My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5: Tokoyami saves Hawks, Shigaraki destroys Jaku General

My Hero Academia season 6 episode 4 ended with Shigaraki’s awakening despite Mirko and Present Mic destroying Garaki’s equipment. The preview for episode 5 warned that things were set to take a turn for the worse, but fans were unprepared for how terrifying an enemy he has become, following his transformation.

This article breaks down and highlights the major events of My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia anime. All external media in this article are the property of their respective owners.

My hero Academia season 6 episode 5 summary and highlights

Shigaraki awakens

Shigaraki kills X-Less (Image via Kohei Horikoshi/Studio Bones)

Following a brief recap, My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5 jumped back into action, elaborating on what exactly woke Tomura Shigaraki up. After Present Mic captured Garaki, X-Less noticed one of Garaki’s machines still running, having escaped destruction due to the pipes around, protecting it. Unsure of its function, X-Less decided to use his laser to destroy it.

This proved to be a fatal error since the explosion sent a bolt of electricity through the wires, coming into contact with the liquid Shigaraki was lying in. The electricity restarted his heart, waking him up and sealing the heroes’ doom.

Shigaraki began by saying that it was very cold down there. However, before X-Less could react, he used Decay to kill the hero and take his cape for himself.

Gran Torino and others arrive

My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5, titled The Thrill of Destruction, moved on to the struggle against the advanced Nomus. Aizawa realized that he couldn’t restrain them unless they were all within his range of vision, while Endeavor struggled to fend against the creature while protecting Mirko.

Gran Torino and other heroes arrived in the nick of time, saving Endeavor and Mirko. They held down the Nomu long enough for the number one hero to kill it with Jetfire. Present Mic arrived carrying Garaki just as the heroes brought the situation somewhat under control.

Tokoyami saves Hawks

Dabi burns off Hawks' wings (Image via Kohei Horikoshi/Studio Bones)

Meanwhile, at Gunga Villa, Tokoyami noticed Dabi’s signature blue flames and realized that Hawks might be in trouble. Despite Fatgum’s protests, he began flying back towards the battlefield, forcing the hero to instruct the other students to report to the rear guard while he went back.

Tokoyami arrived just in time to stop Dabi from killing Hawks, Dark Shadow exclaiming in horror that the hero’s wings had been completely burned off. Dabi expressed his disgust at the heroes for sending children into battle and then proceeded to tell Tokoyami how Hawks had killed Twice while the latter was running to save his friends.

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Tokoyami wavered but insisted that he cared about his mentor’s wellbeing. Dabi called them “barbecued birds,” confident that they would not escape and used his flames, narrowly missing.

Hawks observed that the villain’s attacks had been getting weaker, and told Tokoyami to escape right then before Dabi could recover. However, he followed the two heroes, stating that he had intentionally baited them by attacking with less power.

The two managed to escape when Geten’s ice tore through the battlefield and Tokoyami flew away carrying an unconscious Hawks, reassuring himself that his mentor was not a bad person.

The first OFA holder warns Deku

My Hero Academia season 6 has shown very little of Deku, Bakugou, and Todoroki up till now, but episode 5 finally heralded their return to the battle. As the Team Endeavor rear guard, consisting mainly of hero-students, continued with the evacuation of Jaku City, Midoriya suddenly heard the voice of the first One For All wielder speaking to him.

The OFA vestige, who he had last interacted with during his dream in My Hero Academia season 5 episode 2, warned him that the backlash was coming. Deku was filled with a sense of terror and automatically turned towards the direction of the hospital.

The first wielder conveyed that Shigaraki, who had been freed from the shackles of humanity and was getting yet more powerful, was coming and must be stopped.

Heroes at Jaku General try to escape

Crust saves Aizawa (Image via Kohei Horikoshi/Studio Bones)

The beginning of Shigaraki’s destruction was undoubtedly the highlight of My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5. The effect of his Decay spread at an unprecedented rate, immediately crumbling the walls of Garaki’s secret lab. Gran Torino managed to pull Present Mic and the evil doctor out right in time, while the other heroes began escaping.

Ryukyu told Aizawa to hold on to her, but he was caught by a Nomu. Fortunately, the latter was saved by a dying Crust, who had thrown his shield to cut off the Nomu’s arm, enabling Aizawa to escape. The heroes managed to escape from the basement as the hospital began to collapse. The destruction began spreading to the roads, killing any heroes who paused before making a run for it.

Shigaraki’s Decay crumbles Jaku City

Shigaraki’s Decay began affecting everything in and around the hospital, even alarming the birds in the nearby forests. Deku’s exclamation caught the others’ attention, causing them to realize what was happening. Some evacuating heroes attempted to create obstacles to stop the destruction, but Decay spread to everything.

My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5 showed a montage of the damage caused, with buildings, trees, roads, and cars crumbling down at a horrifying speed, all around the area where Shigaraki stood. Bakugou and Todoroki began telling the civilians to run, while Deku tried to push the destruction back using One for All, Full-Cowl at 45%.

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But the powerful blast of air did nothing, making Uraraka realize that it was not a normal shockwave. Deku recalled his encounter with Shigaraki, realizing that this was the effect of his quirk.

Todoroki tried to create a wall of ice, which began breaking down as well, forcing the hero students to escape carrying the civilians. The control room received no response from the team at Jaku Hospital and communications fell into complete chaos.

Shigaraki calls Gigantomachia

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My Hero Academia season 6 episode 5 ended with Shigaraki stopping his assault and exclaiming how nice it was to be able to control his quirk. He opened a vault, lifting out a shattered vial of the quirk-neutralizing serum which Overhaul had created using Eri’s blood in My Hero Academia season 4.

While remarking that it was a pity to lose the serum, he was struck by a series of strange flashes which caused him a headache. A voice began saying that it was their turn. Shigaraki realized that the situation wasn’t ideal, observing that the raid was supposed to begin after he awakened. However, he used a device to contact Gigantomachia, declaring that he would destroy everything.