© Kohei Horikoshi/Shueisha/My Hero Academia Production Committee
When old allies arrive at the right time, it’s easy to scoff at who gets picked. Sure, Nagan makes sense and is gentle, and he has a fan-favorite energy, but what about the kids at Inasa and Shijie High School? The ones who become necessary opponents on the licensing exam and then spend weeks doing crafts to prove they’re good kids? What do these kids have to do with all this?
Well, nothing really, and that’s the point. While the rest of our cast lapses into self-doubt or endures decades-long feuds that culminate in happy endings, Inasa manages to keep it in perspective. To him, the AFO was a relic of a bygone era; something his generation had studied in the history books. He’s not a personal boogie maniac or sworn enemy, which allows these kids to attack him from angles AFO isn’t accustomed to. You may have noticed that half of what he said was nothing, but AFO loved the idea of being a demon lord, a comic book demon that made the world itself tremble. He loves making people lose hope of fighting because they finally understand what they’re facing – something that can’t happen when you’re fighting a bunch of teenagers who only know the past tense.
Of course, all this philosophical nitpicking is fine, but sometimes it’s just nice to see a mean guy eating dirt, and who better to do that than the actual Master of Darkness himself? Let me tell you, if last week Gentle and Nagant stirred up my inner fanboy, watching Dark Shadow send smug shivers down AFO’s spine and connect my inner fanboy to the back end of the universe while his consciousness is still torn apart and the valence of Unknown Secrets while shouting about the other side of darkness and other things his cool band likes to talk about in their songs.
Sorry if you came here expecting something deeper or more cerebral, but superhero comics are just so cool sometimes, and Chang An uses dark powers and friendships to create the biggest, baddest, and most dangerous ones on this show Damn it, this is awesome. I’ve watched it four times and will probably watch it again. it has a incredible Cool name! This is everything I have for you. Join me next time to see if something more complicated happens. Or if Chang Di turns the AFO’s face into mush for a few minutes.
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my hero academia Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
