Midoriya and Bakugo fall into a groove where they’ve grown accustomed to “chasing after Endeavor” and viewing each of his continual accomplishments as benchmarks for themselves. It’s a constructive development that builds off of the duo’s time in Endeavor’s Hero Agency and how they’re being shown both sides of this conflicted hero’s life. This episode doesn’t hide that it’s a showcase for Shoto and the rest of his family, but Midoriya and Bakugo are still in fine form. Fuyumi, Shoto’s older sister, is also extremely precious and needs to be kept safe at all costs. “The Hellish Todoroki Family” doesn’t disappoint in this area and that’s a lot of predictable behavior.īakugo’s hair-trigger temper over every little detail and piece of intimacy that’s offered towards him is satisfying, but so is Midoriya’s overly analytical breakdown of the simple dinner that’s presented in front of him. This plot hits even harder when innocent Midoriya and belligerent Bakugo are added to the equation, almost like two contrasting audience surrogates. There’s endless promise in a My Hero Academia episode that allows the Todoroki family to ricochet off each other and allow years of pent-up hostility to come to the surface. The anime is able to confront many of these background issues head-on and as the episode’s title teases, “The Hellish Todoroki Family” is far from a glimpse into a picture perfect family.īack in the days when three-episode DVD packages would be released, “The Hellish Todoroki Family” would be bundled with “Shoto Todoroki: Origin” and “His Start,” as this episode very much feels like a complimentary response to those other installments. There’s a lot of potential behind any episode of My Hero Academia that largely just spends time with a character’s family in a bottle episode-like structure, but it’s by far the most appealing with the Todoroki clan. The Todoroki family has improved in several regards, but Endeavor’s relationship is far from healthy. Everything that Midoriya, Uraraka, or Iida do all boil down to their family in one way or another, but Shoto Todoroki is a prominent exception where his family and the dysfunctional dynamic that’s festered over the years is a crucial part of his character. I know the reason why so well that it hurts.”įamily has always been a major component of My Hero Academiaand a driving force for many characters, albeit in many different capacities. This My Hero Academia review contains spoilers.