My Hero Academia Final Season Episode 6 Review: Emotion Hits Hard, Action Hits Harder

Heads up: major spoilers for My Hero Academia Final Season Episode 6. The Deku vs. Shigaraki fight hits a new gear, the emotional stakes spike, and the show quietly reminds you why this kid was chosen to carry One For All in the first place.

Deku is not All Might — and that is the point

Episode 6 finally tackles the question everyone had after last week: why is Deku still trying to save Shigaraki? The episode answers it without shouting. Deku doesn’t see the world as simple good guys and bad guys. He understands nuance, he leads with empathy, and that’s exactly why All Might saw something in him. He doesn’t chase power, he respects it — maybe more than anyone who’s ever held One For All.

He grew up Quirkless and still admired everyone else’s powers, even when those people weren’t kind to him. He extended that grace to Bakugo. Now he’s doing it for Shigaraki. It’s not naive; it’s consistent. And in this episode, it hits harder than ever.

The plan with Kudo and Gearshift, explained

While trading blows, Deku is working through the Second user Kudo’s high-risk idea: use Gearshift in a way that pushes this fight somewhere it’s never been. It’s less about showing off a new trick and more about how to deploy that power in the moment — a surgical handoff and execution that only Deku, with all his messy empathy, would even attempt.

It’s working. Shigaraki is rattled — really rattled — lashing out and throwing up defensive hands like he’s never done before. You can feel the panic creeping in. If this is the most afraid he’s ever been, it makes sense that it’s happening against someone who is trying to understand him rather than just erase him.

The quiet crowd that says everything

The episode cuts to civilians and heroes watching, including Eri and Deku’s classmates in 1-A. No fireworks, no melodrama — just small, grounded reactions that land. I expected Eri to break me (and she still does), but it’s actually Kaminari Denki’s unexpectedly vulnerable moment that sneaks up and hits hardest.

Deku might be the strongest active hero right now, but he hasn’t built All Might’s myth. Still, that doesn’t stop people from backing him in the clutch.

Shigaraki’s mindscape: all shadows, no comfort

The visuals keep delivering. Bones Film leans into vibrant color when it matters, then yanks it away for the nightmare stuff. Shigaraki tries to shut Deku out of his subconscious, burying himself in shadow — a smart, literal way to show how badly he wants to hide his past. It’s raw, unnerving, and not sensationalized. The trauma is the point, not the spectacle.

That cliffhanger

We end with Shigaraki reliving the abuse from his father. It’s a gut-punch of a closer, not just for shock value, but because it reframes everything Deku is trying to do. Saving someone like that isn’t about winning a fight — it’s about breaking a cycle.

• Episode 6 balances high-impact action with restrained, emotional beats that actually land.
• Deku wrestles with Kudo’s risky Gearshift strategy and makes it work in real time.
• Shigaraki, for once, looks scared — defensive, panicked, and off his game.
• Eri and Class 1-A watch with the rest of the world; Kaminari’s reaction is the surprise standout.
• Bones Film keeps the spectacle sharp and the dramatic moments sharper — it’s not just about big fights (remember Bakugo vs. All For One), it’s about the quiet devastation too.
• Not the best My Hero Academia episode ever, but a rock-solid chapter that sets the table for an even bigger Deku/Shigaraki showdown.

Bottom line

This one is less about a signature finish and more about proving why Deku is a different kind of hero — maybe the best kind this world could get. The fight is heating up, the nerves are frayed, and the show knows when to speak softly instead of scream.

My Hero Academia Final Season is streaming on Crunchyroll.