This week we get a little bit of backstory on Big Three member, Tamaki Amajiki. We also see a little of young Mirio! They’re both so precious! We begin the backstory with Tamaki transferring to a brand new grade school and being too shy to properly introduce himself. He mumbles and is generally quiet, he feels isolated from his classmates due to the fact he’s new and they had all gone to school together previously though. He almost feels like nobody wants to talk to him, that is until he approached by Mirio. Who wasn’t just willing to talk to him but was so bright and interesting, like the sun.
It’s a clear theme throughout the episode just how much Tamaki admires Mirio, how he admired him in the past and how he admires him now.
Tamaki’s biggest obstacle. The thing holding him back the most is the fact he overthinks everything and gets nervous and self-sabotages himself. His greatest enemy is himself, he’s been told this by Mirio and by Fat gum. He’s smart, he’s got a good strong quirk and one day if he can overcome his self-doubt. He can even become a hero that outshines Mirio. That’s where he gets his hero name, from something that Mirio said to him back in middle school. That if Mirio himself is the sun to Tamaki, then Takami must be something even stronger then the sun.
A sun eater.
The frame of these flashbacks is the heroes rushing the building, the Shie Hassaikai are doing everything in their power to stall for time. The small guy that is always by Overhaul’s side, he drives a quirk enhancing drug into himself and then crawls into the wall. While his quirk normally would not allow him to move anything larger than a fridge, the enhancement allows his quirk to be able to control a much larger area. For example, the concrete of the building.Mirio is able to keep running down the path as he is able to use his quirk to do so but everyone else gets held up and dropped down into a room with three of the Hassaikai’s flunkies.
Takami tells the other heroes to go.
He’ll take care of these three on his own, his only request before they leave the room is that they make sure Mirio doesn’t get hurt. Mirio is the kind of person who will rush in, giving his all and more and with that being said. The heroes need to be there to stop him from pushing past his own limits.
Fat gum makes the final decision to leave Amajiki behind to deal with them. If he has that much confidence that he can do it, then Fat gum believes in him too. The rest of the episode contains the fight between Amajiki and the Hassaikai members.
Even when it looks bad, even when things are down. Amajiki is resourceful and uses what he does understand to gain the upper hand in the fight. While he might not understand their motives for following Overhaul. While he might not understand why they are willing to die for their leader. He does understand their bonds, teamwork, and friendship and gains the upper advantage there. There is also a cool bit where he eats and manifests some of one of their quirks. A really smart play that leads to his victory and that is where the episode wraps.
The action as always was on point and the animation in this episode was top-notch, as to be expected of My Hero at this point. The emotional heart of this episode was the flashback scenes and the interactions between Tamaki and Mirio as they grew up. The scene where Mirio says that he doesn’t believe he’s as amazing as Tamaki sees him and believes that Tamaki is more amazing then he sees himself really pulled at my heartstrings. It’s often so hard to see ourselves as others see us, these are two people who are genuinely building each other up.
Somehow, it’s like if Izuku and Bakugo’s relationship was more friendly. Rivals that make the other want to become better, but without the animosity.
Next episode, we get another Kirishima focused episode. Honestly, I’m really excited about that. I’m really liking a lot of the character-focused episodes this season. While MHA is ultimately Izuku’s story about how he becomes the greatest hero, he obviously doesn’t do it alone and his classmates and their journies are huge parts of the story and I’m glad to see it branch out and tell these stories. Such as Sun Eaters background, or Kirishima’s story and personal struggles. I’m hoping we’ll get a little bit of insight into the brief flashback at the end of Red Riots premiere episode.
I’m also excited to see Eri’s rescue, but alas that will have to wait just a little bit longer. Hang in there Eri!