This post is full of MAJOR spoilers, so if you intend to watch/read MHA, don't read it.
Season 7 of My Hero Academia has concluded, and the series is almost at its end. The anime can easily do the final fight + the decently long epilogue in 1 cour. The manga actually ended a few months back.
I've written about MHA 3 times, here, here and here. In my last 2 posts, I alluded to whether it can stick its ending and how it went downhill. Indeed, the manga got a bit too draggy reading weekly, it's what happens when you try to resolve all the character arcs in a climatic final battle, it just made the final battle feel like it went on forever. The art also got quite hard to follow, so it felt like a bit of a mess.
The anime, like what seems to be the trend these days, elevated the source material. Reading a final fight that never ends in the manga doesn't feel great, but in the anime boy oh boy it just means it goes hard every week.
So what is MHA about? Ignore the academia part of the name, because honestly the worst parts of the show are the school portions. MHA at its heart is about what it means to be a hero in society.
There are broadly five main actors:
1) The Hero - All Might (8th Wielder of One For All)
2) The Villain - All For One
3) Heroes - the others
4) Villains - especially The League of Villains
5) The ordinary folks in society
All Might is a great character. He is quite simply from beginning to the end unabashedly The Hero. As one redditor said at the end of the final episode of this season: "All Might isn't the greatest hero of all time because of One For All. He is the greatest hero of all time because he is HIM." That said, as much of a national treasure this man is, his choice to become the singular Symbol of Peace that all villains fear was also what eventually lead to modern hero society, and the problems that comes with it.
All For One is the opposite, he is from beginning to the end unabashedly The Villain. Nothing redeeming about him, just a cold manipulative evil asshole. But my goodness can he play the role, you cannot believe the audacity of this guy.
The other heroes and villains are where things get interesting. Throughout the show there is this underlying question of - what are heroes? What drives them to action? A hero exists to take down villains, but you see showbiz elements, popularity rankings and all. And no surprise, a number of them are complex people.
What about villains what drives them to action? As it turns out, every major villain has a reason that makes them who they are, and a reason that they fight. I'll go so far to say that The League of Villains are best villains I've seen in any medium. The show treats them as secondary protagonists, heck there is an entire arc affectionately known as My Villain Academia where there are literally no heroes, its villains against villains, and you actually find yourself rooting for the League.
Of these, the highlight has to be Dabi and the Todoroki family. Endeavour is for me the single most compelling character in the entire series. The number 2, and later number 1 hero is simultaneously a genuine hero and a terrible man. The story of the Todoroki family is brilliantly executed, with all its brokenness. The Dabi dance is chef kiss.
The same is true for the rest of the League. The message of MHA is crystal clear: Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga, Twice and Spinner are who they are because society at large failed them. There is no redemption for any of them, they are murderers. Yet, it is a tragedy. MHA makes sure you know what could have been.
Could Dabi have turned out to be a great hero, had he been loved by his family? Yes - and in fact the reveal at the end that he had the ice quirk all along was just a gut punch to show that he could have been the perfect child Endeavour desired. Toga's quirk, used in the right way, could uniquely save so many lives. Twice was, in the words of Hawks who betrayed and killed Twice, a genuinely good guy.
At the end of the manga, we see change. A trope through the series has been All Might coming in and declaring 'I AM HERE' to assure people that things will be alright. Yet, he is but one man all this hinged upon. All Might and Shimura were not 'here' for Shigaraki. A granny saw young Shigaraki and looked the other way because 'a hero will solve the problem'. So, it was important then at the epilogue the same granny sees another troubled kid and says, 'Granny is here'.
The message of MHA is clear. Society cannot be propped up by a select few, fallible heroes. Society is each and every person's responsibility.
Season 7 of MHA is the best season they've done. That said, while animation, directing, OST all played major roles in elevating the experience, it was built on a solid foundation of an amazing cast of characters. Funnily enough, the students are arguably the least important characters.
Playing this song on repeat. A perfect send-off. Pour one out for the League. MHA has to be the only show that makes you feel sad when the hero overcomes the villain.
"I wandered around searching for myself. And I found myself blessed with friends who were better to me than I could ever be to them. Could a guy ask for a better life? Die Hawks. You don't get to tell me I was 'unlucky'. Being here with them... I was happy!"
"Everyone...go to hell...scum dad...go to hell... all of you... me too...go to hell..."
"I'm Himiko Toga, I lived the way I wanted for what I loved. The girl with the cutest smile in the world. A normal girl."
"The villains need a hero of their own .. If Spinner is still alive, tell him this...Tomura Shigaraki fought until the end to destroy."
"I'll write a book. About the Symbol of Fear called Tomura Shigaraki...and about how The League of Villains lived to destroy. I'll forever be thrust upon you all. The past never dies. I will spread the gospel of Tomura Shigaraki."
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