This article is part of a directory: Spring 2024 Anime – Episode Reviews, Lore Discussions, & Recommendations

Summary

Episode 142 of My Hero Academia delves into Aoyama's internal conflict and highlights the importance of connection in facing hardships.
The episode showcases how Aoyama's guilt affects him and how his friends refuse to give up on him, leading to a heartwarming message.
While the episode starts and ends strong, the middle lags with excessive visual gags, but sets the stage for future developments in the series.

Title	My Hero Academia Season 7
Director	Naomi Nakayama, Kenji Nagasaki (Chief Director)
Studio	Bones
Episode Air Date	5/25/2024

Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia, Episode 142, "The Story of How We All Became Heroes," now streaming on Crunchyroll.

The newest episode of My Hero Academia rides the emotional highs of the week before with some satisfying character moments that bookend some otherwise passable comic relief. As a result, this week didn't quite ramp up tensions or even go too deeply into the heroes' forthcoming plan, but on the bright side, the show continues to take Aoyama's character in a fascinating direction.

Last week, Aoyama and his family were revealed to have been blackmailed by All for One to provide information to the villains, and that he's been doing this since the series first began. Despite this, Deku and the rest of the class asserted that they weren't giving up on him and even proposed that they should take advantage of his connection to the villains to lead them into a trap.

best my hero academia season bakugo and deku

My Hero Academia: Every Season Ranked – Updated For The Final Season

Every My Hero Academia season ranked from worst to best, updated with the latest episodes and insights for 2025.

Posts 1

By Ritwik Mitra

What To Do With Aoyama

There are two conflicts presented in the aftermath of Aoyama's betrayal. First, there is the matter of the students vs authorities regarding what should be done about Aoyama and if he can be considered innocent under the circumstances. Second, and far more importantly, there is the matter of whether Aoyama is in the proper state of mind to cooperate, even if he were allowed to walk free again, and that rests far more on him alone.

Both are compelling discussions that could have easily turned into an episode-long debate isolated to a single room, but the former conflict is somewhat eschewed at the arrival of Aizawa. As Class 1-A's homeroom teacher, he takes responsibility for not having discerned what was troubling his student and asserts that Aoyama is not to blame for what happened. Instead, a plan is formed, albeit one that neither the audience nor Aoyama and his family are privileged to hear just yet.

The Episode Handles Aoyama's Conflict Well

On the one hand, the lack of information conveyed to the viewer feels a bit more like a hindrance to the dramatic buildup than a tantalizing teaser and this will become even clearer later. On the other hand, though, regardless of Aoyama's innocence in the eyes of the authorities, the heroes don't have any other option than to use him to get to All for One. So the story doesn't waste time asking whether they should follow the students' plan or not.

Instead, the focus is entirely on Aoyama, whose immense guilt and the shock of being discovered have him feeling a despair that leaves him at a standstill. Even the support of his friends doesn't quite help, because what Aoyama really wants isn't to turn the tables on the enemy but rather, to be free; to run away and have nothing to do with this story. But no matter how justified he is to feel that way, he can't run from reality.

A Familiar Sense of Turmoil

While not quite as lengthy or thorough in its exploration of certain themes, Aoyama's struggle resembles that of Shinji Ikari from Evangelion. They are both unfairly put in a difficult position where any suggestion of freedom feels illusory because their cooperation is integral to saving the world, and where even their connections to others only add to the burden. Of course, My Hero Academia's suggested resolution to this conflict is a lot more straightforward than Evangelion's.

Aizawa is honest with Aoyama that there isn't much of a choice at all and that what they're asking of him might be no different from what All for One forced on him. He even warns him that his actions will likely hang over him long after the fight is over. The lesson, then, is that even if he can't shake off his guilt or how miserable he is, his friends still haven't given up on him, and embracing them can make the hardships of the world that much easier to face.

It's a simple message, but one that hits harder coming from Aizawa than any other character because of what he has been through. Even someone as reserved as him understands the importance of connecting with others, hence his small but intimate circle of close friends whom the audience has come to learn about over the seasons. His one-on-one with Aoyama is the highlight of the episode and ends things on a high note.

The Rest of the Episode Underwhelms

Come to think of it, Episode 142 starts and ends on a high note and then kinda drags in the middle. It's not all bad, mind you. There are some funny moments, it's just that My Hero Academia's visual gags can sometimes outstay their welcome and carry over into more serious scenes, thereby taking the viewer out of the moment. On occasion, like with this episode, a character might break the fourth wall and point out that the gag hasn't worn off, but not always, and it doesn't necessarily help.

A slightly bigger issue with the episode is the aforementioned problem with how the story is building anticipation for the upcoming war. Namely, that isn't doing that. The audience doesn't know Aizawa's exact plan for setting up a trap for the villains and what they do learn this week isn't all that specific or even clever. All Might pitches a plan to split up each of the villains and take them down one by one, but that's the long and short of it, and that's usually how fights in this series go anyhow.

Ultimately, My Hero Academia had a slower week this time around, but compared to how the season started, that's not much of a condemnation. It's the calm before the storm and with Aoyama seemingly convinced to help out, the next episode will likely dive deeper into what the heroes have planned. As it stands, the preview already suggests that the heroes and villains will be making their final preparations, so it's only a matter of time before things get ugly.