There are several kinds of heroes in My Hero Academia, but by far the ones who've had the least spotlight are those who specialize in search and rescue. While it's surely not the situation they might have wished for, these rescue heroes are finally getting to show how valuable they can be by searching through the rubble to help out survivors of the Paranormal Liberation War.
As the war unfolded, not only did the city where Jaku Hospital was located get decimated by Shigaraki's Decay, but a massive swath of destruction was left across the countryside by Gigantomachia, as he desperately tried to fulfill the purpose of his one-track mind. For over 70 kilometers (about 43 miles), there's a massive line of destroyed buildings--buildings which people were living their lives in before Gigantomachia burst through without warning, and they need help.
My Hero Academia's Rescue Heroes Take the Spotlight
In the episode, accurately entitled "Hellish Hell," many heroes are shown responding to the disaster now that the immediate threat of the villains is dealt with. My Hero Academia's Uraraka is shown levitating pieces of debris off of a child who is pleading with his sister to flee, while Tsuyu manages to pull them to safety before more debris can come crashing down. Koda is also shown working with another one of MHA's heroes to help people, and using his animal friends to locate those who are still trapped and in need of help. Other heroes are shown using jet boots and rope to move debris, while ordinary police and doctors are also on the scene, doing what they can to help. One hero is even shown to be so overwhelmed by the devastation that he declares it's "time to find another line of work."
The Consequences of My Hero Academia's Big War
The heroes certainly never expected this outcome when they launched their raids; they were counting on the element of surprise to give them the upper hand. The show does a great job of pointing out that, yeah, all those cool action scenes didn't end when the camera cut away. Each city that Gigantomachia plowed through, each building that collapsed from Shigaraki's Decay... it was someone's home, their life. Even those who think the villains might have some valid points would have to rethink their position upon seeing just how much death and destruction they've wrought in such a short period. Is this really what the original Meta Liberation Army wanted? While the public may be losing faith in My Hero Academia's top heroes like Endeavor, (most of) the rescue heroes here have proven that they're still reliable even in the darkest circumstances--the true mark of a hero.
It's not often that an action series like My Hero Academia takes a moment to look at the fallout of these big fights, showing images of scared and hurt people among collapsed buildings and debris that have become all too familiar in the modern world. There will always be people there to help, though, and My Hero Academia's rescue heroes are certainly those people.
My Hero Academia streams new episodes on Crunchyroll every Saturday.