Episode 109

Revival Party (再臨祭) is the one hundred and ninth episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the twenty-first episode of the fifth season.

Summary
Among the chaos after superpowers first appeared in the world, a popular ideology started to spread among the metahumans: the freedom to use their meta abilities rather than suppress them. A man known as Destro brought many people who followed this ideology together and formed the Meta Liberation Army. After a couple of years, the group were defeated by the government, with most of the members being arrested and the Army dissolved.

While in prison, Destro wrote the Meta Liberation War book, before committing suicide. Unknown to even him, Destro had bared a child, Rikiya Yotsubashi. Sometime prior to their capture of Giran, Re-Destro meets up with the current members of the Meta Liberation Army, who reveal they have found someone with connections to the League of Villains. Re-Destro happily declares that they are the Liberation Army's enemy, and if the government won't do anything about them, they will.

The League of Villains arrive in Deika City, surprised at the size of it, with Mr. Compress noting they have about an hour and forty minutes until Gigantomachia wakes up. Dabi is annoyed he has to be involved, which Twice counters back since Giran introduced him to the League as well. They are then approached by Slidin' Go, who escorts them into the city to meet the Liberation Army's leaders.

Entering Deika, which is seemingly empty, they are faced against Trumpet, leader of the Hearts And Mind Party, who declares that 90% of the city is comprised of liberation warriors, and that the League are the guests of honor for the Meta Liberation Army's Revival Party. Just then, several liberation warriors appear and start to attack the League.

Twice asks wheres Giran is, who Trumpet replies is waiting in the tower alongside Re-Destro, irritating Twice for them lying. Likening him to a miniboss, Tomura kills several subordinates with Decay before heading for the tower. Following after them, the ground under Himiko Toga suddenly explodes, as she's confronted by reporter Curious, who asks Himiko if she will let her interview her.

In the tower, Giran tries to taunt Re-Destro by asking what will happen if the League send more Nomu to attack the city. However, Re-Destro remains confident that the League won't release any Nomu, due to them not making any appearances with the League since the Kamino Incident, how the small Nomu released by the High-End Nomu were significantly weaker, and Dabi's attempt to reclaim the High-End's body means they must not have any more available. He concludes stating that the Nomu are thanks to All For One and without him, they are limited, making them all no more than a club of hoodlums.

The League struggle to defend against the liberation warriors, who Curious brags are ones who train every day for their cause. Cornered by a group of warriors, Curious states that while she has no interest in the League, she is interested in Himiko's story, and wants to write about it. Himiko is able to use a distraction to disappear out of sight, prepared to slice her from above, only for the warriors to all step in to defend her, blasting Himiko into a nearby building.

Pulling out a recorder, Curious once again asks to learn about Himiko's life, warning her to be careful in the building, which also suddenly explodes. As it turns out, her Meta Ability, Landmine, allows her to turn anything she touches into a bomb. Several more liberation warriors come at Himiko, so she uses a special syringe which hits each of them, as blood comes sucking out of each of them. Curious is able to recognize that her Meta Ability lets her ingest blood to Transform, and she's ingesting several at once so they won't know who she'll turn into, all the while remaining incredibly fascinated by how Himiko's learned all these skills.

Just then, the blood she ingests suddenly explodes, followed by the liberation warriors themselves, as it turns out they had become suicide bombers, with Himiko forced to try and escape, constantly exploding from the inside. Curious continues to explain Himiko's history, being the oldest daughter of the Toga family, and missing since her middle school graduation, asking if she's watched the interviews of her family and classmates after the incident.

Ending up back in front of the warriors, Curious continues to push Himiko, stating that she understands what led her down this path but wants to hear it from her, remembering back to advice from Re-Destro to interview her subjects, as an article to guide public opinion must contain human heart. Himiko finally responds, asking what is a normal life, and that she loves the world the Liberation Army wants to create, so she will achieve her normal, all the while surprising Curious with her doll-like smile.

A news broadcast discusses the tragedy after Himiko had cut her classmate, injuring him badly, and how she had since gone on the run. It is followed by interview testimonies from classmates who talk about how she used to be so nice, with one of them having seen her put a straw into the boy, Saito's, wound and started sucking up the blood, all with a face of ecstasy. This is followed by an interview with her parents, who apologize and refer to her as a demon child.

Himiko gives in to her internal bleeding, as Curious approaches her, saying that she is the embodiment of their superhero society. That she had attempted to kill who she was through her suppression of her meta abilities, and due to its nature had become infatuated with blood, creating a combination that society would never accept, and so had to put on a mask to hide that part of herself. Himiko remembers back to sucking the blood from a dead bird, only to be scolded by her parents, asking her to just be normal without a creepy face.

Himiko tries to fight back and stab Curious, but she retaliates with a Detnerat "Chain Ring", followed by her Curious Flattener, blowing up Himiko's face. She declares that since they both share the same "normal", her sacrifice will serve as the pillar for the Liberation Army's ideals. Himiko tries to run away again, thinking about how she's not unfortunate and just wants to truly smile, ingesting some blood of someone she loves, transforming into Ochaco.

Curious remains overjoyed at Himiko's actions, while she continues to be attacked by the liberation warriors. She thinks about how Ochaco's blood was the last she had on hand, about how close she and Izuku are, and wanting to get close to someone she loves too. As Curious prepares to attack again, Himiko screams out in defiance, wanting to be just like Ochaco, touching Curious only for her to start floating in the air.

She proceeds to quickly speed around the area, touching all the liberation warriors, as they all start floating in the air, realizing she's able to use Ochaco's Zero Gravity Quirk. Curious is shocked since she assumed she could only transform her appearance, only to realize she must have gotten a sudden power-up. Himiko declares she will love, live, and die normally, and will become like who she loves, which Curious comments would make the perfect headline, as her and all the warriors are released from the Quirk, crushing on the ground in a huge splash of blood.

Elsewhere, Spinner comments on how hard the warriors are to kill, Dabi responds he hasn't killed anyone yet while burning a group of them, while Twice anxiously wonders where Himiko is. She meanwhile manages to end up in a nearby shed, passing out from exhaustion, thinking about how she's just like Izuku now, and even though she knew it would've been better if she hadn't killed them just now, she knows everything they hate must be destroyed.

Tomura has started to become sleepy and tired through the endless fighting, as more warriors chase after him. The overwhelming sensation suddenly causes him to flashback and recall seeing an image of a little boy alongside an older woman dressed like a hero, while a little girl says she is rooting for Tenko. Tomura annoyingly wishes he could just see the entire thing beyond just broken images. Tomura goes after the warriors following him, touching the face of one of them, only for all of them to immediately Decay as well. While he recovers, Spinner looks on in awe, realizing that his Decay had spread to things he didn't touch.

Seeing Tomura killing people, Dabi decides to openly join in when he's confronted by a large icicle, and a hooded figure controlling it. While creating a tower of ice, the warrior, Geten, asks Dabi why he doesn't use his flames right away, wondering if there's something wrong with his Meta Ability. Dabi mockingly claims that ice melts, as he burns it all away, however Geten simply summons all the ice from the nearby area, stating that since he's been training his ability for as long as he can remember, he can manipulate ice on a much grander scale. As the two do battle, Mr. Compress realizes that everyone has been split up and tries to figure out where they are.

Twice manages to locate Himiko unconscious in the shed, trying to figure out what happened, all the while trying to keep himself from not freaking out too much. Arguing with himself, he tries to patch up and protect Himiko as much as possible, as several men approach them from behind.

Up in the tower, Skeptic surveys the two from the cameras, stating they must kill Himiko to avenge Curious, while also giving special attention to Twice. He notes how using his Meta Ability, Double, on himself, Twice had gone insane and lost his true sense of self, liberating his meta abilities only to end up wounding his soul. It is revealed that the men are puppets resembling Twice's face, controlled by Skeptic using his Meta Ability, Anthropomorph, who proceed to surround Twice, as he declares their intention to use his Double to be able to bring back Re-Destro if something were to ever happen to him, forcing him into the Liberation Army.

Locations

 * Deika City

Battles & Events

 * Revival Celebration
 * Himiko Toga vs. Curious
 * Dabi vs. Geten (Started)
 * Twice vs. Skeptic (Started)

Anime & Manga Differences

 * Izuku narrates the opening focusing on the origins of the Meta Liberation Army and Destro, which includes new scenes showing Destro leading the Liberation Army.
 * The Detnerat commercial from Chapter 218 is omitted from the anime.
 * The following scene between Re-Destro and Miyashita is also not included in the anime.
 * The talk about the sale of support items on the black market during the MLA leaders reunion is cut, as well as the conversation between Destro and the recently captured Giran.
 * Twice does not attack Dabi when he expresses his annoyance at the idea of rescuing Giran like in the manga.
 * The anime removes Spinner asking Mr. Compress how much time left for Gigantomachia to awaken.
 * The subordinates that Curious uses as bombs against Himiko die when blow up, while in the manga they are only wounded and continue to attack Himiko.
 * The anime removes Curious' dialogue dealing with Quirk counseling and how it affected Himiko.
 * In the manga, Curious and her comrades' are physically shown dying, with their bodies slamming into the ground from the sky. In the anime, the angle is changed so that the physical bodies aren't shown hitting the ground, and that only the blood is shown.
 * Re-Destro mourning Curious' death, and Skeptic explaining the purpose of the surveillance cameras to Giran is cut from the anime.
 * Trumpet using his Quirk and Curious' death to incite the mob against Tomura was cut.