「災害歩行」 (Saigai Woukaa)
“Disaster Walker”

It may have been a quiet week in Lake Woebegon (I assume – there haven’t been any updates lately) but it was a hell of a week at Bones Plaza. Between Mob Psycho 100 and Boku no Hero Academia those animators had a load of work to do – some of the biggest action sequences of the year. That stuff is less common in MP100 than BnHA of course, and no question that was a flashier and more auteurist sequence. But the action work in this show – like so much about it these days – tends to get overlooked. Now that they’re not competing with a theatrical version of the series for staff the TV anime is consistently producing some real gems, fitting tinged with American comic book accents.

When Gigantomachia isn’t even your biggest problem, you know you’ve got it tough. And these heroes have it really tough at the moment, to say the least. Shigaraki’s enhancements have left him preposterously overpowered, even without One For All in the golf bag. He’s loaded with stolen quirks, his own quirk is basically unplayable (he can indeed control it well enough now to spare (mostly) the nomus), and even when his quirk is canceled out he’s as strong and mobile as All Might. As Gran Torino will confirm, having some sparring experience on that front.

Also, Shigaraki is clearly no fool. He knows who the key to all this is, and that’s Aizawa-sensei. Eraser is the only one enforcing the difference between ass-kicking and wholesale annihilation. And he doesn’t have it easy – he can’t even blink, and he’s not really in a position to defend himself when Shigaraki comes gunning for him. Eraser’s current bodyguards are really more eye drops and crutches than muscle, so this looks pretty grim – but Deku takes matters into his own hands, as usual. He flips Torino’s own words back on him – losing Aizawa would be the real “worst thing that could happen”. And he’s got a personal stake in this anyway, given how much Aizawa has done for him and the other Yuuei students.

Shigaraki is still hearing that voice in his head – the one that leads him to call Izuku “Otouto” – but he’s pushing back against it now. He seems quite sane and focused at the moment, but it’s worth remembering (as Dabi clearly does) that this all hasn’t gone as Garaki planned it. Shigaraki awoke earlier than he was supposed to, and while we haven’t really seen that manifest itself in any vulnerabilities yet it seems very likely it had consequences. For the moment it’s just a matter of all hands on deck – Izuku, Bakugo, Gran Torino, Endeavor – all the big guns are in on this battle, trying to take this enemy down while Eraser is giving them the chance.

Meanwhile, the B-plot is providing no shortage of drama either, and for once in HeroAca, it’s the female heroes (and cadets) who are at the heart of it. Starting with Mt. Lady, who quite naturally gets thrown into the vanguard when Gigantomachia starts moving. She’s the only one theoretically big enough to stand a chance against him, but in truth even Mt. Lady is barely Hillock Girl when facing this monster. Re-Destro and the other Paranormal Liberation types understand what this means – their leader is awake (early). Dabi decides to take Skeptic along when Gigantomachia gathers everyone up for a ride, interesting given his abilities (basically hacking and making copies of people).

We haven’t heard much from this group of students, but their time on the sidelines is coming to an end. With Mt. Lady unable to stem Giganto’s march and Midnight taken down while trying to put him to sleep, the behemoth heads inexorably towards them. Momo is the one who Midnight relies on to take command, and gives her the option, flee or stay and fight – with anaesthetics Momo produces, trying to do what Midnight was unable to do with her quirk. Preventing Giganomachia and the elites of the League and PLF from rendezvousing with Shigaraki is obviously and absolute priority. But I still see a disconnect between what Re-Destro wants and what Shigaraki does, and I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it.

 

Preview

8 Comments

  1. People say Hori doesn’t wrote women well but this part of the arc proves that he can. Momo demonstrate true leadership skills,Mt Lady ready to put her life on the line and even Midnight giving momo encouragement before meeting her demise.

    Zemo x2
          1. I assume you are going with the CW’s Black Canary(my best guess since Black Canary has had hundreds of costumes but most of them would not match with the rest of the list) ,Miss Martian’s black jumpsuit from the newer Young Justice cartoon and one of the generic jumpsuits they have stuck Monica in since they took her out of her slightly silly but good looking original outfit. If I am correct then in no way would I point to them as good costumes.

            Magewolf
  2. @Magewolf Well what exactly is your fucking definition of a “good costume” for a woman? Honestly i don’t give a,shot what they wear!! I only care about their personality and how they treat others! Also Monica outfit looks “silly” but WTF do you expect!!! Superheroes are silly by battery but no less taken seriously! And I was talking about Cabary’s comic outfit not the stupid cw version but like I said I like these characters 4 their personalities not their fucking outfits!

    Zemo x2
    1. I did not mean to upset you so I am sorry. As for what I consider a “good costume” (male or female) there are four main components that I look for, with the first two being the most important.

      1 Looking Good(the most subjective one)
      2 Being distinctive
      3 Tying into the powers and/or personalty of the hero
      4 Having a good silhouette (if you just see a blacked out shape of the hero can you tell who it is)

      From your list I would only consider Black Canary in a version of her classic look to have a good costume.

      Batgirl Next best after Black Canary
      1 Her classic look and close versions of it usually look pretty good but she has had some very bad ones such as the purple monstrosity.

      2 Her distinctiveness has been hurt badly by the huge over expansion of Bat related characters and copycats

      3 Is effective at showing her to be a part of the Bat-family

      4 Same as 2 basically.

      Black Canary The only really good costume in the mix
      1 Her classic look(fishnets) and close versions of it usually look great but she has had more versions than everyone else in the list combined including some of the worse looks ever such as her stupid blue jumpsuit from the eighties.

      2 Very distinctive especially with the jacket and boots

      3 Fails power-wise completely, personality-wise it varies depending on which version of her backstory is in effect.

      4 Great silhouette especially with the jacket and boots

      Miss Martian Winner of worst dressed
      1 Her first and still best look(blue,white and red) was designed as a throwback to older designs combined with the red x from Martian Manhunter and was intentionally a bit off. However her other two designs, black jumpsuit and black jumpsuit top with a skirt are two of the most generic costumes ever so the first one wins by default even if it is very weak.

      2 Her first look is quite distinctive(if not in a good way). The other two are trash

      3 Her first look does tie into her personalty(copying thing without understanding them)the other two not so much. And none of them tie in power-wise.

      4 Her first design and the skirt one both have pretty good silhouettes.

      Morganna She is wearing a dress
      1 She is wearing a dress

      2 She is wearing a dress

      3 It does sort of tie into her personality and powers

      4 The silhouette is actually decent.

      Captain Marvel (Monica Rambau) Has one good design that is never used anymore.

      1 Her first design with the arm-flaps is good looking (if highly impractical) everything else is just jumpsuits.

      2 Her first design is very distinctive and everything else is just generic jumpsuits.

      3 None of her designs tie in personality or power-wise.

      4 Her first design has a great silhouette with the arm-flaps and the buccaneer boots. The rest are just jumpsuits.

      Magewolf

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