The My Hero Academia Academia Season 6 premiere aired on Saturday and it set the tone for the entire Fall 2022 season in a major way. While the series wasn’t the first anime to premiere this season, it undoubtedly marked the return of a first major series this fall season with wonderful artwork, compositing, animation, and overall direction. While most of the episode was information-filled with only the final handful of minutes of seeing any action, everything was explained for a reason and done with a purpose, leaving no stone left unturned that ended on a note leaving me screaming “LET’S GO!” at my TV screen.
Unlike other series such as Golden Kamuy Season 4, which didn’t waste time having action at the beginning of its premiere, My Hero Academia Season 6 took the other way around by making sure the viewers had all the information they needed to know before all the action takes place. And the episode did a fantastic job of dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s knowing there wasn’t much time left to do so.
With Hawks’ voice actor Yuichi Nakamura narrating parts of the episode that focus on the Paranormal Liberation Front and Deku’s voice actor Daiki Yamashita narrating parts focusing on the heroes, we got perspective from both sides of the battle in a clear way with zero confusion. And one of the best parts of all of this information spewing through the former half of the episode is that it reassures the importance of Twice for the villains and how he’s the most intimidating villain with Shigaraki on the sidelines (for now).
But even more so, Hawks’ half of the episode was used of building up the hype and strength of the villains, even saying things like Shigaraki is “the second coming of All For One.” This gave way to reinforcing just how serious this situation really is. Then we get into the other little things that did a wonderful job of building up the final moments of the episode that got the arc underway as well and we realize that this episode really could be considered a 10/10 for so many reasons.
When all the heroes were being briefed by Officer Naomasa on Doctor Garaki and the situation at Jaku Hospital, Aizawa and Present Mic were the only ones starting to lose their cool at the thought of Garaki’s name. These shots were very subtle and very quick, but it’s those little things that can make an episode perfect or just very good. And now, looking back, having them visit Kurogiri last season, despite it mixing in with other arcs and throwing off the timeline a little, ended up being a smart directing choice. Because the emotions were felt in that moment and later on when they both came in contact with Garaki at the hospital. And this is where even more little details come into place amplifying those emotions
The artwork in the Season 6 premiere was crisp, and that’s crisp with major emphasis on it. A popular criticism of last season was the artwork being bland compared to the manga. Well, I think BONES heard the fans and stepped up to the plate this time around and they knocked it out of the park. The heavier line art and facial details are more apparent in close-ups and the use of colors is a lot more vibrant than last season as well. The shading, plus depth of field with awesome camera work, was just one giant chef kiss work of perfection. But one thing made it all better–the voice acting.
When we think of voice actors from My Hero Academia, we usually think about Aizawa (Junichi Suwabe), Deku (Yamashita), Bakugo (Nobuhiko Okamoto), and even Shoto Todoroki (Yuuki Kaji). But I think another round of applause here needs to be given to Present Mic’s voice actor Hiroyuki Yoshino, because my goodness… What a traumatic display of emotion during the moment above. Present Mic is one of the characters from the series that we never see truly let out any anger towards anyone. And finally, in a highly anticipated Season 6 premiere, Yoshino delivered the best performance of the episode despite it being short-lived. It really made me feel like Oboro Shirakumo was a friend of mine that was lost as well.
And it’s not like this was just in one scene of the episode, it was throughout the entire episode. Whether it was of Hawks at the beginning, of Aizawa and Present Mic at the hospital, or Mirko at the very end, the artwork in the My Hero Academia Season 6 premiere was downright gorgeous and deserves praise. And best believe I am going to talk about the insane animation of the Mirko scene at the end which leads us to what is going to be one of the most hype episodes of the season this upcoming Saturday. And now, it’s time for the team at BONES and Sayaka Kinoshita (Mirko’s VA) to show what they’re truly made of. I have a feeling both BONES and Kinoshita are going to deliver at the highest level that we all know they’re capable of. Plus, it’s time for Mirko to be in the spotlight once and for all.
Get ready anime-only fans, you’re in for a treat.
One last moment that I loved in this episode was when Endeavor called Garaki “The Pawn of the Devil” and after that scene, it’s Natsuo and Fuyumi talking about Endeavor as they leave the house, to which Natsuo reminisces about what happened in Kyushu and how Endeavor almost died hoping things don’t end up like that again. I thought this was a beautiful piece of directing as Natsuo has always thought of Endeavor as the devil himself given what he’s done to their family. But that hint of sympathy, despite it being very simple, could possibly involve a lot of foreshadowing.
Oh, and the My Hero Academia Season 6 premiere also presented us this masterpiece of an ending with all thanks to Haruka Iida’s incredible work (director, storyboard, and key animation) along with others including Yuuki Hayashi (animation director), Shunsuke Shishido (in-between animation inspection).
If you loved the My Hero Academia Season 6 premiere then make sure to vote for it in our weekly poll this week! My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 2 titled “Mirko, The No. 5 Hero” will air on Saturday, October 8, on Crunchyroll.
Season premiere rating: 10/10
Screenshots: Crunchyroll
© Kohei Horikoshi / SHUEISHA, “My Hero Academia” Production Committee