Two new My Hero Academia Season 5 OVAs will be released before Season 6 starts on October 1 — Laugh as if you are in Hell and Hero League Baseball (HLB), both of which just under an hour of watch time combined.
They will stream on official platforms from August 1, and I had the chance to catch these two OVAs in a special screening during its international premiere in Singapore last Friday, July 22 thanks to anime retail shop Hakken and Mediacorp’s meWATCH.
Laugh as if you are in Hell takes place in Season 5’s timeline where students Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki are interning with Endeavour’s hero agency.
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Spoiler-free review: why Laugh as if you are in Hell is so refreshing and worth watching
Laugh as if you are in Hell is guaranteed to make you laugh. Its plot is straightforward, there’s a clear climax, and a satisfying conclusion. You’ll enjoy it, for sure, and wheeze alongside all your favorite characters.
And I mean all the characters.
OVAs are great because they tend to place our favorite characters in situations that go beyond the usual storyline. A villain named Mr Smiley isn’t serious enough to be in the main plot, but funny enough to be in a short story.
Imagine a raging Bakugo uncontrollably laughing, or stiff-faced Endeavor, or tsundere Shoto Todoroki. Can you? I couldn’t, not before this OVA.
Throughout the screening, the same thought kept repeating in my head, “The voice actors must have had so much fun recording this!”
Compared to the previous five OVAs–which I’ve watched but frankly can’t remember anything about them–Laugh as if you are in Hell will definitely make its mark, and it’s even better if you watch it with friends. Free endorphins without the workout!
What is the story of My Hero Academia’s Laugh as if you are in Hell?
Warning: Major spoilers if you haven’t watched the OVA Laugh as if you are in Hell.
In this short non-cannon tale, Endeavor and his agency comes across a new villain in town called Mr Smiley. He’s been vandalizing public property with graffiti and gets away every time by using his quirk on authorities, making them laugh non-stop for two hours.
Endeavor puts it off, relying on other pro heroes to deal with him, since the threat is low and lives were not at stake. However, one night, upon returning to his traditional Japanese home, he noticed that its outer wall was vandalized by Mr Smiley, and was triggered.
The next day, he activates his agency, including Deku, Bakugo, and Shoto, to hunt down Mr Smiley, but to no avail. They keep trying on a few more occasions, but fail and laugh a lot in the process, embarrassed to the core.
All Mr Smiley needs to do is get a visual on his target, whether in person or recorded, to send them into fits. The heroes tried to get around this by using a robot, but even the machine was affected by his quirk. This only made Deku admire him even more, for he felt that he had the potential to do a lot of good with this unique ability.
Eventually, Endeavor trains a blindfolded Bakugo to move according to his specific commands. They almost take down Mr Smiley at the bank before Deku stopped them, for he didn’t want Bakugo to destroy the painting on the wall because he knew it meant something to Mr Smiley.
Deku had done some prior research on Mr Smiley, and recognized a part of himself in him. He was a struggling artist who felt that he wasn’t given the recognition he deserved. In a touching moment, Deku related his own experience and advised him not to give up, showing him the website he put together that publicized his artworks.
At the same moment, a separate group of villains attacked the bank. Having a change of heart, Mr Smiley stepped in to intervene that made all the criminals laugh, rendering them incapable of completing their robbery, turning a new leaf in the process.
Catch MHA’s Laugh as if you are in Hell OVA on Crunchyroll and meWatch on August 1.
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