My Hero Academia Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – Start Line

First Test

UA teaches students to acquire the qualifications to become a Hero. Being one of the toughest schools in the country, it has an acceptance rate of less than one in 300. Most of the top heroes currently working are UA graduates.

Midoriya’s nerves intensify as he’s about to enter the practice facility. He’ll have to collect points by destroying mock villains inside. Each villain has a designated score with a decoy that nets 0 points.

From the onset, Midoriya finds himself behind the others. He remembers swallowing All Might’s hair and not feeling any different. The effects could happen in two to three hours. All Might warns him that his powers aren’t tested yet, so he’ll have to be careful of the side effects.

He encounters a one-point villain but freezes as the enemy attacks. A student with a laster abdomen destroys it for him and leaves him behind. Midoriya scrambles to look for points, but it seems that all of the mock villains have been taken. He finds the girl from earlier, who picks up and drops villains resulting in 28 points. Everyone has a stack of points while Midoriya scrambles to find his own.

The test is designed to find out who has the best scouting abilities, the ones who can stay calm under pressure, and the best fighters. But that’s not all, as an examiner presses a red button for the real test to begin.

Twist

A gigantic villain appears over the facility, destroying the surrounding buildings. It’s the zero-point one that Present Mic advised them to avoid earlier. Midoriya gets left behind again with only two minutes left to the test. Suddenly he finds the girl from earlier, whos trapped underneath the rubble.

Despite the villain granting zero points, Midoriya launches himself to smash the enemy right in the head. He remembers the feeling as similar to when he helped Bakugo, but this time he has the power to win. But due to his powerful quirk, his body breaks down, and he falls to the ground. Ten months of training was not enough for his borrowed power. Both his legs and one arm are broken. Thankfully, the girl slaps him on his way down and breaks his fall with her quirk. The timer ends with Midoriya having earned zero points.

An old woman comes to the battlefield. She finds Midoriya on the ground and realizes his body isn’t used to his quirk. She’s UA’s resident doctor, Recovery girl, and the reason why they can conduct dangerous exercises. The doctor kisses Midoriya on the head and restores him to full health.

A week later, Midoriya couldn’t stop worrying about his test results. He’s terrified of his zero score on the practical test, and he can’t get a hold of All Might. His mother congratulates him for even attempting to try out UA, but she doesn’t know about All Might yet.

Zero Points

Suddenly, she comes back with the exam results. Midoriya goes into his room to read it and finds a hologram device inside with All Might on the screen. All Might apologizes. He’s busy doing paperwork now that he’ll be working as a UA teacher.

All Might tells him he failed after having zero points during the practical test, but then the girl he saved negotiated with Present Mic to share her points with him. The hero praises him for his sacrifice and explains that the point system isn’t only about the villains. UA also rewards those who spend their time saving other people. Secret Rescue points are given to candidates for their efforts, and Midoriya earned 60 for his deed.

All Might welcomes him to the Hero Academia.

Our Thoughts:

Great twist at the end, which makes so much sense! 4/5.