Farewell, Twice, My Old Friend!

My Hero Academia S6, Ep 3 Review

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I like Twice. I know that I shouldn’t like him, since he’s a villain, but we all know that he’s not a bad guy. Like many of the League of Villians members, he got dealt a bad hand in life by society. You can’t help but feel for the guy. More than that, though, I can’t help but admire his devotion to his comrades; it’s so rare for a villain to so genuinely care about their partners in crime! That’s why, even with the prior knowledge of reading the manga before-hand, this episode was still hard to watch. This episode, we say goodbye to that lovable sad man, Twice.

As the heroes assault on the Paranormal Liberation Front intensifies, we get to see both the heroes-in-training and heroes proper in action. Befitting a Shonen Manga, it’s visually amazing and impressive. Horikoshi knows how to hit all the right notes when it comes to showing off the heroes as their absolute best.

This is a good thing, too, because once the focus shifts to Hawks and Twice, things get dark.

We all know that Hawks infilitrated the Paranormal Liberation Front to prepare for this big day; he took a big risk, but it was worth it to stop Shigaraki. That said, Hawks’ just as regretful that doing so meant using Twice’s goodwill against him. Like many of us, Hawks understood that Twice was a good person who just got a bad lot in life. He genuinely reaches out to him and offers to get him help, so he can live a normal life. However, it’s already too late for Twice.

This marks the second time now that Twice ended up putting his friends in danger. First, him introducing them to Overhaul got one comrade killed while the other lost an arm. What’s happening now is the same thing on a grander scale. Thus, for all Hawks’ genuine appeals, Twice won’t listen and chooses to fight. All Hawks can do is cut Twice down as he tries to flee.

Say what you want about Shigaraki’s comrades, but they do have one thing that the heroes also have: resolve. They look out for each other no matter what, and have pushed themselves to get stronger for their sakes. The resolve to keep moving forward to one’s goals despite the pain it may cause is a big theme in the Shonen genre. It’s how the heroes often win despite getting beaten down so much. However, in this case, it’s Twice, a villain, whose resolve pushes him to go forward to save Mr. Compress and Toga despite being mortally wounded by Hawks. All Toga can do is watch as Twice’s final clone cries muddy tears as it starts to melt. Despite everything, though, Twice dies without any regrets, knowing he did all he could to help his friends.

F in the comments in honor of Twice, please. I’m serious. Twice was a good person, despite being a criminal. Watching him die is one of the most painful things we’ve seen in My Hero Academia. It’s also a painful reminder of an unspoken rule: sometimes, the heroes have to kill the bad guys. It’s not pretty, but it may need doing. I just wish that it didn’t mean we had to say goodbye to Twice. At least he died protecting his friends. I respect that. 

As for the rest of the heroes, the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front continues. The group at Jaku Hospital has those High-End Nomu’s to fight, and to stop them, they’ll have to GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!!! I can’t wait!

Click here to see more animanga stuff