REVIEW: The Sports Festival Arc

Momo, Ashido and Tooru. Loving the tiny
details in this picture

I can't think of a name for this arc than that since using tournament is too common. Most mangas have tournaments to be able to introduce new characters, potential rivals, showcase the cast's power, etc. Yes, Boku no Hero Academia has a tournament arc in the form of the sports festival.

Since I created this blog when the tournament is about to end, I feel that I had to discuss a lot in this post especially  the things that I did not had the chance to tackle in this blog.

Yuuei holds a Sports Festival annually where students from all levels will participate. Students from the departments of Heroics, General Education and Support will compete in the festival. Consider it as a Junior Olympics because everyone is looking forward to it. Students will be able to show their fighting skills that might attract scouts and professional heroes.

Class 1A is the center of attention here since it was huge news that they came face-to-face with real villains.

The games consistent of a race where everyone has to cross to the finish line to be able to qualify for the next round. Midoriya came first, then Todoroki, Bakugou was in third place.

Random panels from the Human
Cavalry Battle

After that came the Human Cavalry Battle where the qualified students will team up and create a warhorse consisting of themselves. Each will have a respective point that reflected their rank in the race, Midoriya was given ten million points (which was a bit of an overkill if you ask me). The accumulated points of the group will be then put in a headband and the rider will have to be the one who will wear it.

Moments I liked during the Human Cavalry Battle:

Iida refusing to join Midoriya's team and challenging him.

Tokoyami finally having the screen time he deserves and Dark Shadow making an appearance.

Bakugou's headband stolen by Monoma from Class 1B. I totally hated Monoma's smug face. He's similar to Bakugou who looks down on others. Bakugou insults people and trashtalk them while Monoma insults and provokes people in a calm demeanor which I totally hate. Therefore,

Monoma being overtaken by Bakugou was a winner for me. I can't believe I rooted for Bakugou but I hate Monoma more.

Shinsou appearing as mysterious as ever which only added to his charm.

Dark Shadow's weakness and Iida's recipro-burst (and its weakness) was revealed in this event.

New characters introduced who, I personally think will have a
huge role in the chapters and arcs to come.

The teams formed during this game were totally unexpected. I expected Iida to team up with Midoriya and Uraraka but he chose to be in Todoroki;s group. Bakugou teamed up with Kirishima since someone needs to be able to withstand the recoil of his explosions.

It was an intense game and several interesting characters from class 1B were introduced.

However, the team that won the tournament was team Todoroki who got Midoriya's headband. Bakugou's team, team Midoriya, team Shinsou (from General Education Department) and team Tetsutetsu (from Department of Heroics class 1B) qualified for the next event.

As expected, the proceeding event was a tournament. Midoriya my boy and our main character competed against Shinsou who has brainwash quirk. Fortunately, Midoriya got out of his mind control and was able to win the match. However, Midoriya lost to Todoroki in the quarter finals. Long story short, Bakugou win the overall competition with ashameful victory and will advance to compete in the all-grade round-robin.

Most Memorable Moments:

Midoriya being challenged by Todoroki and Iida - What I find particularly amusing is that Todoroki and Midoriya shared similar lines "I'm going to beat you."

Uraraka and Bakugou's match - Respect for Uraraka being able to hold her own against the monster Bakugou. I knew she won't win against her opponent but this match proves she is not the typical sunny-talkative-female but is gearing up to be one of the important character in terms of powerful and versatile abilities. This match is also memorable since Bakugou actually acknowledge her as an opponent by not holding back because she's a girl. Most memorable would be Bakugou actually shouting her name, which by Bakugou's standards, is respectful.

Kirishima and Tetsu4's match - they're both my favorite characters. I enjoyed watching them both trying their hardest (no pun intended) to win against each other. Person who can withstand the opponent's blows? Both collapsed at the same time, woke up at the same time. The match was decided by armwrestling (of all things) which was won by Kirishima. But he acknowledged the manliness of Tetsu4 during their match.

Todoroki's past - he told Midoriya how he got his Zuko-scar and why he never want  to use his fire side in combat. Todoroki's story is the one with the real drama in this manga. It is really tragic. His father only wanted children so he can create a thing to surpass All Might. After Shouto came with a double element as quirk, Endeavor was determined to train him to become a hero to defeat All Might. Shouto blamed Endeavor for what happened to his mom and vowed never to use his fire side.

Todoroki and Midoriya's match - it is memorable since Todoroki finally used his fire side and defeated Midoriya in the process.

Bakugou and Todoroki's match - Although like Midoriya, Bakugou challenged Todoroki to fight him with all his strength, meaning both his ice and fire side. However, Todoroki was confused about using it again. He wants to use his ice for his mom and refuses to use his fire side as a disavowal from his father. Though he did unleashed fire, he suppressed it thus receiving the full impact of Bakugou's attack and being swept out of bounds. It was a disappointing match for me and that makes it memorable. Todoroki, I hope your visit to your mom settles your personal issues.

Midoriya's memorable line - Of all things that happened in this arc, this has got to be my most favorite. Midoriya, having a wrecked arm managed to challenge Todoroki to give his all. He really raises  a nice point here, everyone's trying their best and here you are declaring you will win using only half your power. How appropriatley insulting. Wow, what a provocation. Because of that Midoriya my boy, you earn the most badass dialogue so far.

I personally like this arc because it is not too lengthy. All fights comprised of only a few chapters. This might be questionable but it worked because every panel mattered and executed perfectly. It deviates from the normal stuff we see where each fight can run up to 20+ chapters and sometimes three chapters were completely uneccessary to the fight.

That's another merit this arc has, every chapter is packed. It has fun moments, drama and action. Where others focus on one emotion per chapter, BnHA utilizes different emotions in quick succession that surprisingly works for us readers.

Midoriya expressing his desire to become a hero like All Might

Though we did not get to see a fight where a seemingly lesser quirk win against a powerful one, this arc informed us about the weaknesses and limitations each quirk has which are also important, Horikoshi might be saving a smart-fight in the future. I honestly think that Momo's creation quirk, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow and Shinsou's mind-control are very powerful ones. They had to improve in their combat skills and they will be epic in the future.

This arc also established the appearance of another powerful villain who caused Iida's brother harm. I do not have any idea what Ingenium's condition is now but what took place will have a huge impact on Iida.

The Sports Festival revealed the dreams and aspirations of the characters' commitment on wanting to become heroes.

Revelations are also a prime factor for me loving this arc. All Might revealed being quirkless (I predicted this since I haven't seen him use any supernatural power just brute strength) and Todoroki's past and the kind of relationship he had with Endeavor was shown. We also got to see him trying to fix his personal problem with his mom.

Ultimately, this arc serves as a foundation for the next arc. The characters are on their way to improvement not just in perspective but in strength too. The phasing might be rapid but I really like how it's going until now. I cant wait for the proceeding chapter and I hope it eclipse this arc,