My Hero Academia - Episode 43 (Review)

By: AlanVThe struggle between the students from U.A. and the villains continues in episode 43. This episode is full of hype, with the students being given the green light to engage with the threat with full use of their quirks. Although, in typical My Hero Academia form, there are also small pauses for emotional and funny moments.One of those nice moments happens unexpectedly a few minutes into the episode, where Shigaraki is seen scheming with Kurogiri. Shigaraki is explaining how they’ve gone about attacking U.A. and detailing everything in video game terms. As someone who is a gamer, it was enjoyable seeing this play out on screen. It also helped pacing by giving a bit of a pause to all of the action.The pause doesn’t last for long, as it quickly transitions to the skirmishes happening at the training camp. There’s a lot going on at one time, so the majority of the episode is spent jumping around quite a bit. However, there is a good amount of time spent on the fight to take out the villain, Mustard, who is spreading poison gas. Tetsutetsu and Itsuka come up with an ingenious way to take out this tough opponent together. It’s a fun fight to watch.We also learn that the villains are there for more than just putting a scare into the students. There is an official kill list that plenty of the students have made their way onto, including Deku. This raises the stakes on the events that are transpiring and make way for a guessing game as to who might be biting the dust after all is said and done.All the while Deku does the usual Deku thing and sets out to aid whoever he can even after sustaining heavy damage from his fight with Muscular. This serves as a way to break down Kota’s barriers, so he can see for himself what it means to be a hero. Leading to an emotional moment where he’s told he should emphasize his thanks to Deku next time he sees him.The final moments of the episode are momentous. It shows Tokoyami in an epic struggle with his quirk, dark shadow. It’s out of his control as its power is boosted by the dark environment, even managing to injure Shoji. In the next episode Deku will need to balance his desire to help him with wanting to give Bakugo a helping hand.