My Hero Academia Season 7 episode 1 aired on Saturday, wasting no time at all getting into the thick of things. With a little moment of reflection from Deku followed by Star crushing Shigaraki, along with a great soundtrack from Yuki Hayashi (as always), the season premiere left little to be desired as it hammered away at the action from all angles in the best ways possible… Well, for the most part.
Initial Reaction
After finishing the episode the first time around, I thought most of it was well done. The soundtrack was hype and gave me goosebumps. Romi Park plays an excellent Star. The animation was solid and the art, at times, was well-detailed, which is often a criticism of the anime adaptation, especially in recent seasons. It’s not on the level of the manga (of course), but it’s still respectable.
At times I felt as if there was too much explaining going on with Star’s powers. There’s nothing necessarily bad about it since we do need some explanation. However, it felt like an information overload smack-dab in the middle of what is supposed to be a high-stakes, intense fight between two extremely powerful characters. It went from wanting to destroy each other to “Now it’s time for our chibi commercial break explaining Star’s quirk!” and then back to our regularly scheduled program.
That all being said, it was an all-around, damn-good way to kick off My Hero Academia Season 7 which I thoroughly enjoyed. The unfortunate part, however, is that it felt like it went by in a flash. I’ve been waiting all season long for the premiere and it went by quicker than some spoilers that were shown in the opening.
Star and Stripe
Upfront, Star can be a little corny with her overly stoic attitude because she’s the big, strong hero from the United States. However, my opinion of her changed a little from when we were first introduced in the manga. Whether it has to do with Park’s performance or just seeing Star come to life thanks to the animation team, I don’t know. But she seemed a lot more badass in the anime while her backstory, albeit short, hits slightly better than it did in the manga.
Her power is, indeed, a little complicated to understand. So I get why there’s a long “commercial break” during the fight to really explain how everything works with her quirk, “New Order”. That being said, watching it in action was amazing to witness and I thought the production team did a perfect job showcasing just how overpowered her quirk really is.
Star’s personality was almost predictable in a way given the country she’s coming from (shocker). She’s assertive with a little ignorance. Cocky to a degree, even. But as someone who’s the number one hero of the United States, it always feels like it comes with the territory. Regardless, she easily became someone I could root for. She’s the spitting female image of All Might with a touch of military bravado that makes her a perfect opponent for Shigaraki at this point in time.
I thought the artwork, color designs, and composition in some of Star’s shots were downright gorgeous and even uplifted the manga in some ways, which is a tall task considering series creator Kohei Horikoshi’s insane knack for detail in his character drawings. It was a breath of fresh air and it was definitely needed to give Star that little extra push to make her feel like she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Shigaraki and All For One
I felt it was the same ‘ole song and dance with these two. Nothing we haven’t really known about them already nor seen. All For One is crazy and wants Star’s quirk. Shigaraki is crazy, had another internal monologue, and also wants Star’s quirk. There’s honestly not much there.
We know that Spinner is becoming some sort of figurehead for heteromorphs everywhere too and All For One is playing on that part to manipulate him as well. Again, it’s just spinning everything back in rotation. It almost felt like his scene with All For One was nothing more than a scene to simply remember that Spinner is there.
Opening and Ending Reactions
I’ve seen some on X (formerly Twitter) think that this opening theme for My Hero Academia Season 7 is the best we’ve seen so far, and others say the opposite. I think, for now, it falls somewhere on the line in between.
The visuals for the episode were enticing, especially the moment with Toga and her shot turning blood red, but the opening theme by TK is going to have to do some growing on me. But when the chorus drops, the animation definitely gets dialed to 11 and it’s something perfect to hype you up for a new episode of the series, especially during this part of the story.
The ending theme however was almost the complete opposite. I like the track by Omoinotake straight out the gate. Even though endings aren’t widely known to catch people’s eye visually, I feel like this one did a pretty good job with its storytelling and storyboard work.
Having the beginning and end of it all match up, but slightly vary, was a nice touch that I loved. There’s never a moment where I thought to myself any animation was mindblowing, but it’s definitely one of my endings from the series already.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 1 Wrap-Up
Overall, a damn good job from all the animators and staff at Studio BONES. Fans couldn’t complain about the sky this time around, and the episode left little to be criticized for. Some series handle their hype moments very well and My Hero Academia has undoubtedly proven to be one of them yet again. I can’t wait for this fight to continue next week!
Episode 1 rating: 8/10
If you loved episode 1 of My Hero Academia Season 7, then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! Episode 2 will be released on Saturday, May 11. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project
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