This My Hero Academia contains spoilers.
My Hero Academia Season 4 Episode 11
“I will become your hero!”
It’s very interesting when the creator of a series starts to fall in love with his new characters to the point that they want to champion them more than the original main character. It happens all the time, especially on shounen series like My Hero Academia that feature a large cast. I’m not saying that’s what happened here with Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia, but there’s no denying that Izuku Midoriya has taken a backseat during many episodes of this season while other heroes get to shine.
Midoriya has also struggled with insecurity issues over how Nighteye believed that Mirio “Lemillion” Togata would be a better inheritor for All Might’s One For All quirk. This episode is a major showcase for Mirio as he perfectly epitomizes what it means to be a hero. Sure, Midoriya kicks the M.C. Escher maze guy into oblivion, but Mirio fearlessly heads into battle not just against Chisaki, but a bunch of the Shie Hassaikai’s most dangerous villains. By the end of “Lemillion,” the biggest feeling that you’re left with is that Mirio should have been the one to inherit All Might’s quirk, after all.
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The majority of this episode delivers on the action, but there’s a sizable flashback to when Chisaki first employs Toga and Twice from the League of Villains into the Shie Hassaikai as the organizations’ lines begin to blur. This parlay doesn’t really cover anything that hasn’t already been revealed or could be inferred, but it provides some more great character development for Twice. His detached mental state is really fantastic and really just makes him feel like Deadpool or The Boys‘ Black Noir. Toga also becomes more twisted as she gets into the vampiric nature of how her quirk functions.
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Toga and Twice have a great chemistry and they’re some of the most entertaining villains to come around in a while, so it’s nice to get to spend some more time with them, especially if they’re about to meet their ends soon. That being said, this hefty glimpse into the past takes a lot of time away from the actual story of the episode. Mirio’s battle against Chisaki flies by and feels quite short as a result. This flashback material would have worked a lot better in the previous episode, especially since Twice and Toga were the focuses of that installment.
Mirio’s encounter with Chisaki is without a doubt some of the best stuff that My Hero Academia has ever done. It ricochets through a heap of emotions as Mirio displays true heroism and only operates with Eri’s safety in mind. It is impossible to watch this episode and not become a die-hard Mirio Togata fan. At this point, I’m even like, “Midioriya who?” All I want is more Mirio. He makes an incredibly strong entrance that’s very emblematic of a hero and would surely make All Might proud. To Mirio’s credit he’s actually able to inflict damage on Chisaki and temporarily snatch Eri away from him.
It’s unclear if Chisaki is just caught by surprise here, but it’s quite humbling to see Mirio hold his own for a minute against him and understand that Overhaul’s physical strength is lacking. Chisaki keeps his cool, but his deep resentment is very palpable. He also continues to psychologically berate Eri and make this innocent kid feel awful.
Mirio does an impressive job dodging Chisaki’s quirk and the tag team effort that’s launched against him, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s overwhelmed. Hari Kurono (aka Chronostasis), Overhaul’s second in command has been introduced before, but this is the first time we get to experience Deidoro Sakaki’s “Sloshed” quirk and it’s easily one of the best and most ridiculous to ever appear in the series.
Deidoro is a weird spin on the “drunken master” trope, only when he binges on alcohol, it’s his opponent that suffers the sickening side effects. This turns Mirio into a stumbling mess and an easy target for Chronostasis. Let’s also be clear here. The audience is aware of these villains’ quirks, but Mirio heads in blind here. It’s devastating to see each of these Hassaikai members try to pull Mirio apart with their various quirks.
The best part of all of this is the circumstances over how Mirio gets shot. He’s still putting up enough of a fight that it’s too risky to aim at him, so what Chronostasis does instead is shoot the bullet at Eri. Mirio is such a selfless person and a true hero that of course he charges in front of the bullet and takes the hit. It’s a brilliant way to take him out and it turns his heroic traits into a weakness. And even after losing his quirk, he still keeps on fighting.
For a minute I was even thinking that Mirio would actually get killed here, but what “Lemillion” does to Mirio is perhaps even worse than death. As far as the series has indicated, there’s no cure for this quirk elimination process, so Mirio is now just a regular person. Honestly, I hope they keep it like this and don’t come up with some lazy cure as it would completely negate the threat of all of this. Even if the solution was something equally morbid like making bullets out of someone that could restore quirks, it’s still better to not go back on way they’ve done here.
Furthermore, an arc that looks at how a hero has to adjust after they’ve lost their quirk and becomes “normal” would be some fascinating subject matter for the series. It’s the sort of thing that could even depress someone so much that they’ve driven to villainy. Another answer to all of this would be if Midoriya decided to transfer his One For All quirk over to Mirio. It would really be the ultimate gesture, and one that’s arguably deserved, but I don’t see the show taking that route (although it wouldn’t be a bad decision for the series finale).
Overhaul has also never revealed the full scope of his plan. It’s obvious that he wants to eliminate the quirks in heroes, but is this just to gain the advantage, or does he want to eliminate quirks entirely? That’s perhaps too lofty of a goal considering how difficult it is to produce the quirk-killing bullets from Eri, but that strangely seems more like Overhaul’s M.O. Chisaki uses such a twisted, obtuse logic at times that I could see him wanting a quirk-less world where people just need to survive on their own merits. He refers to quirks as a “disease” in this episode and how he wants to “fix” people.
“Lemillion” is the best episode of My Hero Academia season 4 and easily one of the top five installments that the series has ever done. In a season that’s been all over the place with its pacing and focus, this episode is a stunning reminder of what it means to be a hero and it makes a strong case for why Mirio is the real MVP.
“Lemillion” concludes with Midoriya making a heroic entrance, but the following episode should be very telling. Midoriya and Chisaki are set to face off, but we’ll see if the heights of that fight and Deku’s courage rival Mirio’s from this entry. The chances of it being better are one in lemillion.
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Daniel Kurland is a published writer, comedian, and critic whose work can be read on Den of Geek, Vulture, and Bloody Disgusting. Daniel knows that the owls are not what they seem, that Psycho II is better than the original, and that Hannibal is the greatest love story ever told. His perma-neurotic thought process can be followed at @DanielKurlansky.