My Hero Academia (Episode 72) - Red Riot

The heroes are closing in on Overhaul. Mimic decides that Eraser Head’s powers will be a problem and attempts to take him out of the group. Fat Gum dives in the way and takes the hit, unaware that Kirishima did the same thing!

What happened?

Fat Gum and Kirishima fell through the hole created by Mimic and found themselves face to face with two more of the Eight Bullets. One of them attacks and sends Kirishima flying. The hit damaged his arms, even with his strongest form of defence in place, shattering Kirishima’s spirit. Fat Gum faces off against the villains, taking blow after blow from Kendo Rappa, a psychotic fighter with a thirst for blood. Every time Fat Gum tries to counter, his attacks are blocked by Hekiji Tengai who can create barriers much to Kendo’s annoyance. Meanwhile, Kirishima reflects on his past and how he came to be the person he is today. Finally, he snaps out of it and rejoins the fight, creating an opening for Fat Gum to use up all of the energy he’d stored from each of Kendo’s hits.

What was your favourite element?

I love Fat Gum. His attitude and drive are infectious and I can see why Kirishima is a perfect fit for him as a student. Seeing him taking hit after hit from Kendo but never backing down was awesome. I do think they kind of spoilt it a little by revealing what he was doing ahead of his bit fight back. This series seems to get into the heads of the characters a little too much and it’s breaking up the action. I also think that they didn’t really do this fight justice. The manga version is far more intense and goes on for longer. It really feels like Fat Gum could be killed at any moment whereas here, we didn’t get that feeling. Kendo is also far more interesting in the manga and ends up gaining some respect for Fat Gum and Kirishima before they defeat him.

My Hero Academia 4 Episode 72 Red Riot Struggling

What have you learnt?

I’m actually going to focus on the thing that I didn’t like in this episode and that was revealing what Fat Gum was doing too soon. We could see him getting hit repeatedly by Kendo and what that was doing to his body. It could have been a great moment to really make us worry for Fat Gum. That’s the point that you bring in the big turnaround. When things appear to be at the worst for the hero, you can make the biggest impact by having them overcome the insurmountable odds. The Kirishima flashbacks were good, but they also took too much focus from the action, rather than complimenting what was happening. Balance and timing are key to moments like this.