My Hero Academia Season 4 Episode 9 Recap – Red Riot

Going Deeper

Amajiki tries to catch up with the others, but he’s too weak from his fight, so he falls unconscious.

Fat Gum and the rest of the heroes continue to traverse through the tunnels. Kirishima worries about his upperclassman, but Gum tells him to trust Suneater. Aizawa suspects that the one who can control the corridors can move through it and spy on them. If ever he shows himself, Eraser Head plans to catch him.

Centipede and Bubble Girl round up the gangsters from upstairs, who tell them that they‘ve been only doing it to avoid Overhaul‘s wrath. Their loyalty is with their boss who has fallen ill. They dislike the villain route that the gang is headed toward. They even suspect Overhaul of exacerbating their boss‘ illness. Still, they don‘t think he could be caught due to his power.

As expected, the enemy goes on to target Eraser Head with a pillar attack. Fat Gum jumps in and receives it instead, which causes him to fall to a lower floor. Unbeknownst to him, Red Riot also tried to help his teacher and got sucked in with him.

Sword and Spear

A powered-up villain attacks them with his massive fists. Fat Gum panics as the enemy breaks through Riot‘s hardening. Fat Gum attacks but a barrier forms on the enemy.

The two aren‘t on the list of quirks from their intel. Cannonball fists and shields are a strong combination.

Kirishima worries that his quirk is breaking, but Fat Gum tells him to go Unbreakable and fight the enemy‘s will. They shouldn‘t give up.

The villain Rappa attacks Fat Gum with a barrage of punches, which burns through his fat. Punching through Tengai’s barrier seems too much. Fat Gum invites Rappa to fight alone, which gets the villain pumped.

Kirishima watches as the hero makes a risky move to protect him. Fat Gum is starting to lose, so Tengai sees the fear in Kirishima’s eyes.

He remembers trying to defend a classmate against bullies once, but he failed because he was weak. His friends mock him for idolizing Crimson Riot. They follow the bullies, but Ashido comes in to fix the situation. His classmates tell him that Ashido is a more suitable hero. After the incident, Kirishima trained harder.

Live Without Regret

One day, he finds Ashido‘s friends being confronted by a gigantic creature. He‘s left paralyzed in fear, but Ashido comes in again and saves them. Kirishima regrets not stepping up for them.

He goes home hating himself until he finds a video of Crimson Riot. The hero explains that he is scared to go into danger. But what‘s more frightening than death is the look on the victim‘s face and the pain of not saving them. Living life without regrets is the way to becoming manly.

Kirishima apologizes to the girls for not helping them and decides to train himself even harder. Ashido tells him later that he shouldn‘t feel bad about it. As soon as he overcomes his fear, Ashido promises to tell everyone how far he has gone from his middle school days.

At the moment, Kirishima musters up the courage to move. Fat Gum‘s body has shrunk due to the damage caused by Rappa‘s blows. But unknown to many, he also has the ability to store the energy he received from impact. Now he has a spear that can shatter any shield.

Rappa challenges him to show it, but Red Riot steps in to receive the enemy‘s blows. He goes unbreakable but gets knocked by Tengai‘s shield. The villains‘ think his move was in vain, but Fat Gum follows up with a barrier-shattering punch that destroys the two enemies.

Our Thoughts

Kirishima is one of my favorite characters, and I‘m glad he got his own feature episode. Rating: 4/5.