We are now inching closer and closer to the big showdown for Eri’s safety in Season 4 of My Hero Academia. This week’s episode finally takes us down that path and in shocking fashion, a beloved member of the League of Villains makes their lovely return.
Picking up exactly where Episode 9 left off, we see Rappa reemerge from the rubble and ready to make a final stand against Fat Gum and Red Riot once again. This time though, its a fight until the last man is standing. Unfortunately for us the viewing audience and Rappa, that showdown will have to wait. As Rappa, Fat Gum and Red Riot are SEVERLY injured, broken bones included. We get a brief but very informative background story for Rappa, a former MMA fighter who found himself joining the Shie Hassaikai after losing a fight against Overhaul. A fight in which he was killed and resurrected by Overhaul.
This bit of information confirms Overhaul’s quirk ability which was revealed a few episodes ago by Sir Nighteye. Overhaul can break things apart and put them back together. We see Overhaul do this during the brief flashback with his first fight against Rappa. Rappa reveals to Fat Gum part of Overhaul’s plan, which he overheard while eavesdropping. Rappa also reveals that his sole reasoning for joining the Shie Hassaikai is to get stronger and finally defeat Overhaul, who he’s now fought five times, and has lost every single one of those fights.
One of, if not one of the best moments of this week’s episode is the return of Himiko Toga. One of the League of Villain’s fan-favorites. While her encounter with the Pro Heroes is somewhat brief. Her return sets up a much grander story arc for Shigaraki and The League of Villains.
We get a brief encounter between Sir Nighteye and Twice. The highlight is simply this, Nighteye is just more than Foresight. There’s more than meets the Nighteye…get it? No?…let’s proceed! All puns and references aside, Nighteye has shown what his seals can do and what he is fully capable of. He is the former sidekick of the Symbol of Peace, All Might, after all.
Manga readers know exactly where this is going in terms of Sir Nighteye. While I personally do not read the manga, I have read some minor spoilers for this very specific arc of My Hero Academia so seeing Sir Nighteye display some power other than his foresight has me really excited for what’s to come!
Tomura Shigaraki…Tomura Shiga-freaking-raki! For the entirety of this season thus far I have been thinking to myself, “Shigaraki has GOT to have an ace up his sleeve! Something must’ve clicked within his mind to make him reach out to Overhaul to join forces, but WHAT IS IT?!” And today, we got an answer, and this episode really cemented why I’m such a huge fan of Shigarki. He’s smarter and more tactical than he lets on to believe.
Joining forces with the Shie Hassaikai surely benefited The League, but to what extent when The League is literally leagues above them in terms of villainy? Yes, the Yakuza have the money but as Overhaul has steadily mentioned since the beginning of this season, they just don’t have the manpower or the fear that comes with being a member of The League of Villains.
What was Shigaraki’s trump card? Well…ALLOW Overhaul to “recruit” Toga and Twice. Convince Toga and Twice to let themselves be sweet-talked by Overhaul and his goons but when the timing was right, turn on the Shie Hassaikai and destroy them from within, as he never saw Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai as equals.
One of the best episodes of this season to date. Next week’s episode focuses on Lemillion as he finally catches up to Overhaul and the battle ensues for the retrieval of Eri.
My Hero Academia is now streaming on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Funimation.