My Hero Academia - Laugh! As If You Are in Hell

Laugh! As If You Are in Hell (笑え！地獄のように) is one of two special episodes released in 2022, and the seventh OVA for the My Hero Academia series.

Summary
It's been ten months since Izuku en-rolled at U.A. High School, and on top of his regular school work, four days a week he has been continuing his Hero Work-Study at the Endeavor Agency. On one day, they are approached by a police officer, seeking assistance in tracking down a local graffiti artist vandalizing the streets.

Endeavor brushes the request off, believing the job to be beneath him, but the officer insists, explaining how the perp known as "Mr. Smiley" possesses a Quirk where whenever someone looks at him, they start to uncontrollably laugh for two hours straight, allowing him to get away. He explains no matter what they do they've been unable to capture him, leading Endeavor to reluctantly agree to watch out for him.

The Flaming Sidekickers react to the hideousness of the art, Izuku likens Mr. Smiley's Quirk to Ms. Joke's, Shoto suggests trying to arrest him without looking him in the face, and Katsuki just yells at them for taking him seriously. Endeavor decides to head home, leaving the rest to patrol. While on the road, Endeavor vents about his frustrations to Untenmaru, preferring to focus on the Paranormal Liberation Front, however, once he arrives at his abode, he is faced with one of Mr. Smiley's art vandalizing his wall, infuriating him.

The next day, Endeavor returns to work assembling his entire force with the goal of apprehending Mr. Smiley, to Izuku's surprise at his newfound passion. They receive a call reporting to have located Mr. Smiley, leading them all to head out. While looking for him in the alleyways, Endeavor finds two laughing Pro Heroes, telling the rest of his team to split up.

Izuku manages to track him down and tries to catch up, but Mr. Smiley looks at him, activating his Smile Quirk, causing Izuku to ram into a wall and burst into laughter, allowing Mr. Smiley to escape. He's able to point Endeavor to Smiley's direction, but the vandal simply looks at him, causing Endeavor to be hit by the laughing spell, unable to move. Katsuki attempts to corner him, shooting his AP Shot while closing his eyes, but Mr. Smiley easily bounces away, looking straight at his face when he opens his eyes, giving Katsuki the laughing fit.

Shoto uses his Ice to stop Mr. Smiley in his tracks, and from a far enough distance to avoid being effected by his Quirk. He tries to call in, but Mr. Smiley throws a drone-like device at Shoto, displaying an image of him, making Shoto also fall down laughing. Burnin arrives shortly after to discover Mr. Smiley having escaped the ice.

While painting, Mr. Smiley thinks to himself about how he is an artist whose work has been rejected by the "hacks" of the art world, and so uses the city as his canvas, painting day and night, to show the world his true work. The Flaming Sidekickers arrive to try and stop him, but he uses his Quirk, causing the three of them to also fall down laughing. He continues to paint, declaring that there is nothing that can stop him from creating his masterpieces.

Two hours later, the Endeavor Agency returns to their workplace, feeling absolutely defeated and humiliated. Shoto points out that considering the Quirk worked on him with just a device, if he were to use it on live television, it would be a complete disaster. They try to figure out how to best corner him, with Izuku pointing out he paints in busy spaces, so they need to find some way to minimize collateral damage, coming up with an idea.

He calls in Mei Hatsume and Power Loader, requesting to borrow a robot to use from them to help capture Mr. Smiley, without them needing to get close and look at him. Expecting this, Mei brings in a capture robot she and Power Loader created, demonstrating its power by shooting out a net that captures Katsuki after he antagonizes it.

They receive another notification of Smiley's presence, who is once again painting his art on a building while using his Quirk on every bystander and police officer nearby. Izuku and Shoto send the robot to capture him, but right as he is about to deploy the net, Mr. Smiley activates his Quirk on the robot. Surprisingly, it affects it, causing it to short circuit and explode, to their shock.

Katsuki tries to use this to catch Smiley off guard from above, but is still caught by his Quirk and taken out. Izuku tries to attack him using Air Force with his eyes closed, but Smiley tricks him into opening his eyes, forced into laughing again. Smiley also simultaneously sends the drone to get Shoto, knocking him out too, allowing him to escape.

Back at the Agency, the Sidekickers are forced to hold Katsuki back, furious at being defeated by Smiley again. Mei laments over the robot's destruction, as Izuku asks Power Loader how the Quirk was able to affect it. He explains the robot recognized the vandal's face as a powerful visage, causing its sensors to fry, leaving Power Loader to explain they won't be able to use anything mechanical to stop him.

Izuku suggests using Eraser Head's Quirk to counter, but Shoto mentions he is busy taking care of Eri, so shouldn't bother him with low-level crimes. Endeavor asks Katsuki if he can take directions with his eyes close, which he says he can, taking him aside to prove it. Meanwhile, Izuku laments over Mr. Smiley being able to have become a great Hero with his Quirk, wondering why he turned to a life of crime.

Izuku looks into his background, learning he is "Shinjiro Hohoemi", a 28-year old art student who failed to see the recognition he craved for his work, with no art schools accepting him, which led to him becoming a wanderer, using city walls as his canvas. Izuku realizes he is just like how he felt before he met All Might, wanting to be a hero despite being Quirkless, and that he's doing everything he can to make his dream come true. Elsewhere, a group of criminals meet up, planning to score some "fast cash", with their set of weapons.

Endeavor and Katsuki train on the roof of their Agency, with Katsuki expertly following Endeavor's directions, blasting through the air and hitting their target all while blindfolded. At the same time, Shoto sees Izuku working at the computer, who suggests they could try to simply stop him from vandalizing. Izuku shows Shoto a website he created, with help from Denki, showcasing Mr. Smiley's graffiti and artwork. Shoto asks if they are considered good, which Izuku isn't sure about, but at least recognizes that the pieces do mean a lot to him.

The Agency receive another report on Smiley's location, with him now being inside the commercial building he was at previously. The Heroes and bystanders are forced to keep their distance while he works away painting on the wall. In order to figure out the range of his abilities, Izuku closes his eyes while complimenting his art, which he responds to, activating his Quirk, confirming it is ineffective with his eyes shut.

With everything set, Endeavor sends Katsuki down to deal with Mr. Smiley. He tries to use his Quirk on him, but does not work against the blindfolded Katsuki. Realizing the trouble, Smiley attempts to escape, with Endeavor directing Katsuki where to go, preventing him from fleeing and cornering him in front of his art piece. Katsuki is about to blast him, but Izuku jumps in to stop him, distracting Katsuki long enough for Smiley to pull off the blindfold, hit him with his Quirk, and knocking him unconscious.

Mr. Smiley asks Izuku why he saved him/his art, leading Izuku to explain that even though he doesn't understand his art, he can tell that it is something that is important to him. Despite this, he says that painting on someone else's property is still against the law, and that he should put his work on display at a proper venue. Mr. Smiley wonders what the point of creating art if no one is there to see it, but Izuku tells him to not give up on his passion, and just like how he was able to become a hero with the support of others, he shouldn't give up on his dream, showing him the website he created.

Mr. Smiley realizes that, despite thinking he was doing everything to stick it to the art critics, he was just running away from his feelings, with Izuku adding it's not too late to change. Just then, a van crashes into the building, forcing everyone to hide for cover. The group of criminals proceed to shoot up the mall while robbing the jewelry store nearby, with Endeavor unable to act due to the civilians around.

Shoto protects Izuku, Smiley, and the unconscious Katsuki from being shot, with Smiley growing furious when his art piece is a casualty of the shootout. Izuku and Shoto are about to take charge, but Smiley heads out first, declaring he'll punish them for endangering the bystanders and shooting his art. Izuku and Shoto take out one of the thieves, but then the other two arrive with a hostage to halt them. Mr. Smiley simply looks at the criminals (and the hostage), using his Quirk and causing all three of them to fall down laughing.

While the Flaming Sidekickers apprehend the thieves, Izuku asks Mr. Smiley if he had any intentions of becoming a hero, which he responds that fighting isn't his style. He then turns himself in, stating he has no intention of turning back on his art, but also wants to atone for what he has done. A news broadcaster then arrives on the scene and approaches Mr. Smiley, congratulating him for capturing the criminals on the Most Wanted List, asking for a comment. Mr. Smiley responds that he is just a "humble artist" and for everyone to remember his name.

He inadvertently activates his Quirk, causing everyone in the mall, and everyone watching the news live to burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Later, Izuku thinks about how thanks to the broadcast, more people started to visit Smiley's website, and that there was now no way people would forget his name.

Cast

 * / as Izuku Midoriya
 * / as Katsuki Bakugo
 * / as Shoto Todoroki
 * / as Endeavor
 * Hironori Kondo/Anthony DiMascio as Mr. Smiley
 * Misato Kawauchi/ as Burnin
 * Azu Sakura/ as Mei Hatsume
 * /David Wilson-Brown as Power Loader
 * /Lee George as Kido
 * /Kevin Thelwell as Onima
 * / as Untenmaru Kurumada