My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1: Star and Stripe vs. Shigaraki begins as New Order is introduced

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 premiered on May 4, 2024, and fans finally got to witness one of the most anticipated heroes of the series, Star and Stripe, get animated. The episode marked the entry of the hero, as TomuAFO welcomed her with a fight. The chapter also introduced Star and Stripe's quirk, New Order, and fans got to see how it worked.

Season 6 adapted the previous two arcs of My Hero Academia, which were the Paranormal Liberation Front arc and the Dark Deku arc. The first half of the sequel focused on the battle between the heroes and the villains, as the former tried their best to avoid the awakening of Tomura Shigaraki. Unfortunately, he awakened, and after a while, All for One took over, thus becoming TomurAFO.

The latter half of the sequel saw Deku leave the heroes in hopes of fighting the villains singlehandedly. He fought Muscular for the second time and had a faceoff against Lady Nagant. At one point, Deku reached a breaking point and was saved by his classmates, who stood by him. The sequel's climax saw Star and Stripe on their way towards Japan, leaving every duty behind.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1.

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1: All for One reveals his plans for the future

All for One (left) and Spinner (right) as seen in My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 (Image via Bones)

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 was titled In The Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick From the West! The episode started with All for One and Spinner sitting inside a hideout as the former thanked the escaped criminals (from the Tartarus breach) for keeping the defense forces of Japan busy.

The antagonist later revealed that he had a grand plan, and stealing One for All was just a minor goal on the way to accomplishing it. On Spinner's asking, All for One revealed that the only obstacle left in his way of accomplishing his final plan was the strongest woman in the world, the American Hero Star and Stripe.

All for One declared that after stealing her quirk, everything else would be smooth sailing. He then puts Spinner on supporting duty alongside Shigaraki (TomurAFO) while appreciating the efforts he performed alongside his heteromorph squad in the previous fight (Paranormal Liberation Front versus the Heroes), thus giving him confidence that he can support Shigaraki.

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1: Star and Stripe enter and so does TomurAFO

TomurAFO as seen in My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 (Image via Bones)

The episode then shifted towards Hawks and Best Jeanist, who were on their way to welcome Star and Stripe. Unfortunately, they were informed that something was interrupting the pathway of Star and Stripe's aircraft. And to no one's surprise, it was Shigaraki (TomurAFO) who made his first appearance since the last fight (Paranormal Liberation Front versus the Heroes).

He was standing atop a flying Nomu and was spotted by Star and Stripe, who questioned his identity. While the villain vaguely answered, one of the pilots informed her that the person interrupting them was indeed Tomura Shigaraki, and they had to be careful of his electromagnetic wave attacks, as these could crash their aircraft.

While TomurAFO questioned his identity, the hero assured his pilot that she would return their bodies to their loved ones if they died in battle. TomurAFO combined three of his stolen quirks (Radio Waves, Air Cannon, and Heavy Payload) and shot a big wave of distortion toward the hero. The pilots managed to evade, and Star and Stripe showcased her quirk, New Order.

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1: New Order versus Corruption

Star and Stripe as seen in My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 (Image via Bones)

The basic workings of the New Order were explained by the narrator (which was Present Mic). The quirk allowed its wielder to set a rule for their surroundings by touching their opponent and then calling out their name with the new rule (thus the name of the quirk, New Order). The first New Order she stated was to remove any air 100 meters in front of her while facing TomurAFO.

As a vacuum was created, the villain had to hold his breath while the pilots launched their lasers toward him. TomurAFO combined two of his stolen quirks (Scatter and Reflect) and deflected the lasers. This made the hero use New Order again, which made the lasers holdable. The villain took this chance and rushed towards the hero.

Star and Stripe followed suit and rushed towards the villain, punching him in the face. She then revealed that she could only set New Order for two targets at once, one of which would always be her.

She had used New Order to give her monstrous strength, similar to All Might. She then explained her first encounter with All Might and bragged about him being his role model, as the villain got irritated.

My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1: Star and Stripe in trouble as she calls for a grand weapon from USA

The hero rushed towards the villain and pushed him down onto one of her aircraft, thus using New Order to state a new rule, which was that if 'Tomura Shigaraki' moved, his heart would stop.

TomurAFO thought to himself about how the hero fell for his trap, as Tomura Shigaraki's body was controlled by All for One and was owned by the latter. Due to this, New Order didn't work on him.

While this was happening, All for One's vestige took over Tomura's consciousness and declared that their bodies had merged by 98%. TomurAFO exploded, but Star and Stripe managed to evade it. She got confused over the identity of her opponent as the villain brainstormed about looking for more blind spots in New Order.

Star and Stripe using New Order as seen in My Hero Academia season 7 episode 1 (Image via Bones)

Star and Stripe declared the villain a global threat and asked one of the pilots to send a message to Commander Agpar. As she did this, she used New Order to make the air around her a colossal figure of herself, which was 1000 times bigger than her human body. She used it to attack Tomura, who was sent flying away.

She again used New Order to make all the lasers coming from the aircraft into a single sword-like weapon, which her air figure grabbed and hit the villain. This attack was termed Keraunos.

Amid all this, Agpar had a little chat with Star and Stripe and assured her that the State-of-the-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Missiles named Tiamat were on their way to Japan to destroy TomurAFO.

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