After the filler first episode of My Hero Academia Season Five, I’m sure many people were excited to see what the outcome would be of Dabi’s first meeting with Endeavor.
Well, we we got the answer to that in the second episode, “Vestiges”, directed by Shōji Ikeno, and I have to say that I’m quite impressed with how they managed to temper expectations but still make it satisfying.
Before seeing the end of Season Four, I was sure that Dabi’s arrival was going to be the big cliffhanger to get viewers excited for Season Five.
However, instead the episode cut right before his arrival, instead leaving it for the end of last week’s episode.
Not only this but they also showed that the fight would not end too badly for Endeavor, given that they showed him alive in the hostpital, before cutting to the cliffhanger of Hawks meeting with Dabi.
This all allowed viewers to temper their expectations, going in not expecting a big fight, which would leave them satisfied with the outcome, instead of disappointed when they didn’t get what could have been hyped up for ratings.
In any case, we get to see Dabi and Endeavor’s first meeting in the opening of “Vestiges” with the villain confronting the wounded hero, only to be interrupted by the bunny hero Mirko.
This forces Dabi to retreat using the vomit sludge that was seen all the way back in Season Three.
He does get one last jab in at Endeavor, though, telling him not to die on him and calling him by his full name.
Yeah, dramatically calling people by their full names is kind of Dabi’s thing.
He did it with Shoto and now he’s doing it with Endeavor.
After this brief confrontation, we get the moment teased in last week’s cliffhanger, Hawks meeting with Dabi.
Turns out that Hawks is actually a double agent working under the orders of the Hero Commission, acting like he is on the side of the League of Villains to get more intel on them.
Dabi is still naturally suspicious of Hawks so refuses to allow him to meet Shigaraki.
As the he departs, Dabi recalls the Pro-Hero Snatch, who he murdered during the Overhaul Arc, before saying that he thought so much about those left behind that it drove him insane.
He also appears to be crying blood when he says this.
Quite curious.
Cutting back to Endeavor, we get a family meeting fueled by tension as he begins what will undoubtedly be a slow process in making amends with his children for what he did to them.
Fuyumi seems entirely willingly to forgive her father but Shoto and especially Natsuo are less certain.
Shoto gets a good dig in when he brings up Endeavor’s scar, forcing his father to look at his own son’s scar, which he inadvertantly gave him through pushing Rei into a mental breakdown.
Natsuo is far more uprfront in his anger, calling Endeavor out for neglecting them and keeping them all seperated from Shoto.
Of all the Todoroki siblings, Natsuo will definitley be the least likely to ever forgive their father.
Endeavor has certainly changed for the better, though, refusing to ask for forgiveness because he only wants to atone for all he has done.
The episode then switches perspectives from our slowly reforming hero to the up-and-coming hero Deku, who experiences the titular vestiges of One For All in a dream.
In this dream, he experiences what lead to the creation of the One For All Quirk.
As All For One rose to power, removing Quriks from those who saw it as a curse and gifting them to those who had none, his younger brother stood against him.
Wanting to bend his brother to his will as well, All For One forced a Quirk on him, unintentionally creating his arch nemesis, One For All.
How ironic.
The scene where One For All is created is especially good, as the first holder uses an argument about a comic book they both read where a demon king rises to undermine All For One’s point of view.
The first holder notes how All For One only read to volume three and, at the end of the story, a hero saves the day because the bad guy never wins.
Before the dream ends, the first user of One For All finally talks with Deku, informing him that they are past the singularity point, causing Deku to wake up and shatter his window, which was the cliffhanger for the post credits scene of Season Four.
So, now we’ve finally caught up on all the events teased in the Season Four finale and are left with more questions, like Dabi’s motives and the supposed singularity point the first holder mentions.
It’ll be interesting to see how anime only viewers react to what these answers are, both in this season and further down the line.
Overall, “Vestiges” is a solid episode of My Hero Academia that will build nicely into the events of the next story arc.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 