My Hero Academia is back on our screen, this time with My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16. Let’s see how the story of Season 5 continues, with Uraraka and Asui being the centres of attention this time around.
My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16 – Overview
If you haven’t at least heard of My Hero Academia, I hope that the rock that you’re living under provides plenty of space and sunlight for a healthy living. My Hero Academia, or Boku No Hero Academia if you want to be all proper about it, is one of the most popular anime going on right now. If you were to believe Livechart, it is this season’s most popular anime. All that is for a good reason, the show is fantastic.
My Hero Academia is based on the manga series of the same name by Kouhei Horikoshi, and the anime is produced by Studio Bones, a studio that is counted among the absolute top tier of all anime studios. Studio Bones is also known for working on anime like Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Mob Psycho, so you know that My Hero Academia is in outstanding company. Season 5 is directed by Kenji Nagasaki and Masahiro Mukai. If you want to catch up on our My Hero Academia, you can read our review of Season 5 Episode 15 here.
My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16- Plot and Characters
My Hero Academia is well known for having a massive cast of characters. It also doesn’t tend to ignore any of them, which means that the show chooses to focus on and build up a specific group of characters at a time, not just the main characters. This development can take place over an arc with the main characters involved, or like this episode, the side characters get their own episodes to establish the characters more. This episode involves three of them- Ochaco Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, and Nejire Hado.
This sort of thing can be done well, like in Season 4 when we got to see Bakugo and Todoroki trying to earn their provisional licences by defeating pre-schoolers (long story, don’t ask). That episode, despite being a fork in the narrative, felt like it had stakes. Plot-important details were happening around it, like the explanation of quirk singularity and the meeting of All-Might and Endeavour. My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16 didn’t feel like it had those kinds of stakes or even a real sense of danger.
We can best compare this episode to the other episode where Seal Hero Selkie played a significant role- Season 2 Episode 19 Everyone’s Internships. That episode is very similar to this one; both episodes start with the broader plot point of the season, show a little about all the different characters, then pick a side character to invest the entire episode in. In both episodes, Tsuyu and Selkie play significant roles, with the latest episode adds Season 4 characters Nejire and Ryukyu alongside best girl Ochaco to the mix.
Both episodes also have another thing in common- they both feel like filler episodes despite being manga canon. They both do advance the plot slightly but tell us very little about anything else. If you do not care about these characters, you will flat out not enjoy both of these episodes. Thankfully, that is not the case with me, for I absolutely adore these characters. I will take a sitcom based on just their daily hijinks, but that is neither here nor there. My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16 doesn’t accomplish much outside of what you already knew, but it is still a fun watch.
All this does is increase my doubts about Season 5, but I will not voice them here lest I be forced to eat dirt by the next episode. The show still has 10 episodes to go, and Studio Bones can absolutely address a lot of my complaints by then. We can only wait and watch, and it seems prudent to only complain once the season is over. Rest assured, if I don’t like it, I will complain.
My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16- Art and Music
I don’t have much to say here about My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16. It is still My Hero Academia, so there aren’t any major complaints in the animation and music departments. I will say that the opening and ending themes are really growing on me, and I especially love the visuals in the opening theme. Solid thumbs up.
Verdict
If you enjoy these characters, and My Hero Academia in general, which I do, you will love My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 16. If not, then you won’t. It is as simple as that, really. Deku and gang are back in the next episode, so be sure to tune in for that! I’ll be there, right alongside you.
Watch all episodes of My Hero Academia on Netflix! If you’d like to check out our review of the next episode in the series, click here