The Overhaul arc is, to my memory, a lot more action-packed than the previous more exposition/interpersonal drama and general AFO lore-bombs, so hopefully I won't be anywhere as wordy as my previous MHA reviews. Of course, lord knows that anytime I say "hopefully I won't be wordy" things will explode to twice or three times as I originally anticipated...
(Also, yes, I know the dub and English subtitles both use the term 'work studies', but they literally say the English work for 'intern' out of their mouth. I'll try to call it 'work intern' since we used 'internship' for the previous event.)
Episode 1:
- This one is a recap episode, sure, but it's done in such a way that it incorporates a pretty likable reporter? It's still ultimately a recap chapter, so I can't really get too excited about it, but at least they tried to make it a bit more entertaining than the standard by having the plot kinda-narrated by a reporter agency trying to investigate into a rumour of All Might selecting his successor from among 1-A, which... in turn, is a neat recap of the world's perception of All Might's defeat, something that the previous and this season kind of really goes into. I can't say I really care about the cast of Jaku News, and there's a nice twist that the slimy investigator turns out to be an All Might fan who wants to be reassured that 'hope is alive'. As far as these one-shot filler characters go, he's all right.
- We do get another not do David Shield from the movie.
- It is cute to see the 1-A kids do some of their daily routine and whatnot, but I definitely tuned out that scene of the show narrating everyone's quirks again. I get why they're doing it, especially with the gaps between seasons, but eh.
- Presumably "Juko" is "Jakku", if we're sticking to the Star Wars planet naming theme?
- It is kinda heartwarming to see random convenience store workers cry in tears of gratefulness when All Might walks into his store and give him a bunch of free stuff.
Episode 2:
- Villain Alliance vs. Yakuza time! I've always referred to them as "Yakuza" instead of their far, far cooler name, the Shie Hassaikai -- the Eight Precepts of Death. I will have to fix that.
- I always really like the plot concept of organizations that are normally subdued and biding their time, then rising up to fill in a power vacuum.
- Okay, admittedly, Overhaul was being a massive dickbag by killing Magne and maiming Mr. Compress... and knowing what's about to happen, it's interesting to note that Magne and Compress were the most vocal in mocking the yakuza.
- I also do like that Overhaul, as a professional villain, is basically mocking Shigaraki's lack of planning and organization -- the very same thing that our 1-A students are going to learn, in a sense, from their work internships. This is exactly the sort of questions you need to answer beyond a vague goal when you do businesses and ventures and shit IRL!
- I do like that this whole plot is kind of forcing Shigaraki to mature -- in a twisted way, of course, since it's all in the shadow of AFO -- from someone who views everything as a game to someone who is slowly restraining his impulses. Admittedly, to kill Overhaul later after using him instead of killing him immediately, but hey, that's some progress, right?
- Poor, poor Magne, though. I absolutely understand the shock value of losing a recurring character, even a secondary one... but it's really sad that we just literally learned a little bit of her backstory here and she gets exploded by Overhaul. Kind of a shame, though the shock value -- that people can actually die in this arc -- is definitely pretty impactful.
- That's a fuck-ton of blood, though. The initial shot of Magne's death was black-and-white, but then we get copious amounts of coloured blood. For some reason I thought it was going to be censored!
- As an absolute germaphobe, poor Overhaul must be feeling like shit to be drenched by blood and gore. Totally deserved it, though, that bird-masked psycho.
- Shigaraki actually vaporized and dustified one of Overhaul's goons -- he's nameless and had no personality like Magne, though, so that's why I didn't even realize that dude was from the manga.
- I always loved the different designs of plague doctor masks of the Shie Hassaikai.
- We did get a brief nod to... Mimic's Quirk, I think, which allowed him, Chronostasis and the huge Bane-looking guy to follow Twice undetected.
- "I want to go karaoke." Bless you, Ectoplasm.
- "SHI. JO. U. SHI. JO. U." Bless you, Present Mic.
- Mirio is a massive dork with his unfunny jokes. I like him. Being a massive kind-hearted teddybear is really something that makes you feel that, yes, in an alternate universe, he could be the symbol of peace.
- It's a short scene, but I absolutely love that Midoriya's own dreams have matured a bit and realizing that 'smiles' aren't everything, and he needs to have the strength and victories to make his mother not worry and to properly be the greatest hero (tm).
- Considering what a massive superhero otaku Midoriya is, it is actually some great restraint on his part not to go into a fanboy exposition monologue on All Might's sidekick until 18 minutes, 30 seconds into the episode.
- Yeah, that tickle torture machine is 100% a gigantic sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to crash on Nighteye's head. Poor, poor Bubble Girl.
- Oh, that "are you mocking All Might" face from Nighteye is gloriously drawn.
Episode 3:
- I absolutely forgot that Sir Nighteye's anger at Midoriya isn't because he's trying to imitate All Might, but rather, that he imitated All Might with the wrong amount of milimeters for his wrinkles.
- I absolutely love that it randomly delved into Midoriya and Nighteye arguing about a certain very specific incident where a vinegar quirk got into All Might's eyes, causing his wrinkles to become smaller... god I loved this moment.
- I also forgot that Nighteye being such a jackass to Midoriya is partially driven by his anger that All Might chose Midoriya instead of Mirio, who he thought deserved One For All more than this random upstart. That's kind of nice from him.
- Ah, yes, acknowledging unlicensed third-party toys! I love this manga.
- Nighteye always looked a bit... boring? That's not quite the right word. Mundane, I guess, is the right word to describe him, in comparison to this manga's insanely colourful cast. Giving him green hair with yellow accents helps!
- I do like that Nighteye's super-stern personality but his desire for comedy out of his subordinates ends up being traced back to him admiring All Might's "strength and humour".
- So Nighteye's "Foresight" quirk does look pretty damn badass, but... the activation of making eye contact is a bit troublesome, surely? I forgot how specific 'eye contact' needs to be.
- I also really like that it's clear that, just like Mirio, Nighteye seems to have intense training to make use of his quirk, even if it's not said outright. Being able to instantly note that Midoriya's speed-blitz around the room is like a "degraded Gran Torino" is pretty damn cool.
- God damn, that effect where Nighteye turns everything around him into clocks, and he goes into negative-photograph colours, and there are tick-tock sounds in the background... that's very clean.
- I absolutely love that this whole conflict is resolved because Midoriya is too much of an otaku to hit that out-of-production 10th anniversary All Might tapestry. Yes, I know, Nighteye realizes it's part of Midoriya's quick thinking and keeping his cool under provocation and all that jazz, and he wants to make Midoriya give up and acknowledge Mirio as the better successor... but... still... fanboyism has saved the day!
- It's a simple, brief scene, but I do like the brief acknowledgement of Uraraka, Tsuyu and Kirishima moaning that their previous internship heroes have reasons why they couldn't take them in. We also get a brief cameo of Hawks, who apparently requested Tokoyami as his intern!
- Hahaha, that running gag of Todoroki constantly mumbling to Bakugo about how they 'need to catch up'.
Episode 4:
- The post-credit scene of episode 3 is the end of this episode's cold open. It's a bit weird.
- I've gotten used to it, and Mirio's a cool guy, but man, "Lemillion" is kind of a giggle-worthy name, isn't it?
- I don't think they really explain it enough, and I guess it just falls into the yakuza not falling into the jurisdiction of the superheroes, but it is weird that Mirio's able to tell Chisaki to his face that "hey, you're with the Hassaikai! You're famous around here!"
- Damn, Mirio handles that accidental meeting with Chisaki absolutely well, didn't he?
- It would admittedly be something suspicious if they just let the crying and clearly-abused girl go with her alleged parent, huh? Obviously Midoriya's goals are a lot more altruistic than strategic, but that's a neat point that Midoriya and Mirio raised.
- I am 100%, no, 1,000,000%, in agreement with Nighteye's speech about how "you can't save anyone you want, whenever you want" and that good intentions alone isn't enough. But I guess that's why I'm not someone like All Might or Midoriya or Mirio, then.
- Okay, so the "Reservoir Dogs" gang that got... Cronenberg'd by Chisaki instead got restored to health with all their chronic illnesses restored? I guess that's Eri's quirk? I really forgot a lot of the details in the early parts of this arc.
- I do really like the story showing us that All Might has to do things like jog and stuff to keep his weakened body at least functional.
- I also absolutely love the honestly pretty realistic disagreement between Nighteye and All Might about the importance of a 'symbol of peace' as well as Nighteye being worried about his mentor's actual physical body. Tying it to Nighteye's "Foresight", though... I'm still not sure if it's the best decision, or if it's a part of the story that I would've preferred if it was just a discussion about ideologies instead of 'breaking fate' or whatever.
- And, well, all the prophecy about All Mighty dying against a gruesome villain... I mean, it's kind of a very obvious trope that the likable mentor dies, but I suppose they're just going to keep dangling death flags while subverting it.
- Speaking of which, god damn, that speech from All Might to Midoriya about how Midoriya's speeches and presence caused him to want to live when he fought AFO... the music and the voice acting... I know I praise the anime a lot, but this was another scene that was elevated a lot from its source material.
- Haha, look at little Mimic, counting money on the side of Chisaki's sofa.
Episode 5:
- Randomly we get a giant kaiju fight between a dropkicking half-naked man and... and a giant shark with a wiggly tongue?
- Espa street! Like Mos Espa in Phantom Menace!
- I don't know what the pun being "Gring Wave" is, but I do know that Hado's costume and colours look pretty dang cool.
- Uraraka and Tsuyu's combination attack is called "Meteor Fafrotskies". Wikitionary tells me it's rain of things that aren't expected, usually animals like frogs. Get it, cause Tsuyu's a frog, and they're dropping a rain of gravity-manipulated rocks and shit, ha ha.
- Oh, Dragoon Hero Ryukyu. I always thought she was the "Dragon" Hero because she turned into a dragon.
- I absolutely love that Shigaraki, while humbled a little bit, refuses to compromise more than he should -- doing things like demanding a 'please' for the request to put his foot down from the table, and demanding a joint partnership.
- The juxtaposition of Mimic's tiny doll-like body and the big Bane arm that exploded out of him has always been such a fun visual.
- It's a pretty neat little narrative tool, juxtaposing Overhaul and Shigaraki discussing the former's X-Men III: The Last Stand anti-Quirk bullets right next to scenes of Team Fat Gum encountering the bullet for the first time. Also, unlike Last Stand or any X-Men equivalents, considering how Quirks are actually central to the society in MHA, yeah, it would seriously fuck up the status quo something fierce.
- (Power-boosting drugs, on the other hand, I feel, is a bit more common. Still cool, though!)
- Amajiki has one of the coolest superpower concepts I've seen in a long time. Whatever animal he eats, he can transform parts of his body to mimic it? That's so fucking cool!
- "Clams are handy, that's why I eat them every day."
- I love how Kirishima is absolutely pissed that the one gunman with the quirk-erasing bullet isn't staying behind to 'finish saving his friends properly'.
- It's standard in anime for even random background characters to have little character tics, but this guy complaining about his 'box-cutter quirk' and demanding that Kirishima praise him for even having the courage to shoot his gun is pretty funny.
- Oh god one of his super-long Moonfish knives juts out from his eyeball. That looks painful.
- I do really like the Kirishima spotlight in this episode. And the fact that we call back to last season's speech from All Might to let Kirishima train his 'ultimate move'. I also absolutely love that it's his buddy Bakugo that gives him encouragement, calling back to the sports festival and to All Might's own 'unbreakable' moment.
- Holy fuck Kirishima, you look scary! In a good way! In a cool way! In a MANLY way!
- RED RIOT: UNBREAKABLE!
- HISSAATTTSSSSSSSSSS! RED GAUNTLET!
- I do really like that despite Kirishima's utter badassery in combat and protecting the civilians, he's actually very briefly blindsided by knife guy pretending to be cowardly to get an opening. It does sour his victory just a bit, but it's kind of realistic that these young first-year students would've been fooled by a trick like this.
- I do really like them having a bit of a foreshadowing to Kirishima's defdining moment as a hero, where he briefly thinks about his inaction against Gigantomakhia.
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