Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 10

My Villain (Hero) Academia (S5) – 22

Amun: After last week’s controversial and personally disappointing episode, MVA is back on track. For some reason, it wasn’t clear until this week that these episodes are going to be origin stories for each league member – I think the other problems with Toga’s story overshadowed the mirrored “hero-origin” format: single enemy, going beyond one’s limits to overcome past problems, power of friendship, etc. Twice’s origin hit the right notes, largely due to his built-in humour and the fact that his quirk is pretty important to smoothing out plot problems. Now that I’ve understood what’s happening with My Villain Academy, I appreciate what the writers are going for. Some major plot developments look to be brewing – we know Shigaraki is connected to All-Might’s teacher, the previous One-For-All (I think we were told he’s her son?), and Dabi is being strangely built up as a character – he really didn’t get that much screen time in past seasons. With the earlier drauma from the Todoroki family – and given that one other major league member is a Nomos – I half suspect he’s the dead brother (he’s a zombie, uses fire, etc). Why else spend the first half of this season setting that up? That twist might be a bit on the nose, but this is MHA we’re talking about. Regardless, I’m happy to see our season’s major franchise back on track.

Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi – 7

Wooper: I found this to be Idaten’s least daring episode to date, perhaps owing to the fact that all the demigods’ plans went off without a hitch. Ysley put the church of Sarabael under his thumb just by dangling Paula in front of their faces, and Rin/Hayato’s invasion of the Zoble Empire was the very picture of one-sided carnage. Some of the shots of the two of them working together were significant in terms of their evolving master/student relationship, but I don’t think we saw anything in episode 7 that we hadn’t seen before (unless you count Sarabael’s tower-heavy architecture, which kinda reminded me of Utena). The big surprise here was supposed to be the emergence of a self-styled Emperor from within the demon camp, but isn’t he just going to get his shit pushed in like everyone else? This show has only four weeks left, being a noitaminA entry, but even that number almost seems like too much, given the Saitama-sized gap that exists between Rin and everyone else. Just throw her into a string of fight scenes and dispatch all the villains one by one so we can get back to the strangeness and psychedelia of the early episodes, please.

Love Live! Superstar!! – 5

Wooper: One of the things that most impresses me about this show is how consistently it generates fun and friendly banter between its female characters. Keke and Sumire bickered with each other all throughout this episode, but I never tired of listening to them bust out variations on their catchphrases or proclaim the supremacy of their favorite artistic field (School Idols vs. Show Business). Whether they were daring each other to practice in sweltering temperatures or thumb wrestling to secure a solo bed during an overnight trip, their antics kept me engaged in each of their scenes. This week’s trip to Kozushima was important for Kanon and Chisato, too, allowing them to take on individual challenges before their imminent reunion (whereupon Chisato will likely join the idol group). What’s interesting to me is that I don’t know which of them will have more success: Kanon with her lyrics or Chi-chan with her dancing. Regardless of who fails and who triumphs, Superstar has already succeeded in shifting Chisato’s focus so that it lines up with the other girls. She might win her competition and prove to herself that she can be a part of both worlds, or lose but remain satisfied because she’s found a different calling. This is all good stuff – now to wait for Liella to gain some ground on Sunny Passion in anticipation of the finale!