The Story of How Momo Could Not Predict An OP Quirk || My Hero Academia S5 EP 6 Critical Review
68My hero Academia season 5 episode 6- I love episodes like this.
I LOVE when episodes come in with questionable choices and characters are saying things that can be proven incorrect. I definitely love when there's not good symmetry due to a lack of screentime.
Positives:
Kendo showed how predicatble Momo was.
Momo showed how well she understood her own capabilities
Momo was shown not accounting for all possible unexpected circumstances.
Invisible Girl got to do something before Momo let her down
Shemage's introduction and quirk was great!
Manga's quirk introduction was great!
Kendo VS Momo was good- further showing Momo can think under impact.
Negatives
The episode engages in the narrative technique I call, “Loser’s conciliation prize.”
It’s pretty much the trope where you have a character lose but then have something said that makes you hopeful for the character. In this the case the author is saying “Oh hey, guys, Momo might have lost but look at how she planned ahead! She’ll be a good leader in the future, get excited for that.”
The way this shows up in other series is for example, a character loses to an enemy but then the enemy says something like, “you may have lost, but you’re the first person to draw blood/ leave a scar, take pride in that.”
It’s ultimately a trope to say that a character’s efforts weren’t wasted and to save their pride, while also saying they're not a lost cause.
In this case, the trope itself is fine, it serves a purpose, but is it really highlighting something positive for Momo or is it executed clumsily?
The simple question is, what makes Kendo’s planning ahead inferior to Momo’s who she(Kendo) constantly put on reaction? Why does Kendo not get praised for actually gauging her opponent’s abilities as they plan ahead. (Probably due to limited screentime and pacing) Shemage had to use a secret technique, but the value here is that they STILL had a secret technique they could use.
Kendo seems to have a much better understanding and tolerances for Class 1A’s quirks and capabilities whereas Momo fails twice- on gauging shemage’s and Kendo’s capabilities.
So, in a field of life and death, what does it matter looking ahead, if your plan isn’t consistent with reality?
That said, Momo DID show admirable traits. Specifically when she KNEW she wasn’t in a good match-up as much as Shoto would like to say otherwise. Momo’s ability to come up with something quickly after gauging the mismatch is actually a skill that will be worthwhile on the field. But we don’t get people talking about that—threat appraisal. Instead of applauding her adaptability and judgment, they focus on foresight- a field where Kendo objectively surpassed her in. Conversely, Kendo did not do well with adapting to the situation, instead being better on foresight.
Further- unfair accountability. The episode criticizes Vlad for biased commentary. But where's the praising for Class 1B actually ? Why are teachers not speaking about what Kendo did right? Why does Shoto get to suggest that Class 1B misjudged Momo, but no one (Tetsutetsu) points out how it was actually Shoto that misjudged Class 1B and Kendo especially. The episode doesn't show, for example, Shoto reflecting on the fact HE was wrong in his estimation. Instead, his last comment is "Oops, hope Momo doesn't get down."
Honestly, the bad from above comes from limited screentime. But it looks tacky and its unfair to 1B.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
If you want to join up as a patron and support the channels:
https://www.patreon.com/tripLLL
Or if you just want to buy me a coffee, check out:
https://ko-fi.com/triplll
Here’s where you can find me:
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/U88UhVM
Check out the channel? Check out the channel:
https://goo.gl/GSwTLO
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Tripl_Tweet