Episode 81

School Festival (文化祭) is the eighty-first episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the eighteenth episode of the fourth season.

Summary
In Class 1-A, Mina Ashido shows her classmates her dance skills, impressing them all. As Izuku notices, it has an effect on her agility, as she puts her whole body into her movements. Interested, he decides to learn some dance moves from her, to which Yuga joins despite his small resentment towards her. Mina accepts and gives them the first lessons about how to dance.

Seeing Mina, Denki says it's nice to be able to apply their own hobbies to hero work to make oneself stronger. This reminds him that Kyoka also has a great love for music. Kyoka shyly asks Denki to stop commenting on it, threatening him with her Earphone Jack. Denki doesn't understand why she got angry.

Later, Shota arrives at class and announces that U.A. High School will be having a school festival. Everybody gets excited, but Eijiro questions if it's a good idea to hold a festival when there’s been an exceptional amount of villain activity as of late. Shota even acknowledges the validity of Eijiro’s frustration and that he agrees with him, but he explains the importance of the school festival in relation to U.A. High’s other curriculum streams, like the business and support courses. Since class 1-A also has to participate, Shota orders them to pick out a program to perform at the festival.

Momo writes down all of the suggestions and those that cannot be done for various reasons are progressively eliminated. Students discuss but fail to reach an agreement before the bell rings. Class 1-A’s inability to make a decision becomes even direr when Shota gives them the ultimatum that if they can’t reach a consensus then they’ll get saddled with a “public lecture” as their contribution to the festival.

At night, at Heights Alliance, with the exception of the interns and Katsuki, students continue to discuss what to do for the festival. Tenya considers that their contribution should be something that gives the other students pleasure and relieves stress. His classmates agree but still do not find the right option. Mina had suggested a dance, and to her surprise Shoto supports her.

He agrees with the idea that it should be something where people can come to blow off steam and have fun, and with the laptop, he searches on a video-sharing platform a music performance to emphasize the suggestion. Everyone seems to agree, but Hanta still has doubts about the idea of dancing. Mina offers to teach her classmates how to dance. Then Minoru remembers that for dance, music is also needed, and everyone looks at Kyoka.

All of Class 1-A considers her suitable for the task, but Kyoka believes that her musical talent is not a big deal, just a hobby. Denki finds it really awesome that she can play so many instruments, which makes her blush. Then, Koji tells her that her music can help put smiles on people's faces. Encouraged by her peers, Kyoka decides to help Class 1-A with music. All of them agreeing that Class 1-A's school festival program will be a grand musical performance.

Without anyone noticing, the auto play of the video-sharing platform plays a video that features a mysterious individual.

The next day, Izuku and Mirio pay Eri a visit to see how she’s been doing. Back in the supplementary lessons room, Shota tells Izuku that Eri has requested to see him and Mirio. As both students enter Eri's room, a nurse is concerned that Eri may lose control of her Quirk if something makes her remember the incident, but the doctor assures her that with Eri's current status it is unlikely that this will happen.

Eri starts the conversation asking Izuku because he doesn't know him despite having saved her. Izuku informs her of both his real and hero names. Then, Eri blames herself for all the trouble that they and Sir Nighteye - who she is unaware that he has passed away - went through in their battle against Overhaul. Mirio reassures her it's not her fault, and they just wanted to see her smile again. Eri tries to smile, but it turns out that she can't even force herself to do it.

Izuku is aware that even though Eri has been freed from Overhaul's clutches, she still sustained a lot of psychological damage. Thinking about the way she can smile again, he remembers Yuga Aoyama's words about surprises and then asks Shota if it would be possible for Eri to attend the U.A. School Festival. When Eri asks what a festival is, Mirio explains that it is a place full of fun and joy, where she can eat delicious things like candy apples, which catches Eri's attention. Shota agrees with Izuku’s idea and phones to talk it over with the principal.

Meanwhile, at the Police Force office, the chief Kenji Tsuragamae is informed that a villain has uploaded another online video. Kenji orders his subordinates to investigate where the post comes from. The video shows a villain committing a robbery at a convenience store, kindly asking the terrified store clerk to put cash in the briefcase before the heroes come. As expected, a pair of heroes arrive to stop him, and a female voice warns the villain about their presence. He tells his partner La Brava that they don't have to worry since he claims he can take both of them on... before more heroes come to the scene for support.

The villain then tells La Brava to stop filming, only to have her start again later with all the heroes defeated and the shop wiggling like a jelly. The villain is walking away without even taking his cash, revealing that his goal is that his name goes down in history. The villain then introduces himself to viewers as Gentle Criminal and says goodbye to them until the next video. Seeing that pantomime, Chief Kenji doesn't know if Gentle Criminal is serious or not.

On a rooftop, La Brava informs Gentle that their latest video isn’t getting a lot of views. Gentle sees that he will have to accomplish an even greater feat than just a robbery. While pouring tea, Gentle tells La Brava that he is searching for something that will make him more magnificent.

Once he ends his monologue, Gentle ends up spilling hot tea all over himself and La Brava due to the breezy wind.

Quirks

 * Acid
 * Earphone Jack
 * Elasticity (Debut)
 * Love (Debut)

Locations

 * U.A. High School
 * Class 1-A
 * Heights Alliance

Battles & Events

 * U.A. School Festival (Started)

Anime & Manga Differences

 * The anime extends the following:
 * A scene where Denki is giving his pitch for the maid cafe.
 * Some more scenes where the students are giving their suggestions for the festival.
 * The anime adds the following:
 * Yuga's flashbacks of the time Mina burned through his cape and his belt during the Sports Festival.
 * Izuku's narration about the upcoming School Festival.
 * A few student reactions when Eraser Head explains the importance of holding the School Festival despite what's going on in the world.
 * Izuku's flashback of Yuga feeding him.

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