'My Hero Academia' Season 3, Episode 10: "Symbol of Peace"
By Eli SokelandWarning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of My Hero Academia
In the previous episode, many heroes made their advances towards the League of Villain’s base. In the eyes of the public, the school major officials, such as the principal and Eraserhead, defended the need of superheroes. For Deku and his companions, they finally managed to get to the hideout. However, the real concern they had was how to infiltrate the base.
Luckily, the show quickly solved this issue with the introduction of an all-star team of pro-heroes. This clean wrap-up of villains did feel a little rushed, but the show did counter this with the introduction of nomus and All for One. This created the anticipation for the fight that I have finally been waiting for.
Image from Funimation
The hype for this episode was beyond belief, especially since All for One finally revealed himself. The episode picks up with the heroes just having been swamped by the nomus near the League of Villain’s base. Luckily, Endeavor has no issues incinerating these monsters, so the All Might decides to check on the second group of pro heroes.
The episode quickly cuts to the other group of pro heroes near the nomu factory, where they had just been attacked by an energy blast. Each one appears to be injured greatly, and All for One starts to clap. This episode greatly highlights the quirks the villain has based upon his analysis of Best Jeanist. Instead of looking for unique quirks, All for One looks for quirks that contain pure power.
All for One then decides to instantly shoot a blast of air and instantly kills Best Jeanist. This death was incredibly blunt, showing blood burst from his chest and his eyes fading into oblivion. The show hasn’t actually shown a death yet, so this provides a great contrast to demonstrate how menacing All for One truly is.
Image from Funimation
Also, the show chose the perfect English voice acting for All for One. The same calm and collected voice actor who played Father from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood creates the same sense of horror for My Hero Academia’s main villain. The show then focuses to Deku and his group, still hiding from All for One.
Even Shoto and Kirishima are too terrified to move, knowing that he could take down multiple pro heroes in a single move. The dark lines drawn sharply around them easily portrays how horrified they are. Luckily, All Might flies into battle to confront his arch nemesis. This time, All Might is no longer smiling.
Apparently All for One’s power is pretty staggering, because he has the ability to hold off All Might with just his hands. However, the villain is pretty meticulous, noting that it took All Might a significant amount of time to find out where he was. All for One then counters a punch with another air blast.
Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure how the exact mechanics of All for One’s quirk would work, but he easily explains it with that quick counter-attack. He lists off multiple quirks and what percentage of each he is using. The scariest quirk of his, an activation quirk, quickly allows All for One to freely hijack any person’s quirk and use it. He quickly uses this to activate Kurogiri’s warp gate.
The League of Villain then tries to capture Bakugo to safely escape from All Might. However, Bakugo quickly maneuvers around them while the show focuses again on Deku. There is a significant contrast for the group to go from terrified to ready for a plan, which is contrasted by the quick action between All Might and All for One. Because of this juxtaposition, this part of the episode does feels like it drags a bit.
Image from Funimation
However, Deku’s planning does provide a nice sense of climax that allowes for the group to propel Bakugo away from the villains. Now away from their reach and with Gran Torino on the battlefield, All for One pushes the League of Villains towards the warp gate.
Now that it’s just All Might and Gran Torino versus All for One, All Might is able to focus his power. However, the villain uses his own warp quirk and causes All Might to smash Gran Torino. This, along with civilians nearby, prevent All Might from using his entire strength. Because All for One is aware of that, the show expertly shows how manipulative he can be by toying with All Might.
On the other hand, All Might gets fed up with how much All for One has tortureded society. He points out that people just want to live happy lives and not worry about villains. All Might goes for a final punch, but All for One is able to stop it. The show ends with an All Might that has obviously gone past his limit.
