REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia’ Episode 123 — “The Ones Within Us”

I don’t know how to start the review for My Hero Academia Episode 123 because, up until now, studio MAPPA has animated some of the more emotionally damaging parts of the arc. And to be honest, this intensity has made it hard to review slower episodes Torino, Aizawa, and last episode, Bakugo have been injured or maimed while other heroes have died. The stakes have risen to a point that it’s starting to get uncomfortable in the best ways.

In My Hero Academia Episode 123, “The Ones Within Us,” we see Deku completely lose it in his grief, anger peaking through his smile. As he directly fights Shigaragki, it leads to a confrontation and a glimpse into All For One, as much as he begins to connect with the past One For All users within himself. That said, Gigantomachia continues north, pushing through the defensive line of U.A. students and their pro-hero mentors. While the episode manages to capture the devastation both on a macro and personal level that Shigaraki has wreaked, My Hero Academia Episode 123 also manages to pull Toga into focus as she makes a detour and confronts Ochako.

A lot is going on in this episode, the most important of which is what we learn about Shigaraki and Deku’s quirks. This episode dives deeper into the lore about One For All and All For One as we see the effects of transference on both Deku and Shigaraki. While we began to explore Deku’s connections to past quirk users, exploring how he can connect with them has remained surface-level. Now, with All For One’s pushing, the audience understands more. This showcases Deku’s resiliency as something he has, but also something that is bolstered and protected by those who believe in him. On the other hand, however, the deepening of the lore between the two opposite power also pushes the audience to question how much of Shigaraki’s mind and body are still his, and how much has All For One taken over.

That said, the intro to this episode seems to take away some of the impact of Bakugo’s sacrifice. While the manga played with the idea that Bakugo may have died, here, with lines given after being impaled, it’s clear that Bakugo is only injured, and the drama that could have been built up is fumbled.

Similar and yet vastly different, studio MAPPA continues to handle villains and their relationships with care as Kohei Horikoshi did with his manga. This is especially true for the last section of the episode that puts Toga in the spotlight. While her chaos and yandere attitude has made her a character that has both ire and admiration in the fandom, My Hero Academia Season 6 has offered more substance to who she is, primarily in her relationship with Twice.

This relationship drives her toward Ochako and fuels her hatred of heroes. It’s not that hates them because they are “good” and she is “bad,” Twice’s death has made the reality come into focus for Toga: Heroes aren’t there to save villains; they’re there to kill them. While I’m sure we’ll get more of this in the next episode, the foundation is set between Toga and Ochako in a way that I understand and sympathize with.

My Hero Academia Episode 123 is a good one, but it offers up more set-up for the finale of the arc than substance. We see pieces begin to line up, and switches begin to flip, but there isn’t as much action as there is talking. But that’s okay, given the pacing from the manga that it’s adapting. Less than perfect but still stellar, My Hero Academia Season 6 remains an anime to watch.

My Hero Academia 123 is streaming now on Crunchyroll with new episodes every Saturday.