Just when fans thought they saw the best episode of the season last week, episode 97 proves us wrong. Was it as flashy as last week’s? No. However, episode 97 gave us a moment we’ve all been anticipating since the start of the season – Bakugo’s chance to showcase his growth.
A Shaky Start For Class-A
Class-B admits before the match that the Class-A team is perfectly balanced. But that doesn’t stop them from getting the upper hand early on. As Class-A plans a head-on attack, Bakugo immediately stops them and has Jiro search the surrounding area for Class-B.
It backfires as Setsuna reveals her quirk of being able to split up multiple parts of her body. This makes it difficult for Jiro to find those on the Class-B team. Suddenly, Class-A is trapped in a web of glue and pipes thanks to Kojiro’s quirk.
Everyone… but Bakugo.
Togaru for Class-B slashes the pipes and causes them to fall right towards Jiro, Rikido, and Sero. Just as Rikido prepares himself to save the other two, Bakugo flies in from out of nowhere and blasts the pipes away!
Immediately after, Togaru ends up going straight for Jiro in a head-on attack. Just as Jiro thinks she’s about to be captured she’s saved by… Guess who, yet?
BAKUGO.
He kicks Jiro out of the way and blasts Togaru. While it’s not enough to render Togaru immobile since he blocked it, that wasn’t Bakugo’s goal.
The scene then cuts to Bakugo talking to the team before the match. He promises them, “When you guys are in danger, I’ll save you!”
His act of heroism completely stuns everyone watching, including All Might. As someone who has always been hell-bent on catching the villains instead, Bakugo shows, in this moment, that he’s becoming a true hero more and more.
Bakugo shouts out, “I will have complete victory in every fight. 4-0, no injuries! That’s how someone who’s really strong wins!”
Class-A Counters
Now that Bakugo’s team is fired up (pun intended), they begin to turn the tide of the match.
Class-B starts to retreat, but Class-A quickly pursues after Jiro locates them.
Bakugo suddenly gets put into a metal trap thanks to Awase’s welding quirk. But Rikido immediately comes to Bakugo’s aid and frees him.
He starts chasing after Awase. As soon as he catches up to him, he gives him one blast but as a smokescreen, leaving Awase to Jiro.
As the fights ensue and the music picks, we hear Bakugo’s voice repeating, “When you guys are in danger, I’ll save you. And when I’m in danger, you save me.”
Chills.
Jira makes quick work of Awase and manages to capture him. Meanwhile, Bakugo gives Kojiro a few blasts so Rikido can capture him as well.
That’s two done. Two more for the flawless victory.
Flawless Teamwork Seals The Deal
While Jiro has Awase captured, she immediately goes into helping Bakugo find the rest.
She leads him to his next target – Togaru. Bakugo blasts him into a wall with his X-Catapult, knocking him out immediately while Sero wraps him up with his tape.
Three down, one to go.
Sero locates Setsuna by taping one of the grenades Bakugo gave everyone before the match to one of her returning body parts.
Thanks to Sero’s quick thinking, Bakugo locates her. Setsuna realizes Bakugo is right next to her and shouts, “You changed too much!”
Bakugo ends the match in the most glorious way only he could – with a giant explosion and a final word to remind everyone just who he is.
“I haven’t changed. My goal’s always been the same… To surpass All Might and become the number one hero.”
Heartfelt Ending
Bakugo’s team became the first in the entire tournament to have a flawless victory. Not only that, but the match lasted less than five minutes, which was also the quickest time for a match so far.
After the match, Deku and All Might both approached Bakugo after being amazed at what they just witnessed.
Deku gave him the standard Deku-kind-of praise which followed with a standard Bakugo response…
But afterward, Bakugo calmly told Deku, “I’m moving forward. I’m moving so fast you won’t be able to catch up.”
The wonderful rivalry continues.
However, I think we can agree that All Might wrapped up the entire match in one perfect sentence.
Episode MVP: Bakugo
Is it obvious yet? While Jiro, Sero, and Rikido did a phenomal job of being supportive teammates, the obvious MVP of the episode is Bakugo.
From the very beginning, he never stopped trusting his teammates in the fight. He also never fought on his own or had any selfish ideas at any point in the match like he has in the past.
He prioritized saving his teammates over going for the villains.
He was truly a flawless teammate and leader throughout the entire battle.
Next Week’s Preview
The final match of the tournament comes down to Deku’s team with Mineta, Uraraka, and Ashido vs the ever so loud Monoma and his Class-B squad along with Shinso.
This will determine whether the tournament ends in a tie or if it will end in a Class-A victory.
Given how it looks, Class-B’s team stacks up well against Class-A’s and they know it, too.
Episode 98 of My Hero Academia will air next Saturday, May 29, on Crunchyroll.
If you thought episode 97 was the best one this week, you can vote for it on our weekly poll!
All images via Crunchyroll
©「僕のヒーローアカデミア」製作委員会©堀越耕平／集英社
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