Anime Best in Show

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101 Review – Best In Show

Quick SummaryBest MomentSetupDeliveryOther Posts

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101 Review – Quick Summary

In My Hero Academia Season 5 episode 101, “Have a Merry Christmas!,” a local news channel found about how well Katsuki Bakugou/Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight and Shouto Todoroki/Shouto had done against a villain just hours after earning their provisional licenses. The interview went as well as you might expect. The members of Class 1-A were very surprised when it aired — and so was Bakugou! Later, Yuu Takeyama/Mt. Lady, maybe in response to Shouto and Bakugou’s interview performance, showed up to give Class 1-A instructions on how to behave during an interview. Most of the class did well, with one notable exception: Izuku Midoriya/Deku! His performance was, shall we say, unique?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101: Bakugou wasn't happy about being cut out of the interview when it aired

I don’t blame Bakugou for feeling angry. That could have been his big break! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The interview scene with Shouto and Bakugou left me chuckling. Sure, we knew what would happen. I mean, when has Bakugou ever respectfully and obediently answered questions? When has Shouto been disrespectful? They both acted out their roles precisely as we expected them to.

Class 1-A saw the punchline when the segment aired. Bakugou only appeared for a second, and then only in the corner of the frame! The editors had removed all of Bakugou’s shouting and insults and general bad temper. That left only a second of air time. Unsurprisingly, Bakugou acted less than pleased. In other words, he yelled about it. I noticed, though, that he didn’t throw or break anything, so the guy’s showing some progress!

Bakugou, despite his temper, has made some good friends in Class 1-A. Eijirou Kirishima/Red Riot in particular acts like keeping up with Bakugou is no big deal. As Bakugou vented about being cut out of the interview, Eijirou said (06:04), in an upbeat voice, “Do your best starting next time!”

Eijirou’s heart was in the right place!

Best in Show Moment for My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101: Nezu tried his best to help the students

He couldn’t keep the students out of harm’s way. So he did the best he could. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Preparing the Way

Well, this episode certainly made me feel apprehensive for our heroes. By the end, I had a pretty good idea they were all doomed in some way or another. Deku saying that this was the last Christmas they would enjoy together just put the bow on the package of dread.

That factored into me choosing my favorite moment. It also stuck out to me because I have institutional trust issues. That sounds fancy, doesn’t it? It’s a more precise way of saying I’ve gotten cynical as I’ve aged. Back in elementary school, I trusted teachers. I thought they were there to help me learn and guide me. One day, I had to stay behind while the rest of the class went to lunch because I needed to finish a test. Little me was terrified of walking from the elementary through the junior high to get to the cafeteria. Some of those big kids were mean! So I asked a friend to wait with me. I finished the test, turned it in, and headed to lunch.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101: The hero commission ordered the school to put students in harm's way

Sometimes, people in authority and/or their institutions just don’t think things through. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The teacher saw I’d asked someone to stay behind, and she accused me of cheating. Honest to God, the idea had not occurred to me. I was just some farm kid, and my parents had raised me to be honest. So I couldn’t understand why she would accuse me of something like that. I protested my innocence with the kind of vehemence typical of little kids who think they’re in the right. My teacher threw it back on me by asking how I could prove to her I didn’t cheat.

Delivery: Not All Institutions Suffer from Corruption

That unfounded accusation, the assumption that I had cheated without proof, destroyed the trust I had in teachers. As I grew up, I eventually lost faith in coaches, local government, my church, and just about every other human institution. That’s why I liked my favorite moment from this episode so much.

Nezu, the principal, called a meeting with all of the teachers. The commission governing hero affairs had “asked” the school to send all of the 1-A students into work-study programs. The principal tried to cast it in a good light, but teachers like Nemuri Kayama/Midnight and Ectoplasm recognized it for what it was: an order to send additional help. The heroes were not winning the war. Snipe even figured out that based on the vague wording in the request, the League of Villains had to have scared the commission into issuing this order.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101: Midnight recognized the "request" for what it was

Midnight saw through the vague wording to the “request’s” true intent. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Nezu couldn’t sugar coat the situation. He agreed they had no choice. They’d been ordered, in effect, to put their students into harm’s way. But he was unwilling to follow those orders without at least trying to do something for the students.

He said (15:02), “Let’s try our best to ask heroes with good track records” to take on these students as interns. It wasn’t much. The students were still going into danger. But he did what he could, and I appreciated it. I wish more real life institutions would at least make the attempt. I don’t expect perfection, after all.

What did you think of Mina Ashido/Alien Queen’s brave attempts to put a Christmas jacket on Bakugou? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 101: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

tcrow
Copyright 2022 Terrance A. Crow. All rights reserved.
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com

Please let me know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.