My Hero Academia Season 7 ‒ Episode 156

Unfortunately, for those who haven’t heard, the Anime News Network family has recently lost a very valued member. Since I joined the team as a regular freelancer, I’ve looked up to Nicholas Dupree as a writer and creative. He was knowledgeable, caring, and had a wit that made you smile. I doubt we will come across somebody who could go philosophically in-depth or bust out knee-slapping zingers like him for quite some time, but right now, I will do my best to pick up at least some of what he left behind. It is fitting, considering that this episode is about paying off what had come before, hoping that the various threads of effort and influence throughout Japan can keep down the Demon Lord himself.

This season of MHA is one extended climax with constant rising action and dramatic payoffs. Not only is it desperately trying to put down the key players seeking to destroy the very figurative and literal foundation of everything that has been built, but it is also showing just how resilient that foundation is. If there’s one thing I massively respect about MHA, it’s that feeling of desperation on both the hero and villain sides. There’s a strong give-and-take here where the heroes are pulling from the most obscure characters and moments of the franchise to just get by while the big bad himself is finally getting a taste of what it’s like when nothing goes according to plan.

The show manages to bring back familiar elements in creative ways. The slime creature that arguably jumpstarted Deku’s entire journey is being taken out by Ashido, who can go all out and vent her trauma. We get the return of Shinso, who, ironically, uses the voice of the number one villain to forward his journey of being a hero despite having a power many people see as villainous. I will admit I was a little disappointed that the opening shot of this episode left the impression that it would focus on Uraraka and Toga. That’s kind of the downside to having such a big-scale battle with so many moving parts happening at the same time, but what we have here isn’t bad.

Everything revolving around All For One has to do with control. He is all about controlling the fates of other people, and everyone is beneath him, ready to be exploited or stolen from. The heroes, on the other hand, are trying desperately to maintain that control, having backup plans and graceful amounts of good luck to keep them in the game. But even when it feels like the heroes get lucky, it still comes from a narrative place. Everything revolving around Machia exemplifies that. That man is a walking embodiment of All For One’s control, a loyal dog that waited years for his master to return, but even he had his breaking point and was willing to bite the hand that used to feed him. A good chunk of this episode is just watching All For One get wailed on from multiple sides, but thematically, he is getting beat down by those who refused to go along with his plan.

This is manifested as a physical change with Rewind, as it seems to make him younger and younger with every massive hit he takes. He is no longer physically present as the seasoned evil veteran who once ran an empire, and instead, he looks more closely like Shigaraki. The ultimate catch twenty-two is that this arguably makes All For One much more unrestrained and dangerous. We’re starting to see the armor crack a bit as he cannot contain his powers. It sucks that so much effort and planning from the heroes only resulted in a few cracks in the Demon King’s Armor, but the damage is already done, and now it’s just a matter of what will happen when it fully comes off. Will That be the beginning of the heroes’ victory or the beginning of their end?

P.S. I guess all the movies are canon now…have fun wrapping your head around that!

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AJ also streams regularly on Twitch as the indie Vtuber Bolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!