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My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124 – Quick Summary
In My Hero Academia Season 6 episode 124, “Dabi’s Dance,” Ochako Uraraka/Uravity struggled to break free from Himiko Toga’s grip. Uraraka’s situation grew more precarious when Himiko revealed she had been holding back. Does Uraraka have any chance, given Himiko’s strength? Meanwhile, the inevitable happened: Gigantomachia arrived with the group previously known as League of Villains. With the professional and student heroes exhausted and severely injured, how can they possibly mount a defense? Especially when it turns out Gigantomachia is the least of their problems?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124
In terms of villain speeches, this one was right up there with most impactful. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
At a macro level, I’m a proponent of law and order. But the whole idea of demanding justice in all cases doesn’t sit well with me. The reason is obvious once you study history and realize that there are an unfortunately high percentage of laws passed with the intent of doing harm to one demographic or another. In other words, some laws are unjust.
Need examples? Though it’s been corrected, look at the original sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine versus powder. Or ask yourself: who served more jail time, hungry folks who stole a loaf of bread, or the executives who engineered (intentionally, I might add) the 2008 financial collapse, which cost upwards of two trillion dollars?
Yeah. Justice is relative. That’s why I often advocate not for justice, but for mercy. Because even if we could somehow make justice actually just, there’s another problem: ain’t none of us perfect. My favorite quote of the episode drives that point hope with dramatic force.
Dabi/Touya Todoroki, in a jab at all heroes and villains alike, said this to the shocked Enji Todoroki/Endeavor (14:26): “The past won’t go away. You reap what you sow.”
Now, the question is who deserves mercy – or to whom can we afford to show it? Which leads me to my favorite moment.
Favorite Moment from My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124
Toga honestly tried to forge an emotional connection with Uraraka. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Mental Health Issues Framed as Quirks
What did you think of Uraraka’s fight against Toga? On one level, it was interesting seeing how they fought versus how they confronted each other in seasons past. On another level, though, I think the show was making a statement. A statement that deeply resonated with me.
I think Toga honestly tried to make an emotional connection with Uraraka. I don’t think Uraraka had the training or awareness to respond. And in that instance, they represented a microcosm of a much larger challenge to our civilization.
The series C³ – CubexCursedxCurious humanized a brutal character named Fear-in-Cube. She was a terrifying curse, and the show humanized her by making her a Cute Anime Girl. She’d done horrible things, but because of how the show presented her, we could accept that Haruaki Yachi treated her with compassion. We could also accept him showing her mercy.
Toga seemed to understand that she wasn’t getting through. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
How about Toga? We saw her gleefully make it rain villains back in episode 109. We saw then how society had contributed to her being seen as a villain. Her power seemed so horrifying to even her parents that they bailed on her. The hero culture’s vocabulary only had villainous words to describe her. It’s no wonder she became a villain.
But did you hear her reach out to Uraraka in this episode? My favorite moment revolved around how their battle wasn’t Toga’s attempt to kill Urakara. It was Toga’s attempt to bond with her. Toga thought they shared a love (Izuku Midoriya/Deku). In the middle of the fight, Toga said (04:14), “When I think of someone I love, it makes me want to become that person. I want all of their blood so much it makes my chest hurt. That’s what happens to me… It makes it very hard to live.”
Delivery: We Can Do Better Even Without Cute Anime Girls
That piercing intimacy was Toga’s way of extending an offer of friendship, to the best she understood it. To the extent her life allowed her to conceive such an idea.
But do you know what was absolutely tragic about this scene? It was Uraraka’s response. She didn’t hate Toga. She had no intent to kill her or judge her or anything else. What she did intend to do was apprehend her as a villain so she could get on with her other duties. Uraraka was, in other words, being a good citizen. She applied the lessons she had learned.
I can’t blame Uraraka for not knowing how to respond. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
That’s tragic. Because the lessons she had learned did not prepare her to accept Toga’s offer. I’m not blaming Uraraka. Just like I don’t blame the bystanders, school officials, law enforcement, or even parents in mass shooting situations. Uraraka did as she thought she should. But society had not prepared her to act in a way that would have been more effective.
Which means she perpetuated the cycle.
Just like we dehumanize mass shooters to make ourselves feel better; to make ourselves feel like we have a handle on the situation. When you’re talking to humans, you have to dress up the facts in a way that they’ll accept – like presenting Fear-in-Cube as a Cute Anime Girl. Because it seems like only then can we accept challenges like Toga’s mental state presents to society. Only then can we act. Because it’s not like we don’t understand the problem: we do, with clarity.
That’s one of the things MHA is trying to tell us with its tainted hero culture. And though I hope the message gets across, I fear it won’t. Though I don’t want to give up hoping!
What did you think of Tsunagu Hakamada/Best Jeanist’s return? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 114: A Quiet Beginning
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 115: Mirko, The No. 5 Hero
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 116: One’s Justice
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 117: Inheritance
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 118: The Thrill of Destruction
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 119: The Encounter, Part 2
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 120: Disaster Walker
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 121: League of Villains vs. U.A. Students
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 122: Katsuki Bakugo: Rising
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 123: The Ones Within Us
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124: Dabi’s Dance
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 125: Threads of Hope
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 126: Final Performance
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 127: Hellish Hell
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 128: Tartarus
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 129: The Hellish Todoroki Family, Part 2
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 130: The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 131: Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 132: Full Power!!
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 133: Hired Gun
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 134: The Lovely Lady Nagant
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 135: Friend
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 136: Deku vs. Class A
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 137: A Young Woman’s Declaration
- My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 138: No Man Is an Island
Yet another incredible episode. The emotional roller coaster hits yet another high! And Jeanist isn’t dead. That changes a lot.
It’s not often a series can surprise me as much as Best Jeanist’s return surprised me. I thought for sure that Hawk had killed him!
This show’s making the best use of its previous 5 seasons to land punches like that.