My Hero Academia Season 6 Drops a Clever Series Premiere Throwback

My Hero Academia Season 6 hit one of the biggest inspirational episodes of the entire series so far – and if you can believe it, the whole thing actually hinged on one character from the very beginning of the series! 

In “A Young Woman’s Declaration”, Ochaco Uraraka steps up (literally) to confront the mob at the gates of U.A., as no one wants to let Izuku Midoriya back into the school – if it can even be called that. Thanks to Principal Nezu’s wisdom, U.A. has been transformed into the most secure stronghold since the Tartarus Prison, a specialty bunker designed to hold strong or break apart and move bystanders to new safe locations – before Tomura Shigaraki’s disintegration effects could annihilate them. And yet, even with all that technology and planning in place, the people still don’t feel safe enough to welcome Deku in. 

The episode splits the story between the present action (Ochacho making a speech to the mob) and the past (Nezu preparing U.A. for the dark days it would face). The thematic point that the story builds to is centered around Nezu’s monologue that to truly defeating evil in dark times requires the courage of average people to take a step toward uncertainty or danger for a greater good. That “struggle” between the mob and U.A.’s young, idealist heroes, is resolved by the most unlikely of characters… 

As you can see in the tweet above, this stocky guy with the cross-point head spikes appeared all the way back in My Hero Academia Episode 1. He was just a random guy that Izuku spoke to on the street; in Episode 137 of the anime, this bit character turns out to be just as important as any of the heroes, as his sole decision to give Deku a chance to find respite amongst his friends at U.A. turned the tide of the entire mob, allowing them to choose compassion instead of fear. 

My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi has done a deft job of weaving in story threads that show how even the most minor kindness and acts of heroism from someone like Izuku Midoriya can inspire even average people to do great things, at the necessary time. In addition to the pointy-head guy, this episode featured the “normal lady” Deku saved while in his “Dark Deku” phase, as well as Kota, the young boy that Deku saved from villain Muscular, during the Training Camp Arc. All three of these seeming “nobody” characters push the mob a bit closer to Izuku’s side, paying off his efforts in ways even Deku himself can’t argue with or cry through.