The latest episode of My Hero Academia took Shoto Todoroki out of one major conflict and directly into another in just a few minutes.
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Todoroki had about as easy a time passing the first part of the Provisional Licensing test as he expected. The son of the now-number one hero faced off against a gang of students from another school, all clad in multi-colored ninja gear. We learned very little about the strange quirk that allowed their leader to enlarge bits of hardware as he threw them, but we did see what his friends could do.
The ninjas had a few complimentary elemental quirks among them, and they had planned a coordinated attack to perfectly counter Todoroki’s abilities.
Not to be outdone, Todoroki showed that he had more than just a powerful quirk. Using the environment to his advantage, he ruptured a tank of some kind of gas with an ice spear, then used his fire to ignite it. After the resultant explosion, he froze all of the ninjas in place, making it easy to tag them all out with the rubber balls used for the test.
The brief battle sequence served to remind the audience of Todorki’s incredible quirk, as well as his natural talent and ingenuity. However, that may not be enough to save him against his new rival, who was awaiting him in the anteroom with the rest of the students who passed.
Todoroki joined the other winners and almost immediately caught sight of Inasa Yoarashi. He was talking another person’s ear off about a pro hero we have yet to meet named Stamp Man, but before long he was glaring right back at Todoroki. His intense, grinning demeanor changed instantly into one of loathing as he laid eyes on Todoroki.
We still don’t know exactly why Inasa has animosity for Todoroki, but we have some idea of what’s going on inside of Todoroki’s asymmetrical head. In his internal monologue, he recalls Aizawa telling Class 1-A that Inasa had been accepted to U.A. with top grades on a recommendation.
“If he applied through recommendations, then I should’ve seen him at the entrance exam,” Todoroki thought presumably referring to a separate test for recommended students that we have yet to see on screen.
There’s no telling how this tension will play out, but it seems clear that Todoroki and Inasa have some things to work out. My Hero Academia simulcasts on Hulu and Crunchyroll in the U.S., with new episodes every Saturday morning at 4 a.m. ET.
