(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. We continue My Hero Summeria with season 5 of My Hero Academia.
(Shizuku): Released in 2021, season 5 is often regarded as the worst season of the bunch. It’s not bad in the traditional sense. It’s just a season where they’re padding the story out and focusing on stuff that would have been better focused on earlier in the series instead of right now.
(Nitsuj): The fan response was heard as a lot of people turned away from the series because of this season. However, some things are good in this season and we’re going to do our best to show that even at their lowest, My Hero Academia still delivers great stuff. So let’s get started.
Opening and Ending Themes
(Shizuku): This season’s first opening is “No.1” by DISH. I know the boss said this opening surprised him when he first heard it, but personally I didn’t really care for this opening. To their credit, the song does fit with the current arc they’ll be focusing on in the first half of the anime and gives you that sense of peace. The characters can finally focus on just being regular students for once. The second is “Merry-Go-Round” by MAN WITH A MISSION. Oh man, I love this band, why’d they have to make this opening. This is probably my least favorite opening from the series. The whole opening just feels given what’s going on in the anime currently.
(Nitsuj): Our first ending of the season is “Ashiato -Footprints-” by the peggies. I get some major Naruto vibes from this ending. The song itself is good and peaceful. Nothing else to say. If you liked the openings and endings of Naruto, chances are high you’ll like this ending. The second ending is “Believe” by Soushi Sakiyama. One of the best endings in the series in my opinion. Soushi’s voice is fanstatic here and the piano is beautiful. The song does a good job conveying the story of Hawks and his connection to Endeavor while also focusing on Endeavor’s redemption story with his family.
Episodes 1-4
(Nitsuj): The fifth season starts off with a hero drill for class 1-A. Villains have infiltrated the training grounds and are causing a wreck (it’s a good start to the episode reminding us of everyone’s quirk and seeing how well the class works together). The first thing they do is get an idea of the damage, see if anybody was caught in the attack, and if possible see who the villains are. They put out a fire, rescue Mirio who got swept away in the river (I’m not even going to question why he’s here), and the villains are Nejire and Tamaki. Izuku and Katsuki’s team take down Nejire and Tamaki where Izuku had a clear shot to take down Tamaki, but hesitated (Shizuku: Because I’m sure he would knocked his head off). However, Katsuki won’t (scene here: https://youtu.be/zEKXYUTLhlw?si=NVtsQwGYfhED4Va8).
Episode 2 opens up with Hawks going to see Dabi (Shizuku: Fucking traitor). Turns out Hawks is a league sympathizer and is looking out for the league only he isn’t. In truth, he’s going under cover, trying to figure out what the league is doing, their dealings, and then reporting them back to the government. Endeavor gets released from the hospital and goes home where Shoto and his siblings Natsuo and Fuyumi (where I have to admit, I like her character design. I especially like how her hair is white but has red strains in it. I can’t help but feel that this hints she was close to inherit both of her parent’s quirks) are waiting for him. The plan was to have a celebration for his release, but the men of the family aren’t too thrilled to see him, especially Natsuo (can’t say I blame him). In his eyes, Endeavor is still a crazy bastard who considers him a failure, kept him from having a relationship with his little brother and hurt his mom (Shizuku: He’s got a point. You neglected him for like 20+ years and you think one good act is enough to forgive you? It’s not happening). Natsuo walks out, but Shoto is a little more forgiving. While he still hasn’t forgiven Endeavor for everything he’s done (Shizuku: And that’s a long list), he’s willing to see how things progress from here and hoping for the best. Meanwhile, Izuku continues to have dreams of the past One for All vestiges. He sees some of the past of the original vestige of One for All and even meeting them for a little bit before waking up.
In episode 3 Izuku tells All Might about his dream where not even he knows what this means. It’s a phenomenon he’s never experienced so he has no idea what’s going on. They decide to put this on the back burner for now and focus on the future which is class A vs class B (Shizuku: Finally, after all the trash talking we’re finally going to see who’s the best). Joining the battle of classes is Shinso from class C who wants to transfer into the hero course (which I say yeah, guy looked good at the sports festival. I’m surprise he didn’t transfer sooner). It’ll be teams of four going off against each other with Shinso participating twice on class A and B respectively. Shinso joins the first team of class A where he shows off his new ability, persona cord, which allows him to change up his voice.
A lot of good things in episode 4 as class A comes up with the win. Despite the class getting off to a rough start and losing two of their heavy hitters right off the bat, Tsu manages to lead the team to victory (once again showing why she’s best girl) and Shinso also looked good in this battle and impresses everyone where he shows he has what it takes to hang with the heroes of tomorrow (scene here: https://youtu.be/xXpLLMpXNes?si=_zmX3k9XHF4AqnMv. (Shizuku): Makes you wonder why he wasn’t in the hero course to begin with. (Nitsuj): Well to be fair the screening for the hero course is very flawed. Even Aizawa admits it’s a flawed way to test the students as it favors students with offensive powers as opposed to students like Shinso whose quirk can be used for strategic advantage rather than offensive capabilities. This does now beg the question of how the hell did Mineta and Toru get into the hero course? (Shizuku): Well since she’s invisible you can’t prove she didn’t beat the robots. As for Mineta, you’re guess is as good as mine).
Episodes 5-8
(Shizuku): We move on to the second battle in episode 5. After the first battle, the teams all have a strategy meeting (seems like a detour) and then move on to the next battle where it’s Momo, Tokoyami, Yuga, and Toru representing class A this round. The battle starts off rough for class A as Tokoyami gets forced to take on a student who can merge with shadows and control them (making him the power rival for Tokoyami. (not to mention both like to talk edgy). We get a flashback where we see Tokoyami got picked by Hawks for his internship. Sadly, the internship didn’t go so well as Hawks kept leaving him behind and only took on Tokoyami as an intern to learn more about the attack on U.A. As you would imagine, Tokoyami was upset by this (Nitsuj: Try pissed), but kept his cool and cooperated with him. Hawks picked him again during his work study where this time Tokoyami was able to keep up with Hawks a little and Hawks gives him some guidance this time around. We find out the reason Hawks was interested in Tokoyami is because he felt like he was wasting his potential (Nitsuj: Which I have to agree. This guy has the talent to be one of the top students along with Izuku, Shoto, and Katsuki). While Hawks respects Tokoyami doing his best to cover up his shortcomings, he doesn’t want him to forget what he’s good at (and that’s improvising with that shadow of his. The possibilities are endless with what Tokoyami can do). So the class B student surrounds the students of class A where you would think he would go after Tokoyami but nope, he goes after Yuga and drags him away believing nobody will catch up to him (https://youtu.be/oHC1230OpOg?t=5). Tokoyami shocks him by unleashing his newest move, Dark Fallen Angel (*Nitsuj and Shizuku burst out laughing* (Shizuku): It’s so needlessly edgy) which allows him to fly. Tokoyami rescues Yuga and try to catch the student from class B only to fall into another trap which involves mushrooms (well that’s just gross).
In opening moments of episode 6 the area becomes covered in mushrooms with some even growing on their body (that’s disgusting). Things only get worse for class A when they get separated from each other and Momo ends up all along where she gets cornered by Kendo (the only character from class B anyone seems to care about) who was the mastermind behind this whole plan and considers Momo her rival. Kendo tries to overwhelm and take Momo down quickly, but she creates a cannon and fires off ethanol and infrared goggles to Tokoyami and Toru while Momo continues to fight against Kendo. Yuga unfortunately got captured earlier so it falls on Tokoyami and Toru to win for the class. They have a good run and managed to catch their opponents off guard, but their enemies had one final trick up their sleeve which takes Tokoyami down and Toru gets captured by Kendo who managed to defeat and capture Momo to give class B the victory (scene here: https://youtu.be/eGaPEHMPt0U?si=AI9o4L5V9nfuiyeX).
We get a change in location for match 3 in episode 7 (seeing as how the other area is mostly destroyed and covered in mushrooms. (Nitsuj): Yeah, I don’t mind the wreckage, but the mushrooms scare me. That’s how you get the Last of Us). The third match will see Shoto, Tenya, Shoji and Ojiro representing class A. Unlike the previous fight, which was more strategic, this fight is going to be a head on fight (my kind of fight) where class A strikes first with Shoto only for class B to turn it around in their favor and split class A up. Tetsutetsu goes one on one with Shoto, Shoji gets blasted away, Ojiro goes up against an opponent that damages his tail, and Tenya fights a guy who can make anything soft just by touching it (Nitsuj: Must. . .resist. . .dick joke). In the final moments of the episode, we see Tenya actually do some really intense training after receiving his license. He actually tore off his mufflers as a way to tune up his engine. While new mufflers would grow in their place, the fact that he actually pulled out his old mufflers is still enough to make anyone cringe in pain. Because of the new mufflers, Iida is now faster than ever, being able to go at top speed for 10 minutes without rest.
Episode 8 is great from beginning to end as everybody really got a chance to show off here (and it’s not just the students from class A. The class B students also looked great here). So Tenya becomes speed and forces Mudman to retreat for the time being. Tenya manages to rescue Ojiro and takes his opponent to jail to give class A the lead. Shoto and Tetsutetsu continue to fight where Shoto turns up the heat to overwhelm Tetsutetsu but he refuses to back down showing off how much he’s trained to fight against not only severe cold but heat as well (it’s a very exciting moment as you want to know who’s going to give first). Just when it seems like Shoto is about to gain the upper hand, Mudman comes to soften the ground and a large pipe hits Shoto square in the head knocking him out. Luckily, Tenya shows up, knocks out Mudman, and then runs away with Shoto. However, Mudman refusing to let his team lose after coming this far, softens a tower and has Tetsutetsu knock it down. The tower lands on Tenya trapping him underneath and both Mudman and Tetsutetsu go down from exhaustion. The final member of class B who is Horn Girl managed to get Ojiro in jail in a very clever way and then uses her horns to try and get Shoto to jail as well as keep her remaining teammates away from Shoji who is chasing after her. Knowing she’s not going to make it to the jail before time runs out and being unable to outrun Shoji, Horn Girl flies high out of Shoji’s reach and let’s time expire ending the third match in a draw (scene here: https://youtu.be/tkYcF3IMdBY?si=5TD5_BDCHCwFLzz8. (Nitsuj: That was brilliant. While some may view this as a cowardly method it was the smart move on her part. She kept her team from losing and kept the other team from winning. This was such heart pounding episode as everyone really showed just how strong they’ve gotten. (Shizuku): Yeah, these episodes are really getting me interested in class B. I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off focusing on them).
Episodes 9-12
(Nitsuj): It’s time for the 4th battle in episode 9 as class A is representative by Katsuki, Sero, Jiro and Sato (this should be an interesting team to say the least). While it does seem like Katsuki is cooperating with the group instead of going off on his own like in previous fights, his attitude still rubs people the wrong way. Rather than the group waiting for class B to make the first move, they decide to go on the offensive and attack first. Unfortunately, class B manages to trap the group by using their own quirks against them (Shizuku: Betrayed by your own abilities). Katsuki manages to save the group (Shizuku: Katsuki is saving people? This is madness not even I can comprehend) and class B retreats trying to regroup but class A goes after them with Katsuki leading the way and trusting his back to the others (it’s teamwork at its best). Through their teamwork they manage to bring down class B and get the easy win for their class (scene here: https://youtu.be/95Ojuy0HXKU?si=fHbRuNiDIC2cEa_v. (Shizuku): I’ve got nothing. That was just awesome domination). They quickly move on to the fifth match which is Izuku, Ochaco, Mineta and Mina (and one of these characters does not belong here) representing class A and Izuku decides to act as bait to lure out class B.
The final battle between class A and B begins in episode 10. It starts with Izuku getting discovered by Neito (he’s the annoying guy who won’t shut up about class B being better than class A. (Shizuku): He’s the kind of guy you just want to punch every time he talks) who tries to egg Izuku on in the hopes that he’ll reveal his teammates location, but Izuku stays calm and focuses on Neito. While the others get attacked by the rest of class B, Izuku’s quirk starts to go berserk on him and he can’t control it. Ochaco grabs him and tries to calm him down, but it’s not working. All of sudden, Izuku gets swallowed up by One for All and comes across a vestige who tells him to stop using his quirk without thinking. He also reveals that One for All is growing and that the quirk inherits the quirks of past One for All users meaning Izuku has access to other quirks beside superhuman strength. When Izuku was going berserk he was using another quirk known as Blackwhip and thanks to One for All it’s even more powerful than it originally was (wow, if Izuku really gets a handle of One for All then he really will be OP). Izuku returns back to his senses and the match continues (Shizuku: Let’s gooooooo~).
(Shizuku): Episode 11 starts with an all-out brawl between class A and B. We get to see good teamwork between Mineta and Mina as well as Izuku and Ochaco (Nitsuj: Don’t you just love when you’re ship sails smoothly). Izuku takes on Shinso one on one. There’s a brief moment where he’s able to use Blackwhip (it slaps the black off ya) and stops using it as he’s afraid his powers will go berserk again. After Ochaco captures Neito, she goes to help Mineta and Mina where they’re able to capture the students of class B and Izuku manages to take down Shinso who is once again blown away by just how strong the students in the hero course are. Class A is declared the winner of the battle of the classes (was that what we’re doing? I’m not complaining). Shinso also gets a passing grade and has proven that he’s hero course material, but he knows he still has a long way to go (scenes here: https://youtu.be/rV7_Sb8eTGI?si=oUbmGVoy4DAjuWXR, https://youtu.be/TPN2O88PbnM?si=jDJhzfCPC3XY0lKL and https://youtu.be/PwOnGTWtmsQ?si=P2m8uTt-XSUaCx89).
We close off the first half of the season with the announcement that Shinso will be joining the hero course next year. Which class he’ll be in has yet to be decided (Nitsuj: Hopefully A. He has better chemistry with them than B. We’ll gladly give class B Mineta for Shinso). After classes are done, Izuku, Katsuki, and All Might try to reactivate Blackwhip but have no luck. Later on, we find out that during the battle with class B Neito did in fact copy Izuku’s quirk but couldn’t use it because it’s a blank quirk. Neito can only copy the nature of a quirk, but if it’s a quirk where it accumulates something or change into energy then he can’t copy it thus making it a blank quirk (Shizuku: Interesting. So this means quirks like Eri and Fat Gum can’t be copied by this guy). Winter soon arrives where Katsuki and Shoto finally get their provision licenses and even stop some villains on their way back to the dorms.
(Nitsuj): And that was the first half of season 5. Good stuff, just feels out of place in the story thus far.
(Shizuku): And if this stuff felt out of place to you, then get ready for the second half.
(Nitsuj): Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
