Episode 97

Early Bird! (!) is the ninety seventh episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the ninth episode of the fifth season.

Summary
With the fourth round starting, both teams start making there moves. On Class 1-B's side, everyone expresses worry about how well-balanced their opponent's team is. Due to this, they decide to rush the opposing team as quick as possible.

Back at the viewing area, Vlad King, once again, props up his class by saying the only reason Class 1-A won the first round was mostly because of Hitoshi, and by that extension, 1-B had a better overall performance. Most of the class calls him out again, and even Midnight agrees that its starting to get excessive. Shota tells his class to pipe down, saying that 1-B overall had better countermeasures and his class's whining isn't very professional, overall agreeing with Vlad. Vlad and Neito laugh at the other class's scolding, with the latter receiving a neck chop by Itsuka. Midnight asks All Might if he has favoritism over a certain class like Vlad, to which the retired hero says he's rooting for everyone. Secretly, he's focusing on what Katsuki will do in his match.

Katsuki rockets forward and tells the rest of his team to keep up. Rikido and Hanta say he hasn't changed since the Sports Festival, and Kyoka is just relieved he's cooperating at all, with the Explosion user's plan being to take the lead and have the rest of his classmates support him. Despite the others members suggestion to scout out the other team and wait for an opening, Katsuki shoots it down in preference of creating his own opening. Before the match, he hands each of his teammates one of his makeshift grenades.

Up ahead, Katsuki spots something fly by and stops his flight path. He tells Kyoka to user her earlobes to listen for the enemy. Her concentration is disrupted by multiple fragments bouncing and crawling on the pipes, making Kyoka unable to make out her opponents' positions. A toothy smile pops up behind Katsuki, revealing it to be the work of Setsuna and her Quirk: Lizard Tail Splitter. With her detached eye surveying the battlefield, Setsuna sends pieces of herself hurling at Katsuki, who struggles to evade her. Hanta sets up a barricade around himself, Rikido, and Kyoka as protection. Its futile, however, as Kojiro sloshes adhesive all over the area, cutting of an easy way for 1-A to escape. Togaru dives from above and slashes all the pipes around him, causing them to fall and start to form a sticky wall of rubble to bury Class 1-A. Rikido stretches his arms out in front of a pipe to protect Kyoka and Hanta, but Katsuki, still being barraged by body parts, intercepts the metallic structure with an explosion. With no one covering her, Togaru moves in to attack Kyoka. Katsuki steps in and sends the 1-B student flying with an even larger explosion. Kyoka thanks him, but Katsuki tells her to keep quiet and start scouting again, as 1-B fell back during the confrontation. Katsuki proudly says he'll win the match as a 4-0 sweep with no injuries.

At the viewing area, Neito is flabbergasted at how Katsuki is now looking out for and supporting others.

Locations

 * U.A. High School
 * Ground Gamma

Battles & Events

 * Joint Training Battle
 * Round Four
 * U.A. Sports Festival
 * Izuku Midoriya vs. Shoto Todoroki
 * Izuku Midoriya vs. Danjuro Tobita

Anime & Manga Differences

 * Setsuna's comments about the opposing team's balance were said before the match in the anime, instead of during.
 * The anime adds additional commentary from the students.
 * Yosetsu's Quirk is given a description later than in the manga; Weld's Quirk description was first told in Chapter 81.