My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 18 - The Hype Begins

My Hero Academia Season 7 brought back the hype with episode 18. Life and death scenarios with great voice acting. All For One is making his next move while hitting that “next level” with his strength. And now the main fights are all beginning to take place. With some solid production and seeing some of our favorite UA characters in action, this was a step up over last week’s episode.

All For One

Hiroshi Kamiya making his My Hero Academia debut voicing the role of teenage All For One was a surprise. While there’s no way Akio Ootsuka could pull off a teenage voice (if he could, they wouldn’t bring in Kamiya) it still felt weird at first given how used to Ootsuka’s voice we all are. When the choir started singing and he first started speaking, though? Chills.

His voice was quick to get used to. It almost reminded me of the switch-up many Naruto fans know. The deep, slow voice of Naoya Uchida (Madara Uchiha) switching up to Obito Uchiha (Wataru Takagi) around the character of Tobi felt similar to All For One’s switch-up for this episode. Kamiya is one of the best male voice actors in the industry and did a wonderful job of bringing out a young All For One. It got to the point where it made me surprised Kamiya hasn’t taken on more popular main villain roles.

Although, I couldn’t help but chuckle at times seeing Fumikage and Mt. Lady just whaling away on All For One throughout most of the episode and doing no damage whatsoever. Basically sending them flying while taking down Gigantomachia in one shot really goes to show he’s just toying with them. Luckily, the main fight for All For One begins next week and the hype around it from this episode was done well.

More Side Characters

I’ve criticized side characters getting random spotlights throughout this season but it was nice to see Mina give a chance to prove herself. Granted, everything was kind of all for naught and I didn’t once feel a little emotional during her inner monologue. It was nice to see her have some shine and how she trained with Bakugo and Shoto at one point. But Kirishima holding her in his arms and calling her his hero almost made it feel like a corny, cliche death scene to feed the My Hero Academia shippers.

Mt. Lady…helped? She was about to get beaten by Gigantomachia (again) if it wasn’t for Shinso and Mina coming in with the save. And even despite Shinso’s “big moment” it, again, felt so minuscule given the fact Gigantomachia ended up turning against All For One anyway for feeling betrayed. Then she tried to keep attacking All For One swinging whatever was given to her and she ended up with a chunk of stomach bitten out while All For One got bored. Mt. Lady is the biggest hero physically but offered a little help in this episode, oh the irony.

And now with Hawks’ quirk gone thanks to All For One, it felt like the latter of the two mirrored how I felt when he got tired of the side characters and wanted to focus on what’s in store. That’s not to say I dislike many of the side characters, it’s the opposite. But c’mon… Time to focus on the main course after 18 episodes of (mostly) appetizer after appetizer.

I will say, though, that everything that transpired throughout the episode made it easy to forget the breakdown Toga had at the very beginning. I finished the episode almost completely forgetting about her inner conflict with love, the people she’s been around, and attempting to use their quirks. Luckily, her final spout with Ochako is on the horizon.

Fans also pointed out that the characters Anna Scervino and Giulio Gandini from the late movie My Hero Academia: You’re Next made an appearance in the episode. This, hilariously, making them canon is another instance of the main series, whether manga or anime, connecting the movies to the official storyline. Once again, the world-building in My Hero Academia is downright spectacular in every way.

Production

Compared to last week, production had a leg up with episode 18. The blasts from All For One looked great and many times you had some surprisingly smooth character movements that weren’t choppy in the slightest, especially with Mina and Kirishima. The in-between frames were solid and there were never any flaws that stood out to me besides maybe the end when Hawks claws into what looks like hard rock but ends up being soft sediment.

There were “moving” still images here and there. But at this point, I’m just used to it with My Hero Academia Season 7 in general. I’ve seen fans concerned about the production quality for this series given the You’re Next movie released during its airing, and I shared the same sentiments. But at this point, I’m just more concerned about trying to maintain proper pacing within the story and hoping the main fights look good in the end.

My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 18 Wrap-Up

My Hero Academia Season 7 is one of small peaks and shallow valleys. Some stuff is up to standard in both writing and production, other times it is subpar at best. The one consistently great thing around the anime is the voice cast. They’ll always get an A+ in my book. Undoubtedly one of the best casts in anime today. But now that we see what’s in store for next week, my expectations are definitely higher than at any other point this season.

Episode 18 rating: 8/10

If you loved episode 18 of My Hero Academia Season 7, then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! Episode 18, titled “I Am Here” will be released on Saturday, September 28, 2024. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime with English subtitles.

Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project