A Journey Through Pro Hero and Joint Training Arcs

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:01:10

Foreign.

Christian Ashley: 00:01:15

Look up the flawed heroes. We're gonna be asking this question a lot more in today's episode of Systemic Ecology. We are the priests of the Geeks.

I'm your host, Christian Ashley, joined by, of course, the greatest host not named TJ Blackwell, Elizabeth Pangalang, and Clyde. How's it going, Pang?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:01:29

It's going pretty well. A little sleepy, but doing good.

Christian Ashley: 00:01:31

Yeah, I get that this week's rough, but we're gonna get through it and we're gonna succeed. We're gonna even have fun tonight.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:01:37

I'm gonna crush it.

Christian Ashley: 00:01:39

Yeah. Because we're discussing my hero AC Continuing on through the series, if you're interested in some earlier episodes is somehow your first episode.

Listen to us talk about it. We'd have links down below for you guys to check out in the description, but today we'll be covering the pro hero arc and the joint training arc.

But before we head that way. Pang, what have you been geeking out on?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:01:59

I don't know. Like, I haven't decided if I love it or not, but I've been watching Shikimori's not just a cutie, so it's pretty much.

I know this is a romance anime shocker. So pretty much a super cute girl, but like, she's kind of like the male lead in the relationship, if that makes sense. So she's like, she has a cute.

Christian Ashley: 00:02:19

Way for the guy.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:02:21

Oh, absolutely. And the guy is like a complete clutch.

So he's about to like get run over and she like pulls him over and does like the big like, you know, wall slanting, like, what am I going to do with you? Type deal. So it's kind of. It's kind of, I guess, refreshing in a different way. But I just don't know if I. Because I want to be the one to swoon.

You know what I mean? I don't want to make others swoon. I want this one. So we'll see. But yeah, it's only. I've only seen three episodes, so it could get better.

Could get worse.

Christian Ashley: 00:02:49

One of the worst male MCs we've had in quite some time, I'll say that. But I hope you enjoy it.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:02:54

Me too. We'll see.

Christian Ashley: 00:02:56

Me on the other hand, there's only like almost 40 some chapters out of Centuria. It's a Sanua manga that's released on shonen jumps app and manga. Plus, you want to check that out.

Basically, guy who lived as a slave ends up on a ship and. And befriends a woman who's about to have a kid and saves the kid's life as he's also.

The ship goes down and he's been blessed with power by this goddess of the sea kind of thing.

But also does this whole prophecy about how the kid is going to grow up being like the evil, big bad and like the discussion of like, should he raise a kid well, and all this, It's a lot of good fun, a lot of great action, a lot of heartbreak too.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:03:37

Oh, we hate the heartbreak.

Christian Ashley: 00:03:38

Oh, yes. But you know what? It's. It's really good. But you know what else is good? My hero academia, which we're doing today and paying.

You want to unpack what happens in a pro hero and joint training arc with me.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:03:52

Okay. Remind me because it has been a little bit. So once you. You start it and then I can like run with it.

Christian Ashley: 00:03:58

That's fine. So after the events of last time, we've got class one A kind of discussing, you know, all might's lost his power.

Who's going to be the new number one hero.

And then we go to actually see that happen where they had like this Billboard chart kind of event where they start listening down to heroes and we'll go over them individually in a second. But at the end, the number one hero is decided and it is Endeavor. Endeavor, Todoroki's dad. And. Yeah.

And all the fun baggage that comes with that baggage.

Yeah, we've seen him earlier, but now we get a little bit more of Hawks as well, who has been made the number two hero and kind of is trying to prop Endeavor up. And there's this whole moment of the both of them just like, why do you care?

And Hawks kind of goes into a little bit of his ideology of how he wants heroes to just have an easy time. And he sees a lot in Endeavor and wants to see him succeed.

And it goes with the both of them end up fighting this brand new NOMU that shows up on the scene. Something that would have caused all might to get a little bit of a problem. But Endeavor is not as strong as all might.

So now they're struggling against him and eventually they are able to take it down. While at the same time we learn a little bit more about Endeavor's history with his family of his. We'll get to this later on.

As well as spousal and child abuse that he did, but also him wondering, can I be a new man? Do I deserve like anything that's happened so far?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:05:32

Yeah, this is the turning point. I remember this. And then we also see we Question like, where Hawks falls? Because even Endeavor is like, it's very convenient.

The number one and number two hero are like, hanging out, having a meeting. And then the Nomu out of nowhere comes, and we really see Endeavor proving himself. Like, does he have what it takes to be the number one hero?

So I think that's. This is a fun shift we see. So he feels the weight for the first time of being the number one hero.

And because, I mean, when he first got it, he felt like he didn't earn it because All Might retired. He didn't. He never. He will never get the chance to be All Might.

Christian Ashley: 00:06:13

Yeah, it's always going to be an asterisk right next to his number one hero, you know, title in his eyes. Because he never, like, earned it. It's like, by proxy, you're number one. Sorry.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:06:23

Right? Number one hero.

Christian Ashley: 00:06:26

At the end of this arc, we have and flashback gets revealed. It's kind of shown through all for ones for a bit, until eventually we learn that Izuku is actually the one seeing his origin story.

And he also has one for all kind of activate kind of. It's acting all weird and he doesn't know why. Which leads up to the joint training arc. You want to take that away?

You need more refreshing for that too.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:06:50

I love this one because it's such. So pretty much we got to see Class 1B at the sports festival, and so we got to see the rivalry rival. Wow. There. We're doing great.

English is my first and only language, but, you know, whatever. And so we just get to see a little bit more of them. And then remind me, is this where we get to see the guy shows back up? Right? The.

The brainwashing guy.

Christian Ashley: 00:07:19

Oh, gosh. What is his name? What is his name?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:07:24

That's not his name.

Christian Ashley: 00:07:25

No. Hitoshi is Hitoshi something.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:07:27

So pretty much Senshu. Yeah. So we see him in the. In the fighting episode, the sports day episodes, where if you answer a question, he gets to brainwash you.

And he was actually in the other classes. He didn't get to make the hero classes. So very exciting.

We see that he actually got to join Class 1B after the sports festival, and he got to level up quite a bit where he now, through a special gear, gets to throw his voice to make him sound like other people. And so you are naturally more inclined to answer a teammate. And your. Your guard is like, less like it's lowered because of it.

So he actually gets to fight alongside Team A, Class A and then Class B to. To show off his skills. So pretty much it's. It's pretty much a big old game of cat and mouse is what's happening between the two classes.

And this is a great refresher of everyone's in their quirks. So I really like the. The Ivy lady in this. In this team training arc.

Christian Ashley: 00:08:34

And we have I think five rounds and you know, about. I think it's four on four different teams here. We get some nice moments for each of them.

Like Shinto starts off on Class 1A side, then he's going to end up against class. With class 1B against 1A, we get some nice moments for Bakugo here. He declares is going to have a flawless victory.

He gets exactly what he wants and completely annihilates 1B. We have some nice moments.

Todoroki kind of losing a fight, Momo not going as well, and Tokoyami kind of getting attacked in a very brutal fashion by the mushroom girl in 1B.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:09:14

Well, you kind of see like, because at this point 1A, they've. They did so much real life experience, it kind of got a little cocky. And so they have not been in the classroom. They have not been.

They've been using their skills, but they have not been honing their skills. And so we actually see the gap between 1A and 1B close quite drastically.

And so I love that the fact that Class one A kind of got a little piece of humble pie in this training arc, because it just shows that even though you might be on the B team, like you can still work hard and not give up. Because either at that point, kind of like endeavor when you're number two, either you can give up being in number one spot or you can keep striving.

And so Class B kept on striving, which is really good.

Christian Ashley: 00:10:04

Yeah, it gives the nice character moments here. Like it drags on a little bit. And we'll talk about that later on too. But for right now, we.

It finally culminates in the last match where it's, you know, Izuku, Ochako, Mineta, and Mina versus the other Class B, which has Monoma who has a quirk Phantom Thief, where he can copy someone else's quirk for like five minutes. And Shinso is on the other side too. So it's kind of a rematch for what happened in the sports tournament earlier on.

But in the midst of it is when Izuku Deku tries to use his One for All abilities. But something weird starts happening and there's these like black and green tendrils that come out of his body.

And he doesn't know what's going on until he realizes an earlier user of One for All that is his quirk. And he is attempting to use that quirk without even realizing it. And this means that a guy who was formerly quirkless thought he had just one.

The One for All that Came from all might now has seven other quirks at his disposal. And a huge revelation for this series. Your mileage may vary on how it actually turns out. They actually end up winning just barely the fight.

And Class 1A wins overall. And Shinso is going to be brought up anyways to become one of their classmates. And I think that's it for as far as, like, big stuff in the arcs.

I'm sure there's more, but what do you think so far?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:11:34

I went. I remember when Deku got another power.

I kind of was like, is this going to be one of those scenarios where he's not going to be unstoppable like Goku and it's just going to be lame? You know what I mean? Like, yeah, like, is he now just going to be unstoppable because no one can.

He's Unlimited Quirks because we know through, you know, previous that there's multiple we orders, one for all. So if he's just. You're kind of like just speculating. Are you just going to go down the list and get them all?

So now this isn't going to be fun anymore. So I don't want to like, go too far in and do spoilers in case someone crazy enough has been listening to our episodes but not watching along.

You know, I'm sure you're out there, so kudos to you. You're kind of weird, but it's just crazy. So at this point, I actually started losing interest in the anime a little bit.

So even now, like, I have not caught up to the one because this was the turning point. I'm kind of like, I'm still watching it, I'm still enjoying it, but it's more like, I. I can wait now.

So I'll correct and so I'll probably wait for the anime. It's about the finish. And then binge it all when it' English dub, since I'm just so busy.

Christian Ashley: 00:12:49

No, that's fair. I get it. Yeah. This is why I was really glad I was reading the manga and just going through.

Yeah, it was still a slog, but I could just read a chapter in a couple of minutes and then move on with my life.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:13:01

Right? Yeah. Dedicating full episodes and Then even with the training arc, it kind of felt like a. The joint training, which is fine. And I appreciate the.

The overview of all the quirks, but it's like, okay, here we go again. So it's getting a little boring at this point, but I'm always at the. The notion if you're truly a fan, which I am, you're gonna stick with it.

Christian Ashley: 00:13:23

So do you have a favorite character in these hearts? Could be two. Both of the arcs or just in general.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:13:29

I think the green person, she's not my favorite, but she makes me laugh because she just praised the Buddha, and it's like, a cliche. No, she's actually a Christian. Okay. Yeah, Christian. So she's just, like, super, like, funny with it, though.

Christian Ashley: 00:13:45

Maria. I think it's a hero name. You know, taking that from Mary. I think her actual name is, like, Inazaki or something like that.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:13:54

Yeah, she just makes me laugh. And then I think probably Sensho is probably my favorite character in this arc just because he didn't give up. And then he.

You see that he's using the bandages that Eraserhead uses. So just. I think he has the most character development. I think Hawk is really fun. I like him more down the road. This. I didn't love him in this season.

Christian Ashley: 00:14:19

Yeah.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:14:19

Because we're really just getting introduced to him, so, like, he kind of just feels pompous at the moment.

Christian Ashley: 00:14:25

That's totally fair. Yeah. For me. Controversial pick. I'm choosing Endeavor.

And I know especially on the American side of things, people hated what Horikoshi was trying to do with Endeavor, like, as in actually sending him death threats. How dare you try and redeem, you know, a spousal and child abuser? And we'll get to that in a moment. But I.

I really appreciate a man who can look at himself and say, oh, I'm the villain. I need to not be the villain. How do I stop that? How do I be better?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:15:01

Yeah, he really had to step up.

But, yeah, we talked about this one our very first episode when we did the big overall, my hero overview with his atonement and if he's deserving of atonement. But, I mean, I don't hate Endeavor anymore. I mean, like, you can. You can definitely, like, you can disagree. Something is wrong. But also, I don't.

I feel like everyone can be redeemed to some point in time. And he's like. We see it more in the. In the future seasons, but I think they did well with his change.

Christian Ashley: 00:15:36

Yeah, I really appreciate him, like. Like, leaving his House behind and like doing his own thing as well. To be like, okay, I can't reconcile with you all.

Next I'm going to ask you forgive me, but if you say no, like, I get it. Like, I don't deserve it. So, yeah, more to discuss later on.

But as well, do you have any characters, favorites that are kind of like introduced in this arc?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:15:59

Who's been introduced besides Hawk?

Christian Ashley: 00:16:02

A lot of our new.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:16:04

Oh, like the. The pro heroes that was introduced.

Christian Ashley: 00:16:07

Yeah, I kind of introduced like Mirko. This is her first introduction.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:16:10

I think the bunny one is the first introduction, right?

Christian Ashley: 00:16:14

Yeah, she's one of them. You've got like wash and.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:16:18

Yeah, that washing machine one is wild.

Christian Ashley: 00:16:22

So I'm guessing you're gonna pick Hawks then for your favorite out of that round?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:16:25

I guess so. Yeah. I mean, he can fly me away if we're gonna choose one. Like, he's a good one. I would. I. If I was in high school, I would have a crush in him.

Christian Ashley: 00:16:36

I can't blame you.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:16:37

Yeah. I mean, 32 year old is. Nah. But like high school is. I could see it happening.

Christian Ashley: 00:16:43

I've moved past you. I've matured. I don't need you anymore. Yeah. Yeah. I'm also going to pick Hawks on this one. Just like his.

The way he just interacts with other heroes and the press and the public and especially with Endeavor. I really appreciated someone like him who's like, look, like our job is stressful. It sucks.

Wouldn't it be better if there was like a way where we didn't have to stress out as much?

You know, we could have a system where it wasn't just one hero taking care of everything, but we all kind of work together and made things easy for everyone. And then, you know, he continues to grow from here, but like starting off right here, it's a solid beginning for him as a character.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:17:22

Yes. And it's fun. I really like. I feel like this is kind of. These two arcs are like the placeholder pivot arc. Because right after this it was.

It was kind of boring, but then it kind of. It picks back up. So it's kind of like that, like we finally reached the top of the hill and now we can just go straight to the finish line.

Christian Ashley: 00:17:42

Yeah, there's. There's plenty to get go from here. That is what, like right now, do you have a favorite moment or anything from these moments from these parks?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:17:54

Probably the. Probably Endeavor, like, change of heart would probably be my favorite moment.

Christian Ashley: 00:18:01

Yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:18:02

Just because I love Todoroki. Yeah. So you gotta love his family.

Christian Ashley: 00:18:06

Yeah, it's a messed up family to Totorokis, but they provide some great entertainment and some great things to come of like discussing them. So yeah, perfect there. Other than that, I'm gonna choose Bakugo's fight in the. The mock battles where he's just like, look, we're gonna win.

And not only are we gonna win, we're gonna win flawlessly. And then the Bakugo of Chapter one doesn't do with the. The Bakugo of episode whatever capture, whatever we're at right now does.

And he gets people to believe in him. He knows what everyone's capable of, trusts in other people to get stuff done and then gets the job done, like easily.

Like, because they like, set up Setsuna, the chick who can move her bodies in different ways. Like a lizard. Sorry, no. Can cut her body off and regenerate kind of like a lizard. And then move them elsewhere, which lizards cannot do.

Is kind of set up as like this really smart tactical person who could be like Bakugo's equal maybe. And he's like, no, I'd make you look like a fool. Lizardi I think is their hero name.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:19:11

Yeah, I remember, like, what stuck out to me was the mushroom scene too. Like just the spores and whatnot. Like, she was just kind of creepy really. Whenever it's like these long, drawn out, like fight scenes.

Not fight scenes, but battle. Just to reintroduce a quirk. Like I said earlier, I kind of zone out.

So like, that's usually when it's English dub, I'm cooking or something like that. Like, I'm not. It doesn't draw me in.

Christian Ashley: 00:19:38

Might as well go with fights too. So we brought them up. Like, that's a great one. But I mean, the prominent experiment at the end is pretty dang solid.

He has to trust Hawks in order to get stuff done to actually take down that Nomu Endeavor does.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:19:50

Yeah, no, that was probably one of the best fights in all of. My hero is Endeavor and Nomu's fight. Just because at this point all might just fell. So you kind of were. English is so hard right now.

Just speaking is hard, but you. We were kind of at the edge of our seats because we didn't know what was going to happen with Endeavor. We didn't know if he was going to get.

Be unconscious. We didn't know if he was going to win. We didn't know if he might die. So. And just like kind of that.

That moment of him feeling the weight of being the number one hero and protecting the people. And we actually get to see, like, he wants to actually protect people. He doesn't just want.

Because at the end of the day, why do you want to be number one? Do you want it for fame? Like, and we kind of get to see, like, oh, he wants to protect people.

He wants to be the best, like, for himself, if you will. Not just because he wants. He doesn't care about the. The press or the fame or anything like that. He just wants the. He wanted the best. His rival.

So did he get a little too, you know, crazy about it in a toxic way? Yes. But it wasn't like, look at me. I want to be the best and be worshiped. It was just, I want to beat my rival.

Christian Ashley: 00:21:05

Yeah. Because there's a lot riding on that scene. Like, you mentioned, like, all might's gone.

Like, yeah, he can still hulk out for, like, a little bit, but, like, he's not the number one hero anymore. So the. The symbol of peace is gone. Who's going to step up to the plate?

And now we've got the perfect opportunity where Hawks and Endeavor working together can make the people believe that the heroes are still there and still doing their jobs. Right. Do you have, like, a favorite quirk that was introduced in this arc?

Most of those are going to be probably from the 1B side of things because we knew who they were. We kind of knew what they could do, but, like, we actually get to see them.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:21:43

I would say what stuck out me just not beating a dead horse is like, I think it's crazy that Hawks is the number two hero, but his quirk is not very impressive.

Christian Ashley: 00:21:53

No.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:21:54

At the end of the day, his quirks are he has feathers on his backs and wings form, and he get. He can control the feathers and that's it. So they're really. It's not impressive at all compared to some of these other quirks.

So that's what kind of stuck out to me. I'm like, how'd you get number two?

Christian Ashley: 00:22:10

Yeah.

I mean, for people out there, Hawks is kind of like a mixture of no angel, and then a little bit of when he's transformed an archangel from X Men in his abilities. Like, when he's archangel, he's a little harder, you know, got the metallic wings. Hawks doesn't have that, but his wings can actually.

The feathers can actually shoot out kind of similar what archangel angel can do. So frame of reference for anyone who isn't watching or reading this series, and welcome to the episode. Love to have you here.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:22:38

Right?

Christian Ashley: 00:22:39

Yeah. But that's A solid one because you go with, like, he shouldn't be in the top 10.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:22:44

No, he shouldn't be number two. Okay, maybe I will say top 100 because it's all about strategy. But like, the.

The be the second one when you have all these other, like, heroes, that's just. Nah, doesn't make sense.

Christian Ashley: 00:22:58

But it's part of the series, is that, yeah, you can start off with a quirk that everyone else can laugh at, but if you know how to utilize it well, you could be in the top 10. You could be the number two hero. And that is a lot of fun stuff brought with Hawks there. So excellent choice for him. I'm going to choose the.

The comic quirk that manga has. The one of the Class 1B kids where he just brings onomatopoeia into real life.

It's so weird and out there, and yet it's nice to see it animated because I was really questioning how they would do it because, like, in a manga, it just makes perfect sense. You just say sound effects, and that can happen in a way in art that you can't do as well in, like, a visual medium. Excuse me, an auditory medium.

And yet it worked really well in the anime too. So that's my choice. I thought about the lizard girl, but I'm like, I don't know. It kind of freaks me out too much.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:23:55

Yeah. And I don't know why I don't love mushrooms. And so the mushroom cork, I just did not love that and was like.

Christian Ashley: 00:24:03

Tokoyami did not deserve what happened to him.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:24:06

And then I'm trying to. I'm glancing at other quirks too. What's. Who's the. Who's the guy with the mask? He was kind of like the emo. I'm trying to think.

Yeah, he had silver hair. He kind of looked a little emo. Y. But I can't think of what his core cores.

Christian Ashley: 00:24:23

Are you talking about Shoji from 1A?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:24:26

No, I'll think about it later. When? 2am you know what?

Christian Ashley: 00:24:31

Fair. All right, so moving on from there, we have, as we said before, the new ranking of the top 10 heroes.

So what do we think about them, like, individually? And I'll list them off real quick. Just so we're all aware we had number 10. We've got Ryukyu, who has dropped down from number nine.

She helped out in the Shia Hasakai arc. Then we have Yoroi Musha, who's an old guy and does absolutely nothing. So that's my opinion on him.

Then we have Wash who is a human being in a washing machine, maybe, or was born as a washing machine. His poor mother. Then we have Kamui woods, who we've seen at the very start of my hero academia, who's essentially Spider man, but with wood.

Then we're introduced to Crust as well, who is kind of there. Seems like a positive guy. And we've got Mirko, our favorite bunny, who likes kicking things and beating people up. A lot of fun. We have Ed shot.

We saw him earlier in the rescue Bakugou part, where he can kind of like manipulate his body kind of like paper and twist into things a little. Mr. Fantastic. E.

Then we got Best Genus, who is not able to attend because he's still suffering from the attack from the attempt to rescue Bakugou, but has been brought up to number three. Anyways, then of course, we have Hawks and Endeavor. So your thoughts on these people?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:25:47

I wish they would, like, have shown why the washing machine was the number eight. Like, what? Like, I want to see them in action. Is there. It was in the manga.

Christian Ashley: 00:26:00

No, no. I mean, like. No, I'm saying, like, there has to be a story there. You don't become the number eight hero just because you're a washing machine.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:26:06

Like, are you really good at rescuing?

Like, okay, so I can see, for example, like, whenever in South Carolina when we have hurricanes and we don't have access to running water, the tide people will come and set up, you know, like, almost like camps. And people can bring their laundry to wash. Like, to wash their clothes for, like, a relief thing, which is super needed.

And you don't think about that when you don't have access to. So that's the only thing I can think of. Like, does she help people who may have lost water? Or, like, in poverty. Wash your clothes and keep hygienic.

Because I feel like that's very heroic. Even though that's the only like. And that's me stretching it. I'm like, what the heck are you doing?

Christian Ashley: 00:26:46

So officially, wash it. Wash also doesn't have a known gender, by the way, so I think referred to as it multiple times.

Clean Bubbler is the quirk allows Wash to create and control soapy water. Oh, actually, no. It says his. So maybe that's. Who knows? Look in the data books. Maybe the information is there from his body.

The stream is strong enough to keep several people in the air. He can also use the quirk to generate large soap bubbles that he uses to envelop targets and make them float.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:27:13

Okay, well, they're not using the Cork like I just suggested. But the fact that Wash beat Fat gum from top 10. I feel like Fat Gum should be in the top 10. Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:24

That's disrespected.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:27:27

That the old guy and washer and top 10 and fat gum is not. I have a problem with it because I love Fat Gum.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:34

Oh, and he's by the way, looking at this ranking system. Number 58.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:27:39

Yeah. And granted we don't know him at this point, so I'm kind of getting ahead right now.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:44

We know.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:27:44

We do know. Okay, okay. We're just kidding.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:46

Oh yeah, we met him in the previous arc.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:27:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I'm getting like everything gets jumbled when you.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:53

I get it. That's how I felt in the One Piece episode we just did the other day. It's like, oh yeah, that happened when here. And how many chapters did that take?

Yeah. Who knows?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:28:02

Oh yeah. Yeah. You know. Yeah, you're right. We did meet Fat Gum because he. Oh yeah. So how is he?

58 after that epic fight scene with Literally, he was so crucial in taking down and getting Eri back.

Christian Ashley: 00:28:14

Yeah. So as mentioned by Hawks here, it's a popularity contest to an extent for why people are as high as they are.

So maybe not everyone knows him as well as other heroes. That's why like earlier, we don't. Aizawa is probably very low ranked because he activates.

I mean he normally operates what I was looking for at night and doesn't. Isn't really flashy. Just kind of brings people down and doesn't make a big deal about it. So he's not high ranking in the public size.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:28:44

That's this case. I feel like Mike, like, you know, the MIC professor should be kind of high.

Or if it is a popularity contest, was midnight, you know, because everyone be loving her.

Christian Ashley: 00:28:57

Yeah.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:28:57

So I have questions. I would like to see the rubric for this. This ranking.

Christian Ashley: 00:29:03

I think that's fair. Is there anyone else that pops out to you ready to move on?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:29:07

I think I'm ready. I'm trying to think of any other people I love. I feel like Mount lady should be numbered last, but she's just annoying. That's just my opinion.

And we can move on.

Christian Ashley: 00:29:19

According to this, she's 23.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:29:21

Well, she should be number last.

Christian Ashley: 00:29:22

Boo.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:29:23

Mount Lady.

Christian Ashley: 00:29:24

Fair enough. All right.

So as mentioned during the ranking ceremony, Hawks makes a special point of talking about how the approval of the people really defines a hero's ranking amongst other factors that are brought up. So what are our thoughts on what he has to say? There like, should that be a factor in what makes a hero popular?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:29:39

I mean, yes. And this is kind of even what I teach because I work at a trade college and I, I, we teach the students soft skills.

So you can be the best carpenter in the whole entire world. You could be a genius, you can be the best stone cutter in the whole entire world.

But if you do not have the people skills to, to convey and to talk about like your work, no one's going to know it. You know what I mean? So you have to have a certain level of charisma to take you places, if that makes sense.

Yeah, so that's what we kind of like pride ourselves because like you can you think of like these and you should not judge people based on appearance.

But if I see, if I'm trying to hire someone to build my house and I see someone, even though it's not right through bias, I see someone who has missing teeth and they're not dressed well and they talk in a very broken country accent versus someone who is dressed nice with the construction, like, you know, polo and is very well spoken.

The skill level could be completely different, but I'm gonna go with the well spoken person because appearances, you know, like you, we just how we eat food with our eyes before we actually eat it, you know, and like we think something looks good so we expect it to taste good. I feel like that's kind of also how we treat in the hero rankings, the heroes.

So we see the charisma, we expect them to look good, hero good, but at the end of the day, like they could have a poopy character. So it's very hard to have. Yeah, you know, that's just kind of like what I think of.

And that's what we try and like, you know, just teach our students when they go into society. Like, you have to have good charisma character, like, and do good work.

Christian Ashley: 00:31:24

Yeah, well, you raise a good point there in that it's gonna be way easier to give the accolades of someone who presents themselves well, who has a very public presence and can just meet with the people a lot better. You know, Aizawa does good work, but he's not a people person. He's just kind of like, I'm here to do the job, I'm here for accolades.

So if, you know, if he complains about not being number one, which I don't think he ever would because he's got an image problem. I mean, like, I just happened to think about this while you were talking. We've got, you know, 12 apostles even.

You know, when Judas goes away for what he did, there's another apostle brought up Matthias in Acts, and that's kind of the last we ever hear about someone like him. And we've got like Simon the Zealot, Philip, Bartholomew, Thaddeus, like they're kind of there. They did good things for the church.

But compared to like your Peters and James's and John's, like, who are they? Well, we don't know because we don't get a lot of focus on them. So it worked.

But they're also not as publicized as it were, which I don't think is their fault necessarily. Maybe just had a really bad publicist. Maybe they should have written the gospel too.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:32:38

Maybe they just weren't as good looking. It could happen.

Christian Ashley: 00:32:42

It's also true that fact is in a lot too. I mean, apparently people find Wash very attractive.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:32:47

You know, number eight, I still don't understand, but it's. It's just one. You don't want to judge people by the COVID but also you want to be. You want to present your best self.

Like whenever I go, like for example, when you go on a job interview, I'm not going in my leisure wear. I want to present my best self. So hopefully, you know, not everyone has the same mindset or opinion on that matter.

But I always try and, you know, be hygienic and respectful everywhere I go.

Christian Ashley: 00:33:14

Yeah, it's not like those are absolutes, but. But you can make judgment calls based on those things.

If someone is showing up to a job interview and they haven't bathed in two weeks and they're wearing tattered clothing, that probably means that depending on where you're working at, you might not want them there. Or maybe it's a place where you're giving them an opportunity to work because of the situation that they're in.

I'm not expecting a Fortune 500 company to do that. Versus, hey, we, here's a little startup business here. We need help. You look like you need help too. Let's work out and help out each other.

That's a huge risk, but it's one you could take in that scenario that a Fortune 500 company wouldn't do in the same way.

Speaking of taking chances, we had the characterization of Endeavor himself, our new number one hero, as we found out before through Todoroki's backstory, had beat him as a kid, beat his mother, cause terrible things. We get a little more into this as we see more about Shoto's brothers and sister. Yeah, just Single sister.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:34:16

Did he hit his wife? Was that ever confirmed?

Christian Ashley: 00:34:19

I think it's brought up. I don't think we're ever shown on screen, but it is heavily implied with how he treats her. Baby, basically, is like a. A baby factory.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:34:29

Okay, yeah. Yeah. I mean, definitely there is verbal abuse for sure, but, like, I. I didn't think it.

I don't recall ever, like, feeling like he was physically abusive, unless you count, you know, baby factor to her.

Christian Ashley: 00:34:43

It's never shown on screen as from what I remember, he's definitely physically abusive to the kids and their training and everything.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:34:50

Correct.

Christian Ashley: 00:34:51

And that'll be a huge important part of something else down the way. We actually didn't talk about too much, but that character showed up here in these arcs. Yes, but. Yeah. So how do you think.

How's this handling the story? And do you think that he's. Well, you said it earlier. You think he's worthy of redemption. Why is that?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:35:05

I feel like everyone is worthy, worthy of redemption just because I truly believe that Jesus came for the lost and the broken. And obviously Endeavor is lost and broken.

So for me, even if it's a fictional setting, you know, like, I'm always going to root for someone to have a heart change, and I never even if so Taylor, he laughs at me because he's like, you always root for the underdog. So someone could be a complete villain, but the villain usually has a sad backstory of why they are the way they are. You know what I mean?

And usually I am a firm believer that, well, I know hurt people hurt people. And so because of that, I'm like, I have such a big, empathetic heart. So some.

Pete, there's been people who've done absolute wrong towards me, and I still want the best for them, but at the same time, I'm also petty. So. So it's.

It's one of those, like, I don't wish ill, but also, you don't have to wish ill on someone, but you don't have to be their best friends either, if that makes sense.

Christian Ashley: 00:36:07

So that makes perfect sense to me.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:36:09

Yeah, you can forgive someone and you can choose not to have them in your life and have healthy boundaries. And so I feel like that's a big thing. And so as Endeavor is seeking atonement, everyone has a choice. Like, you know, I'm trying.

I don't want to give too far away, but he is making the change. And so.

So he can do whatever he can do to try and, like, make it right on his end, but that's his kids and wife's choice if they want to forgive them or not. You know, and so. But here's the thing. If they. If they decide not to forgive them, that doesn't mean he's unredeemable. You know what I mean?

Because you have to hold yourself accountable to your action. You have to turn over a new leaf. So whether. And you're not doing it to be forgiving. You're doing it because it's the right thing to do, you know?

So, for example, like, if. If someone did wrong to me. Well, if I did wrong to someone else and I apologize and they don't accept my apology, that's. That's their choice.

Just because I want to turn over a new leaf doesn't mean they have to forgive what the misconduct that I did to them. So I have a choice to, like, acknowledge I did bad, and I want to be a better person.

And so they get to choose whether they want to forgive me or not.

Christian Ashley: 00:37:22

And that's basically what a Natsu endeavors one of his older sons does. Like, no, I'm not forgiving you. You crazy. You remember what you did to me?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:37:31

And then, of course, you have the daughter. Because usually, you know, daughters want to be close, you know, psychologically to their dad. Yep. And she wants to. She wants to have a happy family.

And so everyone is entitled to their own choice. So I do get sad. I'm like, come on, Natsu. But you can't, you know, undo all the years of hurt.

Like, Natsu has to come to a place where he forgives his father. And it could take a while or it could, you know, never happen. And so I think Endeavor does a.

A good job of accepting his children's, like, pretty much their results of it, you know, like, he is seeking atonement, and he understands that he may not be forgiven by his kids. He's hopeful, but he. He's not saying, I'm a better person. Forgive me now. Because then I'm like, okay, no, sir. You didn't really change.

Christian Ashley: 00:38:19

Yeah. And they're not just worried about themselves, too.

They're also concerned because I think it's named in this arc where there's his son Toya died as a result of, you know, him trying to bring his quirk out and making a new child, which is why he, you know, married his wife, Rey, because he figured her Ice Quirk and his Fire Quirk would cancel each other out and their children would come out fine. But spoilers. They never found the body. But there's a lot of angst that comes from that. Like a child was lost as a result of this.

But yeah, as you were talking, I was just happen to think of my dad. Both of my parents are very forgiving people in different ways. But my dad is way more empathetic than people would expect of someone like him.

He comes off, you think he's a very angry person, but he's a lovable guy and he loves people and he loves, forgives people so easily. He's willing to see the best in people.

In fact, one of the assistant coaches he worked with once said, you know, tip, no, Satan himself came into that door right now. He'd say, oh, he's a good dude. He's a good dude. He made some mistakes, but he's a good dude.

Because like obviously playing it up for laughs because that's just my dad. It's like, let me forgive this person. They screwed up then. That doesn't mean he's a pushover.

Doesn't mean he's going to be like, okay, let's just get back in here. I forgive you completely and I'm going to forget everything you've done.

Which by the way, is not a biblical principle like some people like to imagine it is. But no, it's like we are called to forgive. That does not mean we forget. That does not mean we ignore.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:39:53

Like, just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you ignore everything either.

Christian Ashley: 00:39:56

I think a huge part of this is the, the premise of trust but verify. Someone comes to me for forgiveness because of something they did to me or something they did to someone else. I'm forgiving them.

But I'm also going to remember, okay, they did this, they can do it again. I don't hold it over them. I don't start a witch hunt or anything, but I remember, you know, they stole from me.

I probably shouldn't leave things lying around while they're around, you know, or they said this behind my back.

I made her make sure that they're not saying it again because if that happens and they obviously haven't learned from the last time and they just want things to go back to normal instead of actually wanting forgiveness. And endeavor is someone who actually wants forgiveness. He knows he screwed up immensely and he knows it's not going to be easy to get there.

So that's why I really appreciate what Horikoshi does with his character. Because that's a hard call to make to realize that you're the bad guy.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:40:46

And then. Do we know? I can't remember. Does like so he starts realizing what he does.

Was there like an actual turning point that a cause of event where he realized it. I think he kind of like saw it a little bit at the when him and all might talked in the hallway for a second. Right.

Christian Ashley: 00:41:07

Like talking with Hawks and realizing that, hey, like, being the number one hero comes with a lot of responsibility. And I'm someone who screwed up my responsibility immensely. I could probably do something about that and start making amends.

Like, this means something. So let me try and, you know, fix what I can.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:41:26

I can't imagine having the weight of responsibility of being like a big old hero, everyone watching you.

Christian Ashley: 00:41:33

Yeah, that's. That's a lot. But I'm glad there are people out there who do.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:41:37

Right. If I had powers, I would be like the best accountant or something. Like, I don't want to be a hero. Like, let me be a firefighter or something.

Like, I would want a civilian hero job. Not like the hero.

Christian Ashley: 00:41:47

Yeah, no, that's fair. I'd like to be a vigilante. Day one, depending on the power set.

All right, so moving over to, you know, the training, joint training arc, a major criticism of it is that it slows the story down too much and focuses on fights that don't matter. We kind of talked a little bit on this. You have anything you want to add to that idea?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:42:04

Nope. Just agree. Agree. I zoned out. I didn't care enough.

Christian Ashley: 00:42:08

Yes, I'll agree as well. Like, as entertaining as parts of it are, reading this week to week was a slog and there was some cool fights happening, some cool art.

I mean, we get a great reveal of, you know, you know, Deku finding the other powers of all for one. Excuse me, one for all. I keep making that mistake. English is hard.

It is, but it comes at the cost of, you know, slow pacing and characters I couldn't care less about. So is it the most engaging part of my hero academia? Absolutely not.

It's probably the one I'm going to rank lowest out of all everything that came before, but it's still worth something. Things do still happen that if they didn't happen here, would affect the story to come.

So, yeah, I think most of the complaints come from people who are having to read it it week by week, which I definitely understand. I know some people in anime were coming up made similar complaints, but it was way better because they got multiple chapters in an episode.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:43:06

Right. Well, and then that way, if you wait like me for the English dub, you could cook dinner or something while it plays in the Background.

Christian Ashley: 00:43:13

Yeah.

So speaking of something mentioned earlier, we have the new fact now that Izuku can use other quirks from four of their users of One for All, which kind of becomes a little bit of a MacGuffin in the series. Kind of a quest of him figuring out who these people are and what they can do so that he can unlock their quirks.

And the quirky unlocks here in the battle is Black Whip, used by one of the former users of One for All. I think his name is Banjo.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:43:38

But it's not the. It's not like the most recent one, though, in the Shadows. It's like, way back there, which just raises questions of why that one.

Christian Ashley: 00:43:49

So, like, how do you think about how this revelation was handled in the story? And do you think it was executed?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:43:53

Well, I mean, they were confused, which made sense because it's something new. But I'm like, you talking about the two people who are alive had no idea about this. So, like, the Gran Torino had no idea.

Christian Ashley: 00:44:07

Well, that's because it never came out like this before. It's only ever been the super strength and enhanced abilities. It's not the other quirks.

Izuku's the first person to bring the other quirks into the equation.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:44:18

And then, like, you know, just a lot of questions. Is it because he was quirkless? Maybe he, like, he just had, you know, stronger willpower. So a lot of questions at this point, not a lot of answers.

But like I said, I'm just like, great. He's going to be unstoppable. Boo. No one likes that. Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:44:36

And that was a lot of people's initial reactions be like, ugh. You mean he's getting more quirks? He's going to be that much more overpowered. One for all is already so overpowered. But trust the system.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:44:46

He still hasn't even, like, mastered his other One for All. Like, what the heck?

Christian Ashley: 00:44:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Trust the system. We're going to learn more about the quirks and other arcs, and they're not as OP as you're expecting.

This isn't some isekai where he shows up first day and he's got cheat abilities and he can kill everyone he wants and get all the girls. He's going to have to earn what he gets along the way. And I appreciate that immensely. But, yeah, it was one of those.

As I was reading it, it's like, no. No way. And then it happens.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:45:15

I was like, we have other things to do besides adding new quirks. Okay. Like, this is a whole list of Things we have to do. Like, why are you doing this to us?

Christian Ashley: 00:45:23

Do you have anything else you'd like to add before we start wrapping things up?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:45:27

No, no. I mean, if you've guys made it this far, keep on watching it. It slowed down a little bit, but it will pick back up. Maybe.

Maybe I will be inspired too, because I bet you I'm on the next episode and we getting. We're getting close to what I've already watched, so I should probably pick it back up.

Christian Ashley: 00:45:44

There you go. A stellar recommendation there. Yeah. So, guys, for our Patreon and Captate supporters, we have a special B.O.

we're going to be asking each other if we had to trade one hero from Class 1A to Class 1. Excuse me, Class 1B and vice versa. But also without making that person Mineta the easy answer to the question, you.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:46:06

Know, we always hate on Minetta, which.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:09

Two would we swap and why? So if you're interested in that, you want to throw a little extra money our way to hear these bonus questions. We do.

You can join us on Patreon or get a little extra money to captivate. But as far as rating reviewing goes, best answer.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:46:22

So you guys better sign up. Up.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:24

I'm ready to hear it. Raving for these arcs, both arcs individually, what do you give them out of 10?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:46:30

I would say a six, because honestly, I didn't remember them until we started talking about them.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:35

Okay, six for both of them, six.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:46:38

For the training together, seven for the other one.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:42

Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna give the pro Hero arc an 8. I think it's really great in establishing Endeavor's character. Now introducing us to Hawks.

And like a new threat with the NOMU does a really good job there. You know, some total rookie family shenanigans. It's fun, but as far as the joint, you know, training art goes, it's like a four. I'm.

I'm so ready with it to be done. There's some cool things that happen inside of it, but it's not enough to keep me entertained the entire time.

So at the end of the day, I'm just ready to move on with my life. So do you have any recommendations like to offer the audience?

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:47:20

What are we going to recommend?

I guess if you do want to see someone who gets these crazy cheat skills and just dominate the whole life like we talked about not liking, you can watch solo leveling because that's exactly what happens.

Christian Ashley: 00:47:35

I'd say don't let TJ hear that, but he doesn't listen to these episodes. He got very upset when I gave the whole series A 7 out of 10 because of solo leveling.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:47:43

Oh, this series is solo leveling.

Christian Ashley: 00:47:45

Series that's solo leveling, which I read the whole thing, which is kind of.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:47:49

Like, all right, he's gonna just be a bad booty now. Let's just kill everything, son.

Christian Ashley: 00:47:54

King Wu is the only person who matters in a series. And that's it.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:47:58

Yep. So I'm like, oh, I wonder how this will end. Oh, he's gonna defeat the boss. Shocker. So, yeah, you can go watch that. I guess it is fun.

Christian Ashley: 00:48:08

Don't hear us say, like, we hate the show or anything.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:48:10

No, it's quite entertaining. It's good. He's going to win.

Christian Ashley: 00:48:14

Yeah, it. It's not exactly Shakespearean at any point in time.

Elizabeth Clyde: 00:48:19

Yeah. But go watch it. There's some twists and stuff you're not going to see coming.

Christian Ashley: 00:48:22

Yeah, I'm going to recommend another podcast. A huge snafu to do on a podcast. Recommend another podcast. But 372 pages. We'll never get back.

on of Mystery Science Theater: 3000

Just, like editorializing in a good way and judging the books in a good way of, like, giving pointers to how they could be better. It's such a fun time, guys. You really can't go wrong with that. 372 pages. We'll never get back. So, guys, thank you for all you do. Please get a chance.

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