The episode begins with Mr. Aizawa telling the students about their end semester exams, the final exams begin with the 3 day written test followed by the beginning of the practical exams which shocks everyone.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: In the anime, each student vs. teacher match goes one team at a time while the others wait and prepare strategies, unlike in the manga where all ten fights are ongoing at the same time. This gives the earlier matches a bigger disadvantage, but it does allow the anime to focus on each match instead of flipping around like the manga did. As a result, Midoriya doesn't watch the others after his match; instead, he is joined by Uraraka. Also, the anime devotes a bit more time to showing how the students prepared for the written exam.
- Broad Strokes: In the manga, all of the students face the teachers at the same time, and Recovery Girl is situated in a temporary first aid tent. In the anime, the adaptation messes around with the sequence of events to the advantage of its format. The tests take place in order of one through ten, with the most climactic fight (with Izuku and Bakugo vs. All Might) obviously at the end. Recovery Girl is also situated in a more upscale location to monitor the events and perform first aid, and instead of being out on the field, Izuku and Ochaco are watching the tests to observe, learn, and strategize from what their classmates fail/succeed at doing, and are here together because their training partners won't communicate with them. It's also a lot more like the Battle Trial Arc in this respect. Functionally, the story is still the same, just modified to be more convenient for a different format.
- Greek Chorus: Unlike in the manga, the anime's commentary on the match is done by Midoriya and his classmates. In this episode, it's Uraraka who joins him and Recovery Girl in the viewing room.
- Fire-Forged Friends: It's subtle, but you'll notice some students start to interact with each other more since being paired up. Notable ones are Midoriya and Bakugo, Sero and Mineta, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, and Koda and Jiro. Downplayed for most of them since they weren't exactly distant, but didn't have that close of a relationship to begin with.
- Hard-Work Montage: The episode includes a bunch of shots portraying the students preparing for the final exams.
- Hidden Depths: Despite being a colossal and unrepentant pervert, Mineta is revealed to be #9 in the school midterms ranking, implying that he is smarter than he appears.
- Innocently Insensitive: Iida and Midoriya give Kaminari and Ashido encouraging words for the written exams, and Todoroki tells them that it's hard to fail if they listen in class. Of course, these three are all in the class's top five, which is just rubbing salt in the wound. Yaoyorozu invites them over to her house for a study session, and quickly becomes this trope for an entirely different reason."It's like she casually slapped me with the huge difference in how we were born..."
- Instant-Win Condition: The students are given two ways to pass the practical. The first involves handcuffing the Threshold Guardians by any means necessary. If they can't do that, then they can pass by reaching the exit in the given course. They don't need to incapacitate the teachers to accomplish either goal unless they have to.
- On One Condition: Aizawa has a training camp set up for the class, but says that only those who pass the Finals will be allowed to go.
- Power Limiter: To avoid causing accidental injuries, and give the students a handicap, the teachers are required to wear weighted bracelets. All Might has to wear additional ones given his own power.
- Threshold Guardians: Kaminari and Ashido assume that the class will face robots from the entrance exam for the practical. However, the UA faculty decides to change things a bit. Instead, they become adversaries for the students in hopes of them overcoming their foils and weaknesses.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The whole class has this reaction when they realize they're going to be fighting the teachers. Deku and Bakugo get a double dose when they learn they're fighting All-Might.
