After its long hiatus My Hero Academia has finally returned and its premiere episode sets in motion in what could be some big pivotal moments for our main hero Izuku “Deku” Midoriya.
Last week at New York Comic Con, fans were treated to an exclusive inside look at what’s to come in My Hero Academia Season 4. While it was being promoted as a screening for the first episode, it really wasn’t. I only say this because I mainly attended this panel for this exclusive screening.
The main reason I bring this up in this review is that what we were shown was not the first episode, but the second episode, which airs next Saturday. As seen in the preview for next week’s episode. Episode 2 will focus on the League of Villains, Overhaul, and Nighteye, All Might’s former sidekick.
Switching focus back to the premiere episode of season four. The rumors turned out to be true. The first episode was more of a recap of what has happened in the previous three seasons, albeit sprinkling in some new introductions and new plot points for the overall season. To say there’s a lot that happens in this first episode would be an overstatement.
While recaps in a season premiere usually takes away from the hype, that’s not necessarily what’s happened here. The introduction of Taneo Tokuda, a freelance journalist who’s Quirk is the literal interpretation of a body cam. Tokuda is able to manifest camera lenses throughout his body allowing him to grab photos from multiple angles, which help with his freelance journalism, as he’s able to get scoops many other journalist cannot because of it.
The most interesting thing about Taneo Tokuda is not so much his Quirk, but his direct tie to All Might. Just like many other civilians and heroes in the My Hero Academia universe, almost everyone has either been saved by All Might, inspired by All Might or has had All Might save one of their relatives; and Taneo Tokuda is not an exception.
His whole goals this episode is to find All Might’s successor, which he does. And while the caveat was for him to bestow that information to the local newspaper. He instead pulls a 180 and keeps that information to himself. Seemingly inspiring young Deku to work even harder in becoming the new Symbol of Peace.
Overall, despite the massive amount of recap, a small connection to the first My Hero Academia anime film, and some new introductions. The first episode is still solid and its a good starting point for new fans who need to know what’s happened prior to season four. It does all this while setting up some good plot points for this season as I mentioned before.
Check out the official preview for Episode 2 “Overhaul” below:
My Hero Academia is now streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation
Sources: Crunchyroll, AnimeTV