A New Hope Emerges

My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episode 12 Review

All her life, Eri’s known nothing but despair and suffering at the hands of Overhaul. Then she met Lemillion and Deku, who gave a sliver of hope that someone would save her. As we saw in the last episode, though, Eri’s despair reached new levels as Lemillion lost his Quirk and got beaten to a pulp. Fortunately, a new hope emerges in front of Eri in the form of Deku! Now the real fight can begin!

Recap

With Mimicry defeated and Toga and Twice retreating, Nighteye, Deku, and Eraser charge straight for Overhaul’s location. Now utterly infuriated, Overhaul uses his Quirk on himself, fusing himself to his subordinate. As a result, he turns into this four-armed abomination of nature. Deku fights him with everything he’s got, but his lack of experience shows, as the villain quickly figures out his attack pattern.

On the other hand, Sir Nighteye uses his ability to see the future to keep up with Overhaul, yet he can’t do any real damage. To the young heroes horror, Nighteye’s impaled by spikes created from Overhaul’s Quirk. As the villain once more tells Eri that she’s responsible for their suffering, the poor girl almost gives into despair. Fortunately, despite the odds being stacked against them, despite Eri telling them to forget about her, Deku refuses to give up hope. At that moment, Ryukyu, Uravity, and Froppy burst in through the ceiling from the battle above.

Review

If there’s one thing that Shonen anime have taught me, it’s that all the great heroes have something in common. When they face impossible odds, like fighting a god, or the world itself, they don’t give up hope. When people say they’re fated to lose, they’ll walk up to them and say “screw fate”. Guess who ends up losing?

Deku may still have some confidence issues and get nervous pretty easily, but he knows how important it is to never give up hope. That’s why he can’t stand to see a little girl like Eri knowing nothing but cruelty all her life. As a result, he’s not going to stop until he’s beaten Overhaul into the ground.

This season of My Hero Academia’s been a nice, slow burn, but I think that’s worked to its advantage. All the battles we’ve seen thus far have re-affirmed the driving theme of this whole arc: how heroes have the resolve to never lose hope in the face of despair. I think it’s an empowering message, and given us some of the best moments the anime’s seen thus far. So when I say I’m looking forward to Deku kicking Overhaul’s ass, I’m really looking forward to it. A new hope has emerged, Eri! Go beyond, Plus Ultra!

I Give “Unforseen Hope” a 4/5

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