I thought the concert last week would’ve been a good way to bookend this season, but I guess we gotta tee things up for upcoming arcs. To be specific, we finally do something about the vacuum that All Might’s retirement had left behind.

— When the episode begins, Deku gets some good news: Eri’s gonna stay at UA ’cause it’s not like she’s got anywhere else to go. Since Mirio is currently Quirkless, he’s the best candidate to look after her. And with her horn growing again, they might as well teach her how to control her powers. Who knows… we might even see Mirio back in action one day. I have no strong feelings either way about Eri. She’s cute, I guess.

— Outta nowhere, these guys crash the party unannounced. It’s nice to see Ragdoll in good spirits again. If I had to imagine what it’s like to lose your Quirk, it must feel like… losing a limb. All your life, you’ve had this ability that you can always rely on. All of a sudden, it’s just gone. Well, I’m sure her teammates were there to support her.

— Oh hey, it’s that other kid Deku saved. He’s simply been replaced by a cuter model. She even has a better Quirk! No wonder Eri gets to live with all these heroes and Kota simply gets to visit!

— Alright, it’s time to get to the silly Hero Billboard Chart. I can’t believe that there would be all these people in attendance for this sort of thing. Yeah, yeah, society has felt uneasy ever since All Might retired. They need to market the hell out of other heroes to alleviate people’s concerns. But at the same time… I mean, c’mon, it’s a rankings chart! That’s something that you could just announce online. Sure, they’re gonna have the heroes say a few words, but the whole thing can’t possibly take up more than half an hour.

— In tenth, it’s dragon lady! All I know about her is that some of the girls interned for her.

— In ninth, some samurai dude! Man, Nioh 2 was so good…

— In eighth… a washing machine? Seriously? What does he do? Trick villains into eating Tide pods?

— In seventh, wood man! No, not that Wood Man! This wood man! Don’t get on his bad side or he’ll give you splinters!

— There are apparently rumors that he and Mt. Lady are dating. Uh, like she says, no comment. I mean, a dirty joke came to mind, but this is a shounen for all ages!

— In sixth, some boring dude! Look, the washing machine hero might look dumb, but I’ll take that over this guy’s design.

— In fifth, it’s that rabbit hero I’ve been hearing about. If we’re just gonna talk about her character design, I can’t say I care too much about her ears ’cause I’m not into that sorta thing. But hey, she’s got some muscles on her. What can I say? Spike Spiegel played a huge role in my formative years.

— In fourth, a ninja who is wearing an outfit way too loud for ninja-ing!

— In third, a pair of Levis that is still stuck at the cleaners!

— In second, this guy is too highly-ranked to look silly, so he gets a straightforward character design!

— And finally, first by default, it’s terribad dad E-e-e-endeeeaaaaaavooooooor! Woooooo! Isn’t it hilarious that we went from All Might who saw something heroic in a Quirkless boy to the guy who neglects his own children if they’re not strong enough in his eyes? What a cu–… whoops, forgot that this is supposed to be rated E!

— Anyways, no one really has the balls to fill All Might’s big shoes. Instead, they just play the public relations game. Dragon lady talks about how she doesn’t deserve her rankings because she couldn’t save everyone. Yeah, okay. Way to be a downer during an event meant to reassure everyone that everything’s gonna be okay without All Might. Ninja boy talks about how he just wants peace. Inspirational.

— Hawks seems to get it, so he gives Endeavor the perfect opportunity to impress the crowd. Endeavor’s approval rating doesn’t match up with his actual hero ranking, so he can’t exactly spout lofty platitudes without sounding phony. So instead, he simply tells people to watch him, because he’ll prove himself with his actions. Sure thing, buddy. I’m sure I’m being mega dismissive, but being a good person — nevermind being a great hero — is about doing the right thing even when no one’s looking. And it’s just really hard for me to overlook Endeavor’s flaws. People like to say, “You gotta see the whole picture! You gotta look at both the good and the bad!” But I mean, if you can’t even be a hero to your own family, then how can I truly believe in you when the chips are down?

— Backstage, Endeavor gets on Hawks’ case for his antics. The latter insists, however, that he had no ill intentions. He simply wants someone to be their leader so he can go back to his carefree hero life. Kinda odd coming from a prodigy. We’re told that Hawks had opened his agency at 18. He then shot up the rankings in just a few short years. And yet, he doesn’t have any aspirations to become the greatest hero? Well, I guess it’s possible. If you’re really good at something, but you’ve been doing it all your life, you might want to take it easy for a bit. Plus, taking it easy is actually the best case scenario for society at large. The reality is that glory moments are only possible when people are in real danger. The only reason we are even interested in heroes is because they kick ass. But if life is peaceful, then you have a boring hero and thus a boring show. It’s quite a quandary, isn’t it? A true hero’s goal is to make his or her life as dull as possible.

— Moving along, Hawks calls Endeavor all the way out to Kyushu to talk about some unsettling rumors. Apparently, Nomus have been sighted, and he thinks this is the golden opportunity for Endeavor to seize his newly minted ranking by quelling society’s fears.

— There’s an amusing moment where one of Endeavor’s fan is disappointed that the pro hero is actually trying to show his softer side to the public. Does that mean Endeavor should go back to being a inapproachable hard ass? Eh, I don’t think so. It’s like when an ailing restaurant changes its menu. You’re bound to alienate some of your older clientele, but you gotta look at all the new customers that are going to replace them. A warmer Endeavor (no pun intended) might turn off some of his older fans, but if he gets more people to believe in him, isn’t that the desired outcome?

— But enough about boring meta stuff. Here comes the excitement, ’cause a Nomu suddenly attacks out of nowhere. Time for Endeavor to burn brighter than ever (pun cheekily intended). It’ll be his first big battle since receiving his number one ranking. Even so, I can’t help but think about how a hero’s ascension is only made possible if everyone around them is in danger.