Episode 107 of My Hero Academia tugged on the heartstrings as fans found out the truth behind Kurogiri’s identity. While most are waiting for the My Villian Academia arc to begin this upcoming Saturday, episode 107 did give us some backstory to Aizawa and Present Mic.
Some fans could argue this messed up the pacing of Season 5 a bit. While they aren’t necessarily wrong, we still received a good episode regardless. The dialogue was solid. The flashbacks were heart-warming. And the execution ended being relatively solid as well.
What We Learned
Hizashi and Aizawa have a long history with each other. But we never would have known this from watching basically every other episode of My Hero Academia. Outside of being instructors at U.A., one would’ve never guessed they’re actually best friends that go way back. Seeing the two basically shaking from nervousness in the car on the way to see Kurogiri set the tone for what followed.
They learn a little about what makes a Nomu. In short, Nomus are basically deceased people who are then turned into dolls packed with multiple quirks at a time. Kurogiri is one of those Nomu experiments. What Hizashi and Aizawa learn is that their old best friend, Oboro Shirakumo, was the body used to create what is now Kurogiri.
Gran Torino mentions to them the Nomu that Endeavor fought at the end of last season had a distinct personality. They found out that Nomu was created from an underground fighter’s body. So Gran Torino hoped that Aizawa and Hizashi could hopefully trigger something that could bring out Oboro. If successful, they could possibly get information regarding the league of villains.
This creates an utterly heartbreaking reunion between the three best friends and the pain you can feel from both Aizawa and Hizashi shows the episode did a wonderful job of building up to the moment. Hizashi begins to seem hopeless in drawing Oboro out but, for the first time, we see a teary-eyed Aizawa doing just about everything he can to bring his old friend back just for a moment.
And, for a very brief moment, it actually works. Oboro was able to speak one word and word only to help them – “hospital”.
Heartfelt Moments
While the current situation is filled with heartbreak, the flashbacks to the three in their school days was a nice heartfelt touch to make the reunion even more emotional. You truly felt the impact that Oboro had on the two. While Aizawa was the “calm and collected” one of the group, Hizashi being the loud and rambunctious one, Shirakumo was easily the one that brought all three of them together.
In short, the impact of Oboro’s friendship is felt tremendously in this episode. Some may look at this as an episode that just prolonged the MVA arc. But fans need to stop overlooking the fact this was a well-done episode in many aspects.
Shocking Ending, My Villain Academia Arc Next Week
At the very end of the episode, we see a doctor performing an experiment on Tomura. This doctor mentions something about creating someone with “infinite power”. That this is something he and All For One have been working towards for a while.
This scene received some criticism from fans of the My Hero Academia manga. They claim that the scene in the anime didn’t capture the brutality of the scene like the manga did. But looking back at both, the scene is fine. But what new power will Tomura have from this experiment? That will be interesting to see down the line.
Next week the My Villain Academia Arc begins! Episode 108 will air Saturday, August 21, on Crunchyroll and Funimation. If you like episode 107 of My Hero Academia, make sure to vote for it in our weekly poll!
All images & video via Crunchyroll
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