REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia,’ Episode 138 – “No Man Is an Island”

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This season of My Hero Academia has been an emotional roller coaster, and My Hero Academia Episode 138 marks the climax of everything this season has built towards. Heroes question themselves and whether they are worthy of being considered heroes, while All For One remains a looming threat.

My Hero Academia Episode 138 starts by focusing on All Might, who doesn’t believe he deserves to be considered a hero anymore. He feels like he has failed Deku and, as a result, failed the people who used to look to him to save them. His self-doubt is so substantial that even the hero killer Stain doesn’t believe him when he says he is All Might. It’s such a great way to show just how defeatist the former number one hero has become. He can’t use his powers like he used to anymore and he feels completely useless, but the real power of All Might was never his strength or abilities.

The real reason All Might was such an effective hero was that he always gave everything he had in service to others. It’s what made Deku such a common-sense replacement for him. That pure selflessness was inspirational for many, something My Hero Academia Episode 138 shows when a citizen comes to dutifully clean All Might’s statue despite the danger all around them. All Might just needed some of that inspiration himself, he needed saving from a dark place. He isn’t the first hero to need that in My Hero Academia and he certainly won’t be the last.

My Hero Academia Episode 138 really serves as a way to bring all the heroes together and set up the upcoming battle with Shigaraki and All For One that will take place in Season 7. Deku is surrounded by his friends now, safe and ready to make a plan. Endeavor and Hawks have information provided by All Might that will be key to finding Shigaraki and All For One. It’s a nice way to tie up all of the storylines that this season has been building up, but it almost felt a little bit disappointing.

The back half of Season 6 has had a significant amount of exposition and character development, but I was really hoping to at least see the start of an epic battle here at the end. It’s not that My Hero Academia Episode 138 is bad, and it certainly reveals some exciting things going forward, it just did not feel as satisfying as I hoped it would. Still, I was glad to see All Might have time to openly deal with his sense of self-worth and come to terms with what his new role is. I hope this development for him and the developments we have seen from the other heroes continue as the action starts to pick up in the future.

My Hero Academia Episode 138 is a good episode, it just isn’t as great as some of the others have been recently. Still, the stage is set for the all-out battle for the fate of the world. The heroes are united and ready, but we will have to wait until next season to see if it will be enough to overcome Shigaraki and All For One.

My Hero Academia Episode 138 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.