Today on Why It Works, it’s time for some shameless promotion, as I break down just a few of the things to look forward to in My Hero Academia’s fast-approaching fourth season. If you’ve read the manga, none of this will be new to you, but if you haven’t, this post should offer a spoiler-free sampler of the directions the story will soon be taking. Have at it!
What to Expect from the My Hero Academia Anime’s Fourth Season!
My reviews of the My Hero Academia manga continue today, as I explore a volume that was unfortunately one of the messiest in the story’s run. It currently feels like Horikoshi is attempting some Hunter x Hunter-tier narrative cross-threading, but the world only has one Togashi, and Horikoshi isn’t him. Heavy exposition and a fundamentally drama-averse power in Nighteye’s vision made for an awkward volume on the whole, but I’m still excited to see where this all goes. With a full volume of preamble on the books, I have to imagine the yakuza raid is going to be a sight to see.
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Today on ANN, I’ve got my review of the latest season of My Hero Academia. This season was definitely less consistently excellent than season two, but its highs might have been even higher. Both All Might’s conference with Midoriya’s mother and his subsequent fight probably count among my top five My Hero Academia episodes, and there was plenty else to enjoy besides. I hope you enjoy the review!
My Hero Academia, Season Three
Welp, show’s over, folks. Planet With already finished up last week, and with our last two contenders having now handed in their final assignments, the building is pretty much empty. This wasn’t really the most fortuitous week in summer anime – My Hero Academia essentially ended on a transition point, while Revue Starlight’s last episode was quite likely also its worst episode. Still, there are points worth poking at, and as long as I’m here, we might as well do one last session. Starting with our tragic stage girls, let’s run the summer’s final week down!
Hey all, and welcome back to the Week in Review. The summer season is basically over at this point, as Planet With turns in its final assignment and my other airing shows prep for their own finales. This season was ultimately, obviously pretty top-heavy, as the dropoff between what I actually stuck with and what I could have picked up pretty much always felt precipitous, but I still ended up with a fair amount to talk about, and I’m guessing all three of this season’s heavyweights will end up on my end-of-year list. Planet With’s presence on that list is basically assured – in fact, I’m guessing that one will be duking it out with Violet Evergarden and whatever the fall’s best show is for my top pick of the year. Revue Starlight and My Hero Academia are a little more iffy, but both of them have demonstrated great strengths throughout this season, and I’ll be sad to see them go. Starting with the season’s clear champion, let’s poke at the summer season one more time!
The anime was dominated by titanic clashes this week, as all my shows galloped towards their endgames while offering some dramatic fireworks along the way. While My Hero Academia demonstrated that it had indeed been hoarding all its animation eggs in the Deku-Bakugo basket, Revue Starlight showed off with a two-on-two duel featuring some of its most convincing secondary character work so far. And over in Planet With land, this season’s most visually conservative star showed off in its own way, vividly demonstrating the richness of characterization and thoughtfulness of narrative structure that have elevated it all along the way. I had little to complain about and much to revel in this week, and I’m happy to share all my gushing with you folks. Let’s start with the showdown between everyone’s favorite rowdy boys as we run down one more week in anime!
With the summer season entering its twilight hour, everything I’m watching began clearing its throat this week, mostly by taking care of various dramatic minibosses in order to prep for the finale. That resulted in a collection of episodes that weren’t really all that thrilling for their own sake, but still necessary in various ways, and littered with occasional small pleasures. Having each pulled off a sequence of jaw-dropping episodes in their recent history, both Revue Starlight and Planet With unfortunately ended up faltering in their most common ways this week; Revue Starlight through its sometimes shaky characterization and storytelling, and Planet With through its so-so visual execution. Neither of this season’s highlights are perfect shows, but they’re both relentlessly interesting shows, and even their missteps leave me with plenty to talk about. Let’s break down those complaints and more as we run down one more week in anime!
Today on Crunchyroll, I combined my appreciation for the subtle uniqueness of Todoroki’s most recent conflicts with My Hero Academia’s current reflections on how heroism demands more than just strength, and came up with an article that I’m pretty sure all fits together! My Hero Academia’s focus on heroes as sources of inspiration and hope has always been sorta assumed in the background, but with All Might retiring, the story’s adults are actually having to straight-up articulate their need for a societal symbol of peace. Todoroki could very well become that symbol, but you can’t inspire others when the only thing fueling you is your own anger. Todoroki failed at the license exams, but I’m pretty sure he still picked up that lesson, and is stronger for it. This kid is gonna be okay!
The Ideal Hero: Todoroki’s Personal Mountain
As we move towards the final act of the summer season’s various performances, I’m happy to say that both Planet With and Revue Starlight seem squarely aimed at tremendously satisfying climaxes. Well, in Planet With’s case this will be its fourth or fifth tremendously satisfying climax, but I was worried about Starlight at least for a while there, and this week’s episode went a serious distance towards putting my fears to rest. The story’s “villain” is now clear, the show’s internal conflicts have both the immediate dramatic consequences and larger thematic relevance they needed, and the execution of each individual episode somehow seems to actually improve over time. Revue Starlight opened with infinite potential, but it’s only recently hammered down its dramatic solidity, and I couldn’t be happier. But anyway, starting with the old favorite that’s unfortunately turned out to be the runt of this seasonal litter, let’s work our way up and run this week down!
Hey folks, and welcome back to another week in review. The anime was the anime this week – one show triumphed with one of its best episodes, another show disappointed with one of its least impressive, and Planet With was as indescribably Planet With as ever. The success story this week was Revue Starlight, which illustrated a shocking revelation regarding the true nature of this competition through a beautifully realized tone piece, giving us an evocative glimpse into the headspace of Starlight’s most mysterious contender. Offering consistently striking layouts and a variety of dramatic reveals, it marked a major step up for the series in terms of narrative tension while also thrilling as its own self-contained vignette. I should probably reserve some of my gushing for the show’s own dedicated segment, though, so let’s hold off there and start with the runt of the weekly litter. It’s time to run this week down!