My Hero Academia Season 1 Episode 12 Recap – All Might

All Might

All Might steps into the stadium to the relief of the UA students. Deep inside, he’s frustrated at how he couldn’t be there with his fellow teachers. For the first time, Midoriya sees his favorite hero without a smile.

The thugs feel immediately nervous at his presence, but not so for Shigaraki. All Might jump in to retrieve Aizawa and destroy the scattered villains. He snatches Midoriya’s team away from Nomu and Shigaraki and instructs them to move out while he takes care of things. Midoriya looks at him, concerned. One of Shigaraki’s hand masks fell off while All Might moved past him. He calls it nation-approved violence.

At the same time, he senses that the hero isn’t as fast as he used to be. Their initial hunch was correct all along. Midoriya warns All Might that his punch wasn’t enough to hurt the Nomu, but the hero assures him that it will be all right. After some hesitation, they take Aizawa back to safety.

All Might attacks Shigaraki with Carolina Smash, but Nomu comes in and receives the hit. True to what the student said, it didn’t do any damage. Shigaraki notes that it has shock absorption, and one can only penetrate it within the flesh.

At the Limit

The students rejoice as they trust All Might to finish the job while Midoriya is left worried. Still, he can’t afford to get in the way and become a liability. The cryptic sign No.13 showed Aizawa earlier, which indicated that All Might had reached his limit. Only Midoriya knows the absolute truth among the students.

All Might performs a suplex to the Nomu, but Kurogiri saves it by creating a portal on the floor. They planned to trap All Might on a portal and cut him off through it. Midoriya sees enough and runs in to help, but the portal man blocks him. Bakugo then arrives to blast Kurogiri while Todoroki freezes the Nomu stiff.

All Might manages to free himself but is left wounded by the Nomu’s counterattack.

Aizawa stirs from his sleep, so Tsuyu brings their teacher to the other students. Uraraka and the others help them while No.13 tells Ashido to gather everyone.

Bakugo gets a hold of Kurogiri and manages to see his weakness. Shigaraki commands Nomu to break its limbs and regenerate itself. It was a creature designed to be the complete counter of All Might.

Nomu rushes towards Bakugo, but All Might manages to protect him and take the damage himself.

Plus Ultra

Shigaraki calls the heroes out for freely using violence to save people, which isn’t shared amongst what society calls villains. He thinks All Might is merely a weapon of violence that breeds more violence, and all Might admonishes him for enjoying his evil work.

The students want to support him, but All Might refuses even though he’s bleeding. The hero’s power is declining as he stands, but he has to do it alone. All Might channels the power of one for all to go head to head with the Nomu. Their punches create a shockwave all around the stadium that separates Shigaraki from the students.

All Might plans to surpass the Nomu’s limit with his attacks and challenges himself to go beyond 100%. Midoriya sees him giving his all while not wasting even one punch, and it truly is all that he’s got.

A Hero can turn around any bad situation. All Might goes over and beyond. Plus Ultra. He punches the Nomu out of the stadium.

Our Thoughts

All Might is genuinely above all the characters, but the villains are terrifyingly close. I rate this a 4/5.