My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94 Review - Best In Show

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My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94 Review – Quick Summary

In My Hero Academia Season 5 episode 94, “Foresight,” Shihai Kuroiro/Vantablack had the heroes from Class 1-A in a precarious position, until Fumikage Tokoyami/Tsukuyomi’s counter attack seemed to buy them time. Then Momo Yaoyorozu/Creati and Tooru Hagakure/Invisible Girl noticed something unsettling: mushrooms had sprouted all over their bodies! Manga Fukidashi/Comicman materialized manga effects to construct a panel wall between Momo and the rest of her crew. As Kinoko Komori/Shemage and Manga pushed their attack, Itsuka Kendou/Battle Fist focused her attack on Momo. With her tremendous strength, it looked like Itsuka had Momo on the defensive. Can Momo regain the initiative? Can Tooru overcome her horror at being infested with fungi? And is it even possible to Sekijiro Kan/Blood Hero to string together two sentences that weren’t blatantly in favor of his Class 1-B?

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

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94: Sugarman asked a good question.

Sugarman asked the same thing I wondered about! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

In this episode, we got to see some of what Manga Fukidashi can do. According to the sub, Manga can (07:10) “make the sound effects and onomatopoeia in comics materialize.” In practice, he created solid walls in the shape of the Japanese letters making up the words of the sounds effects described in a manga.

It’s an interesting Quirk. I think it’d be hard to defend against. We saw that Yuuga Aoyama/Can’t Stop Twinkling tried to slice into it with his navel laser and failed. The technique shocked the Class 1-A team enough that coupled with the horror of Kinoko’s fungus attacks, Class 1-A felt completely off balance.

The students watching the match had more time to think about what was happening. Rikidou Satou/Sugarman noticed something about how Class 1-A had been forced to react to Class 1-B’s attacks. “Facing two people with area attacks is too much,” he said (08:14). Then he paused before asking, “And what’ll happen with Fukidashi’s onomatopoeia overseas?”

“Dunno,” Hanta Sero/Cellophane responded, mystified.

I liked two things about this. First, it kind of breaks the fourth wall, but only in jest. Second, I had just wondered the same thing myself!

Best in Show Moment for My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94

Itsuka Kendou's team won. But she couldn't achieve her goals.

Under her command, Itsuka’s team had won. But Momo had bested Itsuka’s skills as a leader. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Momo Faces an Uphill Battle

Strong Female Characters Like Momo are Great

I like strong female characters. That admiration has evolved over the years. At first, I’d see a character like Lt. Uhura and think, “Cool! A women in a position of authority!” But as I got older, I started to see nuances. Lt. Uhura was a bridge officer, yes. But how often did she command the Enterprise? The answer is seldom. That didn’t invalidate her as a character, but it helped me become aware of complexities surrounding this issue. It helped me understand that “strong female character” had implications that the original Star Trek only started to address.

Fast forward to Mikoto Misaka. There’s a scene in A Certain Scientific Railgun S where Mikoto faces off against Accelerator. She’s trying to protect her Sisters (long story, but well worth it!). With the over-the-top heroic help of Touma Kamijou, who’s a level-0 ESPer, they defeat Accelerator. There’s a reason it’s one of my favorite scenes. Touma’s lack of skill, Mikoto’s level-5 abilities, and Accelerator’s profound arrogance and exhaustion with the level-6 program crashed together in a satisfying climax.

A Certain Scientific Railgun S episode 16 has an awesome scene. Or two.

Seriously, if you have a chance to watch A Certain Scientific Railgun S, take it. This scene is awesome! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

But it always bothered me that Mikoto needed Touma’s help. Sure, the scene fit thematically. But I like strong women characters. I found that in spite of how much I enjoyed that scene, I still wanted to have seen Mikoto do more.

Momo’s Meta Battle is Harder Than I Thought

Now, please understand that I’m not disrespecting Star Trek or A Certain Scientific Railgun. Neither could do something the public wasn’t ready for — if they wanted any kind of audience share. And that consideration turned out to be part of the equation. Why does society push back against strong women? It’s the same reason that women’s outfits lack pockets.

What? Pockets?

My wife, who studies history (and genealogy and is a social media genius), shocked me when she told me this tidbit about women’s fashion. Women without pockets couldn’t easily do things like, well, get away from controlling men. The lack of pockets, among other aspects of women’s clothing, were methods of control. “Whoa,” you might say. “Slow down there, SJW-wanna be! What’s this leftist propaganda?”

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94: Itsuka's costume has a distinct lack of pockets.

Did you see any pockets on Itsuka’s outfit? Because I didn’t see any pockets… I know, almost none of the heroes’ costumes have pockets. Hmmm…. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I offer three points in my defense. I checked my wife’s research, and there are facts supporting it. Second, I don’t do Left versus Right politics. As far as I’m concerned, that dichotomy exists to keep the population under control. To be honest, I get fired up about issues of justice, but it’s a matter of principle, not politics. And finally, if you want to see if I’m right, take a quick poll of the women in your world. Ask how many of them get excited about a lack of pocket space. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll find that women want the same kind of pockets that men enjoy.

Ask yourself this question: If women’s desires don’t drive women’s fashion, what does??

So now I like strong women characters and I’m kind of emphatic about it.

Delivery: Momo’s “Victory” Sorta Stands Out

Itsuka and Momo Compete Head-On

It’s against that backdrop that I picked my favorite moment from this episode. We knew from the last episode that the showdown this week would be between Itsuka and Momo. Now, based on what I’ve said above, you might think that I would object to the flashbacks of Shouto Todoroki having to pump up Momo’s confidence in previous seasons. Not so! I like female characters, but that doesn’t mean they always have to be strong. No more (and no less, I hope!) than male characters, in fact. Even Frodo needed Sam’s help on Mount Doom.

I’ll bet Frodo had pockets.

Anyway, my favorite scene in this episode was the aftermath of Momo’s foresight. Itsuka so wanted to defeat Momo, because the school considered Momo to be a tactical genius. So Itsuka threw herself into the conflict. She capitalized on her strengths as best as she knew how. She used her Quirk, Big Fist, to pound Momo. Momo hid behind tungsten shields, and it seemed she was completely on the defensive.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94: Momo's plan took guts.

Itsuka thought she had Momo on the ropes. Momo thought differently… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Momo was anything but defensive. She needed to buy time to use her Quirk, Creation, to create the tools her team needed to have a shot at victory. Even better, she crafted the material she would need to reduce Itsuka’s combat effectiveness. Momo knew that in a physical altercation, Momo would lose. So she fired a web at Itsuka and at the cannon she’d created. That meant for the duration of the match, Itsuka would be stick with all that equipment — and Momo’s unconscious form.

Itsuka’s Victory, Momo’s Win

My favorite moment is seeing Itsuka’s expression when her team won the match (19:58). Sure, they’d won. They’d overcome the team from Class 1-A. Yet in her personal quest to demonstrate that her skills overshadowed Momo’s, she’d failed completely. Momo had overcome her own self-doubt to put together the best plan possible, given the situation.

And it’s driving me nuts.

I have nothing against Itsuka. In fact, I like her character. So my problem’s not that she and her team won. Momo’s planning clearly exceeded Itsuka’s, and given the context of Momo’s character, that’s a clear win. Her team may have lost; but she experienced a personal victory.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94: Momo's cannon shocked the heck out of Itsuka

Itsuka could not stop Momo’s plan. That’s Momo’s win. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

And that’s what is driving me nuts! The first Class 1-A team won flat out. Why couldn’t Momo and her team have won? Is her qualified win like Lt. Uhura’s bridge position — an important step, but still limited? If that’s the case, then why pick this as my favorite moment?

It’s because of this: Considerations about equality are important. But sometimes, they’re so intertwined with current cultural norms that they’re impossible to judge objectively. Knowing that, on the grounds that Momo overcame her self-doubt and hatched such a great plan on the fly proved her abilities. I count that as the victory in this case. A messy victory is still a victory, and I’ll take it.

What did you think of Kinoko Komori/Shemage’s powers? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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6 thoughts on “My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94 Review – Best In Show”

Demon God Thadeus says:

May 5, 2021 at 8:22 pm

Seeing Momo come so far is great. And Itsuka’s character has always been really cool to me. All that said; I’m actually kind of GLAD Class 1-B won this fight. It’s good to see the MAIN cast not being treated as these “invincible characters,” but one’s that can stumble every now and then.
It also cool to see them fail after coming up with a winning idea. It might sound like I’m hating on these characters, but I mean that as a compliment to the series. It’s like; they busted their @$$e$ and cam up with all these plans- only for Class 1-B to win because of this that and the 3rd thing. It has the same effect as Rock Lee vs Gara: You CAN do anything if you work hard enough- but not all the time.
That said; i haven’t seen the episode yet. So…….

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Blue Hawk says:

May 5, 2021 at 3:20 pm

The overseas comment was really funny.

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mk says:

May 5, 2021 at 3:05 pm

right on time that i finished this episode

i love female characters and yeah strong ones are very much great. i actually rooted for itsuka during this episode though, no particular sensible reason, i just love something about her voice

but speaking of voices, momo and armin arlert are voiced by the same person and they both seem to share talents for making plans while not being entirely confident about it

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1. tcrow says:
  
  May 5, 2021 at 7:30 pm
  
  The side characters make this series stand out. Itsuka is really easy to root for, isn’t she? She’s bright in her own right, and she dedicated. I love seeing how her class supports her.
  
  I hadn’t connected the voice actors for Momo and Armin. There’s a quality of voice that exudes confidence with a hint of reluctance. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I can hear it in both characters.
  
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  1. mk says:
    
    May 6, 2021 at 4:27 am
    
    Yes she is. Definitely easier to root for than the guy who took control of dark shadow. I liked how she crafted different plans that caught class A off guard and i thought it was worthy of victory. And i agree in a way with the comment below, good to see the main cast can fail too from time to time
    
    Leave it to me to notice the same voice actors for characters and the patterns that these characters share.
    
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    1. tcrow says:
      
      May 6, 2021 at 8:46 pm
      
      You’ve got a good ear!
      
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My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94 Review – Best In Show

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94 Review – Quick Summary

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 94