My Hero Academia Season 6 Section 1 Anime BD+DVD Evaluation
The opening of My Hero Academia’s sixth season is best described as “shit is finally going down.” My Hero’s popularity appears to be declining over the last year or so, which is unfortunate considering the franchise’s finale is finally drawing near. While it has been exciting to see our energetic, youthful pupils hone their skills and become experts in their profession, season five also introduced the League of Villains as the serious danger to society that they have always been building toward. Our villains, who have been ignored by the system for so long, have developed a massive fan base and become more aware of their skills. They are now devising a strategy to overthrow the institution entirely. They have no idea that the heroes are poised to attack, but will it be sufficient to avert the inevitable?
There is no wild recap at the beginning of season six; after six seasons, we are already in the thick of things, with students fighting for their lives in what is threatening to turn into a full-scale conflict with both other classes and the pro heroes who have appeared intermittently throughout the whole run. It seems like this has been building for years. Season six’s disclosures provide a feeling of vindication in numerous ways. In these episodes, the majority of class 1A is placed in a position where survival is crucial. They were being prepared for fight from the start this time, when before it was almost always accidental. More power awakenings from both sides of this war are seen, and long-standing fan theories are eventually resolved. There are many times in the franchise that will bring you joy if you have followed it from the start.
It’s not flawless, and I contend that even with a better beginning than in past seasons, season six still has some pacing problems. Something should be occurring every minute throughout this arc, which should be a crazy frenzy. Scenes on a huge battlefield with people hurling blows or digesting big discoveries alternated between scenes. It doesn’t seem as dynamic as busy as it ought to, however. Certain narratives tend to linger longer than required, and it may cause whiplash to juxtapose sequences in which people are frantically battling inside a burning structure with scenes in which they are strategizing their next move in a forest. The fact that the plot jumps between individuals you may or might not care about is another issue with having the largest ensemble cast in the whole series. Putting away prejudices of the heart, the struggle itself is excellent.
Nothing about this seems gimmicky or flimsy. For the first time in the whole series, you get the impression that people we may have loved or taken for granted may pass away at any time, and by the time we reach the second half of the episodes on the disk, everything has entirely changed. Certain sequences are really unsettling, not just for their immediate meaning but also for the ways in which they may affect the future of the series. This isn’t a place for filler, nor is it for cut-scene antics or characters participating in a work-study program. Those times are passed. I can’t wait to see what will happen next since the Hero Society as a whole is being stretched to the breaking point.
Though I wouldn’t say much more than what the series has established so far, the animation is outstanding. Even though there are obvious places where My Hero Academia has cut shortcuts, the program has always been animated professionally. There aren’t any particularly noteworthy animation moments that top some of the greatest ones from earlier seasons, but the combat sequences are magnificent and dynamic in all the right ways. But the music and direction more than make up for that. The most eerie music themes skillfully blend together to create a feeling of dread, and several of the second half’s sequences have frame-chilling effects. Then, when certain leitmotifs reappear and are contextualized, it really does seem as if nothing will ever be the same.
This extends to the voice acting as well, which has always been excellent. It was Funimation’s flagship dub for a time, and for good reason—I want to highlight Jason Liebrecht’s portrayal of Dabi and Zeno Robinson’s portrayal of Hawks. The mirror between these two characters and, by extension, these two performances were spectacular, especially considering that both characters are putting on very different types of performances within the context of the show. I can’t go into too much detail about why their performances stood out without giving anything away. Some of the finest situations in the season, in my opinion, would not have worked if either of these two had failed.
I wish the Blu-ray had a little more of an effect on its own, especially for such a significant season. The additional features are somewhat limited, with just a few advertising films playing in Japanese and textless beginnings and endings. There is also no commentary. Parts One and Two of the OVA “Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training” are included on the second disk, however. They’re alright. OAVs for My Hero Academia have never been very good since, for the most part, they are filler—showing off what other characters are doing or expanding on themes that are previously established in the main text. The primary cast is only practicing for a training exercise in an old village where they have to save a dummy by acting like they are saving a civilian. It was entertaining to see the characters use their abilities to cope with a somewhat realistic problem and some fascinating character dynamics. Even yet, the overall value of the OVA is little. It didn’t need to be two sections lengthy, in my opinion.
The quality of My Hero Academia has been inconsistent at times, particularly when contrasting the anime with the original source material. But this is also the point at which the story really takes off. At this point, some of the key confrontations that My Hero Academia has been building towards for what seems like forever finally start, signaling the beginning of the show’s finale. From this point forward, almost everything about the franchise is altered in the first part of season 6. If you’ve followed the series all the way through and haven’t yet reached this stage, I highly recommend you pick it up right now. You won’t be sorry.
