Episode 33

Listen Up!!! A Tale from the Past (知れ!!昔の話) is the thirty-third episode of the My Hero Academia anime anime and the twentieth episode of the second season.

Summary
Come the end of the week, workplace training concludes and Izuku must bid farewell to Gran Torino. He thanks his new mentor for helping him gain more control over his Quirk. Gran Torino reminds Izuku to stay within his 5% limit and remember that he has a lot to learn. Before he leaves, Izuku asks Gran Torino why he's not famous despite being very strong and having trained the number one hero.

The old man reveals that he never had any interest in being a Pro and only became certified to use his Quirk because he needed to use his Quirk freely at a certain point in his past. He goes on to say that All Might will explain the rest. As Izuku walks away, Gran Torino returns to his senile state and asks Izuku his name. At first Izuku is disconcerted by it, but he soon realizes what Gran Torino is truly asking for and replies "Deku". Pleased with Izuku's response, Gran Torino waves him off and they go their separate ways.

With their internships concluded, Class 1-A returns to U.A. High and talk to one another about their experience. Eijiro and Hanta laugh and poke fun at Katsuki's new hairstyle. Mina commends Tsuyu and Kyoka for confronting real villains during the week. The girls ask Ochaco how she spent her internship and she replies that it was very fruitful, as she poses and practices her fighting form. Denki comments that she changed a lot during the week, but Minoru corrects him and claims that he realized all women are evil from interning with Mount Lady. Then Denki points out that the students who went through the most during the internships were Izuku, Shoto and Tenya. Most of the class approaches them and asks what happened, but Shoto says that Endeavor saved them from the Hero Killer instead of the truth.

Mashirao admits he fears what may have happened if Stain had come to the U.S.J. and Denki replies that the Hero Killer is kind of cool because of his personality. Izuku scolds Denki for this, prompting the latter to apologize. Tenya admits Stain could be looked at as "kind of cool" but goes on to criticize the villain for killing for his own ends. Inspired to walk the heroic path once again, Tenya returns to his old form and loudly asks the class to take their seats. Everyone is annoyed by Tenya's loud antics, but Izuku think's he's cool for returning to the path of heroism.

At Class 1-A's Hero Basic Training Class, All Might announces their lesson will consist of a rescue training race through Field Gamma (a metal labyrinth densely packed with steel factories). He explains that the class will be broken up into five four-man groups and race one group at a time towards a distress signal sent by the Symbol of Peace somewhere inside. The first group consists of Izuku, Tenya, Mina, Hanta and Mashirao. Their peers count out Izuku almost immediately because they believe his lack of mobility and drawbacks of his Quirk put him at a disadvantage.

When the race begins, Sero gets out to an early lead only to be suddenly passed by Izuku. Using One For All Full Cowl at 5%, Izuku easily maneuvers throughout the terrain by swiftly jumping from one area to another, while leaving his classmates behind. As All Might and his peers are greatly shocked by his newly improved skills and better control of his quirk, Shoto notices that Izuku's movements are very similar to that of Katsuki's. This deeply irritates Katsuki, who realizes that Izuku was getting stronger during his field training while Katsuki was wasting time with Best Jeanist.

As Izuku races ahead of his opponents, focusing on controlling his Quirk to 5% when he abruptly loses his footing and falls. Hanta ends up winning the race, while the injured Izuku comes in last. All Might commends the group for improving their abilities since the beginning of the school year and reminds them to prepare for the end of term test. Then he approaches Izuku and secretly tells him he's is impressed with his improvement and gives him a thumbs up. He also tells his protege to find him after to class so he can tell him more about One For All.

Hero Basic Training ends and Class 1-A return to the locker room to change. In the boys' locker room, Minoru finds a hole in the wall is deeply excited by the idea of peeping into the girls' locker room. Tenya reprimands Minoru for his behavior, but Minoru decides to look through the hole anyway. However, Minoru's eye is stabbed by Kyoka's earphone plug. In the girls' locker room, Momo, Toru, and Mina are annoyed with Minoru's antics and thank Kyoka for stopping him. Kyoka notices that during Minoru's tirade about all the girls, she was the only one he failed to mention.

Afterwards, Izuku meets with All Might. All Might apologizes for not being near during the Hosu City incident. Izuku asks his mentor not to apologize and instead explain what he meant earlier about explaining more about One For All. All Might starts by making sure Izuku understands that although Stain got his blood, he cannot obtain One For All unless Izuku wishes it. One For All cannot be forcibly stolen, although it can be forcibly passed on. All Might tells Izuku that One For All is a special Quirk and begins telling Izuku One For All's origin. He goes on to explain that One For All is derived from a Quirk that has existed since the beginning.

Long ago when the phenomenon of Quirks first appeared and society had not adapted to them, the world was trapped in an age of upheaval and chaos. From that chaos, a man who could steal Quirks rose up to lead all of the people and took over Japan. Izuku questions whether this is all actually a fabrication and asks how it relates to One For All. All Might responds by telling Izuku that the evil ruler had the ability to give out Quirks, but often put people in a catatonic state who could not handle their powers, not unlike the Nomu.

The man and his Quirk are named All For One. All For One gave his younger brother a Quirk that could culminate power because he was Quirkless and would constantly resent him for his evil deeds. The brother was actually only thought to be Quirkless, and actually had the ability to pass on Quirks to other people. His Quirk combined with the ability to stockpile power created the origin of One For All.

All Might notes the irony that justice is born in the bowels of evil. Izuku says he understands how One For All came about, but questions why his mentor is bringing up a villain from so long ago. All Might believes that the man stole a Quirk that granted him immortality and his brother was never able to defeat him. Instead, the brother passed down this power to later generations, who cultivated the ability until finally, All Might was able to wield it and defeat the man. All Might believes he is now the leader of the League of Villains and it is likely that Izuku will end up facing him one day, to which Izuku promises to do his best because he can do anything with All Might by his side. All Might isn't able to bring himself to tell Izuku that he probably won't be by his side when the time comes, and thanks him instead.

The next day during homeroom class, Shota Aizawa tells his class they will be going to a forest lodge during the summer break. However, Shota warns his students that if any of them fail to pass the end of term test, then they will be stuck in remedial school.

Elsewhere, a man is surprised that Hero Killer Stain was captured but is still happy that things are going as he has foreseen. He exclaims that Tomura's position is to supervise and unify the new villains who have come to join the League of Villains. The man's doctor expresses doubt if Tomura can do his job and says that if the man stepped in things would be proceeding faster. The man asks the doctor to patch him up faster. The man reveals himself to be Tomura's sensei (the man who possesses All For One) and says that he will let Tomura do all the hard work so that he may become his successor as Tomura was born to do so. Sensei tells All Might to rejoice in the "transient" peace while he still can.