Down to the final four slots of the year-end countdown, and the anime community is back on the clock for this year. And might as well give this particular series somewhat of a proper send-off since the series ended not too long ago. But we’re not talking about the finale of the anime, but instead, the end of a long final battle that lasted a season for the final arc of the anime. Coming in at number 4 of the Top 12 Countdown of 2025 is My Hero Academia with “Izuku Midoriya: Rising”.
There were some options to pick from this season to talk about in this countdown. Whether it’s the All For One and All Might fight, All for One’s backstory while taking on Bakugo, who was back from the dead like he’s The Undertaker, or maybe even the finale of the anime, or second-to-last final episode that was painted as the final episode as of late despite that there is one more, which would be an OVA in 2026, we got to talk about this episode to close out the Izuku and Shigaraki/All for One fight. Mind you, this episode got a 9.8 rating on IMDb. A 9.8, and you can see why it got the highest rating of them all. This episode delivered. This is pretty much how you wrap up a final fight of the final arc. The art and animation, along with the direction it was taking to make it a pretty damn well good episode. And one could say that it feels like something coming out of Avengers: Endgame, which is pretty much the reference they were going for with the lead-up to the final fight of the series. This pretty much tells you how I’m uncultured I am since I never saw any of the MCU films.
And the name of the game is simple for this episode, which is for everyone to lay their lives on the line to make sure Izuku is recharged in preparation to land the final blow on All for One, who refused to die after being turned into an embryo when spamming the stolen quirks against Bakugo. Everyone is laying their lives on the line in the first half of the episode, while giving Izuku the time he needs to recharge. Mind you, that was when he lost his arms when taking on Shigaraki at the end of the previous episode, before getting them back as a result of Aizawa coming in clutch and using Eri’s power to reverse the damage. And that is what we’re seeing for the first half, with Izuku getting his arms back, even though time is of the essence, he only has one shot to end this battle and hand the war to the heroes. Especially with his flame slowly about to extinguish. So, the clock is pretty much ticking for Izuku to get to an All For One possessed Shigaraki.
And when I said that everyone is laying their lives on the line to make sure Izuku gets to Shigaraki, I mean it. Because if this is going to be a final fight, might as well give everyone their time in the limelight who came out of the various portals and lend a hand to aid Izuku on his way to Shigaraki, while having to protect the guy from any of his attacks if he wants to land the finishing blow to end this battle. Whether it’s, of course, Aizawa using Eri’s powers to reverse the damage to Izuku’s arms, to Aoyama giving him a boost before the rest of Class 1-A, along with the other students of the school and the pro heroes to serve as the boost and shield for Izuku as their ace in the hole.
Did I mention that the art, animation, and direction did a swell job with this episode? Because they did. It is the end of the final fight after all, so this is pretty much the cast and crew’s way of saying that if they want to go out, then they might as well go out swinging with everything they've got. And it worked. They gave it everything they got to make a perfect episode that some in the anime community think should be nominated for anime of the year. Not just the episode itself, but the season as a whole.
Sure, you have the usual “You can do it! Beat the bad guy! Win this one!” from various locations across Japan and the world with bated breath, along with various cameos who are watching the fight unfolding whether it’s a safe space within the school with various people like Izuku’s mom or Eri and Kota with everyone else in that room or, hell, Uraraka, who was badly battered after her fight against Toga, the whole world is watching what is going on. Adding the usual anime trope of everyone in bated breath and hoping for a good result. And for a final fight like this one, got to add the tension like it’s a championship game with both teams tied going into the two-minute warning, hoping for your team to get a game-ending goal.
Of course, you have Kurogiri, or rather Oboro, who had to go and step in to protect Shigaraki, like it’s Pavlov’s bell ringing in his head, to go and protect him from Izuku from landing the blow. Shigaraki, or rather, his body, is already feeling heavy damage and slowly decaying, and could possibly stand in the way of Izuku, who is flying high after getting boost after boost from his friends. That was before being boomed by Bakugo out of nowhere, who was supposed to be treated for his injuries following his fight against All For One in his original body. But not before having to step and tell All For One, who is in Shigaraki’s body, to get out of his body. Telling him that his friend, referring to Spinner, is out there waiting for him. Even if he is standing in the way and could’ve posed a problem for Izuku before Bakugo, out of nowhere, comes in clutch to get rid of the one unexpected hurdle standing in the way.
So, after all of that, as well as a life before his moment from All For One and seeing his brother Yoichi, the original user of One For All, before fading away, which is a sign that One For All is starting to slowly fade away from Izuku, the fight is finally coming to an end with Izuku landing the final blow on All For One. But he is not alone in this because Shigaraki also landed a punch against his former master and soon-to-be-former host of his body; you can thank Izuku for that in changing Shigaraki’s mind straight out of Naruto or Steven Universe, for him to take a stand before bowing out from life since his body was decaying as a result of Izuku’s punch to put an end to the fight and the war in general.
But not before one last interaction between Izuku and Midoriya, since Shigaraki’s body is decaying from the punch, resulting in his death. So, this is pretty much the end of Shigaraki after that punch to decide the fight, but he can finally rest in peace after being freed from All For One’s clutches to be a host body. Thus, ending his reign of terror. But not before giving Izuku one last request before fading away to oblivion, which is to have him relay a message to Spinner whenever Izuku plans on visiting him in jail, which we that in the next episode. But other than that, this is the end of the fight, and once again, everyone went all out to make it a really good episode in a season where not one episode chained the season down.
Shades of Avengers: Endgame with this episode, when having to go all out for the anime’s final season. You can see why this episode got a 9.8 rating on IMDb, and when seeing it for the first time, when it came out, what an episode. What an episode. They freaking cooked this one to perfection. Art, animation, and direction all did phenomenally to make it happen with this episode. The season, too, since all of the episodes this season had a 9 rating on IMDb, as if they might become contenders for anime of the year. But what a way to close out a final battle by making this into an animated version of Endgame, and even though, again, apologies for being an uncultured swine, but what a way to wrap up a long ass battle that lasted for a season. And yeah, got to end it on a cheesy note, the episode did go all the way to Plus Ultra.
Day 9 of the Top 12 Countdown of the year 2025 is in the books. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we prepare to go into the Number 3 spot of the Top 12 Countdown. We’re nearing the end of the countdown. Hopefully, I can get through the whole thing for once. Which episode and series will be taking home the bronze? Find and see on Monday with the final three spots all ready to go in advance, since that would be when I would be working on the review for the newest Bob’s Burgers episode. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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