My Hero Academia, Season 4, Episodes 21-25:

The final part of My Hero Academia's fourth season, focusing on the Gentle/La Brava arc. 

Yeah, this one took a bit more to make because I was kinda... losing steam? Yeah, basically. It took me a while to make this and I ended up being a bit more concise in talking about these episodes. We'll see what anime season I binge-watch next. It's either the next season of My Hero, or if I do one of the high-buzz animes like Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer, both of which I've read through the manga but haven't watched the anime fully... or Dr. Stone, which would be a completely new experience for me. We'll see!

Episode 21:

• Yeah, a lot of these school festival arc does admittedly feel rather... filler-y, but considering that we're going to be more or less in full action/drama mode basically all the way to the end of the manga, in retrospect it's nice to have a bunch of episodes in the middle to reaffirm how, yeah, these kids do have friendships and interpersonal dynamics. 
• I do like the brief shot of All Might thinking about his old-school powered-armour support items which made him look like he's hanging out with Iron Man. Silver Age Iron Man, that is, not MCU super-sleek nanotech Iron Man. 
• So yes, the big reason why Gentle stumbled upon Midoriya is because Midoriya was mumbling over Gold Tips Imperial tea. 
• The previous couple of episodes are a bit more slow-paced, but yes, it does sell just why the otherwise 'oh, they're going to cancel the school festival if Gentle attacks, big whoop' is such a driving factor for Midoriya. 
• I do like that Gentle sneaking in throwing his cape to set up an elastic-air barrier is actually framed to make it look like part of his hammy routine. 
• I also really like how Gentle is actually panicking when he briefly speaks to La Brava 'off-camera', so to speak, because he didn't plan on his plans being intercepted by a 'crazy boy'. 
• Oh, that little scene of Jiro and Midoriya discussing about how to take notes? That's amazing. As a proficient note-taker myself, I can appreciate it. 
• I also like the brief showcases of Ashido's dancing lessons and Hatsume's actual advice helping Midoriya in the midst of his actual combat. 
• Man, that shot of Gentle having his eyes glowing looks so creepy, even though the actual things he's saying is actually making him less dangerous to the civilians. 

Episode 22:

• Monoma and Kendo's dynamic is... interesting.
• It is really a nice way to have Midoriya's smarts come into play here as he basically gets the drop on Gentle by quickly memorizing where Gentle puts up his air cushions. Although admittedly the reason that this works is because of Gentle's monologue earlier. 
• La Brava's backstory really is interesting. That sort of hero worship towards Gentle when she's a social outcast is an emotion that I think is extremely powerful, but it's kinda unique here due to the fact that Gentle himself also kind of depends on La Brava because her status as a fan is something that vindicates why he's doing content creation for. 
• Never been the biggest fan of La Brava's love power being something that's so mundane as a power-up, but I do like that Gentle and La Brava themselves clearly don't like the brute force part of this power since it runs contrary to the whole gentlemanly-thief vibe they have going on. 
• "GENTLY SANDWICH! A sandwich is deemed more elegant the thinner it is!"
• Oh yes. The growl that Gentle's voice actor put when he starts ranting to Midoriya about how he's not just fighting for himself, but also for La Brava's dream? Yeah, Yamadera Koichi adds a lot to this character. 
• Man, Gentle's backstory is... it's pretty sad, huh? I mean, the character was all comedic all throughout, but it's kind of the dark side of a lot of these anime and their 'never give up' 'always keep trying' mentality. Sometimes you think when you try out and you're unprepared/untrained for it, you... you really can cause much more damage than if you had stood there and did nothing. 
• "You can mock me and say I'm mentally weak! That's fine!"
• It's so interesting how Gentle's initially self-centered, 'carve my name into the annals of history' dream could be contrasted and compared so well to Midoriya's own. Gentle's such an otherwise hammy character that the amount of thought that the writer put into him isn't really evident until rewatches, but I think the addition of the voice-acting and not having to read this weekly does make the Gentle Criminal arc feel a lot easier to consume, so to speak. I do still think that it's ultimately one of the weakest story arcs in MHA, though.

Episode 23:

•  It is an interesting situation that Gentle surrenders himself with the excuse that he 'tripped and fell' to protect not only La Brava but also Midoriya's desire to keep this fight away from public eyes.
• Ectoplasm sending one of his bodies to escort Midoriya is A+ teacher's responsibility.
• Aww, Aoyama waited and was looking for Midoriya too. How nice of him!
• I like the little nod to the previous arc that Yaoyorozu has like a huge fanbase among the crowd.  
• God bless you, Bakugou. "WE WILL KILL ALL OF THEM DEAD WITH OUR SOUND!"
• It is still very interesting that they got a perfect English singing voice for Jiro. 
• Jiro has the best parents ever. 
• Ye ye fuck off, Overhaul, your specter got banished with the power of a high school concert. 
• I am surprised they are able to say straight-up Azkaban, Gondor, Gandalf and other terms like that without having it censored or altered a bit. 
• Okay, the beauty pageant was a bit more elaborated, but I really don't have too much of an opinion on it. 
• That brief shot of Todoroki putting his head in the little picture board of Principal Nezumi is cute, though!
• At least the police in the MHA-verse are nice enough towards Gentle and La Brava.

Episode 24:

• The Pussycats return! I do like that they still count Ragdoll among their number despite her quirklessness, and we get a brief scene of Tiger apologizing again to Bakugou for failing to protect him.
• Ah, Kota and the shoes. That's cute. 
• HERO BILLBOARD CHART! Which, surprisingly for these shonen worlds, only maybe half of the chart became relevant characters. It is nice, though, that this episode also brings up Hawks from Tokoyami's internship to help build up one of the major characters that we'll be following. 
• #10 is Ryukyu, who we've met before.
• #9 is Yoroimusha, who I remember quitting for just like, one panel. 
• #8 is Wash! WASH WASH WASH WASH!
• #7 is Kamui Woods, who actually did surprise me by climbing so far up in the background of the story. 
• #6 is Crust! I vaguely remember him showing up later on? He's got a cool mask. 
• #5 is Mirko! Everyone's favourite murder bunny. 
• #4 is Edge Shot! He's probably my favourite background hero.
• #3 is Best Jeanist, MIA guy.
• #2 is Hawks! My boy Hawks!
• #1 is Endeavour, of course.
• It is actually pretty heartwarming, as the Pussycats noted, that despite them not doing any hero work since the summer camp, they're still 'within the three-digits'.  
• I really do hope the anime does more with Wash. He (she?) does way too little in the manga. 
• Hawks did make a pretty interesting first impression, huh? Just wanting to rock the boat in this tumultuous times to hopefully stoke the flames of the other heroes so they don't just play safe and continue to preserve the fragile status quo. It did admittedly lead to the epic 'just watch me' line from Endeavor. I did like that Endeavor actually confronted Hawks immediately off the stage. 
• Okay, I don't remember about Hazukashi Teruo or his... uhh... 'shame' quirk that involves him flashing people. 
• Hahaha, Endeavour trying to learn from Hawks about people skills, and his fan going 'nooo you being hardcore is what makes you cool!'
• I always really liked how this Metahuman Liberation arc is basically started off by Hawks investigating rumours, realizing that if rumours are being spread without substantial evidence, then someone wants those rumours to take hold for some reason. 
• Ah yes, the High End Nomu fight!

Episode 25:

• Todoroki's mom returning home and having some fun with her other children is very heartwarming! Again, it's a shame when the Endeavour drama will start up later on, but it's pretty nice to see the focus given to this family.
• I am such a big fan of this manga tackling the fact that a complete piece of shit human being like Endeavour who abuses his wife and kids, who selects kids to succeed him in his career... can actually change. Can actually try and be better, try to be there for his family, while also understanding the fact that some members of his family want nothing to do with him. Like, leaving the flowers without showing his face in front of his wife since even seeing him would be traumatic for her? That's surprisingly sweet. 
• Okay, yeah, the High End Nomu's bizarre teeth and his half-formed mumbling voice is a lot creepier than I thought it would be. 
• Okay, damn, Endeavour's flames turning blue here and there? The studio animating My Hero Academia always had great fire physics from Bakugou and Todoroki's fires, but man, I appreciate this fight so much. 
• HELL SPIDER! Okay, yeah, blowing up that building with his fire net is pretty cool!
• I do like that while Hawks' Quirk is established to be super-badass, we're also seeing him being limited almost immediately and forcing him to prioritize the parts of the building that's the most damaged and stuff. 
• Hawks moonwalking while trying to keep up with Endeavour is such a bizarre scene!
• I do like that Endeavour and High-End are basically analyzing each other -- Endeavour knowing that there are limits to his power, speed and the amount of fire laser things that he can do, and the High-End trying to analyze just when he can trap Endeavour. I do also like that Endeavour is very cautious of Nomu, knowing very well that the High-End's unknown amount of Quirks could be insanely deadly. 
• PROMINENCE BUUUUURN! That was a very cool flashing set of flames
• "It tore off its head and threw it?" That's actually a very dramatic scene as Endeavour gets impaled right in front of the whole world -- including members of his family -- watching. 
• Oh, that one pink-haired fan is a badass kid. "The flames are still burning, TV!"
• One thing that MHA does amazingly well -- which I think a lot of the other manga with 'unbeatable' Big Goods -- is showing just how much to hell and back people like All Might and Endeavour actually still have to fight. Sure, they're fighting enemies on a completely different level than the younger generation, but god damn, Endeavour. 
• Yeah, propelling your unmoving body ahead with heat? That sounds like the ballsy, stupid, self-destructive thing that Midoriya would do. And he has to do it to protect everyone. 
• Oh, I love the little flashback from Hawks' side, talking about no one was seriously trying to surpass All Might due to the sheer gap with the Symbol of Peace, except for Endeavour. And the metaphor of him using little rocks to try and build a bridge across the chasm... very cool.
• Yea, that shot of Endeavour's face as he's about to megaton murder punch the High-End? Very cool. 
  
• Oh, yes. The superhero trope of 'let's take this where there isn't civilians' is always cool!
• A bit forced, but the symbolism of a bio-engineered artificial monster who only cares about fighting strong folk, and Endeavour acknowledging it as something eerily similar to his past and burning it up? I like it. 
• PLUS ULTRA: PROMINENCE BURN! 
• Oh my god, the music of possible despair as Endeavour's flames plummet to the ground... and then the heroic cheer as we see the fist? That's amazingly done. 
• The post-credits scene is Midoriya having a dream of the previous OFA bearers. Neatly ominous!