Uraraka Left Us all in Tears in MHA!

My Hero Academia S6, Ep 24 Review

If you’ve been watching this season of My Hero Academia, you might agree when I say it’s the anime’s best one yet. We’ve seen incredible action, tear-jerking deaths, and characters pushed to their breaking points. However, for me, the Dark Hero arc truly takes the cake. We’ve seen Deku take levels in badass, but at the cost of almost pushing away everyone he cares about. Even though Class 1-A pulled him back from the brink, Deku now faces the people sheltered at UA that don’t want him around. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to watch the public turn on Midoriya, and it almost encourages him to leave again. That’s when Uraraka steps in.

Throughout the season, Uraraka’s kept asking herself the same question: who helps the heroes when they need it? That’s such a profound question to ask, and the answer she gives us in this episode…almost left me in tears.

Logic Feels Meaningless in the Face of Fear and Paranoia

In a flashback before Class 1-A left to find Midoriya, Principal Nezu explains how he and the other heroes will ensure Deku can return. He’s spent much of his money turning UA into a fortress. They’ve got high walls, the ability to move underground, and multiple ways to evacuate to other schools if needed. If Shigaraki came knocking, they’d do everything to keep him from killing anyone. He planned to explain this to the refugees at UA to ease their fears about Midoriya returning. However, that plan failed; the people wanted to avoid Midoriya.

Since Jaku, rumors of One for All started going around like crazy. Even though the heroes have kept quiet about it, the public more or less put it together: Midoriya’s being hunted by All for One and Shigaraki. As a result, they (somewhat rightfully) want to throw him out of UA, despite how foolish that would be. It’s a heartbreaking moment where the heroes can’t do anything to calm them down. Some of the civilians look ready to kill Midoriya if they have to. Logic doesn’t work well in the face of raw emotions like fear and terror. 

That’s when Uraraka steps in and gives them some hard truths.

Uraraka Begs People to Stop Being So Ungrateful to their Heroes.

If it had been me standing up there trying to talk down that mob, I don’t know if I would’ve been as nice as Uraraka. I might have said, “either stop acting so ungrateful and let us do our jobs, or stop standing around and help us!” Because that’s what I thought when I watched this; everyone was taking the heroes for granted for too long.

They’re not wrong; in My Hero Academia, many heroes were in it for fame and money and lost sight of what it means to be a hero. That’s why so many quit after Jaku since they couldn’t handle the pressure. However, they’re expecting the ones left to do everything to make up for it, even when they can’t. That mentality of bystander syndrome helped create Shigaraki, almost destroying Midoriya.

Uraraka, though, handles this much better but no less effectively. She lays down some hard truths: she can’t say if things will improve because she’s as scared as they are. If they’re afraid, imagine how Midoriya feels, knowing the world’s weight on his shoulders. He’s got this amazing power, but he’s still just a teenager. A teenager terrified of failing everyone around him is running himself into the ground! It’s as Uraraka says: he’s got a special power, but that doesn’t make him special by default.

And this gets the mob thinking.

Anyone Can be a Hero, Powers or Not

It’s no secret that Spider-Man greatly influenced Horikoshi when creating Izuku Midoriya. And the thing about Spider-Man is that he’s not an alien, rich, or even a god, and he’s a normal guy—a normal guy who fails as often as anyone else. Yet he’s one of the greatest heroes of all time. If he can do that, then any one of us can be a hero. And right now, everyone needs to be a hero.

After shaming the mob, this man we first saw in the first episode realizes how everyone’s taken heroes for granted. They stood on stage in the spotlight while everyone else watched from the sidelines. But that will only work now when the heroes need as much help as possible. Because anyone can be a hero, it’s about doing the right thing and helping others, not the powers.

That’s when that woman that Midoriya saved and Kota, the boy he saved from Muscular at the Hero Camp, ran to Midoriya’s side. They still remember what he did for them, and now they’re there to help him. And Midoriya finally lets all this stress he’s had for months burst out. It’s a moment that left me in absolute tears. Powerful or not, no one should go through what Midoriya has! Between that and Uraraka’s awesome speech, it’s enough to finally get the mob to see reason.

One of the Most Emotional Episodes of MHA Ever

This episode is among the series’ all-time best. There’s no action or epic clashes, but it still matters. Midoriya’s been struggling against this darkness for so long, and now he finally has the chance to rest. He needs this now more than ever, and everyone needs to be a hero.

The episode’s a bittersweet one by the end. Japan’s still in chaos, and the future’s still uncertain, but there’s hope. More importantly, as Midoriya’s monologue states, this is the moment when everyone becomes the greatest hero. I have a feeling that Midoriya’s generation will go down as the “Symbols of Peace” when all’s said and done. First, though, they need to get ready. The next episode’s the season finale, and after that, the final battle looms. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “A Young Woman’s Declaration” a 5/5

Click here to see more animanga stuff.