While the season ended on a positive note, with Deku finally reunited with his friends and safely within the walls of UA, I would very much like to take this breather in between seasons to recover from the massive emotions that came with Season 6’s developments. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride for sure with the three remaining arcs in the manga left to be animated. My poor heart better be prepared.

My Hero Academia Season 6 raised the stake so much higher with the first showdown of Shigaraki’s All for One and Deku’s One for All and it was interesting to see how the current wielders of the Quirks were in a race to see who masters theirs first. I cried so much and had my heart pounding for hours on end as the battle raged on. With the hanging ending of the first showdown, the final battle between Deku and Tomura promises to be one for the books.

For My Hero Academia Season 5, I love that on both sides, the camaraderie has shaped up quite nicely, and exploring these relationships help fans invest more in these characters — what happens to them, whether they make it to the end or not. In any case, MHA just seems to get better with every installment, great stories from mangaka Kohei Horikoshi, and great animation from Studio Bones.

It took a lot of chapters to bring Tomo and Jun’s journey to a close (Like I said, Jun decides really slowly) but everything just made sense in the end. Everything happened at the perfect time and iI, for one, was really happy how it played out. I wouldn’t giving this entire manga another read because its just so much fun. It makes me so excited to see how the last three episodes of the anime would play out.

We Light the Way laid many foundations for the second half of the season. It seems that Rhaenyra made more enemies than allies with her marriage to Ser Laenor, and you can see the innocence of the first few episodes peel away with each heartbreak for both the Princess and ex- best friend. To say that the episode was stressful would be an understatement. Still, it was a great set up for the excitement that is to come with each faction declaring war.

Can I just say how much I love the dynamic between uncle and niece? And I also love how despite his jealousy and own ambitions for the Iron Throne, Daemon obviously loves his brother and niece very dearly. Its a sappy way to look at it but Matt Smith effectively conveys these conflicting emotions. Its hard to hate Daemon fully although he is being portrayed as a heel when he easily reneges a position of advantage because he could not bear hurting his kin. And when Lord Corlys starts to badmouth his brother, even though just an episode ago he was doing the same, he puts him in his place and says that only he is allowed to talk badly about the King. It was so much fun to watch.

I liked how the world was consistent with that of GoT, from the costumes to the characters. Knowing that these events transpired before the Long Night truly adds a new layer of appreciation for GoT. It was also bittersweet because House of the Dragon very clearly underscored the importance of the role of the Targaryens in the prophecy, none that really materialized in the end of Game of Thrones because showrunners were too busy wrapping things up to work on their Star Wars deal with Disney.