The moment has finally arrived. What is “One for All” to begin with? How does it go along with All for One? What does All Might have to do with it? Will these get answered? Will Izuku’s life change? Will he be stronger for it? Will Mineta be a giant pervert in this episode? Time to answer these questions now.
As the internship ends, Izuku thanks Gran Torino for all he taught him during it, and being able to use his powers to fight Stain. He still nags Izuku about injuring himself and only using 5% of his power, and how he has a lot to learn to be like All Might. Izuku does have one last question to ask: Gran Torino’s name is almost unknown, why is that? Simple. The old man never was interested in being a hero. Instead, he had a goal in the past that required a license to use his Quirk freely. It’s better if Izuku learned this from All Might himself. As they say their goodbyes, Gran Torino asks who Izuku is yet again. But not by his actual name. His hero name. Deku answers, as Gran Torino wants himself and All Might to watch over him to become the next Symbol of Peace.
Back at U.A. Academy, the students all talk about what happened. The girls and their internships, Bakugo getting made fun of because of his hair being Best Jeanist now (it returns to normal after getting pissed off enough), and Mineta being broke by Mt. Lady (good). It’s all for good.
But all the attention soon goes to the three who fought Stain. They’re glad they’re O.K., and that Endeavor “saved them,” which Todoroki really wants to say but can’t. They also talk about the video of Stain going around, which Kaminari stupidly thinks makes Stain look cool. Iida can see that, but knows his ideology is wrong. To not become what he did, Iida goes back to his old self. Which even though it gets some annoyed immediately, Izuku thinks he’s cool for how he handle this.
All Might is leading the students this time in basic hero training. They’re having a rescue training race at Field Gamma, because USJ was for disasters. It will be through a maze of factories, as there will be four 5-person groups out to find and rescue All Might. They *coughBakugocough* have to keep the damage to a minimal. The first group consists of Izuku, Iida, Ojiro, Sero and Mina. Everyone predicts who will win in this group (“Deku will lose!” – Bakugo) and who is at a disadvantage, pointing to Izuku since they don’t know about his overall Quirk. The race starts and Sero takes off into first quickly because of him using his tape to scale the buildings. However, Izuku quickly takes the lead using One for All’s power. It surprises All Might and the others, but Uraraka and Bakugo can both see how he’s jumping around. It’s how Bakugo moves. He can see his rival is getting better and better. Izuku is doing well at maintaining 5% power. He’s just not good at watching where he steps, as he slips on a pipe and falls. Sero eventually rescues All Might first. All Might can see all their improvement and hopes they keep this up for the final exams. He also wants Izuku to meet up with him. He’s ready to tell Izuku everything about him and One for All.
Before that, the students are all in the locker rooms after the rescue races, and Mineta has found a way to peep on the girls across from them. His pervy ass found a hole, and as he describes all the girls’ bodies, he looks through said hole. He gets what comes to him.
Jiro’s earphone jack stabs him as seen, and the undressing girls (Find the screenshot yourself over Twitter or whatever) thank Jiro for it. She is mad that Mineta didn’t describe her own petite body though.
As the day draws to an end, Izuku meets with All Might, as the usually happy hero is all serious. All Might apologizes for not being near the Stain fight, and gets word of Stain’s own Quirk from Izuku. He tells Izuku if he remembers what he first said to him when giving Izuku One for All. Izuku says “Eat this!”, and this happens. Yeah.
The words were how Izuku took in All Might’s DNA to process One for All. Knowing how Stain’s Quirk works, All Might assures him the madman doesn’t have the same power now, since One for All can’t be transferred unless the bearer wishes it. It also can’t be stolen by force, but can be transferred by force. One for All came from a certain Quirk long forgotten in the past: “All for One.” All for One is a Quirk that could steal Quirks from others, make them holders, and have those holders give Quirks to others. It first showed up when superpowers did. Normal humans couldn’t deal with people getting Quirks, laws stop mattering, civilization collapse. It was a disaster. But then, one person came along and unified everyone with All for One. Said person stole Quirks from people, and spread his evil influence with All for One all over to become leader of villains, and take over Japan. Of course, this is not in the superpower history textbooks.
But the more important thing is how it relates to One for All. The guy with All for One made people trust him or had them surrender to him to give Quirks, with many not handling it, becoming unspeakable, living dolls like the Nomus. However, the dude had a Quirkless younger brother. He was small and sick, but had a sense of justice, and resisted his older bro. Said older bro forced his Quirk in him, but that Quirkless younger bro actually did had a Quirk hidden away. A Quirk that stock powers when passed on. This Quirk mixed with All for One became “One for All.” So why is All Might bringing this all up? Because somewhere along the way, the “Symbol of Evil” stole a Quirk that stops aging, and basically became immortal. The younger brother entrusted his Quirk to future generations, so they could harness/cultivate One for All and beat his brother. All Might was the one to figure out One for All’s true power, and beat All for One’s holder. Or so he thought. The dude survived and became the head of the League of Villains. One for All’s is power inherited to beat All for One, and someday, Izuku may have to face All for One. Izuku is game for it, as long All Might asks for it and is with him. All Might thanks him, but he wants to tell him more, no matter how much it pains his pupil, but just can’t say it. He knows what his near future holds with Izuku.
Moving on, summer vacation approaches, meaning the students will have a training camp in the woods. Everyone is happy, as they know they can learn about the environment and conditions there, be able to hang with each other, and see the girls in the baths or hot springs (Guess who thinks this?). Of course, they need to pass the finals first, or they’re be in summer school hell instead. Hearing All Might’s words were mind-changing for Izuku, but he will carry on. However, he does realize that All Might never said anything about himself. Somewhere in a place, All for One’s holder/the League of Villains leader still can’t believe Stain was captured. But other than that, his plans are moving smoothly. He knows those who looked to Stain’s words will come to the League, and Shigaraki will then lead them. A doctor helping him recover thinks he can make it go faster if he just appears himself. He needs his body to recover faster for this. The Master does believe Shigaraki can be this unifier, as he is prepping Shigaraki to be the next “him.” He tells All Might to celebrate this temporary peace.
This episode was pretty great in how it handled One for All’s past. We got a ton of info, got more info on the League of Villain’s mysterious master, and know how the ending looks like it will be played out. This episode was also a great mood swinger. From the beginning with Gran Torino saying goodbye, to the stun faces of people seeing Deku on the rescue race, to the comedy of that little pervert, to the seriousness of telling One for All’s past. You wanted every emotion, you got it. It showed on All Might in how he just wanted to tell Izuku everything about him. He knows he’s going to have to tell his student about all his past and what the future holds, but he also knows that it may kill Izuku inside, the student who looks up to him the most, if he knows it. It’s a difficult decision to be caught up in for anyone, especially someone of All Might’s position who is like a father figure to Izuku. I totally understand this. It sucks we still have not seen his past, but it feels right not to tell it right here. Save it for later, as we get more an info dump on All for One. Plus, the past also highlights how this series is kinda like a Western show from here. That whole part about the “superpowers appearing and humans not accepting it” was very X-Men-esque in nature. Another good episode from this show that has just been producing them throughout the season.
*Note. There was no new MHA episode this past week, as of this writing, because of a telethon in Japan.*