I’m not sure what’s weirder, putting up a review of a currently-airing series just five episodes in or the fact that those five episodes officially include two “story arcs”, but there you go. My Her Academia’s seventh season has kept its strong ties to the manga source material and got to the start of the final arc in record time, which at least means this review won’t take long to write! Let’s take a look…
The first mini-arc, “The Star and Stripe arc” takes place over two episodes as the titular Star and Stripe, America’s number one hero, travels to Japan to help after Tomura Shigaraki and All For One decimated the country’s hero population and brought citizen’s morale to an all-time low. Star and Stripe was inspired by All Might and has the Quirk “New Order” which allows her to basically make up whatever rule she wants to on up to two things she’s touched, though normally she always has a rule on herself to make her stronger and more resilient. Her arrival though is exactly what All For One wanted as adding her Quirk to his list along with Tomura as a new body would make him literally invincible, so he confronts her across the ocean within Shigaraki’s body. The two have a very weird fight with their respective powers, especially Star and Stripe, who does things like give a new rule to the air around her opponent that basically tells it to vacate the area around him, or then turning that air into a giant avatar of herself to smack “Shigaraki” about the place and then gets her US comrades to drop a massive bomb on him.
She’s here! …. Oh. Oh well, moving on…
This plan fails though and Star and Stripe is caught by “Shigaraki’s” decay move, but as All For One begins to absorb her power she reveals that she gave the order to her own Quirk to “rebel” against All For One and so “Shigaraki” begins crying out in pain as the New Order Quirk, taking the likeness of Star and Stripe, begins attacking him from within, removing and destroying several of All For One’s collected Quirks and then destroying itself, making sure All For One can’t get his hands on it. Star and Stripe herself then disintegrates, so… that’s that then! All Might tells the gathered UA students that this will by them some time to get ready while All For One laments the loss of some of his powers as he watches Shigaraki writhe in pain but tells the other gathered villains that in the end it doesn’t matter as he has plans within plans so this just means he’ll have to switch to another one.
As for the “UA Traitor Arc”, it starts with everyone getting some new equipment and starting some training while they talk about not being able to reach All For One as he’s a master of hiding, but not soon after our favourite invisible girl Toru Hagakure finds out that there’s a spy in their class who has been giving information to All For One from the very beginning…
The two arcs are fine. The first was clearly a way to depower All For One / Shigaraki a bit before the big finale while the second was just a way to set up the final arc itself. Both accomplish what they set out to do without dragging anything out, so I can’t complain really.
Overall Thoughts:
All For One and Shigaraki fusion result! …. All Foraki?
The “Star and Stripe” double-episode Arc (if you can really call it that) is really just one admittedly fun and well-animated fight that depowers our over-powered lead antagonist, where as the following three-episode “Arc” sets up and begins the final story arc of the series and does so quite effectively. Overall then, can’t complain: they do what they set out to do and didn’t add any unnecessary filler or anything either.
The traitor turns out to be Yuga “annoying bellybutton laser kid” Aoyama, who was actually born Quirkless so his parents made a deal with All For One to give him a Quirk and in response they’d spy for him, Aoyama included. Midoriya finds out and after a brief laser blast that actually gives us a quick glimpse at Toru without her invisibility Aoyama breaks down, calling himself a villain but of course our core protagonist is already trying to see things from his perspective and forgive him. Aoyama and his parents are taken into custody but his entire class speak out in his defence to the gathered heroes, and a now recovered (but still missing a leg and an eye) Aizawa / Eraser Head appears on the screen and says he has a plan.
Aoyama’s parents try to cheer their son up and make him realise its okay to betray all your friends and put them in extreme danger if you get what you want at the end.
After a few scenes with the villains, including Himiko Toga visiting her family home and being happy to see it ignited by Dabi, Aoyama calls Midoriya to a meeting only for All For One to appear, making it seem like the boy had done it again but soon Aoyama attacks him and sides with Midoriya. This leads to All For One to summon his legions of villains, only for the heroes to appear thanks to amusing side-character Neito Monoma using his copy ability to take Kurogiri’s Warp Gate Quirk, it’s all very Avengers: Endgame-y.
The heroes arrive for the big finale!
All For One has been out-smarted and brought out into the open at last. This leads to a big final showdown that will eventually cap off the series, though not for a while!
Hogan Reviews 