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My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107 Review – Best In Show

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My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107 Review – Quick Summary

In My Hero Academia Season 5 episode 107, “More of a Hero Than Anyone,” the students are back in session after their work study assignments. As they were getting ready for an exercise, Shouta Aizawa/Eraser Head and Hizashi Yamada/Present Mic received a call to report to the principal’s office. Soon, they were speeding towards the maximum security jail. Whatever the reason for the call, it upset Hizashi so much that he was sweating. When they arrived at the jail,  Sorahiko-Torino/ Gran Torino met them. What he told them more than justified Hizashi’s sweat. In fact, nothing in their careers as professional heroes prepared them for what Gran Torino told them.

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

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107: Bakugou's temper has not improved

Satou’s genuine concern was touching. It did look like more than just a flesh wound! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Now, I’m not exactly naive. At least, no one has successfully leveled such a charge against me. But after episode 106, I thought Katsuki Bakugou/Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight might be a little less furious at Izuku Midoriya/Deku. Why did I think that? Well, I thought that working so well together might have given Bakugou a little more respect for Midoriya.

I was stupid. 

As they got changed for their exercises, some of the students asked Midoriya if he’d gained better control his new powers. He excitedly explained that he had — so excitedly that Bakugou hurled a piece of his costume at Midoriya. It stuck in his head.

Apparently, it went pretty deep, because a fountain of blood appeared.

Rikidou Satou/Sugarman cried out (04:43), “Oh no! There’s cerebrospinal fluid leaking out!”

I think it’s great that UA teaches their students how to diagnose major injuries in the field!

Best in Show Moment for My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107: Shirakumo's fate is difficult to imagine

Wow. Thinking about how the world now looks to Shirakumo is profoundly unsettling in a way only well-crafted fiction can deliver. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Reinterpreting What I Thought I Knew

The last several episodes gave me the feeling that the series was about to take a dark turn. This episode would certainly qualify for that! We knew that the Nomu were artificial villains. We knew their Quirks and their training put them on a high enough level to nearly defeat even Endeavor (like during the last episode of the previous season). That level of power means they’re a clear threat to hero society. 

This episode, though, showed us that the Nomu more than they had appeared to be. They aren’t just artificial. They’re based on the corpses of heroes who fell in battle. Just how the villains obtained those bodies was the emotional climax of this episode, and it’s my favorite moment, so I’ll get to it in a second. For now, I just want to point out how horrifying this concept it. Maybe the series hinted at it before. This is episode 107, and I’m finding that my memory of what’s come before is growing hazy. But as far as I can remember, this is new information, and it’s appalling.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107: Whatever awaited them terrified Present Mic

By this time, I’m wondering what in the world could so upset a professional hero like Present Mic. The build-up to the reveal added dramatic punch. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

MHA didn’t want to just horrify me in the abstract. They wanted to make it real. So, they focused on this episode on a previous UA student named Oboro Shirakumo. He’d been a classmate of both Aizawa and Yamada. They got along so well they had even planned to start a hero agency together. Shirakumo seemed to be the one that drove them forward. In all of the flashbacks we saw, he showed a relentlessly positive attitude. So much so, in fact, that it seemed hard for Aizawa to interact with him at times, being such an introvert.

Their dreams of working together came to an end when Shirakumo died in battle. They had interned with a professional hero and a building fell and crushed him. The shot of Aizawa’s reaction, given his usual reserve, drove home just how much Shirakumo’s death affected him.

But death wasn’t the end for Shirakumo.

Delivery: Aizawa’s Reaction Sold It

Aizawa and Yamada Thought They’d Buried Their Friend

Remember how I mentioned earlier that UA had summoned both Aizawa and Yamada to the office? And how they sped to the maximum security prison? It was because of something that Gran Torino and the authorities had discovered. They had analyzed the Quirk of the captured villain, Kurogiri. What they found went past disturbing.

Kurogiri’s Quirk had its genesis in Shirakumo’s Quirk. Kurogiri himself was a Nomu, and the corpse that formed his base belonged to Shirakumo.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107: Present Mic and Eraser Head learned their friend's dead body had been turned into Nomu

The framing for this show, the colors, the characters’ poses… talk about bleak! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Both Eraser Head and Present Mic are strong professional heroes. They’re entrusted with the mission of training future heroes, which is a profound statement of faith in their abilities. Learning that their friend’s dead body had been used to create Kurogiri made Present Mic break out in tremors. Eraser Head kept himself under better external control, but the animators did a fantastic job of showing the fury in his eyes. 

They’d been called to try to revive whatever remained of Shirakumo’s mind. The hero association needed to know where Nomus came from. So Present Mic and Eraser Head did their best to evoke Kurogiri’s suppressed memories. They were only able to slightly affect Kurogiri’s facade.

Aizawa’s Second Effort Paid Off

Then Aizawa let his anger loose. Tears streaming from his face, he demanded to know who had done this to him. Aizawa demanded to know if the Shirakumo within had felt nothing when they had fought back when the villains had attacked UA. The demand coupled with the emotional appeal didn’t seem to work. It looked like their efforts had failed. To them, it appeared their friend was truly dead, beyond their reach.

That moment felt terrible! After what Eraser Head and Present Mic had endured, to come away with nothing felt wrong. I would not have liked that outcome, but I would have respected it. It’d certainly be one way to drive home just how nefarious the villains are.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 107: Aizawa threw everything he had into the interrogation

I’ve never seen Aizawa so emotional. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

But Aizawa’s words had gotten through to whatever reamined of Shirakumo’s intellect. For a brief instant, we saw through his eyes. He looked at his two friends, now much older. The animators made real his struggle and his horror at realizing what he’d become. 

Shirakumo lived up to the title of the episode. It seemed to take all the strength he had, but he managed to gasp out (18:43), “H-H-Hospital…” 

Then Kurogiri’s personality reasserted control. 

MHA has given us some solid dramatic and emotional moments. This might have been the most powerful. At least, the most powerful so far. I’ve got a feeling we’ve only seen the beginning.

What did you think of Iida’s new dance moves? What were your favorite moments from this episode? Let me know in the comments!

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