My Hero Academia: Winners and losers of Episode 86

On the most recent episode of My Hero Academia, we’re treated to a special and wholesome concert-like performance.

There was something rather surreal about My Hero Academia Episode 86. With some notable exceptions, My Hero Academia isn’t exactly what you’d call a piece of pop culture that tackles real-world issues. In that respect, Episode 86 wasn’t any different from any other episodes. However, there was something odd, given everything that’s transpired in the world, about seeing arguably one of the most wholesome episodes in the history of the show this week.

Perhaps that’s the perfect kind of good thing I needed, and I hope others feel the same. Let’s get into it; I wanna be done with this quickly so I can go rewatch the entire season!

Winners

Class 1-A

First, there was Sing Street. Then, there was A Star is Born. Now, that’s right, there’s My Hero Academia delivering some golden vocals and breathtaking concert performances. Is that an exaggeration? Yes, that is exactly what it is, but I will not falter!

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This episode featured a variety of activities taking place including a beauty pageant (we’ll get to that later) but clearly Class 1-A was the epitome of winners. They won over the naysayers and even got Eri to smile and break free of the shadow of sadness that was surrounding her, which I didn’t expect to be as touching as it was.

The star of the show was Jiro, but really this was a nice moment for the entire class to truly come together to create something special. Even Bakugo got in the action in his own way. I just love some wholesome fun every now and then. Plus, something tells me things aren’t going to be all fine and dandy for long.

Studio Bones

Let’s talk about that aforementioned beauty pageant. You see, I’ve been critical about how My Hero Academia, like many anime, has particularly poor sensibilities when it comes to things like, well, being as perverted as possible. So, when this portion of the episode was about a beauty pageant, I was preparing myself for a potentially disastrous moment of uncomfortableness.

But as it turns out, the whole thing was pretty tame! I have no objections! I’m so happy they avoided being ridiculous for once! So, congrats to Studio Bones!

Losers

The dude with the Tristan Taylor haircut

For those who might be confused, I am referring to the Tristan from Yu-Gi-Oh with this. There’s an unnamed kid in this episode that looks particularly cynical about the whole thing. He appears to be ready to criticize and mock Class 1-A’s performance. Instead, by the end of everything, the schmuck can’t help but admit they absolutely killed it and blew everyone away.

Look, part of me thinks this guy deserves to make it into the winner’s section for the episode. After all, who enjoys being proven wrong? Sure, we all say we like hearing both sides and that we’ll own up to our mistakes, but do we really mean that? I don’t know about you guys, but I greatly enjoy the feeling, as a not-smart person, of feeling smart and ahead of everyone—however fleeting of a moment that may be. This fellow should be applauded for at least acknowledging his mistake, but instead, he will not be rewarded because I need a loser for this week and genuinely couldn’t think of anyone else.

https://twitter.com/MHAOfficial/status/1241786720871301120?s=20

My Hero Academia Episode 86 felt, at least partially, like a season finale. It was a true happy ending, and I think some happiness and joy is what we all might need right now. I’m sure the next episode will be more about the serious stuff, but at least for now I can say this second-half of the season has been commendable.

If we got something serious and more action-packed instead of the school festival, it would’ve been exhausting considering the insanity that took place during the Overhaul arc. I don’t want to feel exhausted, you know?

As always, remember that you can tune in every Saturday for new episodes of My Hero Academia on Funimation and Crunchyroll followed by breakdowns here on Hidden Remote.