Anime Best in Show

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103 Review – Best In Show

tcrowComments(6)

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103 Review – Quick Summary

In My Hero Academia Season 5 episode 103, “One Thing at a Time,” Keigo Takami/Hawks visited an isolated building that acted as a headquarters for a collection of villains. Is Hawks selling out? No. Hawks was on assignment to provide misleading information to the villains and bring back whatever intel he could. He worked the villains’ timeframe into a message to Enji Todoroki/Endeavor, who figured out the code and understood the message. But even with the number 1 and 2 heroes aware of the threat, what could they do? Hawks still couldn’t uncover the details, and the army at the villains’ disposal seems to number in excess of 100,000. What can they possibly do to halt such a wide-spread and well-staffed attack?

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

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103: Burnin is a professional Hero, and she couldn't follow Midoriya's ramblings!

She might have lost track of the conversation, but Burnin seemed pretty happy about it! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Endeavor made a potentially huge mistake this week. Apparently, he didn’t know Izuku Midoriya/Deku very well, because Endeavor told him to “tell me what you need work on right now and what you can do.” Now, as the series has established innumerable times before, Midoriya is a Quirk geek. He wants to know everything about them, in all their permutations.

So, Midoriya launched himself into a detailed, critical analysis of his own Quirk and its operational abilities. He helpfully included the history and setbacks he’d encountered along the way, as well as his own analysis about where he needed the most help. I would say it went on to long that Katsuki Bakugou/Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite ground his teeth in frustration, but Bakugou does that after about 5 seconds of any conversation. Even Endeavor’s sidekicks began to get a little antsy.

Except for Moe Kamiji/Burnin. She maintained what I’m learning is her normal upbeat disposition. But she eventually reached her limit and said (10:41), “It’s so long that I don’t know what he’s talking about!”

She held on longer than I would have!

Best in Show Moment for My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103: However, Endeavor could and did follow what Midoriya said.

Midoriya seemed as confused as I was by Endeavor’s last comment. But overall, I felt astonished that Endeavor had listened so intently. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: All Might Is Not All That

By saying “All Might Is Not All That,” you might think that I’m disrespecting Toshinori Yagi/All Might. I’m not, really. But watching this episode made me realize that All Might just wasn’t a great mentor. Let me explain that a bit. When the series started, Midoriya wanted nothing more than to be a Hero like All Might. But the poor guy had no Quirk! So when he recklessly throwing himself into harm’s way to save Bakugou, without really having a way to actually save Bakugou, he attracted All Might’s attention.

All Might responded by making Midoriya eat one of his hairs. I know, that’s a prejudicial way to put it. What All Might really did was share his DNA with Midoriya, which gave Midoriya One for All. What did All Might do to help Midoriya acclimate to One for All? Well, he helped Midoriya train his body to take the strain from his new Quick. Beyond that, Midoriya was pretty much on his own. All Might just didn’t seem the sort of hero to deeply consider much of anything. Sure, he projected power, and he earned the title Symbol of Peace. But thoughtful consideration of a topic didn’t seem among his skills.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103: Midoriya loosed a core dump upon the world

At first, I thought this was typical geek Deku getting into the weeds. Later, I wondered if he had a deep need to talk to someone who would listen about what he’d been seeing with his Quirk. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

But looking back over multiple seasons, I don’t recall a time All Might had a serious, theoretical discussion of Quick management. Or Quick power distribution. Or Quick exercise. I remember a few discussions of what percentage of One for All’s power Midoriya could take. But nothing like I would expect from the number 1 hero. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but it was more than All Might delivered in that regard.

That’s what made me choose this moment for my Best in Show. It’s jarring. Honestly, it shocked me. But in retrospect, it makes perfect sense.

Delivery: The Suck Dad Delivered

Remember in my favorite quote, above, when Endeavor asked Midoriya and Bakugou about their strengths and weaknesses? Midoriya went on and on and on about his. He basically performed a core dump, which is when a computer just spits out everything it’s working on and everything in memory (the particulars; I’ve blended core dump and memory dump here). Midoriya’s information was almost unstructured. He just streamed data. He went on for so long that Burnin, who’s really growing on me as a character, confessed that even as a professional Hero and one of Endeavor’s sidekicks, she’d lost track.

Here’s the remarkable thing. All while Midoriya spoke, Endeavor listened intently. When Deku finished, Endeavor said (10:46), “So you’re saying that you want to constantly be able to adjust back and forth when you’re righting?” Midoriya confirmed his understanding. Endeavor thought back to when he’d seen Midoriya in the sports competition. “You’ve had trouble with your Quick, I see” (11:16). “You were one of us to, then?”

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103: Endeavor turned out to be a great mentor.

Later in the episode, Endeavor gave Deku specific exercise to improve his Quick control. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

First, his last comment mystified Midoriya as much as me. But my favorite moment was how Endeavor had listened to Midoriya. He had analyzed what the young man had said, and he had placed it into context. Later, he would give Midoriya specific exercises to help him control his Quick. But in just a few minutes, he did as much or more than All Might had done in years. Even though he himself was a terrible, probably criminal, father, he was an outstanding mentor. At least in that moment. That’s why it’s my favorite moment of the episode.

What did you think of Hawks’ undercover work? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103: 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

Related Articles
Anime Best in Show

Call of the Night Episode 7 Review – Best In Show

tcrow

Call of the Night Episode 7 – Quick Summary In Call of the Night episode 7, “Reproduce,” Kou felt pretty good about himself. While out on an evening walk, he came across Kiyosumi Shirakawa, who thanked him profusely for helping put her mind at ease. That really brightened his spirits! Then he saw a girl […]
Anime Best in Show

Jobless Reincarnation Episode 16 Review – Best in Show

tcrow

Jobless Reincarnation Episode 16 Review – Quick Summary In Jobless Reincarnation Episode 16, “Family Squabble,” Rudy, Eris, and Ruijerd made it to Millishion, capital of a human country. Finally, after a year and a half, they had made it back to human territory! But after declaring a day off, as Rudy lounged in their room […]
Anime Review Archive

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun Episode Guide

tcrow

Episode 1: This Love… Is Being Turned into a Shojo Manga Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun Episode 1 Review – Best In Show In Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1, “This Love… Is Being Turned into a Shojo Manga”, Chiyo Sakura had finally worked up enough courage to confess her love. She found Umetarou Nozaki alone in a classroom after school. That was her […]

6 thoughts on “My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 103 Review – Best In Show”

  2. It was rather interesting to see Endeavor compile the information and make such a quick suggestion. In terms of intelligence; he seems to be a league above All Might. Heck, in terms of productivity; he solved more cases and stopped more crimes than him, too. It really was just All Might’s “presence” that made him Numero Uno.
    Actually; the scene I like most was with Shoto telling his dad “not to put him higher than the others-” it reminded me of when Goku and Gohan were training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Gohan wanted Goku to go all out- Shoto wants the same kind of training as Deku and Kacchan. He’s a doting father trying to be better, but Shoto’s here to WORK.
    You know……….I think that All Might was definitely trying to be a good mentor. But I think it’s more about who All Might is in relation to Endeavor that makes him better. All Might’s the “Positive Reinforcement” type- he’ll give you a “Compliment Sandwich.” Endeavor’s more like a Sports Coach watching film: He’ll point out the thing you did right that you kept f*cking up in practice…….then undercut it with some kind of speech about why practice matters. And the rest of film is pointing out all the mistakes made. And I know this because I played Football for 3 years of High School. And it may not feel good- but you improve. And you understand what they were talking about better.
    Burnin’s reactions are always fun to see. And yeah; I barely understood what the H#ll the D@mn Nerd was talking about in the MANGA- and I had to READ that noise!! I understand her pain.
    Seeing them all eat together is just adorable to see. Especially Endeavor’s food in relation to his hands. So small!!

    Reply

    1. “It really was just All Might’s “presence” that made him Numero Uno.”

      I noticed that. That’s an interesting hint into what the people in that world value.

      “He’s a doting father trying to be better, but Shoto’s here to WORK.”

      That was a great character moment.

      “And I know this because I played Football for 3 years of High School. And it may not feel good- but you improve. And you understand what they were talking about better.”

      I only played one year, but thinking back, you’re right. It _is_ the kind of thing a coach would do. Or it’s the kind of thing someone focused on performance would do. All Might may have been too attached to Midoriya to be an effective coach.

      “Especially Endeavor’s food in relation to his hands. So small!!”

      He is enormous, isn’t it?

      Reply

  3. When Endeavor said that Izuku was “one of us” I think he was refering to all those Heroes who were trying to chase after All Might with a desire to surpass him, just like Endeavor had before he gave up and passed that responsibility to his son.

    Reply

Please let me know what you think!

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