REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia,’ Episode 102 – “Off To Endeavor’s Agency”

My Hero Academia is a superhero-shounen anime produced by Bones. After celebrating Christmas with their classmates, a quiet New Year at home with their respective families is granted before the students of UA High are off to do their work studies. For Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki, these work studies are at the hero agency of the number one hero Endeavor. But even as all seems peaceful on the surface, something is stirring in My Hero Academia Episode 102.

Before we get into the meat of this week’s episode, we have to talk about the show’s biggest moment. That’s right, it’s a new intro day! This new intro feels a bit different than many of My Hero Academia‘s previous beats. While it maintains the show’s positivity and push to keep trying, it comes in a bit more subdued than many other intros.

There is also a lot of changing imagery that pushes the direction of the show forward. The biggest of these is a sequence that has All-Might’s figure standing proudly before a blinding light, only to see it transitioned out for Endeavor. The reason for this is obvious but still hit me a bit to see. And with that, let’s talk about the episode.

My Hero Academia Episode 102 opens with Midoriya spending the New Year at home, catching his mom up on what has transpired since UA went to the dorm system. Every time they bring Midoriya’s mom into an episode I get reminded of how hard the hero life is on all those around the heroes. Even the positive things bring a small bit of struggle with them as Midoriya grows into the hero he wants to be, but she can’t be there to see it. Nonetheless, she is the supportive caring mom she’s always been.

With the work studies beginning, the students end up not having to wait long to see the number one hero in action, as a villain strikes as they get off the train. More of a surprise is the appearance of the number two hero Hawks. The often charismatic hero doesn’t seem quite himself as he interacts with Endeavor and the students. Though for some this goes unnoticed. Like Midoriya, as he launches into one of his trademark fanboy moments. It’s nice to see that some things will never change.

The rest of My Hero Academia Episode 102 delves into setup, for the coming arc, which I won’t spoil here. But the direction the show is heading in promises something different from the usual flashy hero work that is most commonly seen in the show.

The animation side of the episode has a particular eye-catching moment that I really enjoyed involving the villain Endeavor confronts. Both the power itself, as well as how it is portrayed are delivered in a way that makes them much cooler than I would’ve expected it to be if it was described to me. The originality of both the show’s powers, as well as their visual implementation, remains undiminished.

My Hero Academia Episode 102 manages to get the new arc started with a solid blend of character and visual flair, while also prepping viewers for a story that feels like it will be decidedly different than what has come before.

My Hero Academia Episode 102 is streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.