A Young Woman's Declaration is the one hundred and thirty-seventh episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the twenty-fourth episode of the sixth season.
Summary#
Before Class 1-A left to bring Izuku back to U.A., Tenya was the one to suggest that the class fight alongside him outside to Nezu, as he wanted to be mindful of how the evacuees sheltering in the school might feel about their missing classmate showing up.
Nezu assures the student that him agreeing with their mission wasn't based on emotion, and that Izuku would be safer inside the school's state-of-the-art defenses, which are on the same level as Tartarus. Momo refutes this by saying that Tomura could easily break into the school and harm them, as he successfully raided Tartarus, and already broke into the school shortly before the U.S.J. Incident when he was significantly weaker.
The principal addresses her concerns, as the U.A. Barrier received massive upgrades, including a system where the school grounds have now been assembled on a grid. With its installation, its spaces can transform into box shelters that can freely move above and into an underground network, which is sealed off by layer of reactive protective plates and can transfer their shelters to other hero schools and areas with comparable security, like Shiketsu High School.
Fumikage points out that this can act as a counter to Tomura's Decay, now being able to spread to objects outside of the ones he touches, and when they bring up that his Quirk wasn't able to do that last year, Nezu says he crafted the system as a deterrent to that on a gut feeling. Nezu says overall, it's more than reasonable for Izuku to return to school, even if the civilians won't immediately tolerate or understand the decision, and tells his students to give it their all.
In the present, the mob of civilians against Izuku swells in size and anger, as the U.A. faculty was unable to convince them to peacefully take him in. Thirteen says that while some of them understood their arguments, the media, rumors, and speculation, ruined whatever ground they gained.
Best Jeanist then steps forward and reassures the crowd of their utmost safety, and tells them that their plan to use Izuku as bait to try and track down the Villains and deal with the crisis swiftly hasn't been successful so far. He adds on that while Izuku is indeed a prime target for the Villains, he is one of their most valuable assets, and keeping him outside any longer would be fatal. While he understands their concerns, Best Jeanists pleads for them to leave Izuku to recover inside the school so he can get back to fighting for them.
While the crowd stays quiet for a bit, a man then accuses the Heroes of once again punishing them for messing up during the Paranormal Liberation War, which riles them up back up. The anger gets so intense that Izuku's Danger Sense activates and begins overstimulating him, and the Heroes are now at a further loss of where to go from here.
Taking the initiative to stop the unease from spiralling out of the control, Ochaco makes her herself weightless with Zero Gravity and grabs Present Mic's megaphone, before she floats to the top of the school and starts speaking through it, as she wishes to fight for seeing everyone smile along with her, as well as look after the Heroes, in this case Izuku, when they're the ones suffering and need to be protected.
Ochaco tells the civilians that Izuku has a special power, and that it was her and the rest of her class' decision to bring him back to school, despite him leaving in order to keep them safe and not cause any trouble. She tells them to take a hard look at his decrepit state and the fact that he can be attacked at any time, and assures that Izuku wants to fix their current situation more than anyone.
One of the civilians takes her statement in bad faith and assumes Ochaco wants them to be injured and covered in filth, and the girl says that they, like Izuku, are the only ones subjected to that, and they deserve the time to recuperate from that.
Ochaco then pleads for them to let Izuku take care of himself and prepare for the massive fight he has ahead of him, as even though he has a massive burden being a user of One For All, he's still just a high school student with a lot to learn. She asks once more with tears in her eyes to let him safely return, as Izuku breaks down at her speech and begins kneeling on the ground and bawling.
Kota and the heteromorph woman Izuku rescued rush in from the crowd with tears in their eyes to comfort the boy, as Tenya stops Minoru from doing the same, saying their class shouldn't be the one to go to him right now. Kota apologizes for not going to help Izuku sooner since he was too afraid to move, but was motivated by Ochaco to rush in and help. The woman, who was accepted by U.A. after being turned down by other shelters for being a heteromorph, is glad to see him again after she helped him.
The crowd slowly begins to understand Izuku's situation and the Heroes' stance on letting him stay, with it being highlighted by a man with star-shaped growths on his head. He tells the crowd to hear them out, as now that the flashy varnish of Heroes has been stripped away, it's more apparent that they're still people just like them, and things can't go back to the way they were if they start pushing away the remaining Heroes that are fighting for them. One of Izuku's detractors from earlier asks him if things will go back to normal eventually after he recovers, and the boy promises he and the others will make sure of that, because everyone else is backing him.
Endeavor, Hawks, and Shoto, walk inside the barrier to see the students, teachers, and civilians interacting peacefully. The No. 1 Hero says that they just made Izuku suffer without any progress, but Hawks believes otherwise. Like One For All, a Quirk built upon power crystallizing through connections, All Might and the students of Class 1-A were able to connect with Izuku, and use their bonds to make the civilians calm down and connect with the boy as well. He says that is a glimpse of the future he wants: one where everyone looks out for each other, and as a result, Heroes have too much time on their hands.
Nezu then phones Shota, who's recovered from his injuries and now wears an eyepatch and a prosthetic foot, telling him his class succeeded in their mission. He then asks about Kurogiri, who was transported to Central Hospital for further testing, and the teacher says that there's no progress despite him trying to talk to the Villain every day. Both also discuss the development of countermeasures they made for Himiko, and the staff has determined the mechanics of her Transform in relation to her blood intake, and confirmed that none of the evacuees are her in disguise after being isolated. U.A. is still their impenetrable stronghold, and Shota says now is the time to uphold that and deal with the Villains again.
As the Heroes settle down on the inside, All Might leaves to scout for any anti-Hero groups that still refuse to evacuate. As he drives down a highway, he is spotted by Stain from a nearby building, as he stares at the former Symbol of Peace's vehicle with an intense look in his eyes.
Characters In Order of Appearance#
Briareos Gyges Recovery Girl Midnight Tomura Shigaraki Nomu (U.S.J.) Sickle Claw Inasa Yoarashi Nagamasa Mora Seiji Shishikura Himiko Toga Uravity Deku Cellophane Ectoplasm Cementoss Nezu Grape Juice Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight Ingenium Inko Midoriya Mitsuki Bakugo Kota Izumi Tomoko Shiretoko Eri Neito Monoma Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Kinoko Komori Yui Kodai Thirteen Red Riot Froppy Present Mic Best Jeanist Sugarman Tentacole Anima Hawks Endeavor Shoto Gigantomachia Chargebolt Earphone Jack Tsukuyomi Ordinary Woman Pinky Creati Overhaul Eel Boy Shino Sosaki Invisible Girl Can't Stop Twinkling Tailman All Might Dabi Eraser Head Kurogiri Mirko Kyudai Garaki Johnny Oboro Shirakumo Stain
Quirks#
- Fiber Master
- Zero Gravity
- Overhaul
- One For All (Mentioned)
- Rabbit
- Transform
Locations#
- U.A. High School
- Principal's Office
- Tartarus
- Shiketsu High School (Mentioned)
- Jaku City
- Jaku General Hospital
- Shie Hassaikai Compound
- Central Hospital
BGM#
- One For All vs. All For One
- A VS B
- Izuku's Crisis
- Hero's Shadow
- You Can Become a Hero
- I want to save that little boy
- Successor
- Serious Shiver
- Surprise Attack of the Villain
Anime & Manga Differences#
- The anime slightly extends Ochaco's flashbacks while she's giving her speech.
- The Ordinary Woman was cut to the right of the manga panel with everyone helping Izuku, but is fully viewed in the anime version of the same scene.
- All Might is shown telling Ectoplasm about looking for other civilians outside of U.A. in the anime, while in the manga it is voiceover while he is in the car.
- The anime includes a shot of Stain stalking All Might while he is driving.