Score: A-

This is very much the story of the underdog rising up to become something great, but it really is a good example of it. Deku is a guy who has been through a rough going. The whole way he’s had the terrible reality slamming in his face. That someone in his position just can’t become a hero. It’s a tough thing to take and it had to hurt when even the top hero couldn’t just openly support his bid to chase his dreams. But that made sense at the time. All-Might knows how utterly dangerous this career path is. He himself is in a bad condition. Even the most powerful of heroes got in a conflict and fight that left him extremely injured and basically crippled. But despite that he continues to go out there. Because if “The Symbol of Peace” were to fall then who knows how society would respond. Kind of like if Superman got beaten to the point where he could barely fight any longer. How would a world respond to that? Well comics have covered that kind of thing, but it is a good question.

Deku’s situation really can be attributed to any minority trying to break into an industry. He is of the 20% that has no special power, but he still wants to do it more than most who have a Quirk. It’s a cruel bit of fate having someone that much of a fan of All-Might and wanting to be like that person only to lack the apparent tools for it. Although if he had the tools then it’d be tough to stop him from rising to the top having a drive for it that is second to none. Plus while you can say his actions were reckless here, he does have something a lot of the actual “pros” lacked. A willingness to leap into the fray, even though there was only little he could really accomplish.

I tend to agree with All Might on this one. What separated Deku from all those people was his instincts. Those people were all rationally able to say “nope, I’ll hang back until someone suited to the task gets here.” A rational decision, but one that showed that they still put their safety above all else. They weren’t willing to really risk their lives. Maybe that’s natural, but in the end the situation remained pretty bad. Just trying to contain things and not make a big move. Buildings were still burning, explosions still going off, and a kid was practically being suffocated for what had to be a long period of time.

In a sense you can argue that Deku is kind of standard for a superhero up against the standard in his world of the career of hero. The pro heroes just stood back accepting that a kid was basically left suffocating while they waited for someone else to take care of the situation. While Deku who couldn’t actually do anything, raced in there putting himself at risk to try and help.

That example is what mattered the most though. All Might needed that example to get himself going again. Even in that condition it’s just a question of whether he can risk his life or not. He just needed someone like Deku to remind him that it’s not just about appearances. All Might so caught up in his concern about being discovered that he screwed up and let a villain escape that caused all this. And even at the end was hesitant to maybe lose his life if he jumped in with such little time available in that form. He needed a reminder of what he was supposed to be and supposed to do. And he resolved the situation beautifully. Saved Bakugou, put out the fires, and defeated the villain in one move. And clearly changed his mind about Deku. Offering him a chance to change his fate and chase his dreams.

Plus that whole scene was pretty unsettling at times. Bakugou looking utterly horrified and the situation was darn creepy. Good reason that Deku was unable to stand still. Seeing anyone, even a guy who’s treated him like crap over the years in that state is something he couldn’t look away from. Love how pissed it left the guy as well. That he was the one looking like he wanted to be saved.

Although when you think about it, the initial suggestion wasn’t bad. Being a cop would still allow Deku to help and get involved. It just limits what he can really do. But it’s not like the heroes have taken over all police activity. There has to be regular crimes that the police investigate and arrest people in. Though maybe they put more on heroes to go after criminals with Quirks. But, that just isn’t the future for Deku. And maybe it is right for someone like him to go forward. Someone who will risk himself to save a kid (even a jerk like Kacchan) when the situation isn’t to his advantage. Plus it was nice for Deku to finally have someone stand there and believe in him. Telling him it is ok to chase his dream and that he can do it.

All in all a good episode. They continued on from last week nicely. As always it really is like All Might is that standard American comic book hero which is kind of cool to see in this setting. It is interesting to see how Deku will move forward from here. He’s gotten himself to almost the starting line. Has a ways to go, but he did impress while in a crisis.