My Hero Academia S3E05: “Drive it Home, Iron Fist!!!”
My Hero Academia is back, y’all! And we’re recapping this season episode by episode. Just be careful: spoilers and speculation below.
After hitting Muscular with a one-million-percent Detroit Delaware Smash, Deku is running on adrenaline. This episode works in the same way, dancing between groups of heroes, students, and villains. The good side’s main objective — staying alive — weaves the vignettes together, much like Season 1’s “Game Over.”
Deku broke both arms fighting Muscular in last week’s episode, but he’s nowhere near finished saving people; that’s why he left his legs unscathed. He encounters Aizawa, who just took Dabi down like a pro — or so we thought: Aizawa’s been fighting a clone created by the villain Twice. Dabi and Muscular have both made it clear that the Vanguard Action Squad is after students, particularly Bakugo, and through Mandalay, Deku relays Aizawa’s message: students are allowed and encouraged to fight.
One important observation: the Vanguard Action Squad is strong, but their ideologies vary. Spinner’s an absolute Stain devotee, and argues with Magne for suggesting they kill Deku (Back in Season 2’s “Climax,” Stain acknowledged Deku’s genuine heroic spirit and spared his life). It ends up costing both villains their shot against the Pussycats, and that tension is bound to recur down the line.
Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu and Kendo decide to track down the source of the miasma seeping through the forest. It’s Mustard, a Vanguard villain whose origin is clearly based in not getting into U.A. (he fights in a middle-school uniform and wears a gas mask) and spends the encounter dissing their “one-track” quirks. The two persist with the U.A. spirit and shatter Mustard’s mask, knocking him out with his own weapon.
We flash back to Deku, who’s hit by Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow. Shoji, who lost a hand to Moonfish, explains that the attack triggered an uncontrollable manifestation of Tokoyami’s quirk. If Deku’s going to get anywhere, he’s gonna have to make it past the ultra-powered Dark Shadow.
The Verdict:
“Drive It Home, Iron Fist!!!” seamlessly aligns multiple conflicts and wraps up with another cliffhanger. Time for some revelry in the dark!
Rating: 8.6
“Drive it Home, Iron Fist!!!” is available to stream in Japanese and English on Funimation, Crunchyroll, VRV, and Hulu.
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