Recap / My Hero Academia: Endeavor Intern Arc

The High, Deep Blue Sky

In the winter, the Hero Commission commands the return of internships for students, in order to pump up the number of heroes in Japan for the potential war with the Paranormal Liberation Front. Todoroki invites Midoriya and Bakugo to intern with him under Endeavor.

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In the week following the Deika City event, the students are taught by Mt. Lady and Midnight how to behave during interviews, and the importance of passing an image to others. All Might starts working on a notebook with all the information about the previous One For All Users' Quirks that he can find. Later, while Class 1-A has a Christmas party, Midoriya confesses he can't go back to Nighteye's office due to the new management, while Bakugo can't go back to Best Jeanist's office due to him being missing. Todoroki invites them to work with him under Endeavor.

Meanwhile, Hawks is being used by the Paranormal Liberation Front to get information from the heroes and has his wings wired. Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki start their internship under a much better, but still grumpy Endeavor. The four of them are immediately called to take down a crazy homeless guy with the power to manipulate glass trying to destroy a building. They meet with Hawks who, now under 24/7 surveillance, is forced to pass a message to Endeavor secretly. He gives everyone the Meta Liberation Army book with passages highlighted. Back in his office, Endeavor realizes that the highlighted parts of the book contain a message warning him that the League, now teamed with the Army, are planning a massive scale attack within 4 months.

Shigaraki is revealed to be going through medical procedures to make his Quirk stronger and even be able to take down One For All, in a medical process that will last for four months. Hawks' message warns Endeavor to start making preparations for it, especially to train the younger generations of heroes for the battle.

Endeavor starts training the three with that knowledge, and they move into the dorms on Endeavor's agency.

Midoriya and Bakugo are invited by Fuyumi to a dinner at the Todoroki's, but the mood sours quickly because of the dark shadow looming over the family and Natsuo walks out. While cleaning up, the two guests overhear about the family problems, and Midoriya offers some support by saying that he thinks that Todoroki is preparing himself to forgive, since he's too kind of a person not to, which Enji overhears. Enji then prays on a house shrine dedicated to his deceased son Toya.

Fuyumi explains their family situation to Midoriya, and Endeavor takes the three back to UA, but on the way, Ending, a recently released villain obsessed with Endeavor reveals he has kidnapped Natsuo, and threatens to kill him if Endeavor doesn't kill him first. The ruckus caused is quickly subdued when Midoriya manages to use Blackwhip to get civilians to safety, Bakugo defeats Ending rescues Natsuo and Shoto freezes him in place.

Endeavor and Natsuo have a heart to heart, in which Endeavor explicitly states that his son doesn't have to forgive him, but asks to let him make up for what he has done anyway. In the following day, Endeavor announces he intends to build a second house where his children can live with their mother and without him.

Tropes

• Anxiety Dreams: Endeavor frequently recalls a dream where his entire family is together again... but he isn't. Near the end of the arc, he decides that it was a sign that they can't be happy together if he's around.
• Brick Joke: To mark the end of the Meta Liberation Army arc, Midoriya and Bakugo are depicted putting the "Hero" back in and taking the "Villain" out of the logo respectively in the first chapter.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Endeavor is a jerk, but he does demonstrate that he is a very skilled teacher at Quirk usage. Ironically he proves to be a better instructor in using One For All than All Might was.
• The Bus Came Back: Manual, who hasn't been seen in the story since his debut in the Hero Killer Arc, is shown here, once again taking Tenya Ida as his intern.
• Call-Back: During Ending's comeback attempt at getting killed by Endeavor, he brings up the fact that the hero killed a near-lifeless Nomu, which he likens himself to in an attempt to make Endeavor feel more at ease with potentially murdering him.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Neither Natsuo nor Shoto mince words in criticizing how their dad raised them and how it affected their mom's mental state. Shoto joined the Endeavor Agnecy to learn a special ability and that's it. Natsuo is especially hurt because their brother Toya supposedly died thanks to Endeavor in the past.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Eri has sent Midoriya a letter thanking him for the events of the Culture Festival. It also likely serves as a Call-Back to when Kota sent Midoriya a letter thanking him for saving him from Muscular during the School Trip arc.
  • Endeavor and Midoriya still recall the time they met before Midoriya and Todoroki fought in the Sports Festival. While Midoriya notices that Endeavor's aura has changed since then, Endeavor quietly admits that Midoriya was right about Shoto not being him.
• Character Development: Shown across the board. In their second interaction, Midoriya and Endeavor are shown to have developed a lot from the Sports Festival arc: Midoriya doesn't shy away from him and shows more confidence, and Endeavor is quick to admit to his mistakes.
• Christmas Episode: Chapter 242 follows the Christmas party of Class- 1-A, to which Eri also participates. Doubles as a Breather Episode.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Endeavor. The Arc more or less serves as a new step in his complicated relationship with his family, but this time with Midoriya weighing in in Todoroki's thoughts about the situation, and ending with him deciding to distance himself from his family and let his kids live with their mother.
  • Additionally, we learn more about Endeavor's Hero Agency, one of the largest in the country.
• Dinner with the Boss: Chapter 249 has a version of this, in which Midoriya and Bakugo are invited to the Todoroki household to have dinner with the Todoroki family, including their boss, Endeavor. The two are treated first hand to the heavy climate that the family has, and Midoriya gives Todoroki support.
• Elemental Motifs: Endeavor's Hero Agency consists almost entirely of Heroes centered around fire and heat, with attitudes to match.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the panels showcasing "the next generation of heroes" as Endeavor reads Hawk's message, it's possible to see the status of various class 1-A and 1-B students.
• I Can Live With That: Endeavor accepts that Natsuo will never forgive him for his past treatment to the rest of the family. He at least asks to atone for his actions.
• Irony: Endeavor of all people proves to be a much better teacher using One For All than All Might. He can follow Izuku's Techno Babble without any confusion and can relate to the experience of having a dangerous Quirk.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: The Work Studies program returns upon the request of the Safety Committee but, while all of the Hero Class students get a chance to work with Pros and their agencies, this trope depends on certain characters:
  • Midoriya and Bakugo are unable to return to Nighteye and Best Jeanist's agencies, respectively. Sir Nighteye's sidekicks are too swamped with work since his death to bring back Midoriya, while Best Jeanist is still missing or in hiding.
    • Because of this, Todoroki invites them to work at the Endeavor Agency with him instead.
  • Uraraka and Asui, on the other hand, return to working with Ryukyu alongside Nejire.
  • Tokoyami returns to Hawks, albeit under the Pro's associates. Hawks, meanwhile is still working undercover.
• Ocular Gushers: The biggest so far. After Inko makes a heartfelt confession to her son that she's glad he's growing into a strong hero that can protect others, and no longer worrying as much, the two cry hard enough to break a window and create a waterfall.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Endeavor immediately notices that Hawks' attitude has changed when Hawks is handing him the "Special Abilities Liberation Front" text. He quickly realizes Hawks was trying to tell him something indirectly, and reading through the text, figures out that it was a warning of the endgame coming from a coded message Hawks hid in it.
• Race Against the Clock: Hawks' message establishes that a huge event is coming within 4 months, after which the Army and the League will attack the heroes, with a massively more empowered Shigaraki as their leader. Endeavor is told to prepare by training the next generation of heroes, the reason why the Work Studies program is implemented again.
• Reformed, but Rejected: The Todoroki siblings all have various shades of this regarding Endeavor. Fuyumi hasn't fully forgiven her father but she's attempting to make peace for the sake of her mother, who is also willing to forgive him. Natsuo is the most vocally angry and resentful towards Endeavor, but part of his anger is due to the fact that he's feeling conflicted about how he feels. Shoto is also conflicted, but Deku observes that he seems to want to forgive him. For Endeavors part, he accepts the reality that his kids may never fully forgive him for his past abuse and decides to instead atone.
• The Reveal:
  • The Winter Work Studies Program is actually revealed to be a front by the Safety Committee, to train the hero school students for what's to come and avoid a repeat of the Deika City incident last arc.
  • Chapter 249 shows that Toya Todoroki, the Todoroki's eldest son that was constantly referred to having gone through something terrible, presumed to be dead.
• Shout-Out: One of the gifts in the pile during the Christmas Party, the one given by Tokoyami, resembles Final Fantasy VII's Buster Sword.
• Socially Awkward Hero: During the interviews, the fact that Todoroki is clueless and oblivious, Bakugo is enraged and aggressive, and Midoriya is too shy and prone to babbling comes to the surface. While the rest of the class goes through their interviews without a hitch, the three are shown to be terribly awkward in front of a camera.
• This Is Unforgivable!: As pointed out in the Pro Hero Arc, Natsuo makes it very clear to his father Endeavor that his past actions that lead to Shoto's scar, his mother's breakdown, and Toya's alleged death are exactly this and, unlike Fuyumi and Shoto, he's never going to give Endeavor a chance.
• Worst Aid: More of An Aesop in first aid, as shown with Todoroki's flashback in Chapter 249: In a state of panic and regret, Rei tried using her ice quirk on the burn she accidentally inflicted on Shoto from the boiling water, leading to his scarring. Intentions or setting aside, ice is not a good immediate treatment for fresh burns.

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