Highlights
- My Hero Academia unveils the Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory, showcasing Shigaraki’s terrifying new power and the impending battle against it.
- Shigaraki’s evolution into a grotesque force of nature mirrors the series’ theme of body horror, delving into the villains’ acceptance of doomsday.
- While Episode 145 had its highs, familiar issues like unnecessary recaps and redundant dialog show the series’ struggle to maintain consistency.
|
Title |
My Hero Academia Season 7 |
|
Director |
Naomi Nakayama, Kenji Nagasaki (Chief Director) |
|
Studio |
Bones |
|
Episode Air Date |
6/15/2024 |
Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia, Episode 145, “Inflation,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Ever since Season 4, the idea of the Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory has lurked in the background of My Hero Academia, slowly revealed to be at the root of everything. Whether it is received as humanity’s next evolution or the very end of the species, the newest episode has proved that it is no longer a theory anymore, and combating it means fighting the future.
Last week, the heroes set off their trap, separating the villains throughout Japan and isolating Shigaraki in an aerial fortress built to defeat him, although a vital piece was missing. Thanks to Himiko Toga, Deku was sent to the wrong place, leaving the team fighting Shigaraki in a dangerous position as he displayed a horrific power that not even Eraser Head’s quirk could disable.
The Start of the Singularity
While the exact nature of it is unknown, Shigaraki has developed the ability to grow his body at a frightening rate, assailing the heroes with a fleshy amalgamation of hands and fingers. His power feels reminiscent of Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen when his Idle Transfiguration went berserk during the last episodes of the Shibuya Incident. Even with some CGI having been used, Shigaraki’s unheard-of power feels daunting, alien, and as per usual with him, awesomely grotesque.
My Hero Academia and Body Horror
Be it from a storytelling perspective and far more from an aesthetic standpoint, My Hero Academia‘s villains are often at their most effective when there is an element of body horror. Sometimes it’s just a creepy design, prepackaged with some form of unique deformity, but often it results from what a power can do in conjunction with how it impacts the user. Consider the characters whose powers are incompatible with their bodies.
If the Quirk Singularity suggests an evolution wherein quirks become too complicated to be controlled, the first symptom would surely be individuals who could hardly control it themselves. Even Deku, with his struggle to adjust to his inherited arsenal of quirks, speaks to the dramatic evolution of a power that has existed since quirks first appeared. Furthermore, all the key villains in this episode are characterized by some degree of body horror.
How The Villains Have Embraced Doomsday
Toga might be the most palatable form of this, evoking the bloodthirsty lust of a vampire and the cutesy macabre personality of a girl who’s a little too into gore. Dabi’s, on the other hand, is a far more extreme example. His body has been progressively wrecked more by his quirk. It adds an extra layer of tension as one considers how much more he’ll destroy himself before Shoto stops him – if he even can.
But Shigaraki is the ultimate embodiment of the doomsday foretold by Dr. Kyudai Garaki. He’s precisely what Humarise, the terrorist group from the movie, My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, was afraid of. It’s not merely that the theory has been demonstrably proven valid that is of consequence. The villains’ very philosophy seems to embrace the inevitability of this doomsday.
This society has not only wronged them, but it has failed to accept that future or prepare for it and so, in their eyes, it has even less of a right to continue existing. The Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory has intersected with the overarching themes of systemic injustice and corruption, which helps to further solidify just how deep into the endgame this series has come. More ominously, it hints at how much deeper it has to go, at least, assuming it can get there in good time.
Episode 145’s Low Points
There was a lot to love this week, from more stellar artwork to some particularly captivating music by Yuki Hayashi, to say nothing of the above-described themes. Unfortunately, this week’s episode suffered from familiar problems that the series has come to be known for. While not accounting for the majority of the episode, a reasonable chunk at the beginning was dedicated to All Might re-iterating the plan in what is an extremely unnecessary recap.
Later, the dialog in certain scenes can drag on and feel especially redundant. Toga’s confrontation with Deku is pretty good and Froppy’s intervention to save Uraraka is awesome, but it’s undercut by the reiteration of info the audience should already understand. This can sap a lot of the urgency out of what is an impressively conceived battle. Otherwise, some comedic moments feel poorly timed or just awkwardly written, like Deku’s embarrassed reaction to Toga’s confession of love.
Altogether, this episode’s appreciable highs couldn’t quite dull the sting of My Hero Academia‘s familiar lows, and it ended up being a mixed bag. If there is any consolation, it is the promise of what the next week might bring. Bones even dropped a poster for the big fight between Shoto and Dabi on social media (see above), and whenever a single episode of an anime gets a poster, that’s when you know cool things are on the horizon.
Leave a Reply