My Hero Academia Season 6

Episodes 114-115

My Hero is back, and the stakes have never been higher. With the League of Villains now perched atop a hundred-thousand-strong army of dissidents, and Shigaraki on the verge of a mad science metamorphosis, the peace of the world has never been more precarious. So in classic shonen fashion, it's time for a War arc featuring damn near every named character to ever appear in the series, along with some new additions just for flavor.

You can read my impressions of episode 114 in this season's preview guide, since for the first time ever we've got a returning season of MHA that doesn't feature a recap episode. Not in name, anyway, as the opener was still mostly place-setting and telling us where the most important characters are on this two-front battle. Short version is: Deku and the kids are in the back row, handling evacuation and support, so for the foreseeable future this is going to be the adults' job. It's a bit of an odd move, since most series can't wait to create some sort of loophole to send their teen protagonists into the maw of combat, but it's pretty justified here considering all of our main characters are still high schoolers, provisional license to practe asskicking be damned. They will doubtlessly end up involved anyway, but it's to the adults' credit that they recognize sending partially trained minors to the front lines is a bad move on all fronts.

Well, there are a few exceptions, with some of the students being brought in specifically to counter certain enemies who could tear through the Heroes' ranks, and that's where our boy Kaminari gets pulled, kicking and screaming, into the fray. I'll admit I've never been a huge fan of Kaminari – during the early seasons he felt like an annoying accomplice to Mineta's worst scenes, and since then he's made for a decent sidekick to Bakugo, but doesn't have the energy to really carry a scene on his own. But one of the fun things of big conflicts like this is they can let side characters shine, and Chargebolt does look pretty damn cool here, wreathed in lightning and staring down his opponent with one hell of a smirk. And it's super sweet that the push he needs to overcome his fears is thinking about protecting Jiro. As a fellow Jiro simp, I salute his dedication to the cause. She still won't date you though, man, sorry.

But the real star of episode 115 is the lady it's named after: Mirko. The bunny in question has hopped up a few times the past couple seasons, and took the internet by storm on strength of character design alone. Here, she finally gets her time to shine and it is not wasted. For my money the best fights in MHA, on a purely technical level, are when it's just two characters whaling on one another with obvious skin in the game, and there is a whole lot of flesh flying every which way in her fight with the High-end Nomu. The clash is fast, brutal, and Mirko puts even Deku's bone-breaking to shame by ripping her own arm off to escape from one of the enemies' hold. And just for got measure she then rips the offender's headoff with the power of her thighs. We should all be so lucky when we go. My barely restrained thirst aside, it's a killer way to start off this whole fight, telling the audience and characters that this is a fight for keeps, and anyone is at risk of losing life, limb, or both.

From a sheer spectacle perspective, it's a great way to really kick off a season of what's sure to be thrilling battles, especially with the specter of Shigaraki's awakening hanging as a ticking clock. From the perspective of somebody writing about this show for a living, it presents a bit of a challenge. I'm kind of used to having solid character motivations or larger themes to talk about during MHA's biggest moments, but if we're branching out into the extended cast for a bit, that approach isn't gonna work for me. So unless my editor is okay with me turning into 500-word love letters to Mirko every week, I may have to get a little experimental moving forward. We'll see.

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