Eh, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a gun even if you have superpowers. Whatever gets the job done. 

— The anime likes last week’s finale so much that we get to watch it again. Yay.

— Shigaraki’s metaphor is interesting. Rather than seeing this struggle against the good guys as a JRPG, it’s more of a strategy RPG. In a JRPG, your party can’t die. If they do, it’s game over. In a strategy RPG, however, your “party” is really just comprised of troops within your army. You can still win the battle even if you lose your “party.” Of course, he doesn’t intend for the Vanguard dorks to lose, but hey, it’s not the end of the world if they do.

— But let’s be honest: we all reset our console if we lose any one in Fire Emblem. Nobody’s dying in my strategy RPGs!

— Also, I like the idea that he wants to “put cracks into the superhuman society,” but I don’t like the idea that he won’t do the dirty work. Who cares about whose turn it is to be on stage? If you wanna do something right, do it yourself. I dislike it when there’s a big, bad villain, but he’s content to hang back until all of his underlings have failed. I much rather have one major villain per arc, and we’ll just go from one to the other without someone like Shigaraki serving as the thread that binds the League of Villains together. It’s just hard to respect a guy who spends 90% of his time in a bar. For fuck’s sake, do something.

— I don’t know why they’re that impressed with Bakugo either. There are plenty of students with useful abilities to corrupt.

— Anyways, Deku’s night is obviously not done. He has to bring Kota to safety, then warn everyone about the bad guys’ evil plan. Let’s hope he’s right about Muscular at least.

— Y’know, I thought the forest fire would be a bigger deal. After all, Deku makes a big point about how Kota has to turn around and save others. But oddly enough, the fire never comes up again for the rest of the episode. You’d think the heat and billowing smoke would become a serious problem in no time flat, because forest fires tend to spread quickly too.

— Oh yeah, Aizawa’s just fine. Unless you see a body, the person is always fine.

— He also quickly subdues Dabi, but apparently it’s not Dabi at all. Rather, it was a clone created by Twice. So wait, do the clones have the same powers as the real thing? That sounds really, really powerful. Couldn’t you just create clones of someone truly impressive and have it go to town on our heroes?

— When Deku finally bumps into Aizawa, the instructor reminds the kid that he had acted without permission. It’s like, yeah, I get it… there are rules and protocols to follow, but this is kinda ridiculous. It was ridiculous back in Hosu, and it’s ridiculous now. What was he supposed to do? Let Kota die?

— Of course, Aizawa understands the situation, so he tells Deku to tell everyone (through Mandalay’s telepathy) that they have his permission to fight back. Furthermore, he’ll assume responsibility. Still, just the idea that he’ll be punished for this is insane. Just the idea that Deku will eventually be scolded for acting on his own is also insane. It’s such a cultural thing, too. You totally did the right thing, but we’re still going to throw the rulebook at you!

— Anyways, the battle between Spinner and Mandalay rages on. Like Stain, Spinner hates fake heroes, so he’s going to go out of his way to kill them. That’s just… stupid, man. If these so-called heroes are using their Quirks selfishly, then so what? Am I happy that a lot of super talented people would rather use their abilities for personal gain? Of course not. I wish great businessmen like the Koch brothers would care more about others than filling their own coffers, but so what? Am I going to kill them for not giving away their money? Of course not. It’s the same thing here. Even if heroes like Mandalay are phonies, they’re not making you give them money. People pay for their services, because they want to. If they didn’t want their services, they wouldn’t pay for it! If you think others are bad at being heroes, when why don’t you lead by example? So this isn’t about justice. This is just a bunch of sickos with a bloodlust. They’re trying to convince themselves that they’re making the world a better place, but they’re all fucked in the head. Who goes from “You’re a bad hero” to “I should kill you”? Only sickos!

But of course, that’s the entire point with Stain. He’s clearly meant to be a psychopath, and therein lies his true danger to society. The fact that he wants to kill heroes isn’t what should worry us. It’s that we’re all a bunch of blind followers. The masses don’t really care if his ideology is actually on point. The masses only care if the ideology sounds good. Deliver it and deliver it with conviction! As long as it resonates, the contents don’t actually matter! We love powerful orators even if they’re really dirtbags behind the scenes. Spinner is the direct proof of that. There’s nothing respectable about Stain other than that he stands behind what he believes in. This is what mastermind villains like Shigaraki have to  come to terms with. He was all pissy that Stain got all the media attention, but he could learn a thing or two from the guy. It’s not about how many people you kill. It’s about sending a message.

— So Deku interrupts Mandalay’s fight and delivers Aizawa’s message. Like I said above, everyone can fight… but because Bakugo is a target, he shouldn’t fight. Uh, good luck telling Bakugo what to do. Elsewhere, Kota is finally remorseful, but Aizawa assures the kid that Deku will be fine… probably. He’ll still get that scolding afterwards, though!

— Magne is shocked that Deku could even overcome Muscular, so he wants to take the kid out. Y’know, that’s what Shigaraki wanted and everything. But if they’re so impressed with Bakugo, why not kidnap Deku as well? Do the villains have so little faith in their abilities to corrupt someone like Deku? It would be difficult, but if you do fail, you could always kill him afterwards. But nah, the bad guys would rather just kill Deku instead. Make it easy on themselves, I guess.

— Unfortunately, the bad guys aren’t on the same page. After all, Spinner believes in Stain’s ideology, and Stain never wanted to kill Deku. As a result, Spinner doesn’t want to kill Deku either. This short argument allows Mandalay and Tiger to knock the bad guys out. Welp, so much for being legit bad guys. Like I said in previous posts, these guys are barely more than clowns. They’re so bad at actually being bad guys, it’s amazing.

— Even when he has no clue what’s going on, Bakugo still blames Deku for everything. I don’t understand how this kid has friends. I really don’t. My biggest problem with his character is that I just don’t understand how anyone could think that he has the right mentality to be a hero. I don’t give a damn how talented he is, because he’s got some serious anger issues. They just keep sweeping these problems under the rug, though. Oh, he just has to grow up, he’s slowly mellowing out, blah blah blah. Dude, would you really trust someone like this with your life?

— Huh… the BDSM freak can generate sharp metal blades from his… teeth? So they’re not metal? Or his teeth or metal? Or do they become metal when he activates his Quirk? Ah, who cares? The guy’s fucking name is Moonfish. Clowns…

— Wait, what? I thought these guys got knocked out! Honestly, Mandalay and Tiger don’t seem very impressive even though they’re supposed to be pros.

— A pair of kids from Class 1-B gets their turn in the spotlight. Tetsutetsu is brave, but Kendo seems to have all the brains. She quickly discerns that the gas is being generated from a single source, and they could probably take it out. Still, the guy’s bravery really impresses her. She’s not blushing, though. At least there’s that.

— Mustard for mustard gas. Won’t stop me from thinking of the condiment, though.

— I like how the guy just whips out a gun. It’s even old-fashioned revolver, too. Remember when Batman used a gun? Those were the days.

— Mustard shoots Tetsutetsu’s gas mask off and continues to keep the guy at bay with his bullets. He just has to outlast his opponent, basically. Luckily, Kendo can giant-ass hands to brush all the gas away. I wonder if she could’ve done this first if Tetsutetsu wasn’t so insistent on charging in. Either way, they ultimately work together to bring Mustard down.

— We finally return our attention to Deku, but before he can catch up to Bakugo, another serious problem has cropped up: Tokoyami’s Quirk has gone nutso. As if it wasn’t hard enough to deal with the bad guys running amok, our heroes have to fight amongst themselves.