REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia’ Episode 154 — “The Chain Thus Far”

With Kurogiri (Takahiro Fujiwara) free and transporting Toga (Misato Fukuen) and Dabi (Hiro Shimono, My New Boss is Goofy) to All For One (Akio Ôtsuka), the battle reached a critical point at the end of the last episode. With Toga accesses the deceased Twice’s blood, an endless march is beginning that may come to cover all of Japan. But they may not get the chance, as My Hero Academia Episode 154, “The Chain Thus Far,” sees a new peril plummeting towards Earth.

If there is one theme that My Hero Academia has never lost sight of, it’s hope. From our first introduction to Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita) and his dream of being a hero, hope has always lived in the heart of the show’s narrative. But hope can be a surprisingly difficult theme around which to build a narrative. Too much, and your characters are like insipid tools who win their battles through unearned belief.

Too little, and it can become impossible to believe anyone, no matter how heroic, could cling to the few strands of hope that the narrative allows. But hit the balance just right, and you have a story that sees hope rewarded, not through unjustified belief and plot armor making good things happen, but because those who cling to hopes make them become reality. My Hero Academia Episode 154 nails this balance perfectly.

Kicking off this week’s episode at the Gunga Villa Site, we see the unending wave of Twice copies continue to flood the battlefield. The heroes are caught between Toga’s clones and Dabi’s flames in dire straights. Numerous characters react to the unraveling situation as they struggle to stay alive. Amidst the chaos, Uraraka (Ayane Sakura, Spy x Family: Code White) and Asui (Aoi Yûki) emerge from the portal that delivered Toga. Unwilling to give up, Uraraka is convinced she can stop Toga.

This opening sequence sets a strong tone for the episode. The danger posed by Toga and Dabi comes fully to life. As we see heroes trampled by copies or consumed by flame, the presentation does a great job of imparting the gravity and scale of the threats unfolding in the battle.

But even as the situation teeters on the precipice of collapse, Hawks (Yûichi Nakamura, Jujutsu Kaisen 0) swoops in to bring order to chaos. Setting up a plan to quell some of their troubles, he sets Endeavor (Tetsu Inada) up to deal with Dabi while he attempts to hold off All For One.

Hope is often referred to as a candle shining in the darkness. Amid everything, Hawks delivers that energy. We see the cold resolve and unrelenting focus that has made the character stand out and shine all the brighter here. Despite everything unfolding around him, he’s even deduced that All For One, despite all his boasting, is unsure of Shigaraki’s (Kôki Uchiyama) stability. And he has no intention of letting the mastermind reunite with his most powerful creation.

Just before the various fights break out at Gunga Villa, My Hero Academia Episode 154 jumps away to the Coffin in the Sky, where Present Mic and a swarm of Twice copies come pouring out of Kurogiri’s portals. Landing right on top of Aizawa’s team, Neito Monoma (Kôhei Amasaki, Tomo-Chan is a Girl) loses his view of Shigaraki, restoring the villain’s quirks to him. This sees an explosion of power surge from the villain. The animation deftly delivers the power ripping across the airborne battlefield as Shigaraki screams out his rage.

The situation is no better in the structure’s bowls, as the heroes working to keep UA in the sky discover they have lost control of the population systems keeping them all aloft. A hack has shut down the engines, setting the Coffin in the Sky on a collision course with Earth that, if not stopped, could produce an extinction-level event.

Attempting to counter the hack, My Hero Academia Episode 154 brings an unexpected champion in the form of La Brava (Yui Horie, Scarlet Nexus). But even as the computer genius speeds to the rescue, attempting to rewrite the program to get the engines running again, it quickly becomes clear she needs more time. And it seems only her favorite criminal can save the day.

Appearing beneath the plummeting UA, we see Gentle Criminal (Kôichi Yamadera, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero) bouncing on one of his air trampolines, preparing to make the biggest catch ever. But before he strikes out to intercept the falling structure, we get a flashback to learn what Gentle has been up to since his plan to attack UA was thwarted by Midoriya.

Gentle’s exposure to Midoriya’s determination and focus greatly impacted him. When All For One attacks the prison he is being held in, Gentle single-handedly keeps the prisoners from escaping. Wanting to help others smile like the young man who had defeated him, Gentle earns his chance at redemption.

Jumping back to the present, we see the reformed villain launch himself at the falling UA, as he constructs his largest trampoline. As it has done since the earliest episodes, the animation brings Gentle’s struggles to vivid life. As he is nearly squashed between the trampoline that supports him and the one he tries to catch UA with, strength, fueled by the support of La Brava, who he knows is cheering for him, eventually stops the fall.

When Midoriya learns that a trampoline has caught them, he instantly knows who has saved the day. The raw joy that washes over Midoriya as he realizes the villain he fought has become someone better is a moving moment that hits the viewer. But just as there feels like there is hope, Shigaraki begins to move.

With his quirks back, a single touch of Shigaraki’s hand will turn UA and everyone in it to dust. With Midoriya powerless to intervene as his body recovers from the stress of using his quirks, no one seems in place to stop the villain. As the hand moves towards the ground, a shot rings out, ripping it off. A familiar, drill-like projectile is shown speeding away.

The last image My Hero Academia Episode 154 leaves viewers with is of Lady Nagant. Poised atop a faraway building, wrapped in bandages and wearing nothing but a hospital gown, with her sniper rifle tied down to keep the raging storm from ruining her aim, the compromised hero has let loose her shot, saving the moment from dissolving into failure.

This image is accompanied by a voiceover observing that “Villains are humans too” and that to reach them, people must look deeper into their hearts to the origins of what made them villains. This observation accompanying three former antagonists saving the day perfectly fits the episode’s end. My Hero Academia has always treated its villains as more than mere props with evil intentions for the heroes to punch. This brings into stark focus how the kindness and compassion of characters like Midoriya throughout the series have worked just as hard as the most powerful quirks to make the world better. And without that kindness, all would be lost.

My Hero Academia Episode 154 is full of tension, surprise, action, emotion, and hope. It feels like so much of what My Hero Academia is comes together in this episode, delivering a tear-inducing story.

My Hero Academia Episode 154 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.