The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9, “Epilogue, The Hellish Todoroki Family: Final.”
My Hero Academia’s big battle is over, but a true hero’s work is never done. My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9 (Episode 168 overall), “Epilogue, The Hellish Todoroki Family: Final,” is as full of exciting beginnings as it is tragic goodbyes.
My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9 covers manga chapters 424-426, slowing down the pace a bit to better focus on the emotion of this major moment for the heroes. It’s a time of celebration, new beginnings, and healing, as the world moves forward from its darkest hour, and fans take some time to say an extended farewell to a shonen anime classic. This episode in particular is a milestone of its own, as Class 1-A officially completes their first year at UA to become Class 2-A.
Bakugo Handles Deku Losing His Quirk Just as Poorly as the MHA Fandom
My Hero Academia’s first epilogue episode is characterized by heartfelt reunions, with one of the most notable being Bakugo, Midoriya and All Might’s meeting in the hospital. All three heroes have been left in dire straights by the battle against Shigaraki and All For One, and it’s an uphill road to recovery.
For Bakugo, it means he’ll need extensive physical therapy to even have a hope of using his right arm again, but there are no gaurtunees. Of course, this is still Kacchan at the end of the day, so he’ll certainly be fine. One character who won’t ever be the same, though, is Izuku Midoriya. As Bakugo learns through a face full of tears, Deku is essentially quirkless again after having transferred One For All into Shigaraki.
This news hits Bakugo extremely hard, as he has lost his greatest rival, and the person he always hoped to compete with. Deku losing his quirk like this has always been a controversial decision for a large swath of the MHA fandom since it first was revealed in the manga, but Deku’s reaction to Bakugo’s tears says everything fans need to know about the matter. Deku reassures Bakugo, “that’s how I was in the first place. I don’t regret it or anything.”
Izuku Midoriya reassures Bakugo in My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 9Bones
Deku might’ve lost his quirk, but he has held on to the most important parts of his journey in MHA, which are the courage, wisdom and maturity he gained. Those are things he could never lose. That proves Midoriya’s story was not a waste, despite what the initial kneejerk reaction for many fans of Deku – including Bakugo himself – might be.
Kacchan, Deku and All Might’s hospital scene is an artfully done tearjerker that perfectly captures the hearts of these characters. The scene is helped along by some great art direction, with camera angles and cinematography that lovingly capture the rawness of the characters at their most candid. The voice actors also do a lot of the heavy lifting in the Japanese subbed version, as All Might VA Kenta Miyake’s quiver as he praises Deku and Bakugo for their heroism truly sells his weakened state in the hospital, furthering this somber-yet-triumphant moment of reflection.
MHA’s Epilogue Gives a Celebratory Sendoff to Class 1-A
Yuga Aoyma unleashes his quirk for Class 1-A in My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 9Bones
My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9 makes sure to give fans a second to dry their tears with an upbeat run through MHA’s celebratory graduation ceremony. Hizashi Yamada puts on the party of a lifetime that instantly shifts the mood. Fans get to see the seniors of UA High School finally graduate, including Mirio Togata, also known as Lemillion, who gives a heartfelt speech in front of the entire student body that shows real maturation for his character.
That kind of finality for the characters is really what this epilogue period for MHA is all about. Aoyama also completes his heroic redemption arc by insisting that he’ll atone for his mistakes by leaving UA, but becoming a hero on his own terms.
And of course, the rest of Class 1-A has to move on as well. As of My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9, Class 1-A is now Class 2-A, having completed the first year of high school. In hindsight, it’s ridiculous to consider how much these kids went through in only their first year of high school training to become heroes. They truly completed a crash course that makes them more than deserving of skipping a few grades at least.
Many of these kids have already mastered their quirks to levels comparable to professional heroes at this point, but that’s neither here nor there. They still deserve to live out what’s left of their childhoods for as long as they can, even if it means taking some extra time in school that they don’t technically need. That’s part of the beauty of MHA’s epilogue here. Instead of rushing the series ending into a single episode now that the main conflict has ended, MHA is doing its best to set things right for these characters who fans have spent 168 episodes with.
As the former Class 1-A all leaves school together, gossiping as they go, it really feels like the series has gotten back to a place that seemed impossible to reach again after the horrors of the Final War. This slice of lifestyle of storytelling was lost the moment the final war began, but it’s something that MHA always did well.
The Todoroki Family Finally Gets Its Closure in MHA’s Epilogue
After a loving goodbye to Class 1-A, there’s one more crucial farewell MHA’s first epilogue episode gives to the cast. The Todoroki family finally confronts the pain of their past by way of a visit to the hospital, where Dabi, aka Toya Todoroki, is on his deathbed. The entire controversy around Endeavor and his family has remained one of the most inspired storylines in MHA, highlighting the imperfect humanity of even the most idyllic heroes.
While it doesn’t hit the directorial highs of Bakugo and Deku’s earlier scene, the Todoroki family’s moment at the end of this episode is strong on its own merits. The once almighty Endeavor ends up proving most heroic when no longer able to stand, guiding his children by example in a way he always should’ve from the start. Dabi’s horrific critical condition doesn’t offer much in terms of pretty pictures, but the anime wisely zooms into his eyes as they burst into tears, cleverly highlighting the window to his tragic soul.
Minor Manga Missteps Still Don’t Kill MHA’s Epilogue
My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9 does an amazing job of not only adapting these heartfelt final chapters, but also doing so in a way that’s artful and unique for the anime medium. However, it’s not quite perfect. The anime takes a minor misstep in its adaptation of the source material from the episode’s start. The metaphoric imagery of the manga’s “forecast” in the pre-OP scene is lost in the anime.
In the manga, when the newscaster tells viewers to “stay tuned for updates on what sort of effects we’ll be seeing from that”, her dialogue is accompanied by a shot of two children running off while adults work on sorting through the rubble left from the battle. It clearly communicates that the “effects” in question are all about how this conflict will impact the next generation and the people left behind. The anime, instead, focuses on an image of a crane against a backdrop of clear skies. While a hopeful hint that there’s still work to do, it immediately loses the manga’s human element.
A crane symbolizes a hopeful future in My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 9Bones
Thankfully, the humanity of the characters is captured in other ways. Skipping Hawks’ meeting with Lady Nagant from the manga allows the anime to focus more on Endeavor’s friendship with Hawks instead, which is undeniably more crucial for this specific scene. It’s a positive directorial decision, especially since the Lady Nagant scene will still come up in the next episode, as hinted by the previews.
My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 9, “Epilogue, The Hellish Todoroki Family: Final” is truly an episode that pushes the series “further beyond” (as Deku likes to say) in the sense of giving fans extra closure after the ending. For all intents and purposes, the main storyline that fans have been flllowing from the start – Midoriya’s rise from being a quirkless weakling to becoming the world’s greatest hero – has already come to an end. But MHA 168 is proof of how essential this epilogue is for giving Deku, Bakugo, Todorki, and the rest of Class 1-A a worthy send-off.
My Hero Academia’s final season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
My Hero Academia poster for the anime series
Release Date
April 2, 2016
Network
TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
Directors
Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki Yamamoto, Yohei Fukui, Takuro Tsukada, Masatoyo Takada, Naomi Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano
Daiki Yamashita
Izuku Midoriya (voice)
Kaito Ishikawa
Manga Fukidashi (voice)
Pros & Cons
Great art direction
Solid Japanese VA performances
Todoroki family’s redemption
Missed metaphor from the manga
Very slow paced