One of the most popular franchises of the last decade continues on the same level with its 7th and penultimate season, which, just like the first part of the previous one, is essentially a prolonged battle on different fronts, which this time, is extended to 21 episodes.
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The first episodes, which seem annoyingly like a filler (the series cannot shake off starting slowly) introduce, Star and Stripe, America’s #1 Pro Hero, as she arrives to fight Tomura Shigaraki by All Might’s request. The battle is somewhat intriguing, but not that much actually, and its result is anything but impactful, despite the efforts of the creators of the series to make it appear so. I also have to say that this aspect that we frequently see in Japanese mainstream titles, of promoting the friendship between Japan and the US, is as annoying as it is usually disconnected from the rest of the narrative.
Thankfully, after the initial episodes, the regular character take center stage once more, with the UA’s effort of splitting the villains to different stages they have meticulously prepared, being met with intense success. On the other hand, All For One’s plan of having Japan separated from the rest of the world by having super villains friends of his attacking other countries is also a success. Thus the injured and decreased in number super heroes and the police force are having their hands full fighting their opponents, which also includes a huge number of heteromorphs who have been essentially brainwashed into attacking the ‘normal people’
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Expectedly, and as the powers of the villains continue to increase, particularly those of All For One and Shigaraki, the punishment the good guys receive is intense, with the drama intensifying significantly. This is, however, where the first major issue of the series takes place, as the Bakugo arc is handled in the worse possible way, in an approach that can only be described as cowardly, something that we actually mentioned in the review of the previous season.
Apart from this, though, the context here is on a very high level, once more in combination with the intense drama that permeates this season. In that regard, the presence of a traitor among the Academy’s members provides one of the most impactful arcs here, both for the shock of the revelation and the way this betrayal was shaped. As the issues families face comes to the fore, it is also worth mentioning that the Dabi-Endeavor-Shoto arc is resolved in the most dramatic fashion, twice actually, with its very ending being rather emotional as much as one of the most impressive battle sequences in the whole season.
The same applies to the Toga-Uraraka arc, which revolves intensely around their feelings for Deku, and is also resolved in a rather dramatic fashion, although by this point, the desperate efforts of the creators to paint the villains in a more positive light, in PC style, does become annoying.
Lastly, the new powers of Deku and a number of other heroes actually, and the reemergence of All Might, add yet another notch of entertainment to the season, which does close in utter cliffhanger fashion.
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Regarding the technical aspect of the movie, as usual, it is top notch. The animation by Bones seems to get better and better as the battles get bigger in scale and so do the powers of the characters. Shigaraki’s palms in particular are rather impressive in the way they are implemented, as much as Toga’s multiplication, while the knack of the character designers, Hitomi Odashima and Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and the director to present many characters simultaneously on the screen finds one of its zeniths here. The powers of All For One are equally outstanding, as is the new All Might, while the brutality of the fights, as many of the protagonists are severely injured, reaches new heights that also add to the drama here. Lastly, the fanservice regarding the female characters is somewhat toned down, in another tick in the pros column here.
As we mentioned in the previous season, the franchise has overcome the reef it had hit in the seasons prior to the sixth, and is definitely on a way for a rather big finale. If only the creators would allow someone to finally die…
