English Dub Review: My Hero Academia “Kota”

This latest episode keeps the second season going strong.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

This week’s exciting episode begins in the midst of Class A and Class B’s training, where every student is undergoing some fierce training. We’re treated to a lovely montage of all the UA students undergoing different training regimens to suit their powers, guided by The Wild Wild Pussycats. The Pussycats arrive in full force and use their powers to design the insane training the students are going through, which is pushing them to their physical limits. The training makes Midoriya reflect on the growth he’s been through since he got his powers and doubles his resolve to become an incredible hurry.

With their day’s training finished, the UA classes are off to dinner, but tonight, they have to make dinner by themselves. This too serves as an additional training, as it forces the students to use practice teamwork with their powers. They manage to put together a delicious curry dinner that unites them as a class. Midoriya, however, is concerned about Kota, and follows him off camp to find his secret hideout. Midoriya asks Kota about his parents since he knows they were and tries to learn more about Kota’s feelings. He soon learns that not only does Kota hate heroes, he also hates quirks too, and the hero driven society their world has become. Midoriya tries to console Kota, but finds Kota’s pain to be too deep. Midoriya leaves the curry and walks off back to camp.

That night, off on the cliffs above the campsite, a team of villains arrives in force. This League of Villains vanguard stands ready to strike terror into the hearts of these young heroes.

The next day, Class A’s training becomes even more intense, with the students being pushed to their absolute limits. Eraserhead continues pushing them and insists that they remember why they’re working so hard, staying focused and remembering who they were before they joined UA. Midoriya asks Eraserhead why All Might isn’t joining them at the campsite. Eraserhead explains that All Might is too well known to come along since they’re trying to keep the trip a secret from any potential villainous assailants.

Later that evening, it’s dinner time again, and Midoriya seeks the counsel of Todoroki about Kota and what he should say to the boy. Todoroki expresses the wisdom of using actions to show Kota what heroes can do, not words. If Midoriya really wants to help the boy, he’ll have to be the kind of hero Kota can rely on.

After dinner, the students of Class A engage with a Test of Courage, a camp game where one team of students tries to terrify the others in the forest with their quirks. The students are divided into partners and head out into the forest to get the piss scared out of them. Things go as planned until the League of Villains Vanguard finally enacts their attack on the UA campground. Using their quirks, they emerge in a noxious cloud of poison smoke and quickly dispatch with Pixie Bob and several UA students. Things are quickly looking bad for the UA students, and worse for Midoriya, as he realizes that Kota has been left all alone.

Our Take:

My Hero Academia brings the goods with another fine episode of this third season. There was a lot of fun in this episode and a lot of good drama too, as seeing Midoriya challenged by Kota’s misery forces him to grow. Every character gets their cool little moments, and the arrival of the villains is genuinely frightening, with their powerful death metal theme screeching in the background upon their entrance. A fine experience from start to finish.