REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia,’ Episode 115 – “Mirko, the No. 5 Hero”

After an excellent start to the new season last week, My Hero Academia Episode 115 continues the war between the heroes and the Paranormal Liberation Front. The hit superhero shonen anime by studio BONES has earned a reputation as one of the most beloved anime and weekly continues to build on the hype from fans all around the world.

My Hero Academia Episode 115 picks up right where Episode 114 left off, with Mirko impressively making her way deep into Garaki’s secret labs. The action scenes of Mirko kicking ass on her way in may be brief, but the close-quarters combat shows how badass she is as a hero. It’s evident when Garaki’s face is shown, and he’s trembling in pure terror (and sadness, rest in peace, Johnny the Nomu). The entire battle, if you can even call it that, is over almost before it starts. The Nomu are no match for Mirko, or so it seems.

Reinforcements quickly arrive to help Mirko after fighting their way through Nomu on their own, but it is clear that Garaki is not going to go down without a fight. The room is surrounded by Nomu in storage, and Garaki frees them to take on Mirko and her approaching help. The High Ends, as he dubs them, are significantly more powerful and even have the ability to speak. The visual design of these High Ends is incredibly impressive, but their intelligence makes them feel like a very serious threat. Garaki may not have any powers of his own, but his ability to create these monstrosities is truly impressive.

The introduction of the High Ends allows My Hero Academia Episode 115 to do what My Hero Academia does best; give us top-notch battle scenes. Since the High Ends are not mindless drones like the other Nomu, the heroes are in for a very serious fight. Garaki is backed into a corner with Shigaraki, and the heroes have a chance to stop them once and for all. The ensuing battle between the heroes and the High Ends is one of the better battles in My Hero Academia. It is arguably the best that does not feature any of the main heroes like Deku, Bakugo, or even Endeavor. The animation is crisp and detailed, which makes the battle even more impressive. Mirko is also an absolute badass, saying she lives “every day expecting to die so that I won’t have any regrets even if I do die.” It’s such a great line in the midst of an even better battle.

While Mirko and the rest of Endeavor’s team are focusing on Garaki and the hospital, Team Edge Shot is preparing to advance on the villa where the Liberation Front’s members are all holed up. They know the numbers are not in their favor going into the battle, but they rush in anyway. It’s fascinating to hear heroes talk about how they are scared while running into battle, and it drives home how high the stakes are for everyone. The villains dig in and prepare to fend off the attacking heroes, but we’ll have to wait until next week to see how this battle plays out.

My Hero Academia Episode 115 gives viewers the action they have been craving, with the battle between the heroes and the Paranormal Liberation Front in full swing. The combination of great individual storytelling and incredible action sequences makes this one of the better episodes of My Hero Academia that fans will love. It can be difficult to make an episode interesting when it revolves around secondary characters instead of the main ones, but My Hero Academia Episode 115 absolutely succeeds.

My Hero Academia Episode 115 is streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.