My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 15 proved that nothing and no one is safe after last week’s break out at Tartarus. With many heroes dead or still recovering in the hospital, the prison breakouts are just another tragic blow in a series of losses.
This week we see that for some characters like Endeavor and Hawks, the aftermath of the war only seems to be making their lives and jobs more difficult. With no guidance and even less faith in the heroes they once looked up to, regular civilians are now trying to take justice into their own hands, which will no doubt make things more complicated in the long run.
My Hero Academia S6 Episode 16 synopsis and review
After a brief recap of Midoriya’s condition, the episode opens with a flashback to a young Hawks watching heroes like All Might and Endeavor on the news. He lives in squalor with a father who abuses him and a mother who doesn’t care. He calls them both broken and hopes not to end up like them.
When his father is finally arrested by Endeavor, Hawks find himself more in awe of the hero than ever, while his mother, Tomie, only seems to get worse. She attempts to exploit him for money, but he never resorts to petty crime like his father. However, things begin to look up when the Hero Public Safety Commission approaches Tomie regarding her son’s quirk. In exchange for the chance to train him to be a hero, they agree to support the entire family as long as they denounce their connection to her husband. Young Hawks, whose name we now know is Keigo, agrees, hoping to become a hero who saves others similar to how Endeavor saved him.
Back in the present, a battered Hawks rides in a car with Best Jeanist. Due to a sizeable respiratory mask on his face, he is unable to talk and uses a device to type his answers instead.
As they talk, Jeanist reveals that without the medical technology they have access to they would have never been able to pull off pretending he was murdered, as his body had to be put in a state of near death. Hawks apologizes for the extreme measures they had to take but appreciates that their idea worked, even if Best Jeanist’s body was forced to be held at a League of Villains facility until Hawks was able to revive him finally.
Just then, Best Jeanist makes a sudden U-turn to take out a squad of low-level heroes on the street. As the civilians applaud him, he wonders where the police or other heroes are. A man informs him that the police are busy dealing with all the villains who escaped during the recent prison break, and many of the heroes have quit since the public began criticizing them.
Before Best Jeanist drops him off, Hawks requests to stop at his mother’s house. While she is long gone, there is a note on the counter where she explains that someone scary forced her to give up information on the family. After telling them about Hawks and his father, she disappeared so as not to cause any more trouble. While the need is unfortunate, Hawks laments that these are merely the consequences of his actions. However, one bright side is that with the HPSC basically out of commission now, there is no one left to give him orders.
As he speaks of wanting to be someone who helps people, even someone like Twice, we see a young Hawks save a highway full of people with his feathers.
With the recent losses and prison break, confidence in heroes is at an all-time low. It seems even the most minor of villains feel comfortable committing crimes in the streets. As a villain named Cider House attempts to break into a restaurant, nearby civilians ambush him using support items despite heroes being on the way. It seems civilians have been seeking more and more days to protect themselves lately, not realizing many of their items are causing more harm than good as they damage everything around them. Even still, they continue to criticize the heroes who do help, causing many, even the number 9 hero, to resign or retire.
Unfortunately for Endeavor, as the number one hero, he seems to be taking the most fallout. He is in the hospital, lucky to be alive, as he thinks back on the war and discovers that Toya is still alive. The more he thinks about his family, the worse he feels, shedding tears over the fact that he doesn’t believe he will be able to fight his own son.
Despite their shock upon seeing their father crying, Shoto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo visit Endeavor in his hospital room. He tearfully apologizes to them before his wife Rei suddenly makes her presence known. The episode ends with her telling him they need to talk about their family and Toya.
Although this episode definitely felt like it was more about Hawks than it was about the Todoroki family, it was still good nonetheless. There was a solid balance here between the past and the present, filling in some much-needed gaps for viewers while still progressing the overall story. My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 served as a decent distraction from main characters like Deku, who likely won’t be waking up any time soon anyway.
What is the My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 17 release date?
My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 17 is the next episode in the series. The episode will be titled “The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire”. It will be available on Crunchyroll starting Saturday, January 28th, 2023, at 5:30 a.m. ET.