Fighting Fate

My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 4 Review/Recap

After taking a break last week, My Hero Academia returns with another new episode. One that’s just in time for Toonami’s premiere of Season 4 of MHA. A chance encounter with a villain forces Midoriya to make a difficult decision. Not long after, he learns why All Might and Sir Nighteye split up, and All Might’s task of fighting fate. In other words, this season’s going to be amazing.

Recap

Claiming to be the father of the little girl, Eri, Overhaul tries to take her back with him. Picking up on how terrified she is, Deku’s very hesitant to let her go. However, Togata gets him to stand down. They can’t risk tipping Overhaul off about the fact they’re investigating him. Later on, Sir Nighteye grills him for almost letting his emotions get the better of him.

Unable to stop thinking about everything Nighteye’s said, Midoriya asks All Might what led to the two falling out. Back when he first beat All for One, All Might was in bad shape. Nighteye insisted that he retire and name a successor then; otherwise, he would die within six or seven years. All Might’s sense of justice was too strong, though, and he continued his work as a hero. Years later, Nighteye picked Togata as his successor, but then Midoriya came along. Nighteye called him a fool for giving up his quirk to Midoriya.

Deku’s shocked to hear all this. More importantly, it means that within a year or so, All Might could end up dying. However, All Might’s more determined than ever to continue fighting fate so he can see Midoriya live up to his expectations. In turn, Midoriya vows to live up to the legacy he carries on.

Meanwhile, we see more of Overhaul’s cruelty as he takes Eri back to his base, saying she’s important to his plans.

Review

I think that this episode delivered some pretty big bombshells. Firstly, we see just how cruel and evil Overhaul really is through the terrified reactions of Eri. We throw the word “evil” so much, it sometimes loses its meaning. However, we always think their’s something heinous about hurting a child. Seeing how scared Eri was made me feel genuinely disgusted at Overhaul, and I don’t blame Midoriya for wanting to say no. If someone like Luffy or Goku were in his place, they’d punch Overhaul’s lights out.

At the same time, I knew that Togata, AKA Lemillion, was right about standing down. The fact that he kept his cool under pressure speaks a lot about heroic he is. Even so, I knew he didn’t like letting Eri go, either.

Then we have the revelation of All Might’s possible fate. However, I don’t think Nighteye was talking about the people when he said All Might should retire. Knowing how much he admires All Might, I don’t think he could stand to see his hero in such a state. While he does care about the importance of the Symbol of Peace, I think deep down, Nighteye doesn’t want to accept the fact that All Might’s mortal. I could simply be over analyzing things, however. Regardless, in matters like these, I’m the kind of person who’d rather look fate in the eye and say “you don’t control me.” I hope All Might can fight fate and win, and I hope Midoriya can prove Nighteye wrong.

The next episode’s going to change focus to Kirishima and another one of U.A.’s Big Three. From the look of things, I think it will still tie in to Overhaul. Either way, I look forward to it. PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Fighting Fate” a 4.5/5. Very good episode.

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