No Man Is an Island is the one hundred and thirty-eighth episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the twenty-fifth and final episode of the sixth season.
Summary#
During his sweep to look for anti-Hero groups that need evacuating, All Might returns to Ground Zero of Kamino Ward, following Class 1-A's success in convincing Izuku to return back to U.A. The man picks up his successor's ruined face mask and the remains of his cowl, and openly berates himself for being incapable of helping him during his time of need, and being more of a hinderance to everyone else at this point.
He's then cornered by Stain, who brandishes his sword in his face, and tells the man to take back what he just said, as he isn't "All Might". After taking his words as literal misidentification, All Might "confirms" his identity by flexing in and out of his empowered form one last time, as he dryly asks Stain if he's going to kill him.
This only enrages the Villain even more, who inches the blade closer to All Might's throat, and asks why he's "impersonating" the No. 1 Hero on this sacred ground of heroism. All Might once again takes Stain's comment literally, as ever since he's retired, he's been constantly growing further away from being a Hero. He believes the country devolved into ruin after his journey to make the world a better place came to an abrupt end, and the man once again grills himself for not teaching the boy who's taking up his mantle self-care when dealing with it.
Stain then grabs All Might and hides behind a stray chunk of Shoto's ice and tells him to watch his defaced statue. A woman, the last person All Might personally saved before he retired, scales the monument by generating a white, spherical mass out her feet and rips off the sign on its neck reading "I Am Not Here" before cleaning the chest area with a cloth. Stain says that woman goes to that statue every day to scrub out the vandalism inflicted on it by anti-Hero groups in the area, despite how dangerous it is and how much it might inconvenience the shelter she's staying in.
The Villain then grabs All Might's face and says the No. 1 Hero gained everyone's respect by sacrificing himself to save everyone he could with a smile, which has nothing do with his Quirk, and someone with his viewpoint has no right to challenge that. Stain says the woman's actions, and everyone else All Might inspires, is the result of the embers of the man's legacy being passed on to them and being reignited to be stronger than ever. He tells All Might that the passionate fire he lit on should keep being fed and never go out, even in these uncertain times.
Stain's words get through to All Might, as he begins to cry while looking at the woman, who is now whispering encouraging words while continuing to clean the statue. Stain then walks off and tells All Might that if he really is a true Hero, he'll make use of some information he got from Tartarus before escaping. He throws the man a knife with a personal letter and the data disk he stole jammed into it, giving it to the one person he trusts in lieu of his personal cause to work towards a more just world.
Back at the Heights Alliance dorms, Izuku is tossed into the bath and hosed off by his classmates, as the rest of the boys devolve into their friendly banter and try to get their formerly missing peer to relax. After freshening up and heading to the common area, Izuku asks them where Ochaco is, and finds out she went straight to sleep after her big speech.
The boy thanks his classmates for coming to get him and says he's sorry for keeping secrets and causing trouble for them, as Shoto sits down and asks Izuku why he's not resting. Izuku wants to stay up and apologize to All Might for running away from him earlier, who suddenly appears peeking through a window outside as he says that.
All Might tells Class 1-A, that while the information he and the other Heroes have is incomplete, they and everyone else's final battle against the Villains might be coming soon. He says that he'll do what he can to back them up, even with his weak body, as Izuku and Tenya promise that they and the rest of the class will help their teacher protect everyone. Happy with this, All Might leaves to help out the Heroes.
Rikido asks why Endeavor and the other Heroes aren't currently at U.A. Shoto explains that they can't show their faces without just cause, and his father's presence might remind the civilians of the terrible things Dabi did. By that point, Izuku had finally fallen asleep as Shoto gives him a blanket. Then he says even his own presence might invoke those same feelings, and reminds his class that even though they're open to understanding, the evacuees still aren't their allies and can still harbor apprehensions towards them and the Heroes.
The boy wants to keep fighting to change that and make everyone feel at ease, with Kyoka understanding his wishes and likening it to their performance during the School Festival when they wanted to ease the stress of the other students. She then encourages her class to not just take back what they lost, but go beyond and makes things better than before.
Thanks to the information Stain gave All Might, and the interrogations they conducted on Dr. Garaki and the Villains Izuku captured, the Heroes are able to deduce that All For One wants to steal One For All before Tomura's body is completed, which is estimated to be about two months since the breakout from Tartarus, or one month from now.
When going over this information with Naomasa, All Might expresses worry after finding out All For One and Tomura were able to communicate and share their consciousness inside the core of their Quirk via Radio Waves, much like how the vestiges do with One For All. As after the waves they sent out between each other were analyzed, it said Tomura's completion date would be 38 days, meaning he will make his move in three days by this point.
Naomasa says that they need to buy time in order to properly set themselves up to take on the League of Villains, which spurs All Might, Hawks, and Endeavor, to send a request to the United Nations for deployment of foreign Heroes to Japan by tomorrow. The chairs of the organization come at a standstill, as deploying that many Heroes, despite several being fired up to go at a moment's notice, takes tons of paperwork and can cause their own countries to be vulnerable to a takeover by All For One much like Japan.
The representative of the United States nervously admits that their No. 1 Hero, Star and Stripe, already took off to Japan with her fighter pilot squad without a second thought, as she can't ignore a request for help from All Might, her "master" and inspiration.
The next morning, Izuku wakes up from a nightmare about All For One and Tomura, before being settled down and reassured by his classmates that things are okay now and they'll be there for him every step of the way. The boy stands up and looks at all his friends in appreciation, as while their final battle might be closing in, he's not scared now that they're all with him, and together they'll overcome the odds and get their lives back to the way they were.
Characters In Order of Appearance#
All Might Eraser Head Stain Ordinary Woman Kota Izumi Inko Midoriya Moko Tamashi Izuku Midoriya Denki Kaminari Eijiro Kirishima Minoru Mineta Hanta Sero Rikido Sato Mashirao Ojiro Katsuki Bakugo Fumikage Tokoyami Koji Koda Ochaco Uraraka Tenya Ida Toru Hagakure Momo Yaoyorozu Kyoka Jiro Mina Ashido Shoto Todoroki Dabi Tsuyu Asui Tsutsutaka Agoyamato Chikuchi Togeike Mezo Shoji Endeavor Hawks Best Jeanist Dictator Lady Nagant All For One Tomura Shigaraki Naomasa Tsukauchi Sansa Tamakawa Nana Shimura En Daigoro Banjo Hikage Shinomori Third User Second User Yoichi Shigaraki Gigantomachia Spinner Salaam Big Red Dot Star and Stripe Yuga Aoyama
Quirks#
- Unnamed Mass-Generation Quirk
- Blueflame (Fantasy)
- Earphone Jack
- Hellflame
- All For One
- Radio Waves
- One For All
- Float
- Blackwhip
Locations#
- Ground Zero
- U.A. High School
- Heights Alliance
- Tartarus
- Central Hospital
- U.N. Headquarters
BGM#
- Serious Shiver
- Can't face the grief
- Inasa Yoarashi
- Anguish of the Quirkless
- Worthy Rival, Written and Read as "Friend"
- I AM NOT HERE
- Different Ability Liberation Army
- Overwhelming Force
Anime & Manga Differences#
- All Might thinking about his youth is slightly extended in the anime.
- A scene where Izuku wakes up in the dorms after a brief nightmare about Tomura and All For One, greeted by his classmates, is added in the anime.