Anime Best in Show

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96 Review – Best In Show

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

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96 Review – Quick Summary

In My Hero Academia Season 5 episode 96, “Match 3 Conclusion,” Tenya Iida/Ingenium turned the tables on Juzo Honenuki/Mudman long enough to free himself. However, before Iida could capture him, Honenuki realized he was out classed and made a strategic withdrawal. Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu/Real Steel proved he’d been practicing since the last time he tangled with Class 1-A. The man with the metal Quirk proved impervious to Shouto Todoroki/Shouto’s ice attacks. Even worse, Tetsutestu took the flame attacks with equal aplomb. Can this team from Class 1-A find a way to win this match? Or will Class 1-B hand Sekijiro Kan/Blood Hero even more reason for biased commentary?

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

Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96: Iida threw Shouto to relative safety.

At the last instant, before the tower pinned him to the ground, Iida threw Shouto to relative safety. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Izuku Midoriya/Deku didn’t see much action in this episode. Despite that, he still took copious notes on everyone’s performance. He, Ochako-Uraraka/Uravity, and Mina Ashido/Pinky analyzed both teams tactics until the very end, when Pony Tsunotori used her horns to carry her unconscious team mates, along with Shouto, high into the air where Mezou Shouji/Tentacole couldn’t reach them.

At first, Pinkie wasn’t sure what Pony intended. Then Deku explained it: Pony intended to run out the clock. Instead of playing to win, she’d decided the only thing she could do it go for a draw. Deku’s analysis proved correct.

As she and Deku watched the robots try to free Iida, Uraraka mused that Iida must feel very, very frustrated for coming so close to victory — only to have the match end in a draw.

Deku, though, saw it a different say. “But,” he said in a breathless voice(18:37), remembering how Iida had thrown Shouto clear at the last instant. “He was cool.”

You know what? Midoriya was right!

Best in Show Moment for My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96: Shouto found a new level of power.

In the end, it didn’t matter how Shouto had learned the lesson. He owned the result. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Shouto’s Rough Upbringing

I’ve watched some long-running series that don’t really develop their characters. Those series can still be a lot of fun to watch, but they don’t move me. For the most part, I watch them, enjoy the time I spent with them and their worlds, and move on. The series that I remember and return to either have magnificent characters to start with, or develop them during their runs. My Hero Academia (MHA) is one of those series.

And Shouto is one of those characters. He is a great friend to to Midoriya, and their friendship propels both of them forward. If MHA were just a story about friendship, I’d probably still enjoy it because the characters have so captured my imagination. But MHA goes beyond that.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96: Midoriya pushed Shouto to new levels of performance and vice versa.

Midoriya and Shouto’s friendship pushes both to greater heights. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

We’ve seen how the once number two hero, Enji Todoroki/Endeavor, tried to fashion his son Shouto into a challenger to Toshinori Yagi/All Might. By “fashion,” I mean he trained his son so hard that it easily crossed into the realm of child abuse. As we saw in this episode’s flashback, Endeavor worked his son to the point where he vomited, which is a sign of over exertion. It’s a problem for some athletes at the top of their game, but it’s a problem they accept as an adult. Pushing a child into that level of exertion is just wrong.

There’s no need to tell Shouto that. Endeavor had beaten the lesson into his bones. And for the longest time, Shouto couldn’t use half of his natural powers because of resentment and remembered agony. Midoriya had helped him get past part of that psychological block in a previous competition. In this episode, Shouto took the next step.

Delivery: The Ambiguity Over Acceptance

Should Shouto accept lessons learned during his father’s training sessions? Or should he, out of principle, disallow that knowledge in his life? It’s not an easy question, and the answer depends on a combination of time, strength, and determination on Shouto’s part.

As “Hot-Tetsu” pressed his attack (I love Pony’s nickname for Tetsutetsu!) after showing he was impervious to both Shouto’s ice and his flames, Shouto found himself faltering. Tetsutetsu isn’t called Real Steel for nothing. The dude can turn himself into seriously tough metal! His fists had to hurt as they pummeled Shouto. That agony through association reminded him of his father’s training sessions. More importantly, it reminded him of the lesson his father had beaten into him.

Shouto struggled to accept his memories and integrate them into who he is. Without forgiving his father, Shouto learned that he could still benefit from those lessons. In this episode, as Real Steel drew back his fist to land the incapacitating blow, Shouto owned the lesson.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96: Shouto thought it was powerful before...

Shouto reached down deep — and awakened a new level of power. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

“Draw up all the heat you can from inside your body,” Endeavor had screamed at him. “And then go beyond that limit!”

So he did. Stretching out his hand, the tell-tale shōnen gleam in his eye, Shouto said (08:34), “Get back.” The heat he drew from inside of himself went beyond what even Hot-Tetsu could handle.

Cliche? Maybe. But for me it worked like a charm!

What did you think of Iida’s upgrade? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 96: Other Posts

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