You don’t gotta tell me twice, Momo!
— This episode shifts away from Deku for just a tiny bit. Y’see, we gotta pay some attention to the rest of Class 1-A. But don’t you worry, because everything is still about Deku in the end.
— The lead ninja dude is right about tungsten. Its melting point is highest of all the elements, I believe. The more you know…
— In any case, the team of ninjas can neutralize Todoroki with their Quirks in a straight-up fight, but the guy manages to win easily by taking advantage of the environment around them. Something about causing a pink explosion. Needless to say, he didn’t even break a sweat. And just like that, he’s passed the first exam. When your targets light up, it means you can step off the battlefield. Todoroki thus makes his way into the winner’s circle.
— I dunno, I kinda hope he and Bakugo fail the overall thing. I think the fact that they broke off from the rest of the class is kinda dumb and arrogant. But who knows if the story will punish either of them? After all, they’re the four main stars of Class 1-A. Deku, Iida, Bakugo and Todoroki almost always get all of the spotlight. The only time they don’t is when you have those side stories (like that one with Asui).
— We suddenly cut to Miss Sai, and this lady who appears to be living, breathing thinking lady meme. She has her girls carefully tracking the moves of four 1-A students, so I guess now they get to have the spotlight.
— And who are those four students? It’s Asui, Jiro, Shoji, and Momo. They keep trying to locate the rest of their classmates, but they soon hear the announcement that over 50 have already passed the first exam. Only 100 are allowed to move on, so if these kids waste all their time looking for each other, they might not even make it past the first hurdle.
— Jiro tries tracking the people who are after them, but again, the rival schools have all thoroughly scouted Class 1-A. As a result, they know just how to disable Jiro: play loud music. She’s really easy to neutralize, so I’m not really sure how her career as a superhero would turn out. Maybe she’d be good at petty criminals, but you’d think any mastermind would be able to generate loud noises just to account for her.
— Yeesh, is this the first time someone has drawn blood in this entire exam? Plus, these are still kids. I feel like dumping a bunch of super competitive wannabe heroes into one area for an all-out melee is kinda unsafe. With all the bad press that U.A. has been getting, I’m kinda surprised that they would even risk putting any of these kids’ lives in danger. I’m also surprised that nobody’s been seriously injured yet.
— Anyways, unlike with Todoroki or any of the awesome fighting dudes, these girls aren’t here to physically throw down. They’re here to try and out-think you. Miss Sai commands her minions to seal up the room in various ways, then do stuff like pump cold air through the vents just to disable Asui. ‘Cause she’s a frog, and they have cold blood running through their veins, I guess. I don’t know really know much about amphibians. Animals are not my forte.
— It’s cool, though. We have Momo, so she can just create a blanket for the girl. And in the meantime, she will try to out-think Miss Sai in a battle of wits.
— The episode then goes on and on about how Miss Sai not only has a high IQ (150), but her Quirk multiplies her IQ! Eh. The problem with relying too much on a measurement like IQ is that it can ’cause you to tunnel-vision. Yeah, sure, someone with a high IQ might be good at abstract reasoning and whatnot. But there’s obviously more to life than that. You’ll quickly see what I mean.
— I’m a bit cheesed that Momo’s thoughts still turn to what the big four would do in this situation. This is her time to shine, but it still feels like it’s always about those four.
— Momo realizes that using her Quirk to seal up the vents is exactly what the enemy would want. They want her to be reactive instead of proactive. They expect her to play it safe. So instead, she goes on the offense.
— First, she creates headphones for everyone, then she creates a big speaker. Hey, loud noise can disable anybody! Not just Jiro!
— These four are then able to leave the room, but as soon as they do, Miss Sai tries to single Momo out. She drags the girl back into the room, and locks the doors behind them. I doubt this tiny lock could stop Shoji and the others, but whatever. She has a super high IQ, you guys.
— Anyways, Miss Sai can’t believe that her opponent would be so reckless. Was Momo’s plan really that reckless though? I don’t see it. The other three then manage to break through the doors, which surprises Miss Sai even more. Why would they go back for Momo? ‘Cause they’re a team, dumbass. I don’t know if Miss Sai’s IQ is truly high or not. Maybe it is. But she’s really dumb in a lot of ways. If you can’t understand why classmates would stick together even though this might slightly hurt their individual performance, then you have a really low emotional and social IQ.
— Finally, we cut to Bakugo and his two merry followers. Kirishima is his best bud, so he’s sticking around. As for Kaminari…? Eh, I guess he just felt like tagging along.
— As soon as they climb to the top of the ladder, however, Kirishima pushes Bakugo out of the way and eats this weird flesh attack in his best bud’s place. And as a result, this is what he’s become. What. The. Fuck.
— We then suddenly jump to Deku, Uraraka, and Sero (Tape Dude). They, too, decide that they should at least try to score a few points for now. Not much to say here other than that the girl trusts Deku completely. Obviously, she likes him, but it doesn’t matter. She’ll just tell herself that she needs to focus on becoming a hero anyways.
— Alright, back to this weirdo and his weird flesh powers. Look at all those lumps around him. I think you can see a few other Class 1-A students in the mix. He’s turned them all into writhing lumps of flesh. Gross. The problem, however, is that they don’t appear to be disqualified. As powerful as his Quirk might seem, he hasn’t actually hit any of their targets…
— Also, this guy — his name is Seiji — is kind of a prick. He’s going on and on about obligation, dignity, or whatever. Dude, none of that shit matters on the battlefield. All that matters is whether you get the job done or not. For once, I actually agree with Bakugo.
— Anyways, the episode is slowly coming to an end, so it’s time to wax poetic. Emi asks Aizawa if he’s worried. He starts droning on and on about how Deku is the center of attention, how Deku and Bakugo always bring everyone’s levels up, blah blah blah. Whatever, just roll the credits.
— Not a super exciting episode, but at least we got away from Deku for a second. A brief second.