“One For All” Is Unquestionably My Hero Academia’s Best Episode Yet

It’s the end of an era.

My Hero Academia 0311: “One For All”

Season 3 of My Hero Academia is heating up, and we’re following every move. Just be careful: spoilers and speculation below.

“I must remember where I started.”

Normally when we hear that line, it’s coming from Deku, and even though they share quirkless pasts, hearing it come from All Might feels surreal. We’re not used to seeing the top hero struggle — and neither is his world.

All Might gives this fight his all.

All Might reaches his limit early in his battle against All For One. What’s worse, though, is that a film crew overhead broadcasts his true form while everyone’s watching. Then, the kicker — All For One reveals that Tomura Shigaraki, the boy he’s bred to hate All Might, is his mentor’s grandson. He found something untouchable — Nana Shimura’s legacy — and turned it into a weapon.

Nana Shimura embraced and influenced All Might’s core principles.

And when things seem their worst, we zip back to the beginning: Toshinori Yagi’s vision of a world that looks to a symbol of peace, a rooftop conversation between Nana Shimura and Gran Torino, All Might’s burning will. One For All may only be a flicker now, but All Might still has a duty to perform — it’s that, and the faith the public keeps in their battered hero, that makes him smash All For One with the entire United States: Goodbye, All For One. Goodbye, One For All.

Deku doesn’t realize it, but Kacchan finally believes his confession.

The heroes navigate the rubble while the kids decide to get Bakugo to the authorities — people will want to know he’s safe. Then, All Might points to the camera and gives his last message as the symbol of peace: “Now, it’s your turn.” Everyone hollers — they don’t know the truth, how alone Deku feels in this moment. He’s given his entire life to this, but he’s still not ready. How could anyone be?

The Verdict:

“One For All” hits all the requirements: extreme emotional investment, a fight that seems against the odds and a backstory that resurfaces at the right moment. The episode feels like a season finale, and in a way it is — the hierarchy of heroism is shuffled and nothing will ever be the same.
Rating: 10

“One For All” is available to stream in Japanese and English on Funimation, Crunchyroll, VRV, and Hulu.

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