Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season

Ever since the end of season 2, My Hero Academia has been all over the place. Being an early fan of the series, it feels like the hype train that was going strong in the beginning has been stagnating for a while, and with that train stalling I'm starting to see the cracks in something I used to call my favorite anime. Now, that could be due to me watching plenty of other series in the meantime, however, it seems like I'm not the only one finding imperfections. There are three main points I want to discuss in this review. One, the show's lopsided presentation throughout the season; two, the despicable treatment of the female characters; and three, the unfocused nature of the show as a whole. (light spoilers past this point) First, this season's very strange pacing. Season 4 had the complete opposite problem that season 3 had. That season had an excellent first half ending with a captivating battle between All Might and All for One. Then, for the second half, a comparatively boring licensing exam. This isn't necessarily the fault of the anime, but more for the manga's story and structure. The licensing exam added a ton of new characters and subplots that made the show feel messy and bloated at the same time. Then, we have the opposite problem in season 4. The first half of the season is sloppy, poorly paced, and ineffectual in the emotions it's trying to convey to the audience. I didn't dislike the characters, but the ones we spent the most time with were new, and therefore the show didn't give itself time to properly get used to these characters before they went through the wood chipper. Said wood chipper, Overhaul, is a decent villain with a cool quirk, but he becomes effectively useless at the end of the arc. It's also hard for me to care about what happens to Nighteye and Lemillion, because they're characters we just met, so we don't feel as much attachment to them. However, in the last half of the season, everything becomes more lighthearted, and you know what? I enjoyed it much more. It's more satisfying to see characters we know and love grow and go through shit, instead of unfamiliar cannon fodder we just met. The cultural festival is fun, and Class 1-A's performance is great. I just wish the show would stop going through entire arcs with characters we don't care about just to throw those characters away once that arc is over. Second, the treatment of the female characters. One of the sentiments I would hear years ago when people talked about the show is how "progressive" the female heroes were depicted. If you asked me if I agreed with that sentiment around the end of season 2, I might've said yes. But seeing all the baffling choices made in this story in both seasons 3 and 4, I've lost any hope that My Hero Academia will make a compelling female character. The worst of it is Bubble Girl. Not only is her costume the stupidest thing I've ever laid eyes on (made by fans, nevertheless), but her existence in the plot feels superfluous. She could not be there and it literally would not make a difference to the story. It honestly seems like most of the female characters only exist to be sexualized, and rarely get any development. A personal grievance of mine is the treatment of Uraraka. She keeps being an integral part of the supporting cast, but it feels like a quarter of her lines are just "Deku!" Additionally, I know part of the love plot in season 3 was about her trying to deal with her crush on Midoriya, but the fact that they literally just drop it and don't mention it again for the entirety of season 4 feels extremely lazy to me. If she's not gonna think about that, then at least have her do something else in place of that. Lastly, a quick touch of the meandering feeling of the show as a whole. Many people have been thinking what MHA's role will be overall in anime culture. Is it the new big shounen? Will it outshine everything else? Lately, it feels like the answer is a resounding no. These last several seasons, movies, specials, everything - feel like MHA isn't going anywhere interesting. What's the end goal of this series? What's the morals? What's the point? It's hard to say, as new villains and characters keep getting introduced and tossed aside like some monster-of-the-week or Saturday morning cartoon. My Hero Academia paraded itself for awhile as the next big shounen, as the hottest thing in the anime world. At this point, the show is very clearly losing its luster. And it's not that it's bad, no, not at all. It's still fun, the animation is fantastic at times (Deku vs. Overhaul fight in particular), and occasionally it has the ability to tug at the heartstrings. But it's not special anymore. It's a cash cow franchise that will run for quite a long time, but will probably never feel as good as it did in the beginning.

"When all these bland Marvel Comics franchise movies blur together in memory, it won't prove that they amounted to one great epic master narrative, but that they're all indistinguishable". - Armond White on "Captain America: The First Avenger," 2011. The above quote from Armond White might be one of the most poignant observations about the modern pop culture that continues to plague Hollywood. You might ask "Snake-san, what's that got to do with My Hero Academia?" It relates to it a lot in fact and is deeply connected to the continuous stream of vapid garbage that of killing every last ounce of creativity with regards to anime and manga. Sorry John Johnsson from sweet home Alabama. American superhero stories have been around for a lot longer than My Hero Academia (which inspired MHA in the first place) and they have managed to tell deeper stories, waste less of your time and actually atempted to give some social commentary. MHA is an indistinguishable series and will be figuratively flushed down the toilet of pop-cultural osmosis once the series destroys itself creatively. My Hero Academia attempts those aforementioned things, but fails to live up to the task at even an acceptable level. In fact, My Hero Academia eerily resembles the Democratic Party's scattershot attempts at finding a consistent identity (dislike them all you want, the Grand Old Party/the Republican Party is at the very least unashamedly and consistently bigoted). It just doesn't know what to do with itself for a great deal of the time and this has plagued the series since its very inception. Some parts of the discourse have attempted to say that My Hero Academia is "Naruto done right" and I find that to be laughable and symbolic of the current manga/anime fandom. Naruto failed creatively as a series. Get over 2014 already, nerd. My Hero Academia, if anything, is currently walking similar steps to Naruto when it comes to destroying any hope for narrative quality. The show attempts to portray Deku's struggle (if you can call it that, he basically has the most powerful quirk out there with the possible exception of All for One). There is a heavy amount of ludo-narrative dissonance since the show portrays Deku as struggling and being some kind of underdog until you realize he was raised in a (seemingly) financially stable home and has a quirk that basically acts as a wreck-all hyper mode if there is a need to go beyond the basic power/ability increase. It's just like Naruto in that sense. Both series attempts to portray an underdog initially and then they more or less receive godlike superpowers that entirely negates the aspect of actually being an underdog. Seriously, who actually thinks at this point that Deku's classmates are gonna be even remotely able to compare to Deku's inevitable 100 percent Superpower form? An ever decreasing amount of folks, I'd imagine. To end things off, there is nothing new here and the creator of the series has yet to prove himself worthy as an artist (I'd argue his idol Kishimoto was one of Shueisha's and Weekly Shonen Jump's greatest hacks ever). Spend your valuable time elsewhere, anon. - SnakePlissken96, 2021. Editor's note: call me Snake.

I remember when this used to be one of my favourite anime. I really enjoyed season 1 and 2. I binged them in a few days with season 3. But season 4 was a dissapointment. Season 3 was a bit meh after season 2 but I still enjoyed it very much! But I can't EVEN start with season 4.... I watched it while it was airing and the story seemed so slow just to fill those 25 episodes. Story 7/10 I would've given it a 6 but I liked the ending fight and the start of the season. The fight between the Nomu, Endavour and Hawks was amazing! I loved the animation! The episodes where Midoriya tried to get into the agency were thriling and leaving me on the edge of my seat! I didin't like the whole Gentle Criminal (and a bit of Overhaul) thing. Characters 6/10 Yes in this season we got to see more of the trio. But the whole plot kinda ruins the characters. Overhaul was a kinda good villain but not as good as the league of villains. The league of villains basically used him for their own development so I can understand that. I loved how season 1, 2 and 3 potrayed the characters making you invested in the series and wanting to watch more. The characters were much more enjoyabe. We basically don't see much of the main cast accept Midoriya and later Kirishima. The impact fight with Fatgum, Kirishima and the villains would've had even more impact if we could've seen more moments with them. Kirishima is one of the fan favourites sure but I think even if it wasn't in the manga they could've put in a scene or two of anime only moments with them. Spoiler Nighteye's death left me in tears. It was sad because of how much impact he had on Midoriya and Mirio. Also All Might. Now getting back to Gentle Criminal and why I didin't like him. He was a villain with basically with no motive just that he was unacepted by society. Many villains in many anime and even MHA have the same reason, and manage to be better charracters than him. He also commits crimes and posts them on the internet? He also has his loyal assistant La Brava. She was a likeable character until she became a 'simp' for Gentle Criminal while basically giving him plot armor until Midoriya beat him up. Enjoyment ?/10 I'm not even sure if I liked it or disliked it. It was ok until the whole Gentle Criminal and his little minion thing. Gentle Criminal would've been ok if he would've had a decent backstory not just the cliche "society doesn't want me so I'll become evil". I really hope season 5 fixes this.... I can't see why they couldn't have put in some more scenes relating to characters that should have more impact to the story that they had because some moments with those 'impactful' characters seem meaningless and pointless. Personally I haven't read the manga and don't plan to anytime soon but I'm pretty sure MHA stays pretty in line with it. They could've maybe used that one dreadful episode of screaming for some scenes with the characters. You might say that they have to follow the manga but the whole Heroes Rising movie isin't related to the plot or even mentioned in it. I've also heard it is anime only. Overall 6/10 It was kinda ok. Really hope season 5 does fix the plotholes and characters or I will for sure have to drop it. I've also seen some toxic BNHA kids attacking people with reviews stating their opinion on their profiles so much that they had to leave the MAL site because of death threats or create a brand new account. It just shows how the BNHA fandom is pretty toxic...

My Hero Academia Is An Anime Which Has Everything To Make It A Masterpiece. From The Beginning Of Season 1 To The Last Episode Of Season 4, Everything Was Amazing. If I Talk About The Story So The First Part Was So GOOD But The Second Part Was A Little Bit Boring But Still, The Whole Season Was Outstanding. The Sound Tracks Was So Amazing, Spcially The OST "Jet Set Run" Is My Personal Favourite. The Animation Was The Same As Always, Especially The Character Design Of Eri-Chan Was So Beautiful. I Am Really So Happy That I was Born In This Generation. I Can't Describe This In Words That How Amazing The Anime Was. Especially I REALLY LIKE THE CUTE SMILE OF ERI-CHAN!!!!!!! I MEAN I DID'NT THOUGHT THAT A SMILE CAN BE THAT MUCH OF CUTE BEFORE I WATCH THIS ANIME. Overall Everything Was As Amazing As The Other Seasons. Can't Wait For Its 5th Season.

Hey everyone, this is my review and my opinion on the Anime Series, known as "My Hero Academia," or the Japanese title that other people use for it. This is just gonna cover 4 seasons. The show isn't entirely finished, and has a long way to go, but I'm gonna start with the bad sides in this show and end with the good side, for a more positive and clear review. The story of the show overall doesn't have very neat structure, yet it is still interesting for it's theme and definition of a world with superpowers. What I am trying to say is that the structure isn't as developed as we feel or think it is, and while I use this fact to clear some misunderstandings, I will also say I don't hate it for this. So far, season 1 through 4 have all been mainly the heroes going against bad guys with extra help from UA teachers. That's been the main set of battles. Am I saying that they aren't supposed to? No. I am clearly saying that this is a very repetitive way of developing my hero academia. I get bored of the story's development, then I switch over to a different show, which is something I dislike doing. While the story was very good as introduced and very original, It lacked certain structures that can be fixed overtime. The character of the story is one of the worst things about this show, and hear me out, I mean no disrespect, because they are average in good ways too. What these characters are lacking are development, and this can be because we are introduced to so many uninteresting characters while the main characters show off and make the uninteresting characters in the series not stand out a single hair. Next, there is the sexualization of female characters. Most boy fans may love this if not all, and it creates that culture for the show, quote on quote. This can be seen as sexualizing 15 year olds, or pleasing the 15 year old audience. I'm mature enough to understand that it wouldn't be that bad, if they didn't do it so often. Finally, there will be the fact that characters in UA have weird super powers. We have animal guy, and that's okay. We have electric guy, and that's cool. Please explain to me how of invisible girl and the guy that uses different limbs on each arm pass the exam! While people may overlook this and insult me for paying attention to this, I still should understand where they were going with the structure and character placement. After all of that, I don't mind the characters too much. I can still handle great characters like Shoto, Ochako, Momo, and Erasure head. The characters balance out to a 5, because it still has good to weigh evenly with the bad. Enough with all the bad stuff. I love the art. I love the sound. I love the animation. Good choreography. Overall: 7. Enjoyment: 7

I watched the first and second season of this series a few years ago. And It reminded me the excitement a few moments ago when i watched the third season. This anime is different from other general anime. Superpower, school, comedy, and other genres stand out in this anime. The story is really interesting to follow and some of the battles are of such great quality that makes me so excited and amazed. The main character of this anime is class 1-A of high school hero. And the main highlight of the class is an ordinary child who has no power/talent. But because of his persistence and kindness(and main character power), he got power from his favorite hero and he became the successor of him too. This anime presents the story plot "Zero to Hero". One of the story plots that I really like. In conclusion, I really like this anime and I'm looking forward to the next season.

This season has both the second [next to Kamino Arc] strongest and weakest parts in the entire series. The fight scenes in this season are actually most of the video clips I saw on other platforms that made me want to watch BNHA. Majority of the episodes involve the Shie Hassaikai Arc. I like Overhaul as a villain. There's something ominous about him, and the way he choose his words and actions are really chilling. I like the obvious nonverbal behavior of Eri, Mirio and Overhaul. It made me think of how Mirio is able to compose himself. One could really feel the thrill of being within the reach of a villain and a victim, her helplessness and the heroes' inability to act... Shigaraki Tomura attempted to do this, but he only comes off as a random crazy person. One thing I did not like about Overhaul's group is that they're actions make it seem that Overhaul is the only one sinister even if they were implied to be equally so. Their group had an eight-person elite team of sorts, and they could have been more menacing if there weren't beaten by student-heroes. Speaking of heroes, I find it very off that students did most of the dangerous jobs for pro-heroes. I'd also like to nitpick: why are they made to live in dorms if they are still allowed to work as interns outside of their campus?They're provisional heroes, which allows them to help in emergencies if I recall correctly. So why are they performing operations with pro heroes and police? Other things that bothered me that I'd like to let out: 1. Overhaul seemed to have downgraded. 2. Nighteye's quirk is not clear and I did not feel anything in his piece about the future. 3. Really? with the knowledge that the League of Villains are involved, they've only sent one hero to guard Overhaul, and they've also put the serum in the same vehicle???? That's too sloppy. 4. How did Eri escape in the first place? One pro hero pointed this out, but they did not have a compelling explanation to this. After the Overhaul arc, I understand that down times are important, but the following arcs seem very much like fillers that we don't really need to watch. Maybe we could have had some hero-work from the other students. Instead we got a school festival (not bad by it self) and suddenly we get told that the students are actually performers. The next arc about Gentle could've also been better. The fight was amazing, the motivations of Deku and Gentle are compelling enough to give me chills, especially considering Gentle's backstory. What I don't like is the build up to this scene. I understand that the show wants to set the tone lighter after the Overhaul arc. But the slice-of-life theme of the school festival just don't feel right to me as a build up for Gentle and Deku's fight. Even the interactions that lead to the both of them meeting seem too forced. Fight scenes, especially on major villains, have good animation. But there are lapses, such as on Endeavor's fight. The opening songs are not that bad. Some OSTs don't fit well for me. a sidenote and a recommendation: I can't help but compare BNHA to Haikyuu (a sports anime, but essentially a battle anime; and the closest thing I've recently watched that is shounen). I never would have imagined that I would really like a sports anime to the point that I'm recommending it to my friends. Essentially, Haikyuu is similar to most shounen, battle anime; people have their unique skills, they compete. Only difference is that BNHA struggle to show a compelling villain/antagonist while Haikyuu has it easy with worrying only about competitiveness. But the big advantage of BNHA is the freedom to creative quirks that bypass reality. The entire world is involved in the story which allows BNHA to have a diverse set of characters and a imaginative story. Yet I am more entertained with Haikyuu, the rallies and every volley did not disappoint me to feel goosebumps. Watch Haikyuu!

If I were to sum up this season in one word, it would be inconsistent. I would divide this series up into two separate arcs plus an intro onto season five. The first arc was acceptable, the beginning was oh so slow and was filled with dragged out dialogue and plot leading up to a few episodes. Once we hit the moments of action, the show became enjoyable to watch again. I'm not obsessed with action or anything, however, the plot building in the first arc was just been unbearable to watch, it was slow, boring and dragged out. However, what was mentioned before is not my main gripe. The second arc is. Never in my life have I had to bare through such a disappointing arc. My issues with it are as follows... Not once did I feel any fear for our protagonists from the weakest antagonist we've known to date. They were so poorly constructed and it was just embarrassing to watch. They somewhat pulled it together at the end, but it was too late. No amount of sob story can save poor character development. Furthermore, The entire arc seemed pointless, it only served to drag us away from the true story. I'm not against side stories, but when they're written this poorly and take up 1/3 of the season, I have no choice but to treat is as absolute filler. Utterly useless. That said, there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. The last few episodes showed that there is still hope for this show. We finally returned back to the main plotline after eight dreadful episodes, with a bang. I am excited for what the next season will bring and I hope they can recover from this undoubtedly disappointing season.

Yeah i give high rating for this anime.. Overall 5 is high actually. Anime has so much potential but fights and cause are not worth it you know? Steins ideologh? Villian Union, is a joke!? And that fake yakuza boy.. OMG! He has the ability of making a supreme drug to erase peoples quirk indefinitely but he is so stupid.. No rigid reasoning for what he does or trying to do. I wish that author made a time skip for the school time. Casue fights are blatantly random. If a hero misses the unreasonably overpowered last shot. BUM. They die. There is no logic behind the fights no actual tactics. Maybe little in the Gentle fight. Only character actually developing is Endevour! Other then him they play tic-tac-toe. They always fight someone more poverfull but eventually with some stupit overpowered move they won. They prioritize unsignificant lifes. Ok Eri is a child and cute i know.. But what if deku and lem were little late to be there? They faught for the kid and made it like it was super important.. Just a child. You gotta save her we know but why put that much effort?! When there are big terroristic villians on the rise?! I mean Zabuza fight in naruto much better then any of these fights.

To be fair this season was pretty decent. *Spoilers* in review The arc battle with the villain when Deku was showing more power was some top notch animation. The rest was... Ok. Singularity concept was interesting and all, but that's it. Villain was kinda forgettable, but not that bad either. Anyway there something that make this season a little more than decent for me... But first, let me tell you something about my hero academia: The best thing about this anime is the characters. Seriously, the concept and the universe was never that good. After some episodes you start to realise that the quality drop when characters are not being delivered or presented well. And no, the main character has nothing to do with it, the villains are. For me the quality will go sky high when Kouhei create better villains to his story. Which from what a know, will happen soon. The "something" that make this season shine for me is called Mirio. This character is soo enjoyable that I could not find myself bored with his scenes. His motivations his hard work, everything is pure old shonen. And I like some shonen motivations old school style. Well, summarizing it, every anime has its high and lows. That season was better than the first one for sure. I do not consider it a low. The history is just starting (shonen for you) it demands patience to see development and results. But most of mal weebs wants everything fast. Well if you think like that I recommend you to drop shonen category already. Not many go that fast on that. Stay Safe, God Bless.

This is my first time writing a review but I felt like I needed to say this. Why do y'all hate this again? I get it the fandom is toxic and we all love some anitweet drama, but why do you say this season was bad? I got bored in 3rd season and just picked up now and finished this season in 2 days! I used to watch it ongoing and enjoyed it WAY more than the first season. You could see how the characters developed and changed, and I think it's amazing when a writer makes you feel for the characters. And Chisaki's ending caught me off guard! (not gonna spoil it tho) The music excited me every time and we got to see my girl singing and having fun so that's a HUGE thumbs up from me. I just feel like this season really doesn't deserve the hate it's getting and it's such a shame that BNHA has a toxic fandom.

The arcs for this season aren't exactly the most exciting, however, it showed quite a different angle from the previous seasons, which I eventually liked. Imo, the pacing wasn't managed very well. The beginning felt too draggy while it felt rushed towards the end. Still, one of the most amazing animations were in this season, no doubt! The overhaul climax and festival were amazingly put together. The latter especially was amazing since it was quite messy in the manga. The soundtrack was also AMAZING. Honestly, it's not the best in terms of plot, but it gave the anime a new horizon to explore and it turned out great. I can't wait for season 5! Things are only going to get better from here.

I have a bone to pick with this season. I want to make it clear that there will be aspects of comparison with both the manga and previous seasons just to give more context on my opinions. This also means heavy spoilers in the latter half. I am also aware that this season was directed by a different director so there's a clear cut difference with its presentation. Anyway, this season badly balances between good and bad, making it a fine season. The season does have several highlights such as Kirishima & Fatgums fight, and Eri's smile. I don't know the exact details of how badly the production was affected by the virus, but even then I'll be judging it as it is. Story 7/10 The story and plot in this season are serviceable and do shine from time to time but those moments are sparse. The season doesn't live up to the previous seasons and it shows as some scenes either lack substance or it's rushed. One highlight from the manga I really enjoyed was the further characterization of Aoyama but I felt it could've been handled better. Even though key moments in the arcs may feel empty the show is still able to hit hard when needed. Art 6/10 OH GOD, THE ANIMATION WAS KILLING ME. I'm gonna outright say it the animaiton in this season was bad, especially with the standard studio Bones sets. The manga panels had more life than this. Certain iconic panels from the manga either lack life or they're shot weirdly. I noticed a trend that the camera was really wide and dragged on and the animation during scenes between characters and the action wasn't snappy and felt floaty. The million fight scene could've been this amazing moment like Todoroki vs Deku but instead, its demoted to a PowerPoint presentation. A lot of it comes down to its cinematography and how it's shot as the camera felt wasted especially when it's a virtual camera. I intend to keep this short cause my main critique was with the animation and I needed to get it out of my system. Hopefully, some of you people can understand what I mean.

Honestly, I was so hyped about the 4th season. I still enjoyed it but sometimes it felt like I was forcing myself to like something that could've been better. This season wasn't executed as it should've been! The art and animation were a let down. The way the story flowed felt like it was simply forced to go that way with the writers cramming as much unnecessary villains as much as they can. (Gentle and La Brava felt so out of place) Seriously, the story has so much potential, why are you ruining it??? I did enjoy it because I love it but gosh, I wanted to punch someone because it didn't live up to the expectations IT set with the previous seasons. The characters had a chance, enough space to showcase their developement, to grow more. But, no. Yes, Eri chan is cute and I loved her so much...but, we didn't need 5871893486 episodes to save her with "top heroes" struggling with shitty (pardon my french) villains. Overhaul had so much to offer as a character and it just didn't show! Also, please, we could do without the flashbacks. One, or two, is enough. But, THE WHOLE episode is brimming with them just so we can get to the filan wow move is starting to annoy the klefjiper outta me. All Might was number one hero...and he can't teach anything to Deku? WHY? He's a kid and isn't supposed to figure out everything on his own. It just doesn't make sense and ruins the plot. He promised to be more helpful, a father figure but where is that? Seriously, don't make the characters say things you won't follow through with next. Can someone also please tell them that they need, CAN do better? I was SO disappointed. I guess it shows and despite all that I give it a 7. *facepalming intensifies* Eri chan is freaking cute.

Story 7/10 A weaker season there was some good moments of action firstly with the students who are on work placement taking on a dangerous Yakuza group and finally with an excellent last episode but felt slow for the rest. Art 8/10 Art remains very good maintaining the standard of previous seasons. Sound 7/10 Sound, music and voice acting remain solid but I think it was better in earlier seasons. Character 8/10 Some good characters are introduced early particularly third year student Mirio Togata who goes by the hero name Lemillion who is an excellent character who works hard as a hero and is kind and willing to risk it all to save others. Overall though I thought the character development here was not as strong as previous seasons. Enjoyment 7/10 There was some fun and entertaining moments but the series was little slow in parts with too much filler in between the big moments. Overall 7/10

Boku no Hero's probably worst season if Mirio haven't been there. This season has a good half-season plot, with the Overhaul arc and Mirio & Kirishima's development. Deku is still a bad main character, Mirio was better. Kirishima, Nighteye and Eri-chan were the best (and almost only) secondaries characters that were important. In the Art side, the fights were very very good yet in the final arc of the season there're too many flashbacks and so with the voices in off that interrupt. The Plot is still very slow. Arcs were a couple, the most important is the Overhaul arc, but the other 3 arcs: Course, festival and the other one, felt REALLY like just refill. In the course arc they tried to show something of bakugou and Todoroki but it wasn't that good. The Festival really felt like a refill in all the scenes that Mirio and Eri didn't appeared. And the other one I didn't watch it yet but I know it's about Todoroki's father. I wish it'll good enogh.. Very good season end, but it's just the beginning of another arc so I won't put a note. Overhaul arc: 8 Course arc: 5 School festival arc: 3 Good begin, very bad middle and promising end. 7/10

Overall the season was pretty good, although the last arc was very boring and very slow. Having watched 24 episodes I ranked the season a 7 out of 10, since it was not anything special. After watching episode 25 I can say that just because of that episode this season went up to a 9, because that episode was to put it simple, beautiful. I congratulate the animation company, because they adapted that last episode much, much better than in the manga. I remember that when I read these chapters in the manga it evoked little to no emotions, but watching this episode was just a unforgettable experience. I have watched hundreds of anime and thousands of episodes and I can safely say that episode 25 of this season is one of my favorite anime episodes of all time.

I am no connoisseur, but having watched so many battle Shounen shows, it just grows a sixth sense in you that teaches you to act accordingly towards a show, whether to increase your hype level, or whether to label it as just another mediocre attempt at milking out a genre that has long been dead beaten. Boku no Hero, or the new bearer of the Shounen torch as some people in the fandom call it was always there for me, not in “an emotional support” or something, but the terms of being that quality show I would rank up with the best of the best, that is, until some questionable direction from the latter half of the third season. There I just couldn't regard as such. It pulled one of the most boring and badly paced arks in featured that I really started to believe that the show, with its almost yearly release, is getting me kind of burnt up. Every season we see a slightly varying flavor of the same thing, over and over again, that the progression of the character felt suck in a time capsule, only convenient for monetization purposes. This show must have a convincing redemption, and fast, or else, I might just end up disliking it. That is, all and more, was the fourth season. Yes, my initial reaction was “Ughh, another season of the same bullcracklles?, fiiiine”, and by the end of the season, it was actually “please, give us more. Season 5 hype”. Story (8.3/10): From a surface level, the fourth season is a direct linear sequel to the 3rd, with no time jumps in between whatsoever, which makes it the more convenient for people who are binging seasons back to back, with an almost seamless transition. The pacing in this season I would say was slicker if not on par with the prequels, a lot happens during each episode and the progression of events keeps escalating until the climax you know you're going to love happens. So many great moments in this one, and only after you think the season has given all you were expecting, came the last arc spanning the last two episodes with a comeback bigger than anything we've seen before, I would arguably was at the same level of aww as the One For All vs. All For One fight. Art (9.5/10): It seems like Boku no Hero Academia has set up a score for itself and keeps breaking it and pushing forward with every season. That is what a battle seasonal Shounen should be. Sakuga that ascends from heaven, Sakuga that makes you go on rampant rewatches on Youtube, Sakuga that makes you memories and take interest in the animators behind. At the core of it, the fights might just be hero vs. villain, but the cake topping it got truly puts it above many other fights. Yet again, excelling at what t does best, impact frames, you just can feel the punches, you almost react on a physical way when you see how crazy something happens, and how fabulous the color palettes changes unprecedently. Sound (8.6/10): Maybe it was just me, but My Hero Acamedia always had such a bombastic OST that works whatever the circumstance. You're at a gym and need something to get you pumped up? There is an OST for that. You want something slice-of-life-y to chill and relax too? There is plenty of that, or what!? something heavy n emotion now? We've got just the right track for you. It is a wide and varying collection of greatly put together vocals that just keep you wanting. The voice acting too is worth praising. Every season has it's the high moment, and all of them come nicely together when you put the narrative, the visuals, and the audio together. It might sound like a great silent movie without it, but man does the vocal credibility of the show shine and make a noticeable presence. The opening and ending songs are another side of what makes a show memorable, what makes it brought up into conversation too often and what makes up the majority of its Youtube surfing. Although not the best the series has had, but definitely right there among the best of the season. Character (8/10): This season might have as well been the best My Hero Academia has ever been presenting its characters. Where do I even start? Big highlights for Lemillion, and even greater highlights for Endeavor. And don't even, get me started on Hawk. Dude's first appearance in the show and he manages to become one of the best heroes. What really sells this season for me the most is how “reliant” it was on not-so protagonists, it gave a lot of exposure to lesser featured characters and that somehow turned out to be a better screening that some of the biggest key characters make up for. I mean, just look at Gentle and La Brava. Two characters appeared out of nowhere end up connecting with so many viewers, spaning a relatable perspective. Enjoyment (9/10): I'm still debating with myself even as I write this review, but this season might be my favorite in the franchises. It was what awakened my love for the series, which made me appreciate its overlooked aspects more and what made up most of the fun I had watching a feature show this season. Overall (8.68/10): The fourth season felt to me like an eye-opener for the burnt-out fan of the series. It revisits the same aspects and ideas of its prequels, but pusher its limit to another length, expressing more on emotions, this time on the lesser featured characters, it's not always Deku and the boys, but even some of the minimal faces, new and old get massive exposure and characteristic.

The 4th installment in Boku no Hero Academia really didn't hold up to what the series was building up. It did one of the annoying things that shounen shows will do where they bring in a new villain and in order to frame them as a powerful threat they have the new villain defeat an existing character. In this case it was the league of villains having a random member killed by the new villain Overhaul and forced to work with him. The problem with this is Overhaul seems to be a one arc villain so having such a quick power framing and defeat just feels cheap and weakens the overall narrative. It was nice to see Milio's development and Nighteye was interesting, but as the show is going to be ongoing such things all happening in an arc with a 1 off villain is going to be forgettable. As for world building this arc did have us see a swift response by the Heros to a growing threat overall with an organized raid and got more instances of what pro heros daily work is like, so that was nice. Unfortunately the next half of the season felt like pure filler (whether it was in the manga or not I don't know). There was a 2 episode ordeal where the class has to deal with a rowdy class of kids, which wasn't that amusing. This was followed by a 6 episode school festival arc with a minor villain that Deku fought getting there (that didn't matter) and the payoff of the performance wasn't even great and felt oddly animated (or directed not sure which). At the very least the season finished with a decent fight and it was nice to see Endeavor fight full power, which at least had some narrative relevance because All Might had had a conversation with Endeavor about the significance of being the new number one hero and the importance of being a symbol for people. Maybe if there was no school festival arc, or if Overhaul wasn't a one off quickly power framed villain this season could have been more enjoyable to me, and I remember being hyped during the middle of the Overhaul arc, but in the greater scope of the series it just doesn't seem to do anything. As a show gets past exposition for the relevant characters having an arc that doesn't do anything for the overall narrative just feels bad. So out of the entire season it's as if only the final two episodes and the discussions with all might in the background really had any relevance.

So right off the bat let me say this: while this was the weakest season for some, it turns out this is one of my favorite. This season saw Midoriya battle Overhaul and the ascension of Endeavor as the symbol of peace. In true MHA style, the fights were good and the emotional tension was ever present. I didn't like that there was a lot less Todoriki and Bakugo, but that was likely because the universe is so vast, that they need to focus on some other characters. As for what this season did well, they really developed the likes of Mirio and the other big 3 superhero students which I enjoyed. Critically, they also dealt with the power escalation issues that plagues most Shonen anime and did it with care. Therfore, every fight that Midoriya won, and every power spike he received, made sense. Also, I liked that this season expanded on the world building aspect of MHA. Consequently, I found that I enjoyed even the arcs that didn't have much action because it gave me more info on the MHA world. Special shout out to 'Protecc' winner of the season, Eri chan, and also, the final episode with the Endeavor battle... The animation was sick. If you haven't seen this season, you should, and with a season 5 already confirmed, I can't wait to continue one of anime's modern classics