Deku and friends need their R&R, so it’s time for the delinquents to pick up the slack. But seeing as how this is a shounen series, you know it’s going to take a billion years for the anime to get to the point.

— I have no thoughts or feelings about the new OP other than it looks like we’re getting a culture festival in the near future. Hell, it looks like a Class 1-A musical performance will close the season out.

— I’m not sure if pervert boy is holding a tuba or a euphonium. If invisible girl is playing a sousaphone, that it seems kinda redundant to have a tuba…

— The episode starts off with Gran Torino and the police trying to arrest Kurogiri, but nothing is ever that simple. So predictably enough, they run into trouble. You’re going to have to wait to find out what happens to Gran Torino, though. I can only shrug, because I don’t see them killing the old man off like this. If he’s ever going to exit stage left, the story would make a big deal out of it.

— In any case, Gigantomachia looks kinda dumb. I also gotta wonder how something that big can go undetected for so long. Finally, how much food does he have to consume in order to maintain that body?

— Oh yeah? The attack on Kai was an unprecedented failure. You don’t say!

— Apparently, Mr. Sandman also died in the attack. Oh well.

— We’re still just wrapping up loose ends, i.e. Eri has to stay at the hospital and Mirio continues to have a smile brighter than the sun. Either Eri helps him get his powers back one day, or he’ll just train himself into a new one. Okay, okay, I know Quirks don’t work like that, but if anyone’s going to ganbatte themselves into a new one, Mirio would be at the top of that list.

— I’m only being told now that Nighteye was pretty cheerful around Mirio. See, I feel like this sort of information would’ve been useful before the guy died. I didn’t feel anything when Nighteye passed away, because the story hasn’t shown me how important he was to the people close to him.

— We’re in flashback mode. The cold opening simply repeated Shigaraki’s attack on Kai. And now, I’m listening to Nighteye’s last words again. We’re nearly halfway through the episode, and the only new bit of information is that there’s a gigantic freakazoid in the woods.

— And now, Deku just went and put his feelings in the dumps. He’s sad over the fact that Mirio protected Eri on his own whereas he couldn’t do the same without needing other people’s help. Good lord. Well, if you feel so bad about it, let Mirio eat some of your hair…

— …but Mirio doesn’t want it, which isn’t surprising. I don’t get what Deku is talking about anyways. He suggests that if Mirio had succeeded All Might instead, Nighteye might not be dead right now. But he couldn’t possibly know that. Nobody can know that. Mirio’s encounter with Kai likely would’ve played out in the exact same way. No matter what Quirk he has, he would’ve tried to protect Eri. Only some bulletproof Quirk would’ve saved Mirio from his current predicament.

— For the sake of the argument, however, let’s grant for a second that Mirio wouldn’t have lost his Quirk. Would he have been able to figure out that he could use Eri’s Quirk to maximize One For All in the ensuing final battle? Mirio could arguably hit a higher limit without breaking his body since he’s older than Deku, but probably not 100%. And it sure felt like 100% was needed to defeat Kai’s final form.

— But in the end, this is all speculation. We simply can’t know what would’ve happened had things been different. We just have to accept the cards that life has dealt us.

— Being emotional is fine, and I wouldn’t want a stoic hero who buries his feelings. Nevertheless, I just wonder when Deku will learn to love himself a little more. He essentially saved the day, but like in previous arcs, he still continues to doubt his own worthiness. Being able to step back and take a broader look at yourself is a great thing. The opposite is Bakugo, who just runs full steam ahead into every obstacle with little thought or care. But I feel like if a villain could somehow isolate Deku from his support network, they’d be able to crush his spirit.

— Man, these uniforms are so baggy. Y’all need to get with the times. Slim, fitted looks have been in for over a decade.

— Everyone finally reunites back at the dorm, and even Bakugo begrudgingly shows up.

— Aaaaaaaah, it turns out Uraraka is also plagued with self-doubts. Could she have done more? Yeah, but the mangaka won’t let her!

— Later that night, with everyone back in their rooms, what do we get? That’s right, more flashbacks. You’re killing me, man. You’re really killing me. Shounen pacing is the pits. Seriously, it’s like reading a book then reading the book report right afterwards. Gimme a break.

— My only reaction to this montage:

— Sigh, with that out of the way, maybe we can finally move the story forward. We just spent an entire arc with Deku, so the focus shifts to the deuteragonist and tritagonist. After all, these slackers still don’t have their provisional licenses.

— I’m glad to see that Bakugo is still as miserable to be around as ever.

— We also finally learn what happened after Gran Torino bumped into Gigantomachia. Hint: it wasn’t great. I’m still amazed that they could lose sight of something that big, though.

— We also get Endeavor being a jerkass like usual. There are a lot of jerkasses in this series, and now that he is the number one hero (by default), he gets to jack up his jerkassness. What a jerkass.

— Sadly, you just know at some point that Deku will have to cross paths with Endeavor. Even if I take a jab at his number one hero by default status, he’s still the number one hero. Deku is the sort of guy who would convince himself that he could learn a lot from Endeavor.

— Oh man, I totally forgot about this guy. Hell, I would say I forgot a lot about the provisional exam.

— At least we finally meet the real Camie. Aaaaaaand she has the hots for Todoroki. Well, I wasn’t expecting much.

— And that’s the episode. I’m going to brace myself for large doses of Bakugo, ’cause it sounds like that’s what we’re going to get next week.