My Hero Academia Season 7 Finally Solved A Major Mystery In The Most Disappointing Way Possible
Years after first mentioning that there was a traitor at U.A., finally, in My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 3 (141 overall), the traitor was revealed. Manga readers have known the identity of the traitor for nearly three years, but to those who only watch the anime, this was a big deal. Which is why it’s a shame that it fell so flat.
The U.A. Traitor Revealed
Following Shigaraki’s battle with Star and Stripe, which significantly wounded the heir to All for One’s power, the scene shifted to Class 1-A on the grounds of U.A., training for My Hero Academia’s final battle. Notably, when Midoryia announces he’s going to bait the villains to get them where the heroes want, all his classmates are around him, sharing their support. Except for one.
Aoyama isn’t with his classmates. Instead, he’s quietly meeting with his parents deep in the forest. In a voice-over with no other characters present, his mother explains how they accepted a quirk from All For One in exchange for acting as his spies.
Sold Their Souls To The Devil
It’s a villain monologue that explains everything and is only done so that Hagakure, Invisible Girl, can hear everything. She alerts Midoryia, and it’s then that he confronts Aoyama and his parents over their treachery. For something once built up as a major secret, which could have serious repercussions, it comes out in an awkward scene that, for story purposes, has no reason to exist except to out the traitor. It’s disappointing but not unexpected, and strangely, it works towards My Hero Academia’s greatest strength.
Villainous Choices Don’t Make You A Villain
Following the revelation that Aoyama has been feeding information to All for One and the League of Villains, his classmates don’t take it well at first. Until Midoryia points out that when Aoyama saved his classmates, even now realizing an earlier gift was a cry for help, and shares his experience with Lady Nagant. It’s an earnest, sweet moment, and Midoryia’s optimism at finding the good in everyone is infectious, and it’s part of what elevates My Hero Academia.
Originally Part Of The Training Camp Arc
For all the problems I have with how the reveal took place, my biggest is that the anime had it all unfold the same way it does in the manga. The My Hero Academia U.A. Traitor arc ran in 2021, and even then, it took place the exact same way, and it was also a letdown. Normally, I’m all for anime following the manga as closely as possible, but this is one of those times when a little deviation could have worked out for the best.
The Final Battle Approaches
If My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi had followed through on his original plan, we would have learned the traitor’s identity back in the Training Camp arc. That would have been better than what we got (twice), which was a bland reveal that only shows how evil All for One is, which, at this point in the story, we already knew. Thankfully, now that this arc is moving ahead, we’re almost at the Final Battle arc, and there are a lot of moments from the manga I can’t wait to see play out in the anime.
