It goes without saying that My Hero Academia Season 7 delivered a perfect adaptation with episode 19. When you combine the talents of veteran animators, a good script with better direction and storyboarding, and wonderful music composing, it feels like everything just comes together in such perfect harmony that you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by it all in the best ways possible.
This is My Hero Academia
I think episode 19 of My Hero Academia Season 7 is a perfect example of what the series is all about. Sure, there are many other episodes you could choose from, but from this season in particular it’d be hard not to choose this one, and for good reason.
Sinners redemption. Atonement. Family. The definition of a hero. There are so many underlying themes from this episode that really sparked a special feeling above all else for me—rooting for the hero. So many fans of the series love the villains, and they’re wonderfully written, but if this episode didn’t have you cheering for Shoto in any way then the problem doesn’t lie within the production or the script.
Whether it was the animation from the legend himself in Yutaka Nakamura, the music composition from Yuki Hayashi, the voice acting from Yuki Kaji, Kaito Ishikawa, and Hiro Shimono, there was something special behind this episode. We even had All Might getting ready for his last fight against All For One while delivering liners as if he’s straight out of an Avengers movie directed by the Russo brothers.
This episode is a culmination of all that’s right about My Hero Academia and the story that creator Kohei Horikoshi imagined. Iida finding inspiration from Shoto and screaming it to the heavens while he runs off to save his family makes it almost impossible not to get emotional. I wouldn’t be surprised if episode 19 went down into fans’ top three episodes of the entire series.
I said earlier in the season that the first fight between Shoto and Dabi was one of the best episodes of the series—it still is. But episode 19 surpassed everything that came before it during this season. To be able to finally feel that sense of “Do it, Shoto!” as if I were living in the world of My Hero Academia myself is something that most productions would fall short of replicating.
The Love of a Mother
Rei Todoroki is without a doubt one of the strongest characters in the world of My Hero Academia. No, not simply in the physical sense. To have no hesitation in running into the fire that could decimate everything within five kilometers just so she could save her son is nothing short of admirable.
We rarely see Rei throughout the series and it was for obvious reasons. So for her to be the first one to step in and save her family continues to show that the mothers in My Hero Academia are one of the series’ pillars. And, to top it all off, it’s her quick that saves the entire family in the end while Endeavors’ could’ve killed them all.
The scene with Rei reading Shoto’s letters and smiling in the dramatic build-up before Shoto ended it with something he created out of her quirk was simply immaculate writing. It made me love My Hero Academia all over again.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 19 Wrap-Up
There’s nothing anyone could say that would convince me this episode was anything less than perfect. Seeing Nakamura back animating scenes for My Hero Academia was the cherry on top of it all. Everything was glorious from beginning to end. The simple matter of the fact is that if you’re complaining about this episode in any capacity, you were looking for them from the start.
Episode 19 rating: 10/10
If you loved episode 19 of My Hero Academia Season 7, then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! Episode 20, titled “A Girl’s Ego” will be released on Saturday, October 5, 2024. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime with English subtitles.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
©K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project
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