Episode 34

Gear up for Final Exams (備えろ期末テスト) is the thirty-fourth episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the twenty-first episode of the second season.

Summary
Live on television, Minoru is watching a talk show debating if sexiness is needed in a heroic workplace. The show features Mt. Lady and Midnight, and they debate on how Midnight ended up getting laws changed with her former costume. Before long they end up fighting over their ages, much to Minoru's pleasure.

Only a week away from final exams, Shota warns Class 1-A to prepare their minds and their bodies for the written and practical sections of the exam. Taking their midterm grades into account, much of the class discusses getting ready for the end of the term. Denki and Mina, scoring the lowest grades of the class, admit they haven't studied at all because of the events that have been taking place throughout the semester. Fumikage agrees, and Rikido notes that the test will be even more difficult than the midterms. Minoru teases Mina and Denki, saying that only the practical will be difficult because he has high grades in class.

Izuku and Tenya try to encourage them to do their best, but Shoto intervenes and says it should be easy if they just pay attention in class. Denki is discouraged, but Momo offers to help tutor him for the written test. Several others hear her proposal and asked to be tutored as well. Excited, Momo promises to prepare a study session at her home. Eijiro comments to Katsuki on his different standards from his peers, to which Katsuki angrily declares he will tutor Eijiro himself. Yuga says that it's too late to try and cram for exams, but Mezo replies that Yuga needs to do some cramming himself.

At lunch, Izuku and his peers question the nature of the practical exam when Neito suddenly appears and bumps into Izuku's head. He sarcastically apologizes and starts to criticize Class 1-A for being involved with the Hero Killer because they seem to keep getting into trouble. He only stops berating them when Itsuka appears and knocks him out. She then tells everyone an upperclassman informed her the practical test will entail fighting against robotic villains. Neito insults her for helping their class rivals, but she knocks him out again and drags him away, claiming they're not detestable like he claims.

Returning to their homeroom class, Mina and Denki are excited to know that the practical exam involves fighting against robots. Mezo assumes this is because they have a hard time controlling their Quirks against real people. This irritates Katsuki, who states that regardless of whether the enemies are human or robotic, they need to control their Quirks to fight in any case. Then he calls out Izuku for using his moves during the rescue race and says he will get a better score on the finals than both he and Shoto. He storms out of class and Shota overhears him, leading him to worry if Katsuki is improving his attitude or getting worse.

Afterwards, the students spend their last week before finals studying. Denki, Mina, Mashirao, Kyoka, and Hanta meet Momo at her luxurious estate to study. Izuku, Ochaco, and Tenya study on their own while Katsuki aggressively tutors Eijiro. They all undergo three straight days of written tests and then the day of the practical test arrives. Kyoka notices that many teachers are present for the exam. Shota knows that without a doubt they have some knowledge on the exercise test, to which Mina and Denki exclaim that it will be fighting against robots. Principal Nezu jumps out of Shota's scarf and reveals to Class 1-A that they will not be having a battle simulation against robots for their practical exam.

Nezu explains that the recent surge of villains has caused the school to increase the quality of their training methods in order to increase the students' battle experience. From now on, U.A. students will be having battle simulations similar to real-life battles and Class 1-A will be the first students who will have real-life battle simulations. He goes on to reveal that Class 1-A's practical exam will be forming pairs and facing one of U.A.'s teachers in combat, shocking the whole class. The pairs and the teachers they will fight have already been decided. Shoto and Momo will be paired together to face Shota and Izuku and Katsuki will be paired together, much to their shock, to face All Might.

Taking a look back on a few days earlier, the U.A. faculty hold a meeting to discuss changing the final exams. They fear fighting robotic villains will not be enough to prepare them for the villainous resurgence that is bound to take place. Even so, Cementoss and Present Mic worry pitting them against teachers will be unfair. Snipe responds by saying the teachers will need a handicap. Nezu concludes by saying they must keep students out of danger by making them stronger. Shota moves on to the topic of pairings. He says he's pairing Shoto and Momo together because of their over-reliance on their Quirks, so he will erase them in their bout. He goes on to state that Katsuki and Izuku have been paired because of their negative relationship, and it should be up to All Might to face them.

The remaining Class 1-A pairs are revealed: Nezu versus Denki and Mina, Anon Kurose versus Yuga and Ochaco, Present Mic versus Koji and Kyoka, Ectoplasm versus Fumikage and Tsuyu, Midnight versus Hanta and Minoru, Snipe versus Mezo and Toru, Cementoss versus Rikido and Eijiro and Power Loader versus Tenya and Mashirao.

The students will have thirty minutes to handcuff their teachers or escape the facility. Students' efforts to escape will teach them that it's okay to run and get help when there's a large difference in strength. Shota comments that Izuku, Shoto, and Tenya likely know this well from their encounter with Stain. Shoto remembers that he refused to run, and Tenya promises to learn from that mistake. All Might clears any student anxiety over feeling that escaping is their only option by showing them that all the teachers will be wearing ultra compressed weights. The weights are designed as a handicap and were developed by Mei Hatsume. Katsuki claims that the teachers underestimate them by giving them the opportunity to consider fighting back.

Once the explanation concludes, the exam begins with Eijiro and Rikido facing off with Cementoss. While some students prepare strategies together, Izuku and Ochaco watch the first test on the monitor since they don't communicate well with their partners. The battle begins with Rikido and Eijiro using their Quirks to take on Cementoss. Cementoss creates a number of cement walls to block their path to him, but they try to force their way through. Izuku notices that this strategy will not garner them victory because, unlike the students, Cementoss doesn't have a time limit to his Quirk. He surmises the practical exam is pitting students against teachers that will exploit their weaknesses, forcing them to compensate. Eijiro and Rikido fail to do this and are ultimately defeated. The next pair to take the practical exam consists of Fumikage and Tsuyu. Immediately their opponent, Ectoplasm, creates clones of himself that surround the students. He states that all of the U.A. teachers will not hold back and are doing their best to crush the students.

Battles & Events

 * First Term Final Exam
 * Team Sato &amp; Kirishima vs. Cementoss
 * Team Asui &amp; Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm (Start)

Anime & Manga Differences

 * More of the class studying or activities is seen while only Momo teaching her group was seen in the manga.
 * Class 1-A and the U.A teachers are already at the practical exam site as opposed to traveling there by bus in the manga.
 * The structure of the practical exam is different than in the manga. Instead of each Class 1-A pair taking the practical exam simultaneously, each Class 1-A pair takes turns.
 * In the anime, all the students are lined up parallel to the U.A. faculty, but in the manga, only Izuku, Minoru, Tsuyu, Tenya, Ochaco, Katsuki, Rikido, Eijiro, Mezo, Momo, Yuga, and Shoto are shown.
 * The first pair to take the practical exam is Eijiro and Rikido, whom fail the exam much earlier than in the manga.
 * In addition, they lose due to being knocked unconscious as oppose to being timed out.

Trivia

 * When Eijiro and Rikido are punching their way through Cementoss's walls, they shout a very distinct "Ora ora ora...!"; combined with the flurry of punches in the animation, this pays homage to from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, whose  when using  is the exact same.

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