My Hero Academia Season 7 episode 17 was…okay. While the course of events that took place have their respective draw to them, the production itself wasn’t all that this week. A lot of still images and odd timing made me feel like it was simply another My Hero Academia episode that left me going, “Well, time to continue about my day.”
My Hero Academia Season 7’s Downturn?
This is where the story begins to hit its next valley. My Hero Academia is now diverging more and more away from the main battle of Deku and Shigaraki in order to re-introduce even more characters that fans honestly would have no second thought about had they not shown up. I never once thought while watching this season, “Damn, I wonder what the kids from Shiketsu High School are doing right now?”
Look, I get it. This is the big shebang for My Hero Academia. This is the war arc that eventually leads to the conclusion of the series. Everyone in Japan has to get involved in some way or another. It’s the drawback of My Hero Academia‘s impeccable world building. But while war arcs can come with many upsides, the one downside can also outweigh it all—pacing.
It’s very easy to lose track of proper pacing when dealing with war arcs in anime and manga. There are many moving parts on both character and story levels. It’s not easy to write. It’s not easy for the production staff that’s handling the script. And it’s not easy for the animation team either.
That all being said, the worst is starting to creep to the surface with this arc. The more characters that are introduced, the less time that gives the main fight between Deku and Shigaraki. As much as I love Lady Nagant, she easily could’ve just had a simple piece of dialogue to herself talking about her leaving the hospital and Deku inspiring her. We didn’t need a 5 minute scene of her leaving the hospital.
And when you have secondary hero course students joining the fight against All For One, it just makes the fight feel less serious than it actually is. Granted, Fumikagi having his big moment alongside Hawks at the end was wonderful. But the entire fight would’ve been better had it only been just Fumikage and Hawks. But I was so disappointed to see the shot below become just a still image like a colored version of the manga rather than something animated—a huge missed opportunity to create something insane looking.
The Positives
Lady Nagant, Gentle Criminal, and Fumikage. Those are the three positives of this episode. In the middle of life-or-death battles, the comedy felt so out of place. But Lady Nagant’s last ditch effort was excellent and had some of my favorite shots of the entire episode.
I’m glad Gentle Criminal’s return carried a little bit more into this episode as well instead of simply being a one and done. It seems like there’s some bleeding with episodes where it follows this formula of introducing a character halfway into an episode then having them exit stage right halfway through the next episode and so on. It’s not always there, but I see what the anime production staff is (kind of) aiming for with it.
Lastly, Fumikage. As a character in the main hero course among our favorite cast of characters, his wins rarely reach the surface. He had his moments during the Joint Training arc, but most probably forgot by now. So seeing how much he’s grown as a character and even impressing Hawks in that moment was really touching, especially with the flashback of Fumikage as a little kid.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 17 Wrap-Up
As I said, this episode was simply okay. There’s nothing that had fans rushing to social media to talk about or anything to leap out of their seats for, and that’s a bit of a bummer considering we’re in the middle of a war arc. I just couldn’t help myself think about the story getting back to the main battle between Deku and Shigaraki, especially when we consider the epic entrance Deku had at the beginning of it too. Next week, some of our favorite Class A heroes take center stage for their fights. Hopefully, we can see some fun production creativity next time around.
Episode 17 rating: 6/10
If you loved episode 17 of My Hero Academia Season 7, then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! Episode 17, titled “It’s a Small World” will be released on Saturday, September 21, 2024. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project
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