REVIEW: ‘My Hero Academia’ Episode 155 — “hopes”

With former foes stepping in to lend their aid, the battle continues to shift in unexpected ways. As the fortunes upon the field twist and turn, My Hero Academia Episode 155, “hopes,” peers into the minds of some of its combatants, showcasing the pains and inspiration that continue to drive them on.

This week’s entry jumps back in time a little, returning to Central Hospital to show how Lady Nagant (Atsumi Tanezaki, The Apothecary Diaries) found herself in the perfect spot to save the day. Even as a doctor insists she returns to her bed, Nagant forces herself forward, determined to fight alongside Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita) as he asked her to. With the aid of a passing hero, she learns where the battle is, allowing her to get her sights on Shigaraki (Kôki Uchiyama). As she stumbles into position, we are shown the moments that drive her. I bet you can guess what they are.

My Hero Academia Episode 155‘s opening reminds me of the old adage about having too much of a good thing. As always, Studio BONES masterfully delivers the emotional core of what lies at the center of Nagant’s motivations. Despite great visuals and a wonderful voice performance, the moment doesn’t hit as hard as it should. The reason for it is simple: we’ve seen this many times before. In the last episode, we got Gentle’s (Kôichi Yamadera) inspiring moment, in which he thinks back on how his encounter with Midoriya changed him.

We get so many of these moments that they can’t be expected to land. When viewers see Nagant stumbling down the hospital corridor, they can probably guess exactly how the moment will play out. It’s still good, but the formula is getting weaker. And with several more episodes before the finish line, I can see more moments falling victim to this problem if they come too frequently.

After Nagant fires one last shot, removing Shigaraki’s other hand, My Hero Academia Episode 155 turns its gaze into the vestige world within Shigaraki as the manifestation of All For One within him rails about Lady Nagant’s defiance. He is quickly silenced, however, as Shigaraki imposes his psyche on the moment, forcing All For One to subside. With the stage now his, we learn about Shigaraki’s growing animosity towards his teacher.

The central focus of Shigaraki’s internal dialogue is on how All For One cannot help but manipulate and use people. He relates how this reflects his own experiences. He shows that he understands that All For One picked him purely for the fact that his relation to Shimura could be leveraged against All-Might.

The observations within this sequence are precise and well-delivered. Shigaraki has no delusions about his master or how much he means to him. Just as All For One holds no loyalty to his protege, Shigaraki sees no reason to cling to any for him. The only thing I wish this moment made clear is whether or not Shigaraki has always felt this way. This attitude towards All For One doesn’t feel the same as Shigaraki expressed in earlier seasons. Was he hiding these feelings the whole time, or have they grown over time? Possibly even due to his direct exposure to All For One’s mind as the two personalities have become merged.

The other critical element of this moment is the reveal that Shigaraki has actively hidden the child-like piece of him that has been glimpsed on occasion in the vestige world. Through preserving this piece of himself, the villain hopes to keep his sights on his ultimate goal of destroying everything connected to the house he suffered in.

Returning to the UA, we see Gentle’s strength beginning to wane under the tremendous weight of the structure he is holding. As his will begins to falter, he notices some of the students from UA’s business course recording him with their cell phones. When he tries to shoo them back inside for their safety, they refuse.

They respond to his concern, stating that the world needs to know who saved them and how. Believing that the fallout against the hero community would’ve been lessened if the public had seen their sacrifices, they are determined to make sure that the world knows what has been done to save them this time.

Having just restored the engines to UA, streaming queen La Brava (Yui Horie, Scarlet Nexus) hacks into their phones and sets them up to broadcast to the world. Deciding that everyone will see her Gentle save the day, the detail serves as a nice uptick in energy, that plays perfectly into the growing hope in the moment as UA’s engines kick back on.

This moment delivers a powerful reminder that great actions have less impact if no one knows about them. While just having UA not fall back to earth is great, understanding that two former criminals were instrumental in preventing the disaster, one of which is recorded live in his efforts, enriches the bare bones facts of the moment.

With the situation at UA stabilized, My Hero Academia Episode 155 takes viewers to the Guna Villa Site. Here we see All For One attempting to escape the current fight so he can join up with Shigaraki. Pursued closely by Hawks (Yûichi Nakamura), All For One is forced to stop his flight to remove his enemy from the chase. While it momentarily appears that All For One is successful in slaying Hawks, it is quickly revealed that this is a ruse enabled by the timely arrival of Shiketsu High School’s hero course.

While the head fake death of Hawk’s is cleverly implemented, how hard it leans into comedic visuals feels jarringly out of place. Tokoyami’s (Yoshimasa Hosoya, Megalo Box) reaction to the apparent death is animated in a way that makes no sense till you discover it’s a fake. The humor feels wrong since it contradicts the emotions Tokoyami would be experiencing. This leaves the viewer just feeling confused by the visual effect until everything is made clear.

Aside from this tonal failure, the arrival of Shiketsu High is an epic moment. As whirlwinds sweep scores of Twice copies from the field, the renewed sense of hope from the beleaguered heroes on the ground is palpable. The sheer scope of the impact brought by the new arrivals is delivered fantastically through great cinematography. The camera shifts from one position to the next skillfully, highlighting the overall state of things from the outside, and pulling the viewer into the center of individual struggles with excellent timing and angles.  Even All For One is held at bay temporarily by the sudden onslaught of so many new quirks in the battle.

But even as the winds lash against him, All For One believes himself to be relatively safe. After all, if anyone approaches him he can steal their quirk, forcing his adversaries to keep their distance. He believes only Endeavor could safely move on him. However, he is soon proven wrong in this belief.

Thanks to the monstrous tornado and raging fires strewn across the battlefield, the sun has been blotted from the sky. Without its light holding him back Tokoyami is free to unleash his powers against All For One. Since the villain must touch the individual directly to absorb their quirk, Tokoyami is safe from this threat.

Seeing Tokoyami get to unleash on All For One is satisfying on numerous levels. Seeing the young hero get to drive the self-styled “Demon Lord” into the ground feels like a slap in the face for how casually he dismissed Tokoyami and Jiro when they first joined the fight.

Even going beyond the current season though, My Hero Academia always talked up Tokoyama’s potential, while never getting to truly deliver on the build-up. Seeing Dark Shadow manifest to its full height and drive through All For One is the rewarding moment the secondary character deserves. That he got to do it with his mentor at his back is a bonus.

My Hero Academia Episode 155 brings more action and emotion to the continuing struggle between the heroes and villains. While some of the tricks the show leans on are starting to show their wear, the series still pulls out some surprises, emotional delivery, and enough epic scope to make the stumbles more than worth it.

My Hero Academia Episode 155 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.