The tag team of Red Riot and Fat Gum had quite a week in My Hero Academia. Following their fight against two of the “Eight Bullets” that serve beneath Overhaul as part of the Yakuza, the battle gave way to even more insight into the past of Red Riot. Looking into his earlier days prior to Kirishima becoming a student at UA Academy, we saw the beginnings of a hero in the making, albeit one who simply didn’t have confidence in himself. Looking for a mentor, Eijiro landed on the professional hero of Crimson Riot and allowed a speech from the seasoned veteran to shape the man he would one day become!
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After Red Riot found himself unable to save Ashido, aka Insect Queen, from a particularly giant villain who was looking for directions of all things, Kirishima beat himself up over his own “cowardice”. Sitting in his room and contemplating his future, he came upon a video that was given to him for a birthday in his past, featuring an interview with Crimson Riot. In said one on one, Crimson reveals that he isn’t a hero that simply never experiences fear, noting that when he enters into a battle against super villains, he does fear for his life!
Taking this into account, Red Riot realizes that his inspiration is only human and the method he needs to take moving forward is to move past his own fear and save civilians is to recognize his fear and overcome it. Being a superhero is a tough job, especially in the world of My Hero Academia where every person on the planet has a power set, but Kirishima has more than risen to the task of living up to Crimson Riot.
With his mindset in place, Red Riot saves Fat Gum, giving his current sensei just enough time to avoid Rappa’s blows and deliver the finishing blow to these two members of the Eight Bullets. It’s a touching and hype scene to be sure, showing us just how far Kirishima has come as a character from his early days.
What do you think of Crimson Riot inspiring Kirishima and turning him into the hero he is today? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and UA Academy!
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia will also be launching its second big movie, Heroes Rising, in Japan this month.
