Episode 82

Prepping for the School Festival Is the Funnest Part (文化祭って準備してる時が一番楽しいよね) is the eighty-second episode of the My Hero Academia anime and the nineteenth episode of the fourth season.

Summary
La Brava begins watching an online video where Gentle Criminal is narrating how some Heroes – like All Might – and Villains – like All For One, Destro, and Oji Harima - have left their mark on the annals of history. The video continues with Gentle giving a bit of a history lesson: back before the legislative system of superhuman society became established, the line between hero and villain was still vague. Things were chaotic at that time, but in that chaos there was freedom. That was a time with which he feels associated with. Then Gentle appears and introduces himself to the viewers.

As she gets too excited about the video, Gentle enters the room and asks La Brava if the video has been uploaded. La Brava says yes, even though the account has been deleted again and she has been uploading everything, starting with his debut video. Gentle thanks her for everything she has done and says they shall go to today's shoot after finishing off his cup of tea.

The duo begins recording their next video. It begins as Gentle introduces himself as the man who uploads videos of what are called criminal actions, but he ensures that he doesn't commit crimes at random. For example, the convenience store that he robbed the other day belongs to one of the largest chains in Japan and has come under fire for some shady business tactics, like hiding expiration dates of Plump Pudding. Despite this, the company feigned ignorance and the situation seemed to be about to end without a clear resolution. This is why Gentle, who labels himself as a modern-day gentleman thief, punish those who behave in an ungentlemanly way.

The video is uploaded, and La Brava shows frustration because the video has not gotten many views, as it seems the online community is not interested in Gentle’s actions. Gentle tries to downplay it, but La Brava is enraged because, despite the fact that he has been a villain in online videos for six years, Stain's biographical video steals all the glory from them as well as the people only remembering the League of Villains when they think of villains due to their wicked actions. Gentle agrees with that, explaining that this is because people, in general, feel a greater interest in violent acts, a behavior that does not match with his style of villainy.

As they jump to a rooftop, Gentle acknowledges that Stain and the League are more popular than him, and his videos have a big dislike ratio. However, Gentle is not discouraged about these facts because his next plan will surpass even theirs and place him in the limelight. La Brava asks what his plan is...

Back at U.A. High School, while walking outside, Katsuki Bakugo overhears the conversation between two students from the General Department, being condescending toward the Hero Course and their decision to hold a live show to lift the rest of the school's spirits, blaming Class 1-A for the damage being caused by the recent villain attacks against the U.A.

Back in Heights Alliance, Class 1-A is deciding their roles for the upcoming Cultural Festival. First, they're deciding who should play which instruments, and Kyoka notes that she mostly plays guitar, and doesn't really have the time to teach someone. She asks if anyone can play the drums since the drummer's job is to provide the beat to support the other instruments. Denki points out Katsuki was forced to play when he was younger. Katsuki refuses to do, but Hanta teases him which makes the former display his prowess in playing drums.

Everyone is impressed by his performance and they want him to be the drummer, but he doesn’t want to due to the fact the other departments are mad at them and their attempts to please will only look like self-satisfaction from 1-A and they will not accept it. This leads Toru to get cross with Katsuki, Tenya admits he has a point and Shoto says he should not speak ill of them if he has not even partaken in the conversation.

However, Katsuki counters on saying there is no point in trying to play nice with departments if they are going to do a band and dance performance, they should do it for the sake of it and not for pleasing or helping people. Katsuki announces that he will blow everyone away in U.A. with his sound. Some of Class 1-A are surprised by Katsuki's willingness to participate, being fired up by his words, as Kyoka says she will do her best. Shoto realizes that his attitude is due to the heavy burden he has been carrying since he was kidnapped by the League of Villains.

Back to Gentle, he finally explains to La Brava that his plan is to infiltrate the U.A. during the School Festival, given how it’s the symbol of heroism having increased their security due to recent attacks. Gentle is convinced that if he achieves his goal, he will become the center of attention.

At Height Alliance, students continue to discuss positions. Momo offers to be the pianist since she received piano lessons as a child. Kyoka accepts and says that she will be the bass player, and the only thing missing are the guitarists and vocals. Everyone else will dance, but Mina quickly goes on to discuss the staging, as they need effects to set the mood, and suggest Shoto and Eijiro will make ice dust while Yuga will be the disco ball – an idea that Yuga himself likes. Izuku, Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Eijiro arrive at the dorm after they finally made up all their classes, and join the discussion.

Looking for a singer for their band, Eijiro, and Yuga try out for the position. As it turns out, Eijiro can't get the right genre, Yuga is a falsetto, and Minoru just yells noises. Then, Ochaco and Toru nominate Kyoka as they know she has a great voice. Kyoka is at first reluctant to be the singer but when she sings... she belts out an absolutely stunning song that blows away her classmates, and they immediately make her the Class 1-A's vocalist.

As for the guitarist positions, Denki and Minoru try out; the former being able to perform well while the latter laments his inability to reach around a guitar. While the rest of the students decide whether to dance or take care of the effects, Fumikage picks up the guitar left by Minoru, showing himself to be a good guitarist, although he states that he has a hard time with the F chord. Everyone accepts him as the second guitarist, although Minoru is depressed and spiteful for having failed, Mina manages to encourage him by promising him a solo harem part if he joins the dance group. And so on, at 1 A.M., everything is set: The band team, the effects team, and the Dance Team.

The next day in U.A's break room, Izuku tells All Might what they are doing for the festival, but they quickly move on to another subject. Izuku had arranged that meeting with him because he is still hung up about his performance in the fight with Overhaul. During the fight, he was able to use the One For All at 20%, but it took a toll on his body and he could only use it for a short period of time and admits that he only won against Overhaul thanks to Eri. Not only that, but he could not do much against Overhaul's long-distance attacks. All Might advises him that then he should start developing his own ranged attacks.

He and All Might step outside and go to the school grounds forested area. Once there, All Might asks him to activate his Full Cowling at 20%. Izuku reminds him that OFA at that percentage starts to harm his body, but All Might insists that he do so and that then, remaining in position, unleash an attack. Izuku obeys and kicks, releasing a wind pressure that shakes the trees. Toshinori was going to teach Izuku to properly unleash wind pressure after he passed 15%, but Izuku already has some experience in doing this in his battle with Overhaul but did not realize this because it was such a desperate battle. Toshinori affirms that Izuku can unleash wind pressure without his body breaking.

All Might goes on to recap his training and progress in six stages: first, he was able to use One For All at 100% with one part of his body. Then, he learned how to control a percentage of this power he used on one part of his body. At the third stage, Izuku learned how to control a percentage of his power across his entire body. The next stage saw Izuku shift to his Shoot Style, which uses his legs rather than his arms. Fifth, Izuku raised his overall level from 5 percent to 8 percent. Now his sixth stage means Izuku can concentrate and draw out 20 percent of his power for a short time.

Thanks to his exposition, Izuku understands that what he has to do is not using One For All at his max power all the time, but learn how to shift seamlessly between full-body power and concentrated points of attack. In other words, using his max power on a single point in his body for a single moment in order to releases a decent amount of power without risking damage to his body. Toshinori advises Izuku that he needs to be even more delicate than he had been until now. He decides to focus on training his fingers as he can move them with the most precision in that space of time. He manages to launch a small air burst with this move once, and although after the shot he feels pain, and an encouraged Izuku is willing to start his training.

In front of U.A., Mirio Togata welcomes Eri to their school.

Meanwhile, Gentle Criminal uploads another video where he reveals that before and after a job, he always chooses the brand based on the size of the job, and on that occasion, he is enjoying a Royal Flush, although the reason for this will be revealed in his next video.

Quirks

 * Elasticity
 * One For All

Locations

 * U.A. High School
 * Class 1-A
 * Heights Alliance
 * Teachers Lounge
 * School Grounds: Forested Area

Battles & Events

 * U.A. School Festival

Manga & Anime Differences

 * In the anime, Gentle Criminal does not mention notable heroes at the beginning of the video.
 * Shota and Vlad King's conversation is omitted in the anime.

Trivia

 * Mineta breaks the fourth wall specifically stating that his character design causes him to be unable to reach the guitar strings and play.
 * An instrumental version of Hero too can be heard in the episode.

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