English Dub Review: My Hero Academia “Wild, Wild Pussycats”

At long last, the prodigal shounen returns, and its as Plus Ultra as ever!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

My Hero Academia is back, ladies and gentlemen! After a long, long year since the end of season two and an unfortunate skipping the dub of episode 39, (Don’t worry, it was mostly just a recap episode) your favorite super-powered anime high-schoolers are continuing their training at UA academy.

Well, actually, the semester is over, but that doesn’t mean these rookie heroes get some time off. For them, summer only means one thing, training camp. Led by their homeroom teacher, Aizawa, Class A (and Class B as well) pile onto a couple buses and head out into the country. Of course, there’s a little time beforehand to see Uraraka’s adorable crush on Midoriya take form, though neither of these kids seems to have the confidence to make that ship sail.

Soon, Class A arrives at a rest stop with their youthful spirit in good form. They all take a minute to stretch their legs, but are interrupted by the gaudy entrance of two pro superheroes, “Mandalay” and “Pixie-Bob”, members of the four-person mountain rescue hero team, “The Wild Pussycats,” along with a grumpy-looking young boy in a spiky hat. Midoriya, being Midoriya, knows everything about them and starts rattling off Wild Pussycat history, but is quickly shut down by “Pixie-Bob” before he can reveal how old they’ve become. These two heroes are the pros that Class A is going to be training with at camp, and their arrival signals one thing: training has already begun.

Realizing their dire straits, our young heroes try to get back on the bus but are tumbled down the mountain in a dirt slide generated by “Pixie-Bob’s powerful quirk. Once at the bottom, they see their mission ahead of them, get through the ominous “Forest of Beasts” and arrive at the camp in time for lunch; the highest of stakes. The eponymous “Beasts” of this forest, are none other than dirt constructs created by “Pixie-Bob”, and they look as terrifying as they come.

While the kids gear up to take on these muddy monsters, Mandalay asks Aizawa why he’s pushing the kids so hard on this summer camp. Aizawa explains he plans to give these kids a full semester’s worth of training at this camp, both to make them stronger with the advent of new villains around, and to get them provisional hero licenses so they can use their quirks if need be.

Following this, we’re treated to an awesome action sequence showing off just how far the rookies in Class A have come since the beginning of the series. Each character uses their powers in new and exciting ways to take down the forest of beasts, combining their abilities for maximum effect. Of course, its Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugou who take the center stage of badass fighting ability.

As the sun sets, the students finally manage to get to the camp, completely exhausted from their battle to get here.  They didn’t make it in time for lunch, but Pixie Bob commends them for their skillful display. Midoriya takes this time to ask the Pussycats who that kid is that’s been following them around. The little squirt is Mandalay’s cousin’s son, Kouta, who lives with them now. Midoriya walks up to him to make his acquaintance but is immediately countered by a rock-solid right hook to the nuts. Midoriya is felled immediately and Kouta walks off, telling the “Wannabe heroes” that he wants nothing to do with them.

That evening, the exhausted Class A is treated to a feast and a bath in the camp’s hot springs. Of course, that means Mineta is gonna do what Mineta’s gotta do, and use his powers to try and scale the wall dividing the men’s and women’s baths. Just as Mineta is about to reach the top and achieve pervert nirvana, Kouta, who appeared to have been waiting for him, knocks him off the wall and sends him tumbling down below. The girls on the other side thank Kouta for his diligence but ironically knock him off the wall as well with the sight of their glorious glories.  Midoriya catches Kouta before he hits the ground, and takes the passed out boy to Mandalay.

There, Pixie Bob and Mandalay explain why Kouta is so bitter towards them. His parents were both heroes and were tragically cut down in the line of duty. Since then, he’s hated heroes, blaming the world of heroes for taking his parents away from him. Hearing this, Midoriya has flashbacks to Tomura, and dwells on all the different moral stances he’s been hearing on the legitimacy of heroes.

The next morning, Class A’s first day at camp officially begins. Echoing the first test he gave them, Aizawa asks Bakugou to toss a ball as far as he can. Bakugou is confident that he can absolutely annihilate the ball but finds out he can only through it a mere four meters further than he could a semester ago. This reveals a deep truth to our heroes: though they’ve become stronger mentally and technique-wise, their actual quirk strength has remained about the same. Aizawa explains that this camp is going to be hell because they’re going to beef up their quirks with brutal, intense training. Better get ready, Class A, Aizawa isn’t kidding around.

Our Take:

My Hero Academia has been a show that’s consistently surprised and impressed me since I first started watching. The vibrant colors, the well-developed character, the excellent dubbing; memorable qualities that have kept me glued to my screen every week to see what’s going to happen next. I’m happy to say that MHA seems to be going par for the course, with an opening episode that reminds me of just how good anime can be. My Hero Academia, I’ve missed you.

Score
8/10