English Dub Review: My Hero Academia “Let It Flow! School Festival!”


OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Gentle attempts to convince Hound Dog and Ectoplasm, the heroes that found him, that he hadn’t been fighting AND that La Brava has been brainwashed. Deku quickly comes back (so much for that “don’t come back”) and corroborates that all they did was spar. With that, he’s taken away and Deku hurries back to school in time for the performance, but reflects on how he and Gentle had a lot in common and that he could have turned out just like him if things had gone differently.

Class 1A’s performance is a smash hit, obliterating the doubts of even their staunchest critics. As she jams her heart out, Jiro remembers telling her musician parents that she wants to be a hero instead, which they wholeheartedly support. And, her mom adds, heroes and musicians both save people with their music, so they aren’t all that different. The awesomeness is even enough to finally give Eri a reason to smile. After that, there’s 1-B’s play, the beauty pageant (with Nejire finally taking the win), and so much more. By the end, everyone’s had an amazing time, especially Eri, who gets a candy apple from Deku before she heads home.

Meanwhile at the police station, the officer interrogating Gentle tells him they can tell that he didn’t mentally influence La Brava in any way. She truly loves him and, if Gentle’s own behavior is anything to go by, he loves her too. Still, his time as a villain is now over and his time as a hero was dead on arrival. At least, for now. There just might be hope for him yet.

OUR TAKE

After another two week break (which I guess will just be the rate we get the rest of this season at), the School Festival Arc goes out with bang. These last few episodes really pulled out all the stops to make up for the concerningly slow first half. And while this episode didn’t have any fights, it was quite rich in character from quite a few sources. Obviously we have the conclusion to the conflict with Gentle and La Brava, who have come out of this arc as probably the most likable villains in the whole series thus far. Not only that, but we see some drawn parallels towards him and Deku, as this could have been what Deku became had he not run into All Might all those episodes ago. And while that would be a tempting what-if scenario to explore, the main takeaway from it is that Gentle is also a good person at heart. While he may have failed the Hero Course, he too could be a hero someday. After he finishes that stint in prison. Guess that view count is going to take a hit, but hopefully he has a Patreon.

Though we should also discuss the main event of the episode, which would be the concert. Describing it probably wouldn’t be doing it justice, so best I can say is go watch it because it’s a great payoff for everything that’s happened in the arc. Heck, the other tiny subplots of the arc all ended up being pretty fun even if they weren’t very substantial. Otherwise, the main story impact is that it finally saved Eri from the shadow of Overhaul’s abuse, at least for the time being. I can’t imagine she’s out of the emotional woods just yet, but it’s nice to see her starting to be able to enjoy life like a kid should. Even brings a tear to my eye like it did for Deku.

But we’re not done with this season just yet, as the final two episodes shift the spotlight from our heroes in training to the current top pros! Though at the rate that we’re getting these dubs, we probably won’t be fully done with the season for another four weeks. But hey, if you’ve made it this far, you’ll find it worth the wait. If anything, I think those who have ENDEAVORED to make it through these hard times will find a reward waiting for them.