***SPOILERS AHEAD***

What a surprise, the latest episode of My Hero Academia, “Relief for License Trainees”, brought a rare treat – smiles from Todoroki and Bakugo! Granted one of Todoroki’s smiles was due to Utsushimi’s quirk, Glamour. But those two rarely smile, so I’m happy we got to see them enjoying themselves. And even Bakugo laughing at Todoroki!

The hero students are taking supplemental classes so they can get their licenses for hero work. The ones from UA needing to retake the course are Todoroki and Bakugo. They are with Utsushimi and Yoarashi from Shiketsu High School. Gang Orca, knows how the students in this particular group (minus Utsushimi who was absent due to Toga) have had challenges related to teamwork and putting aside their egos. The perfect challenge for this group of four is having them work with rowdy, misbehaved, young students who have recently discovered their quirks. The leader of these rambunctious kids, is someone who ironically reminds us very much of Bakugo. The kids have big egos, their teacher is at her wit’s end, and they think they can beat the hero students easily so they come at them full force. This makes for a tricky predicament because the hero students need to win the hearts of the young kids, but also not demoralize them, or make them feel resentful. The hero students use team work, their own life experiences, and of course their quirks, to win over the young students. Even their teacher, who was crying, is flabbergasted at their changed behavior. The part I found touching, and the part that made me cry, was Bakugo seeing himself in their young leader and knowing exactly what he needed to say and do to inspire him.

I’m watching on Hulu, so check this episode out if you haven’t already! There’s a touching scene between Todoroki and Endeavor (Inasa joined), an update on Eri, and lots of Aoyama with cheese.