REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia’ Episode 144 — “Division”

The trap is sprung, and the final battle is about to begin. But how were the heroes able to orchestrate their plan? My Hero Academia Episode 144 (Boku no hîrô akademia) “Division” opens with a step back to clarify how the trap was laid out before delivering the opening moments of the grand confrontation.

“There are no side characters.” It’s a simple line, spoken by a hero whose name I cannot remember, that encapsulates everything about this episode. As the heroes’ plan is laid out in detail, we see that it isn’t the core characters like Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita) or Endeavor (Tetsu Inada, Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura) that make the trap possible. Rather, it’s smaller characters that provide the heroes with the opportunity to catch their opponents off-guard.

The first big reveal of My Hero Academia Episode 144 concerns getting around All For One’s (Akio Ôtsuke) lie detection quirk. Rather than lean on technicalities as I thought, the series dipped into its big bag of heroes and brought Shinso (Wataru Hatano, Gamera: Rebirth) back into the spotlight. By using his mind-control powers, he was able to allow Aoyama and his parents to interact with All For One without triggering his quirk.

Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, Shinso can’t compel people to talk!” Well, it seems the young man has been busy. Just like the rest of UA’s students, Shinso has been busy training. With the help of Aizawa (Jun’ichi Suwabe), the young man has expanded his skills.

The other student who steps out of the shadows in My Hero Academia Episode 144 is Neito Monoma (Kôhei Amasaki, Tomo-Chan is a Girl). With Kurigiri unwilling to aid his former friends, Monoma is tasked with learning how to utilize the villain’s powers with his Copy quirk in a matter of days. Given that they need Monoma to pull heroes from all over Japan to one spot, this seems like a huge ask.

Nevertheless, in true UA fashion, the young man comes through, getting everyone where they need to be. I’m especially happy to see Monoma get this chance to impact the story in a relevant way. As one of the more annoying personalities the series has introduced, it is good to see the time we spent dealing with him wasn’t for naught. And his part to play isn’t over yet.

As the battle begins and the two forces prepare to clash, we see another trick the heroes have in place. Huge, metallic vaults spring out of the ground, dividing and capturing the villains. While the confined begin to force their way out of their momentary prisons, the heroes force the vaults through more portals, scattering the battle across Japan.

This ploy puts the heroes in a position to dictate matchups. The plan goes almost perfectly, except, at the last moment, Toga (Misato Fukuen, The Grimm Variations) snags Midoriya with one of her cables, pulling him into the wrong portal. This leaves the group set up to confront Shigaraki dangerously shorthanded.

This failure in the execution of the plan holds a subtle importance. With so many individuals present on the field, you’d expect someone would do something the heroes couldn’t have planned for. That the unforeseen element is Toga makes perfect sense. My Hero Academia has never shied away from the imperfections of its protagonists. Now that the final battle has arrived, I’m happy to see the series allowing this element to continue.

Despite Midoriya’s absence, the battle with Shigaraki must begin. Taken to the now-flying UA campus, the villain finds that the heroes have constructed an intricate trap for him. With platforms designed to deny him the full use of his Decay quirk, an electromagnetic shield to keep him contained, and a carefully selected group of combatants, Shigaraki is in for a test, even without Midoriya present. Especially when he discovers his quirks aren’t working.

Monoma’s final contribution to My Hero Academia Episode 144 sees him outside UA’s protective barrier, with Aizawa alongside him. The student is copying Erasure so Shigaraki is held in check. This final element feels like the most critical to the heroes’ hopes for victory.

Even with all these carefully laid plans to contain him, Shigaraki makes it clear he is still a force to be reckoned with. As Best Jeanist and Mirko lead the charge, My Hero Academia Episode 144 delivers some intense moments as the heroes discover that they aren’t the only ones with new tricks up their sleeves.

The last piece of this episode’s no-side characters theme plays out here as well. As we learn about the myriad defenses the heroes have built into UA, we see all the people responsible for their construction and maintenance. From Hatsume’s (Azu Sakura) endless work to repair the systems keeping the compound aloft to Yaoyorozu (Marina Inoue) pushing her creation quirk to its limit to provide raw materials for the engineers to work with, everyone is shown as a critical element in the ongoing efforts.

My Hero Academia Episode 144 delivers tons of excitement as well as information. It’s great to see the narrative remember some lesser-used characters, even as the biggest battle of the series begins.

My Hero Academia Episode 144 is streaming on Crunchyroll.