could have downplayed her importance, but she is brilliant and has a powerful quirk. Seeing Sue’s weakness this episode was kind of nice because it hasn’t been applicable before, but hey man, the villain Momo had to outwit has a great quirk. My Hero Academy is introducing a lot of new heroes who seem to come across more as villains. So many of them have sadistic personalities and manipulative strategies for winning. This antagonist, in particular, was rather crazy to me. Her quirk makes her intelligence shoot up after drinking tea and closing her eyes, which is now the most pedantic conditions for any quirk in the series, so her plan was supposed to be bulletproof. But if she was a hero it would make more sense for her to be concerned for her enemies health even if she wanted to defeat them. She’s not heroic at all. Is U.A. the only school with the “maybe care about other people” requirement?? No wonder everyone likes them the best.

 

you wanted to save your friend???? what?????? friendship?????

I think the test definitely has a few layers. The first layer declares that you are able to defend yourself while stopping others. The statement Midoriya has made lends itself to the theme. He talked about protecting himself so he could save others in a better way. It seems clear to me that they start this competition with a test of self-sufficiency: no one who completely throws themselves on the sword can be a true hero. This test would be something Midoriya failed if he hadn’t gone through every trial he did before now. I think it’s beautiful, however, that U.A.’s students are declaring that teamwork and saving others is very significant too. The next few layers have to be like the U.A. test, saving people is no doubt going to be a part of it. I don’t think any of these ‘antagonist’ heroes understand how to save people, just to be powerful, and they don’t deserve licenses. That being said, I can almost guarantee you Bakugo will not get this license because he doesn’t understand protecting people either.

The last thing I can say is that Eraserhead talks about how Midoriya and Bakugo both inspire and ignite passion in their classmates, making sure that they succeed as a unit even when they are apart. It’s so important that Hero Academia isn’t focused on Midoriya alone as a star, it definitely shows Bakugo’s strengths. I don’t think anyone in Class 1A lacks the charisma to shine thanks to these two. Except for Mineta. Mineta is a garbage character who does not belong in this show. Please go away Mineta.

 

Oki