In this modern time of streaming services and binge-watching, it’s hard to imagine that any TV series needs a “jumping-on point” in the same way that, say, Marvel or DC comics do. The situation might be different for Anime and how they are released in Japan, but regardless, recapping and flashbacks ended up crippling what was otherwise a great season premier of My Hero Academia.
After all the chaos of the previous season, starting off with a fun little summer-vacation episode was a great idea, something that was directly lifted from the manga. However, unlike the manga, the episode also served as a recap of the previous events as well as half of the cast’s origins, motivations and character turning points. This really ended up being the downfall of the episode, since it took up an obnoxious amount of time.
Restricted from going on full vacations, everyone is having fun at the school pool during the summer, though the boys are using it for endurance training while the girls play and bask in the sun. The boys got the main spotlight time as they raced each other using their quirks in the pool, while the girls were sort of in the background. This one of the disappointing aspects of the episode, since there wasn’t any real reason to place them in the background.
Even worse is that, even though the boys got more screen time, it wasn’t by much, since the recaps took up a good 15 minutes of the 22 minute episode. Everything from flashbacks to listing off all the student of Class A’s quirks, there were far too many recaps that were as unnecessary as they were invasive.
The dichotomy of the episode served as a great setup, the villains continued to plot while the students have a care-free day, either none-the-wiser or putting it out of their mind to relax if only for just a few hours. But, because of all the recaps, this setup had little breathing room, leaving the villains’ plot feeling rushed and the fun-times feeling too short and lacking the proper time to give both the boys and the girls moments in the spotlight.
“Game Start” wasn’t all bad, there was definitely a lot of fun in the small moments that weren’t dedicated to recapping, but the recaps were just so suffocatingly present that they, ironically, left little room for the episode to flourish as an introduction to the new season. Hopefully, things will get a bit more explosive when the students’ summer training camp begins in the next episode
Check back for our review of the next episode of My Hero Academia’s third season!
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