Season 4, episode 3, “Boy Meets…”, begins with a worthwhile bit of narrated exposition from Midoriya, making clear his current goals as a student hero and what has changed for him since facing off against Hero Killer Stain back in Season 2. Deku now has his provisional licence and, with that, can use his quirk in public to assist pro heroes in battle and to avert disasters. This is the next big step in becoming a pro hero’s sidekick. And Midoriya’s work study is under the tutelage of All Might’s former sidekick: Sir Nighteye. Or so he hopes.
Sir Nighteye himself, while very briefly introduced in Episode 2, really shines in Episode 3 from the beginning. The two disparate halves of his persona – the hyperbolic, serious, and scary salaryman on the surface, and the diehard child-like All Might fanboy underneath – fold together to create an incredibly fun and alluring character right off the bat. And the fact that these two sides of him are established within two minutes shows off the strength of writing and characterisation that’s almost always consistent in My Hero Academia. In fact, the characterisation is so solid here that Sir Nighteye can be clearly understood with the sound off. From his office – with one wall of grey shelves and folios and another covered with colourful dedications to All Might – to his bland suit of grey and white, spiced up by a clownish necktie.
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