MHA Season 7 Sidelines Deku And That's Where He Belongs
- Season 7, Episode 1 of My Hero Academia keeps Deku in the background to focus on epic fights and key plot points.
- The season 7 premiere introduces new character Star and Stripe as the center of attention, showcasing her strength and role in the series.
- Deku’s brief appearance sets the stage for his future importance in MHA, building up anticipation for a more significant role.
Spoilers For My Hero Academia Season 7, Episode 1, “In the Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick from the West”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Now nearing the end of the series, the anime My Hero Academia premiered its seventh season on May 4th of this year, 2024. Episode 139 starts Season 7 off with one of the most epic fights and reflects on the biggest plot threads through the franchise. Despite the perfect opening to this new season, fans were missing MHA’s main character, who is almost nonexistent in this first episode.
One of the biggest gripes with My Hero Academia is how the protagonist, Deku, fails to be at the center of the story far too often. Either there are characters stronger than him or he just doesn’t have a critical role in the narrative aside from having the central quirk One For All. After season 6’s change in Deku’s role — making him more important than ever before — the first episode of season 7 has him stuck in the background yet again. Unlike all the times before, there are critical reasons why Deku can’t steal the show.
Season 7, Episode 1 Has A Lot To Cover
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Season 7, Episode 1 of My Hero Academia hits the ground running with an amazing fight scene and ever-higher stakes as the war continues.
Season 7 won’t mark the end of the series, as there are still multiple details and plot threads that have been built up but still gone unresolved. With how the previous season ended on so many cliffhangers, season 7 serves as a meeting ground for all those details and threads. Deku, aka Izuku Midoriya, may be at the center of many of these conflicts — and especially the major conflicts — but not everything revolves around him.
Deku Makes The Most Brief Appearance In Episode One
The purpose of the first episode of season 7 was to bring fans back into story, whether they had rewatched the anime or not. The writers were smart in making sure the first half of season 7, episode 1 recaps all the most important details. Deku is only in the first couple minutes, in which he thinks about his desire to save Tomura and how he isn’t alone anymore in his fight against All For One. From this point on, Deku is never shown again to make room for every other important character.
The Fight Against All For One Goes Global
From Deku’s focus on the impending fights and the allies he has, episode 139 cleverly transitions to the international concerns of All For One. The top three Japanese pro heroes — Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist — are heading out to meet with the number one pro hero from America, Star and Stripe. The very end of season 6 only teased this hero’s significant role, meaning that more about her character has yet to be discovered. The pro-Japanese heroes are given little screen time before the episode transitions again to provide perspective from the American characters who work beside Star and Stripe.
The gist of this scene is to show how the rest of the world, including America, is handling the threat of All For One. So far, no governments have made a move to support Japan, but Star and Stripe goes above the word of politicians to convince her fellow soldiers to join her. This scene offers some nice world-building and develops Star and Stripe’s character. Surprisingly, All For One himself adds to the world-building, stating he has a global criminal network ready for his command — he’s still in control of the situation. He also adds some development for Star and Stripe, the most important character in the episode.
Star and Stripe Is The MVP Of Season 7, Episode 1
Through the scene in America, MHA shows that Star and Stripe is an inspirational leader like All Might. She commands respect and genuine admiration from her comrades and is held high enough on a pedestal in her own government that she can break the rules with limited repercussions. In All For One’s speech about her, she is established one of the most powerful pro heroes as the villain deeply desires to take her quirk. The way that All For One speaks of her, Star and Stripe is a tipping force that will either help to defeat All For One or — if she’s defeated — will only make him more powerful.
On top of being such an influential character — with only brief screen time — Star and Strip was also inspired to become a hero from All Might’s example. Her admiration goes as far as taking on his likeness — blonde hair, strength in muscle, bold mannerisms, etc — and calling him “master.” Indirectly, her admiration for All Might ties back to Deku and the first visual of his All Might poster — they are both connected through their shared admiration for the same profound hero. The latter half of the episode is all about Star and Stripe’s fight against Tomura Shigaraki, who shares the spotlight with the bold American hero.
The Current Status Of Tomura and The League Of Villains
- There are three categories of Quirks: Transformation (Setsuna Tokage), Emitter (Denki Kaminari), and Mutant (Mezo Shoji).
Squeezed between the major details recapped or introduced in the season 7 premiere, the status of the League of Villains is also key – though brief. Before Tomura makes his reappearance, Spinner is the first of the villains focused on. At this point, Spinner is at an impasse. Season 6 hinted that he was shocked by what All For One did to Tomura, possibly even afraid of him, yet he works right by All For One’s side. This brief part of the episode shares Spinner’s impact on other people with mutant or heteromorphic quirks.
Essentially, any type of this quirk will reshape the body to look anything but human, which has left a large part of society ostracized and discriminated against. Though characters like Principal Nezu, Gang Orca, Kenji Tsuragame, and the pro hero Hound Dog have found respect and support in their noble work, not all mutants/heteromorphs have received equal treatment. Spinner has always been more of a background villain character, but this emphasis on his role beside All For One and his impact on society hints that he is going to be a critical character through this seventh season.
The League of Villains’ Himiko Toga and Dabi are also briefly shown in the first half of the episode. Himiko is hinted to be going through a slump as she looks at a poster stating “Himiko Toga’s tragedy continues.” Dabi has even less screen time as his scene only shows that he’s still alive and well. The latter half of the episode brings attention back to the major villain Tomura Shigaraki. Hinted in season 6, Tomura struggles with maintaining control over his body as All For One fuses with him. Despite his internal struggles, Tomura is still a force to be reckoned with, as shown in his grand battle against Star and Stripe — the most important character of the episode.
Star and Stripe Is More Important To Focus On Over Deku
Star and Stripe making her anime debut in the season 6 finale of My Hero Academia
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It’s suffice to say that season 7, episode 1 had a lot to cover, but the entire episode can’t simply be recaps and exposition, there still ought to be a focal point. Rather than placing Deku at the center, it’s much smarter to have Star and Stripe take center stage. This is her grand debut for the franchise, and since she is proven to be such an impactful character in the first half of the episode, it makes sense to emphasize that point through the latter half. Having an epic battle right away is also the perfect way to hype up the fans for the rest of the season — it’s also the ideal way to reveal Star and Stripe’s unknown strength.
The writers could have merely hinted at her strength and revealed the full extent later on, or they could have simply introduced her character and her a fight scene down the road. But at this point in the series, a faster pace is better. The narrative is reaching the end of the entire series, and with so many plot threads to resolve, time is of the essence. Making this season as bombastic as possible is also thrilling for the audience, and the decision for the villains to make a move right away is smart for their characters — they won’t wait for the heroes to be prepared.
Leading this practice of a quick and thrilling pace stands Star and Stripe, who proves why she is the number one American pro hero. It quickly gives her the introduction and exposition that she needs while maintaining the audience’s excitement. It’s the perfect way to open season 7.
Deku Will Certainly Have His Time To Shine
Deku in My Hero Academia
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Deku has remained a main character that just can’t maintain center stage, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t an effective protagonist. The story still revolves around Deku since he is the possessor of One For All and is All For One’s and Tomura’s greatest enemy. He’s still one of the few pure heroes and inspires everyone else to be their best — he is a great example of a catalyst protagonist. With such a large society and so many key characters, it’s fair that the attention is shared. That being said, Deku still has the most important role to play and will certainly be at the climax of this season.
Because the first episode can’t be so ultimately climactic, Deku’s time will have to wait, and that’s okay. The narrative will build up his role as something for viewers to look forward to. The highest moments are yet to come, but the fact that episode 1 starts in such a grand way means that when Deku becomes the most significant character, the series could reach its highest peak ever.
My Hero Academia left so many cliffhangers by the end of season 6 that couldn’t be overlooked in the opening of season 7. The first half of season 7’s first episode is essentially an overview of the most important beats from the season 6 cliffhangers and some new information that will be key this season. The fact is, not all of MHA is solely about Deku. This is why he only receives a brief scene at the beginning of the episode. In favor of these essential recaps and the new and significant character Star and Stripe, the first episode of season 7 doesn’t put Deku in the spotlight. This is only the beginning of the season, however, and Deku still has a critical role to play.
Deku and all of Class 2-A ready for battle on the My Hero Academia Poster