You want to see cheerleaders? You may. Do you want to see the girls as cheerleaders? Damn right you do. Do you want to see some daddy issues and child abuse stories that involve one of the characters? You don’t? Well, too bad, because that is part of this episode. It gets dark for a time. But hey, cheerleaders!
Todoroki wanted to talk with Izuku, but all he does is stare at him with cold intimidation. He knows he was overpowered by Izuku, breaking the pledge he made not to use his left side, which makes his fiery half. It was the same as being up close to All Might, which is what Todoroki wanted to talk to Izuku about. He finally asks the important question that has been on his mind.
Izuku says he isn’t, or tries his best to. But even so, Todoroki knows he and All Might have some connection. And because of this, it makes Todoroki want to beat Izuku even more. Speaking of All Might, he meets up with Endeavor, Todoroki’s dad, for the first time in 10 years. He just wanted to say hello, but the feeling isn’t mutual with Endeavor. All Might just wants some tips from Endeavor on how to raise the next generation of heroes. This just pisses Endeavor off, as he tells him he’ll make “that” into a hero who will surpass All Might one day. Of course, “that” is Todoroki. And he tells about how his dad being all mad and jealous that All Might is above him in rank. He goes into something called “Quirk Marriages.” It’s like the forced marriages of old, but this time involving Quirks being passed on to their kids so they can fulfilled their own stuff. This happened with Todoroki’s parents, as Endeavor wanted Todoroki’s moms’ Quirk, all to fulfill his own desires of beating All Might. But it’s not just his dad who he has issues with. The memories of his mom are really horrifying.
Never mind. Both his parents are pretty fucked up pic.twitter.com/rmnJys8aHp
— King Meow (@cedric_alpha) May 12, 2017
Todoroki picked a fight with Izuku to prove that he can win without using his dad’s Quirk. Todoroki promises to beat him with only his right side. Izuku sees how different now their worlds are, even thinking Todoroki would be the MC in a comic (or any character in Naruto). Even so, Izuku has been supported by the others. He wants to not only pay them back, but be like All Might, and get that top spot. Izuku won’t lose to Todoroki, as he will return that Declaration of War Todoroki gave to him. Todoroki leaves, as does Bakugo, who was listening in to their conversation.
Before the next round, the sports festival will have recreation games for those who didn’t advance. To liven it up, they even brought cheerleaders in. The Class A girls are dressed in said cheerleader outfits, and they’re not too happy.
But why are they dressed this way? ‘Cause they got tricked. By Mineta and Kaminari, of course.
It flashes back to lunch time when the two told Yaoyorozu and Jiro that everyone had to wear the cheerleader outfits. The lie worked, even having Yaoyorozu make the outfits herself. At least Hagakure is happy. Maybe because people won’t see her body.
And so, the final round is announced, as all 16 people from 4 teams will duke it out in a 1-on-1 tournament, compared to last year’s “Sports Chanbara” match. But any of the 16 players can withdraw, if they want to. And that is what Ojiro does instantly. Why? Because he doesn’t remember a lot of the Cavalry Battle and how his team made it through. It’s all because of their blue-hair teammate, Shinso. He can’t be up there with his pride at stake not knowing what he did. Also dropping out is another of his teammates/Class B student Shoda. It’s for the same reason, and he thinks it isn’t right. It’s Midnight call to make, and she allows them to withdraw. They have to replace them with two others, and has the 5th place Team Kendo go. But Kendo wants Tetsutetsu’s team to go instead, since they fraught harder. So it’s Tetsutetsu and his teammate, Shiozaki, who move on. The first few bracket matches for the tourney is:
- Tetsutetsu vs Kirishima (They hate it because they basically have the same Quirk)
- Fumikage vs Yaoyorozu
- Ashido vs Mina
- And Shinso vs Izuku
Izuku now remembers who Shinso is, but Ojiro stops him from talking to the blue-hair dude, because of what happened to him. Todoroki is interested in Izuku’s match-up, because if both of them win, they will face each other in the next round. Mei meets up with Iida, as she is happy to meet him. As for Bakugo, he’s facing a familiar opponent. It’s Uraraka, and she’s just as thrilled as one can be facing him.
The Recreational Games get underway, as a weird scavenger hunts with the audience, doing stuff with big balls, and other things go on. The tourney contestants get ready in their own way, like Izuku talking with Ojiro about Shinso, Iida drinking of bunch of orange juice, and Uraraka and the girls cheering. As the field gets ready, All Might meets with Izuku. Izuku still hasn’t mastered One for All yet. In fact, according to All Might, if he gave a percentage of how much his body brings out this Quirk, he says it’s about 5%. As much as Izuku thanks his friends and luck to get here, All Might just wants him to say “I’ll do my best, damn it” for once, and stand proud with a smile.
The first match starts up with Izuku facing Shinso. The rules are simple for this tournament: Knock the person out of the ring, immobilize them, or just have them say “I give up.” And injuries, as long as they’re not life-threatening, are okay. As the fight begins, Shinso gets Izuku mad by saying Ojiro threw away his chance at fighting here. Izuku charges, Shinso smiles as something happens. He says he wins, as Ojiro is upset that Izuku didn’t follow what he warned about. Izuku is standing there frozen.
Overall, while it didn’t have any action in it, not everything needs to be action-oriented. And this episode is meant to establish characters. More so, Todoroki and his family dynamic. Todoroki was one of the more interesting characters on here to begin with. With not only how powerful he was, but to have two Quirks at the same time compared to most having just one. Seeing how his life has been because his dad despised being second fiddle to All Might was pretty eye-opening. To not want to be a tool to some scumbag, just because they’re in second, and to be in a living hell of your own. Not only with his dad, but with his mom, too. It’s powerful stuff, and does make his character more pronounced with how he wants to handle his own business. Plus, I didn’t really expect this angle to come in on this show. That’s mostly my fault cause I don’t read the manga to go with it. But hey, we got something from this. To have a counter to how Izuku grew up and how both want to win this for very different reasons shows how well the characters on this show can be developed. Now we have to see if they will face off in the next round. But hey, Izuku has to survive his battle first. That’s next episode. As for this one, other than Todoroki’s dark childhood, and the girls as cheerleaders, there was not much to go with this one throughout. It was still an O.K. episode, just not the best one.