The sixth season of My Hero Academia has been overshadowed by the appearance of Chainsaw Man. Even though the anime has taken a backseat in terms of its popularity, My Hero Academia secured the fourth position as the most-watched anime in winter 2022. The sixth season of the anime has been produced by Studio Bones under the direction of Kenji Nagasaki and Masahiro Mukai.
Season 6 of My Hero Academia covers the ‘Paranormal Liberation War arc and the ‘Dark Hero’ arc. The first episode premiered on October 1st, 2022, and will continue to be released till the 25th episode. The 23rd episode was recently released on the 11th of March on streaming platforms like Netflix and Crunchyroll.
Season 6 depicts the battle between the Heroes and the students of U.A Highschool against the villains of the Paranormal Liberation front headed by Tomura Shigaraki. After an all-out war is waged between both parties, the anime shifts to its second half, portraying the aftermath of the war. After losing the trust of the general public, the Heroes continue their operation of saving civilians while capturing the villains.
When All for One escapes from Tartarus, secrets about the quirk ‘One For All’ starts being revealed to the public, which makes Izuku Midoriya, the possessor of the quirk, a vulnerable target to villains from different walks of life. Fearing that his existence puts his classmates at potential risk, Izuku (Deku) decides to leave U.A Highschool and assist the Heroes in their quest to defeat hundreds of villains freed after the destruction of seven prison institutions.
My Hero Academia: Plot
Eighty percent of the world possesses a quirk in society. Set in Japan, My Hero Academia follows the story of Izuku Midoriya, a quirkless teenager who acquires his quirk after a fateful encounter with All Might, the world’s most renowned hero and a symbol of peace. After being selected to be a student at U.A Highschool, Midoriya starts training with other characters like Bakugou, Uraraka, and Tenya to reach the top and become a trusted hero in society.
However, the path that he treads is not easy. Through hardships, touch times, and powerful friendships, Midoriya and his classmates gradually grow stronger.
After the first three seasons, highlighting the school, the training, and the events at school, the plot starts thickening. We get to learn about the Paranormal Liberation Front, headed by Tomura Shigaraki, a pupil of All for One, one of the most wicked antagonists of the series. The fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons show the confrontations between the Heroes and the Paranormal Liberation Front with appearances of other significant characters like Eri and Overhaul.
Also, read: 50 Best Anime Where The Characters Are Fairy
My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 23: Recap
My Hero Academia Season 6 episode 23, titled “Deku vs. Class A” was released on 11th March 2023. The episode shows Deku trying to escape from his friends and classmates at U.A. Highschool by using a smokescreen. However, Bakugou uses his explosive powers to remove the smoke, after which they see Deku trying to jump and escape.
Each one of them, while trying to restrain him with the use of their quirks, brings up something that reminds them of Deku or something that he had done in the past which was significant to them. For instance, Jiro, one of Midoriya’s classmates, told him that even if it was not important to him, he helped her summarize her notes during the school festival, which saved her.
One of his friends, Denki tells him that One For All is important but there are more important things at hand. To Denki, Midoriya was his friend, and there was no way he would not protect him. Deku understands that they all wish to protect him, but his ability to sense Danger (Danger sense) has not been able to detect any danger for a while, so he must get away from them. Todoroki stops Deku from escaping by creating an ice wall and stating that this responsibility that he shouldered must have been very heavy, so he should share it with everyone.
After almost everyone’s attempts seemed futile in stopping Deku, who was charging his Faux 100 Percent to blast himself away, class 1-A combined all of their abilities and blasted Iida towards Deku. Iida grabs his hands and repeats something that Midoriya himself stated a while back: meddling without being asked is the essence of a hero.
While trying to distance himself from everyone, Deku is once again confronted by Bakugou, his old childhood friend who used to bully him. Bakugou sincerely apologizes for everything he has done so far to Deku. The class does not want to reject him but wants to support him and everything he stands for. Deku finally gives in to exhaustion, fainting and opening his eyes in front of heavily fortified and barricaded U.A Highschool and an angry mob demanding that Deku does not enter because Shigaraki is after him.
Deku tries to leave once again but is stopped by Uraraka, who tells him that he will be protected.
My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 23: Review
As the title suggested, the audience witnessed Deku fighting his classmates. However, more than the physical fight, it was more about the emotional turmoil that Deku must have felt. Leaving U.A Highschool and his friends behind was a huge task for him. Over the last five seasons, we get to see how strong their bonds were and to sever those ties felt like a humanly impossible task for him.
However, Deku did not want to endanger the precious friends he made. Even though he never wanted to part ways with them like this, this was the only option he could think of. He wanted to carry the brunt of One for All and the challenge of All for One on his own. This episode showed Deku in a pessimistic lens because so much had happened. However, his friends reminded him of the small joys he created for them by citing memories that might seem puny to him but significant to them.
His friends wanted to shoulder the responsibility he himself decided to carry alone. This episode is an emotionally charged one because it shows the battles Deku had to fight internally because of his possession of One for All and the pressures he felt from the previous owners of this quirk.
In the battle scene, Deku realizes how much his friends cared for him and that there was no malicious intent of these classmates. They just wanted to protect him at all costs. His friends Iida, Asui, and Todoroki try their best to convince him to stay by telling him how much he means to them and that he impacted everyone’s life through his actions.
However, the scene with Bakugou is the most heart-wrenching one. It is the scene that could make anyone cry, I feel. He talks from the very beginning of their friendship, from their childhood to their high school years. We get to see so much character development within Bakugou, who earnestly apologized to Deku for all his actions.
It shows that both of them had come a long way, and Bakugou was envious of Deku and the ideals he held. But he has come to accept Deku for who he is and apologizes to him for being such a bully. I was personally never a fan of Bakugou, but his gradual character development is really impressive.
Our Verdict
Overall, the episode was a powerful and sentimental one. It showed the difficulties and inner turmoil heroes have to face while making life-changing decisions. The episode did a brilliant job of capturing the fragility of a hero’s mind.
Our Rating: ⭐ (4.5/5).
