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My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16, titled The Hellish Todoroki Family, Part 2, moves completely out of the borders of the Paranormal War and into the post-war era. The ramifications of the battle and the subsequent nationwide prison break seem to have wreaked havoc on society.
The episode also dives into Hawks’ past and his turbulent relationship with his parents. The ending focuses on the Todoroki family as they gather at the hospital, with the implication that the mystery of Toya Todoroki’s death is about to be revealed.
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 shows Hawks’ origins as the heroes are pushed into the backfoot and Rei comes to visit Enji
In the previous episode, AFO orchestrated a nationwide prison break via Shigaraki’s controlled body, beginning with Tartarus. Stain and Overhaul were both seen alive, and both escaped during this chaos. In the Central Hospital, Bakugo and Todoroki awoke from their injuries while Midoriya was still unconscious. Aizawa was also recovering but had lost an eye and a leg. Endeavor was still under surgery while the public protested against him.
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16: Hawks’ past
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 begins with Hawks’ backstory. His father was a common criminal who once killed a man and fled the system. His mother, Tomie, sheltered the convicted man, and thus Keigo was born. His father was abusive and paranoid and left them one day. He had stolen a car and got caught by Endeavor. For Keigo, who had always thought of heroes as something of a fairytale, hero society became a reality.
Afterwards, his mother left the house with him but could not survive on her own. They went to the authorities, who provided Tomie with shelter in exchange for denouncing the surname Takami, and later, Keigo. At present, Hawks and Best Jeanist were seen in a car as the former explained how they used technology from Central Hospital to reduce Best Jeanist to a near-dead state in order to fool Dabi.
Best Jeanist stopped the car in order to apprehend some common thugs. After asking the bystanders, he found out that several heroes had left their jobs, leaving most of the area defenseless. He and Hawks reached Tomie’s current apartment, where they found a note clarifying that some villains had threatened her with the details about Keigo’s past, after which she went into hiding.
Hawks remarks that even though all connections between them should have been cut, Dabi still traced it here. He remembers his mother buying him the Endeavor toy, which changed the course of his life. He told Jeanist that before he could face the public, he needed to return to his origin, which was his admiration for Endeavor, who was currently in danger.
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16: The state of the society
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 then explained that the society had descended into chaos. The damage from the war combined with the prison break and the confirmed existence of the Nomus had sent the public into a frenzy. On the other hand, the number 9 hero, Yoroi Musha (Ashido, Hagakure, and Aoyama’s mentor), retired from active hero duty, and many newly minted heroes followed suit.
Due to the progressively thinning number of heroes and the public’s growing lack of faith in them, villains ran rampant in the streets. The people took matters into their own hands, but since they were inexperienced, they caused a lot of destruction and casualties. In one such case, the hero Wash was berated by the people despite doing his best. My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 also showed Stain reaching his old hideout and retrieving his Katana.
The heroes were thus being put through a sieve a mere two days after the battle and people blamed it on Endeavor. Back in Central Hospital, Endeavor had woken up. He recalled bits and pieces about Dabi’s revelations and Toya as a child and lamented that despite his son being in mortal danger, he could not fight his other son. At that moment, Shoto Todoroki opened the door to his room and, seeing his father cry, promptly walked out.
As Shoto, Natsuo, and Fuyumi entered their father’s hospital room, Enji tearfully apologized to all of them. However, Rei appeared behind her children, shocking Enji. She reminded him of the heartbreak and guilt that he was feeling now that the rest of the family had borne that burden for a long time. She faced him properly and stated that she was there to talk about:
“Our Family, and our son Toya.”
Observations
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 strongly implies that Keigo never managed to forgive his parents, especially his mother. He was not a wanted child, and his parents often berated him for being born with his wings. Keigo’s nature had not allowed the resentment born from such treatment to be forgotten. Curiously, his mother’s note describes her pride for her son, but Hawks seems unmoved, caring only for how to clear his conscience.
Here, the importance of Jin Bubaigawara is highlighted. Hawks, who believed that people can only show their true face when backed into a corner or completely free, admired Twice. And it’s the same logic that allows him to admire Endeavor despite his past of abusing his family, most likely because he has seen Enji’s effort to make it up to Shoto. Beast Jeanist seems to be the least affected by the current state of affairs and has set his sights on helping both his colleagues and his society.
The state of the Hero society as shown in My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 is demoralizing to the heroes and facilitates further villainous activities. The citizens taking the law into their own hands will only increase the number of casualties, and the rapidly declining number of heroes will make a counterattack that much more difficult. This episode makes it clear that although the heroes won the battle, they are currently losing the war.
Final thoughts
My Hero Academia season 6 episode 16 hints that Stain will have a larger role to play in the future. The preview suggests that the next few episodes will be about the Todoroki family and the circumstances surrounding Toya’s death. It also presents Hawks as a foil to both Toya and Shoto, something that will become more evident as this arc progresses.
