My Hero Academia Final Season (S8), Episodes 6-8: WHAT is in this anime, bro.

[autumninpluto]

What do they put in these things, bro.

I've been crying my ass off for two episodes already and I'm watching them on a weekly basis. I have so much respect for bones (the studio working on this).

Disclaimer: I didn't read these parts in the manga, but my partner did read some bits of the Final War arc. For him, he says the anime adaptation was way more compelling, and for me, I don't think I even  need  to read the manga to know that the anime really went Plus Ultra on that shit. Damn.

Warnings:  Obvious spoilers below for Season 8 of My Hero Academia + this post has zero structure.

Some things I've been really liking the past 3 episodes, in no particular order: 

• Mineta's lines:  I'm not a Mineta fan. I have to get that out of the way, first and foremost. But  even if I'm not a Mineta fan,  my GOD do his lines go hard as fuck. Both at the end of 8x7 and 8x8. It's so raw and has the determination you can only get in a shounen anime like this, from a young character, that I am still not over it until now.
  • How does Mineta just keep on  cooking? :  These latest lines + "take my quirk instead!" from when AFO was going to take Tokoyami's quirk away... we might need to ban Mineta from the kitchen because WOW.
    • How do I  really  feel about Mineta, though?:  I jokingly say "I hate him" a lot because he makes me cringe with his antics, but it's not really that strong of a feeling. His level of exposure and development in the series is just fine. Thank god he locked the fuck in!
• Denki's lines in 8x6:  Dude, that shit BROKE ME. He is worried for Deku because he's his friend, but he is also worried that that means he doesn't trust him. Denki is such a good boy. Look at him. He's so baby.
  
  
  
  • Denki in 8x8:  Also, dude was like, powering the whole U.A. island thing this season and is so spent that his appearance has been stuck in goofy mode for multiple episodes straight (yes I know the amount of time that has passed in-universe is not a lot), but he still shows up and helps with the rest of 1-A! Dude is a FIGHTER.
    • Going back to Mineta for a bit...:  I think one of the things I appreciate the most about Mineta and Denki is that they don't start out with as lofty of an ambition to be a hero. They even go so far as to question whether the things U.A. does, or the things they had to go through during the Paranormal Liberation War, were truly okay.
      
      Their reactions to the traumatic shit they all go through as a class are very human, and this Denki scene just  cements  that fact. He is the closest to an actual, human teenager in this series filled with superhumans who have grit and motivation that are out of this world.
    • Momo and Denki:  That railgun was fucking awesome. Momo cannon gag but make it Plus Ultra because now this is a  rail gun. (cue  Only My Railgun - fripSide [this song significantly ages me by the way])
• Eri!!!:  Cried ugly tears when she gave Aizawa her horn to help Deku. She would have strapped herself onto him like a backpack again, if she could. 
  • Also:  Ectoplasm looking a bit guilty when Aizawa found out he helped her remove her horn, lol. Ectoplasm is a huge softie, I just know it. A shame we didn't get much of him after the "ultimate move" mini-arc.
• Eraser/Mic/Shirakumo:  Bro, this screencap cracks me up. Like, I'm-cracking-up-but-I'm-also-bawling-my-eyes-out. Lighthearted, joke-characters turning more angsty than the serious character once their tragic backstory is revealed is one of my favorites. Aizawa, who is expected to be the gloomier one, has to rein his emotional best friend in, has to be the stronger one between the two of them. 
  
  
  The severe tonal shift from Mic at the start of the season to Mic now gives me whiplash in a good way. Shirakumo's face showing through Kurogiri haunts me. The tears Kurogiri cries  haunts me . The idea that it's always been Shirakumo deep inside when Kurogiri warps to try and save Shigaraki  h a u n t s  m e .
  • Heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin:  When I was in college, my professor asked us, non-verbatim, "Is one man's terrorist another man's freedom fighter?"
    
    This is a question separate from morality, or right vs. wrong; rather, it focuses more on acknowledging what each side is fighting for. Each side believes it is just as righteous, if not more, and each side has something they're working to fight for and protect. The LOV, despite being the bad guys, are shown to have grown into a family in their own right. Their methods are inexcusable, but they have their own convictions, too, making their stories tragic in their own right. 
    • Did you know:  For Fall 2025, there is another anime besides My Hero Academia that makes this sort of allusion: surprisingly, that is  Spy x Family .
• Shigaraki's backstory+:  The part he doesn't actually personally know; basically, his father, Kotaro's backstory and involvement with AFO. The way this was shown was so cinematic. I think anime-only peeps and those who were unspoiled shared the same surprise Shigaraki did when he was like, "wait, I didn't know this..." The shared feeling of betrayal and despair when he found out just how far AFO's reach extended... chef's kiss.
• Brocon AFO :  I mean this in a joking way for the most part, but AFO's obsession with his brother really came to a head in 8x8. Switching from feeling empty to desperately clinging onto the last embers of his brother's presence, to being called "just a lonely human being" by Deku (emotional_damage.gif)... tragic stuff.
  
  Hearing him say "I love you! I love you!" to his brother--expressing a human emotion despite being represented as farthest from humanity himself--makes me feel bad for him, but also, AFO is evil. Irredeemably so. The most Deku can give him is pity and a mercy killing, because dude is just far too gone. I like it that way.
• That shot with Iida and Deku:  No real words for it, just raw emotion. They've all grown up so well.

Looking forward to...

Well, the next episode!

I'm so sad that this season only has 11 episodes. Though three episodes for the epilogue arc is already plenty, I suppose. I can only hope it also includes scenes from Chapter 431 and 431.5. 

I hope we get a movie or OVA series filling in the blanks between the 8 year timeskip that also integrates the little facts we get about the characters' development in the  My Hero Academia: Ultra Age Fanbook .

I'll probably make a separate post soon about the timeskip things I want to see, but I shall end this here for now as it's gotten so long, lmao.