My Hero Academia 8x02 "The End of an Era and the Beginning" - reaction & review
Added 2025-10-13 01:55:16 +0000 UTCHey everyone!!! AND WE'RE BACK with season 8, episode 2 of My Hero Academia!!!! HEADPHONE WARNING because OMG YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Dang guys, they had me in tears this whole ep, between All Might's flashback's and his sheer force of will!!! But WOW, that twist with my boy coming back was SO EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!! This is truly the end of an era but the beginning of another!!!! Cannot wait for more!! Enjoy! ~ MH
Comments
Yesss this episode absolutely destroyed me too đđ„ it was such a rollercoaster â from tiny Toshinori and his mom (that flashback had me gone) to all the parallels and symbolism tying back to everything All Might stands for, it was just beautiful and devastating all at once. I totally got chills when Stain showed up and when Bakugo finally appeared at the end â like the light passing on moment?? Literal perfection. The animation, the music, the emotion⊠itâs everything that makes MHA so special. âLocal student too angry to dieâ honestly sums it up perfectly đ
Melissa Moore
2025-12-28 13:43:42 +0000 UTCI love this episode so much even though it was a rough watch for most of it. I love how the episode starts with us getting to see All Might as a child with his mom which is crazy when we just got the 1st mention of his family at the end of S7 in his flashback when he tells Nana that his family was killed which makes the flashback in this episode sad but also beautiful. I love that this kid without a quirk who was inspired by a child story book superhero just having fun with his Mom became the greatest hero in Japan and much of the world, saved many people & inspired just as many. Also Anpanman is a real childrenâs story book in Japan that is a favorite of most children in Japan & here is a comment I found about why it makes a lot of sense that All Might was inspired by a hero with a head made of bread/how that character/story has a lot connections with All Might âYoung Toshinori's favourite hero was Anpanman. The manga actually exists in real life Anpanman has a head made of bread and he shares his head with suffering children. The author Takashi Yanase his suffering from hunger during and after the war inspired him to create a hero who embodies the spirit of self-sacrifice, who rescues others from hunger even at the cost of his own body. This is perfectly in line with All Might's philosophy. Don't have to say how much that shaped the hero All Might - the selfless titan that tended to every cry he heardâ. If his mother was still around Iâm very confident she would be proud of him. I love the imagery of All Might walking down the pathway that represents his life & just taking a moment to think about everything that has led to where he is now it feels so powerful/beautiful especially when he imagines his memories as well as all the connections he has made & those who have been inspired by him as small but powerful balls of light. I love that while All Might has his origin talking about his giant seemingly dream of becoming a symbol of peace beyond that there is a deeper much simpler/more innocent origin & I feel like that is the case with a couple of characters. I like the Stain stuff showing us how he found the blood he needed & knew where All Might was. Itâs crazy to see that Stain is able to sniff out specific peopleâs blood but the wildest part of that is that I have a theory that he canât actually identify different blood types he only knows what All Mightâs blood smells like because I still love his character but letâs face it heâs a bit of a creepy, crazy obsessed All Might fanboy. Also I like the suitably intense but hopeful music that plays in the lead up to Stain & All Might trying to go on the offensive once again before AFO pulled some BS. I love his internal thoughts about how All Might knows & understands showing himself means that he is ready for the hero killer to be ended by All Might after this probably thinking going to jail or execution since he knows that All Might doesnât kill most likely just wanting All Might to be the one to take him to the police. It may have been in their heads but I love that they both said the classic I am here line. Itâs frustrating that AFO does some of his usual stuff with the whole I will pull something out of nowhere to continue towards victory because it feels like a coincidence that a Bloodletting quirk exists but it doesnât really bother me because AFO as a character has always been like this, has been around for a long time, thought of this seeing Stain fleeing Tartarus & potentially thought of countermeasures as soon as he was aware of what Stainâs ability was and for all we know he could have had the quirk Doctor who worked for him make this bloodletting power before AFO was captured In S3. Also as much as I donât like AFO him expelling all the blood in his body is metal AFO & I love how as a villain he looks so much like a demon completely covered in blood. And I have to say being able to change your blood type at will is a really cool ability he displayed to stop Stain affecting him again if itâs a quirk that can be used on others because if so itâs another case of a power that could have been so useful in a medical care sense in the hands of someone who wasnât AFO. Itâs crazy to hear All Might call out for Stain in worry as well as seeing Stain survive although half dead being thrown through like 15 buildings. I love that Stain continued to talk back to AFO knowing he is almost certainly about to die and even as AFO tries to make Stain feel awful & like his life was futile. Itâs really emotionally powerful to see Stain hold up his hands & cradling All Might who he sees in the distance especially as he things about wanting All Might to live. He may have gone about it in an extremely wrong/bad way but the one thing he truly knew was what a completely selfless hero looks like. Also it sucks that Stain died in this brutal way but I donât think he regrets helping All Might delay AFO even this small amount. I love that Hercules the sentient AI Melissa created which is still crazy to me comes In with one last shield which is how he survived after AFO earlier said that you canât go beyond with tools & yet this AI & All Might were able to do so. Itâs really sad but I love that the 1st 2 people All Might thought of to encourage himself were his Master & Nighteye although itâs heartbreaking that he just looks sad which makes sense since he told All Might that this was coming of course his mental image of him would be sad. I love how even though he canât really fight anymore thinking about Izukuâs mother asking him to live & raise her son/protect him pushes All Might to try one last thing. Once again Tsukauchi is the epitome of we are so back, we are doomed, we are back, itâs so over man has lost years of his life on this mission & it just keeps getting worse I feel so bad for him. I love that All Might once again gets that wild smile on his face trying to keep AFOâs attention. I love that as he decides to take the fastest route to pass on his Quirks to make Shigaraki into the next him with the Warp Quirk Shigaraki takes one moment to swallow the sludge to prevent teleportation & through their shared connection basically says âFuck off Masterâ which is awesome for his character as a villain but whatâs hilarious is AFO having an annoyed how dare you reaction LOL. Itâs wild that the entire crazy large-scale All Might fight against AFO that felt like a long time is about how long it took for Toga using Twiceâs blood to wear off. Also itâs awesome that Momo while defending the support course from all the Twice Clones had a rocket launcher on one shoulder, a machine gun on the other & using a big glaive. The screams of those 2 students recording everything as they see All Might being dragged bloody & broken by AFO really shows as well as everything after really sells how horrific that is. Itâs horrible but very on brand that AFO wants to kill All Might in front of the world & it makes a lot of sense with everything we have seen of his character that he would want to make everyone fall into despair this way. Itâs an absolutely incredible moment writing wise to have Izuku struggling to hold back his tears seeing this awful site just having Present Mic come in with a soft narration I got chills especially as we flashback to All Might jokingly saying we have to fix that crying of yours the because he wants to be a good apprentice is too emotional. And you can feel how terrible it feels for a lot of people but especially for Izuku that he canât let go of Shigaraki as he is also being taunted and can do nothing to save All Might. I love that as soon as he saw Izuku he remembers his question can I be a hero even if I donât have a quirk & I think itâs perfect that when he internally says yes he focuses on Izuku being able to because of how hard he works because there are issues doing that but it was never about that not really it was about characters having the heart of a hero. Itâs absolutely amazing to see that thinking about I inspired All Might to go beyond one last time with a crazy kamikaze move & I love how this triggers a flashback in AFO as he feels genuine fear for the 1st time he has shown since going against Endeavor & Dark Shadow. Itâs crazy to see just that little bit more of Nanaâs last battle where she died I love that Nana wholeheartedly believes All Might will defeat AFO & itâs badass that she says this as she is about to die and even though thatâs happening still is smiling in his face. I love how she describes All Might as crazier than AFO because after everything we have seen & learned about him I think crazy is 1 of the words that perfectly encapsulates All Might as a character especially when the very next moment is the self sacrificing take you out with me move. Also All Might saying maybe you will turn into a preschooler next time you rewind is wild. All Mightâs determination & resolve to be willing to blow himself up to kill AFO one more time is so admirable & awe-inspiring. I counted how many student inspired support equipment All Might used in the 1st episode & as soon as I realized he had used something for all of class 1-A except for Bakugo I was immediately like oh heâs going to use a Bakugo inspired item next episode in some way & I got a little excited when this episode showed that I was right with this attempted giant explosion because you can tell the little remaining part of the Ironmight suit resembles parts of Bakugoâs hero costume. Itâs funny that he might not have been able to use that part of the suit but Bakugo stood up to make sure AFO got to experience the explosion quirk up close & personal. Itâs awful & cruel that AFO took a heroic death away from All Might just to cause him pain like Iâm glad he didnât die but itâs hard to watch him in such despair. Also man is it petty that AFO used Stainâs quirk to paralyze All Might when his face was at the height of despair I donât think he even stole Stainâs quirk because of useful it is Iâm like 95% certain he took it so he could do this. Itâs horrific to watch AFO slowly lift All Might above his head as he prepares to kill All Might in the most painful/brutal way he can by ripping him in half & of course AFO was making sure to do it as slowly as possible to savor All Mightâs death, to do it in front of the world to instill despair & itâs especially disturbing to see AFO taking so much pleasure in the idea that he will be the 1 to kill All Might. I love that when it at 1st seemed completely hopeless Gentle was fully prepared to fight AFO & save All Might and he had complete confidence in himself to at least do damage to the Demon Lord and that deserves emphasis because itâs really badass. Especially because AFO seems to acknowledge that Gentle would be a danger or at least a nuisance to himself since he refers to Gentle by his full real name & made sure Gentle was occupied by destroying the rest of the Coffin in the Skyâs engine once again making it so Gentle is the only thing keeping the Coffin from once again just freefalling which shows his determination/resolve again. I love that in this moment the music that was playing was the same music that played for the All Might VS AFO fight during S3 especially because that was another fight where through some miracle All Might found a way to live/survive. I was getting emotional throughout the episode I was feeling the feelings but I didnât start tearing up until we started seeing everyone crying and praying for someone to save All Might starting with Melissa, then I had a few tears seeing Gran Torino knowing he already lost Nana & was about to lose the man he trained as well alongside Izuku desperately reaching out towards All Might knowing he canât do anything. But as soon as I saw the explosion knowing what it meant I started crying in earnest & seeing Bakugo and all the amazing imagery after that explosion made me cry even harder. I love the slow pan up to Bakugoâs face with a look on his face that I interpret as slightly dazed at 1st but determined & I didnât notice this until I saw it pointed out in another reaction video but you can see where the hole in his chest which is a nice detail. I love how beautiful the animation/artwork of the close ups of Bakugo & Izuku itâs awesome to see Bakugo surrounded by explosions where even his pupils are explosions and there is something interesting & cool that the power of OFA even makes Izukuâs tears glow with green energy. I love how you can tell how relieved & happy Izuku is to see Bakugo awake as well as knowing that there is someone who can save All Might. Itâs powerful that while from where he is Bakugo can see the whole situation but the 1st person he looks towards/at is Izuku which is a great example of how far their relationship has come & how much development they have gone through as well as the trust that has built up between these 2 especially at this point it makes me happy to see that. And the almost mythical choir music during that section is the cherry on top it adds even more impact to this already impactful moment. I almost forgot to talk this but I love how as soon as Bakugo appeared we have the amazing symbolic scene of All Might looking back on the path of his life but instead of seeing the balls of light that are his memories he sees the light he passed on to 2 sweet little boys who love All Might. I love that the ideals & heroic spirit/will he passed on and the joy, excitement & inspiration he gave to those boys is represented by the All Might trading cards. Thereâs something very wholesome about how what started as a simple admiration for a hero ended up creating 2 of the strongest heroes in the story in Izuku & Bakugo much like All Might and Anpanman. Also seeing the 2 of them so happy puts a smile on my face. I love the beautiful animation of the light that went from All Might to Izuku & Bakugo turning into rainbow lights that intertwine/intersect and then in a brilliant example of both symbolism & metaphor it flows into the present day All Might card in Bakugoâs hand. The way it represents that All Mightâs torch being passed on not only to Izuku but Bakugo and many others as well as the connection that Izuku & Bakugo share is great. You are such a mood getting so emotional watching this episode itâs very emotional and powerful writing I was getting emotional too the big difference between you watching this episode & me watching this episode is that while you were crying through most of the episode I was barely holding myself together through most of the episode but when Bakugo appeared up that was when I completely broke I was not okay in the best way. Finally I love some of the jokes I have seen after that episode like âlocal student too angry to dieâ although I would say itâs more like local student too determined or resolved to die & âAFO breaking All Mightâs Bakugo support item like he was saying I donât want that fake Dynamight shit and in response Bakugo waking up like he was saying oh really time to show you the real dealâ LOL. Awesome reaction & thoughts. Keep up the great work. :-) <3
Supermonaman
2025-11-18 05:34:23 +0000 UTCThis was about to go from shonen to seinen if AfO actually ripped All Might in half. It would be so hard to keep watching if that happened. Bakugoâs gauntlet being All Mightâs last resort, and then Bakugo rising from the dead to save him, is so freaking perfect. The *immediate* eye contact with Deku đ Iâm not too familiar with Bump of Chicken aside from the PokĂ©mon music video a few years ago, but I know theyâre a big deal and theyâre perfect for the last ED.
Cody
2025-10-25 15:13:04 +0000 UTCIt just worked so well!!! Thanks for clarifying that! That's so true, in that regard, he really is crazier! That's amazing, I didn't even realize it was Bakugo's power he was gonna use right before Bakugo shows up!!!! It's so full circle, I love it too!!!
Melissa Moore
2025-10-18 13:25:46 +0000 UTCThey're definitely working on me lol. I'm super susceptible to flashbacks for sure!!! That's the thing, Stain had his own code and he always stood by it, it wasn't a matter of turning for the good or anything. OOF he'd hate the OPM universe! You're probably right about the vestiges. I know, it was pretty obviously they were intending on bringing him back last season! HAHHAHA that was the trap card alright!!
Melissa Moore
2025-10-18 13:24:43 +0000 UTCâWeâre going to need to fix those leaky eyes of yours.â âIâve seen a number of anime, and Iâm not a newb, and that is what you call a death flag.â MHA: âIâve been around a while, letâs yank on that chain a little.â Soon as they went âorigin story,â I thought - well, youâre going to be toast. Hey, have you noticed lately you seem to be particularly vulnerable to flashbacks? Stain wasnât ever trying to be a hero but you kind of understood where he was coming from - in fact, the thought occurred to me that heâs irritated here, how much more disgusted would he be in One Punch Man world with the hero society? đ€Ł I do not think All Might is seeing vestiges as he no longer has One For All - those were his own memories trying to encourage him. Nighteye DID warn him that his end wasnât going to look pretty, though - and some of the flashbacks were from after he told Deku about this. You know, I donât think most of us ever really âboughtâ Bakugo being gone - but it certainly tracks that heâd show up and make an entrance in style - especially if it showed up Deku, who still has his hands full. Also AFO might have more issue taking over Tomura than he thinks⊠Bakugo was still holding his All Might card⊠To quote a lot of series: you just activated the trap card! đ
Tyler Stobbe
2025-10-13 17:46:37 +0000 UTCYep, Bakugou is back, manga reader knew it already, but anime only must have been hard waiting for these and the team behind the anime really put the work to it, the animation, the style, the music, they really going hard for these. Also, yeah, it was metaphoric, just to symbolise that the will of All Might was already in the end of Deku and Bakugou, so his actions had an impact big enough, to ensure that other symbol of peace could come after him. Just n another note, I love the fact that Nana said that Toshinori/All Might is crazier than AfO, because yeah, when you think about it, for a lot of people, risking your own life to the point of being able to sacrifice yourself just to gain time, is crazier that using other people as pawn to ensure that you live longer. The hero might be crazier than the villain. Oh and just to finish, the only "borrowed" power that All Might had in the end, was and explosion, so Bakugo's one, after AfO destroy it, the real Bakugo came back to save the day. So even after having the support (in more than one way) of the class A, the class A still support him again. And I love this writing idea.
Spadeas
2025-10-13 15:38:18 +0000 UTC
