In My Hero Academia episode 85, the school festival begins. However, the real show is outside of U.A. Deku, La Brava and Gentle battle outside. What My Hero Academia does well is make its villains feel human. While All For One is rather irredeemable, many of the villains are more sophisticated at least at first. I should note that I’m a manga reader so I have seen the villain arc. Deku quickly realizes that traces of Gentle’s Quirk remain. He uses them to follow La Brava and Gentle. Deku cleverly uses Gentles’s powers to ricochet his Air Cannon, hitting Gentle in the stomach. He then takes this opportunity to pin both La Brava and Gentle down. Telling the not to resist.
La Brava’s Heartbreak
Seeing the likely end of Gentle’s dream, La Brava remembers her past. In middle school, she wrote a love letter to a boy she admired. He ridiculed her calling her a stalker. Humiliated she “couldn’t believe in anyone or anything.” Without any aspirations, she became a recluse. At her lowest point, she considers committing suicide. However, she is saved by the words she hears from Gentle in one of his videos. They became friends and Gentle gave her the name, La Brava.
In the present, La Brava whispers “I Love You.” Her Quirk is Love. By confessing her love for someone she can power up that individual. It can only be used for a short period of time and once a day. Powered up, Gentle tosses Deku off them. He attacks Izuku by chopping at the back of his neck. However, Deku isn’t defeated. He tells Gentle that he’s “fought stronger and faster people,” and he “hasn’t lost yet.” While Deku and Gentle clash, La Brava tries to find better WiFi.
Gentle’s crushed dreams
Gentle recalls his past. He was a young man that dreamed of becoming a hero. However, he failed to pass the provisional license exam. His principal urged him to drop out. One day he stumbled across a man falling off a window and attempted to help. Unfortunately, he only managed to get in the way of the pro hero. The victim hits the ground. Gentle is given an obstruction of justice charge. His parents were put in debt, having been financially responsible for the reparations. They disowned him and throw him out of their home. Kohei Horikoshi is masterful at crafting sympathetic villains in this series. I wanted Gentle and La Brava to escape.
Four years later, Gentle has given up on his dream of becoming a hero. Humiliated when an old classmate didn’t even remember his name, Gentle develops a new dream. Becoming a villain. Gentle and Deku continue their fight. Deku refuses to mock Gentles’s dreams. Strangely, they both share a similar dream. When Gentle asks Deku “why do you want to be a hero?” Deku notes that he’s the “same” as Gentle. They both have dreams that “aren’t just their own.” End then end, Gentle and La Brava give up. Allowing U.A. security to apprehend them.
I really want them to show back up in the series again.
I think they might return but as heroes.