REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia’ Episode 124 — “Dabi’s Dance”

This review contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Episode 124, “Dabi’s Dance”

The hits keep coming in My Hero Academia Episode 124, “Dabi’s Dance.” While the last few episodes have been emotional in relation to struggling against Shigaraki or the unrelenting force of Gigantomachia, this episode offers up punches from different characters. In My Hero Academia Episode 124, Ochaco and Toga exchange words and blows in a fight that feels like it came out of nowhere and yet has important resonance for the character. Additionally, Gigantomachia reaches Shigaraki and the heroes, but most importantly, Dabi reveals the secret of his past, and some fans will find that their theories were spot on.

It’s hard to talk about My Hero Academia Episode 124 because of how much story development gets packed into one 23-minute episode. The most important elements are how the revelations and conversations challenge our heroes’ understanding of villains and their place in it all. For Ochaco and Toga, the surface look like a yandere battling for a love interest. But the truth is that it’s a fight that showcases how broken Toga is, both by her need to consume the people she loves but also by the death of Jin, Twice. On the other hand, Ochaco has a strong sense of morality and can’t see anything beyond the pain that Toga causes people. She sees the pain Toga inflicts as the ultimate reason for her being a villain. But what we can also understand is that heroes have hurt Toga and, more importantly, taken the only person she really bonded with. It’s a glimpse into something deeper, but only a glimpse. This section of the episode is the only adaptation issue I’ve had all season, as it props up traditional tropes and cuts down on the introspection we saw in Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga.

That said, when the fight between Ochaco and Toga is balanced against Dabi’s revelation rattles the very foundation of not just the Todoroki family, but of every hero and those who look to them for help. While Endeavor is the Number One hero, and he went through an atonement arc in My Hero Academia Season 5, Dabi represents every sin he’s committed and that he can never truly be rid of them. While there is a slight fumble with Toga, studio bones manages to wonderfully adapt one of Horikoshi’s most important reveals: Toya Todoroki.

As an episode, My Hero Academia Episode 124 changes everything. It guts out the remaining hope left in the heroes with spite and malice. Endeavor was an abuser, and while he’s been working to atone with the kids left alive, Dabi is proof that no amount of atonement will clear a ledger filled with so much pain. Horikoshi understands deeply that the past doesn’t go away. He knew this when he mapped out Shigaraki’s past, when he highlighted Bakugo’s bullying of Deku. Even in Bakugo’s most heroic moment, the past lives on.

This is ultimately the power of My Hero Academia. It tells a story consistently over time and never forgets what came before every large story reveal. On top of that, it allows complexity in villains and in heroes to explore fear, forgiveness, and as we’ve seen central to Endeavor, atonement. Dabi, Toya, is the living embodiment of every jealous action that Endeavor perpetrated. The choice to focus on the Todoroki family’s reaction to the revelation also adds to the impact.

My Hero Academia Episode 124 is the most “shocking” of the recent season, but it also is filled with emotional storytelling where ramifications of life come to play. My Hero Academia Season 6 is the best season of the series, and that’s because it pays off in every moment we’ve seen before, with teeth and heart in equal measure. Who gets to be a hero and what makes one is the best question that My Hero Academia as a franchise asks, and I can’t wait to explore it more.

My Hero Academia Episode 124 is available now on Crunchyroll, with new episodes airing every Saturday.