Having proven himself heroic, Midoriya is named by All Might as a worthy successor of his power. The symbol of peace explains that his quirk, "One For All", is unique in that it is not a power one is born with. Rather, "One For All" is passed down from one person to another, not unlike a sacred torch, and gathers the strength of its previous owners to bestow upon each new user. Because Midoriya exhibited the most heroic spirit of any hero present during the sludge villain's attack, All Might believed Midoriya to be the one most worthy of inheriting his power.
As Midoriya is now, however, it would be too dangerous to give One For All to him; so great is its power that it could kill him outright! Before he can receive it, he would need to train. To that end, All Might arranges for Midoriya to undertake a special regimen with the goal of cleaning a local beach of all the trash that had been dumped in it. Midoriya has ten months before the entrance exams for UA High, and he would only receive One For All if he could get the beach clean before then.
The training is grueling, and Midoriya struggles with overworking himself, endangering his training, in an effort to be worthy of All Might's power. Finally, on the morning of the day of entrance exams, Midoriya completes his training: the beach is completely spotless, and Midoriya's body had become toned and muscular over the course of ten months. His training complete, All Might finally deems Midoriya worthy to inherit One For All. To accept the power, Midoriya would need to take All Might's DNA into his body; and with only a few hours before entrance exams begin, the most expedient way to do this is for All Might to give Midoriya a strand of his hair to eat.
Midoriya rushes to the entrance at UA, tripping and nearly falling on his face. Thankfully, he is saved from embarrassing injury by another entrant: Ochaco Uraraka, whose quirk allows her to cancel out the forces of gravity on objects and other people. Uraraka wishes him luck, leaving Midoriya shocked that he talked to such a cute girl (even though he didn't really say anything).
In the auditorium for the school, one of the teachers, Present Mic, explains how the entrance exam works: in addition to a written exam, there's also a practical test where the entrants are tasked with taking out robots representing villains in a mock city for points, with the highest scoring entrants being granted entrance into the school. Midoriya prepares himself for the practical test, determined to put All Might's gift to the best use.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Bequeathed Power: All Might reveals to Izuku that his quirk "One For All" was not a power he was born with, but one he was given like a sacred torch, stockpiling power from past users and given to successors (something he plans on doing with Izuku in-turn).
- Down in the Dumps: All Might takes Izuku to a trash-site for his training. Not only does clearing the various tires and fridges help bulk his various muscle groups, but clearing out the beach of its garbage also counts as good old-fashioned volunteer work that helps teach true heroism.
- Establishing Character Moment: The debut of Ochaco Uraraka has her stopping Midoriya from face-planting and wishing him good luck for the entrance exam, showing very straightforwardly that she's a tender, compassionate young lady.
- Exact Words: All Might explains to Midoriya that he can become a hero, but he still means it when he says the boy needs a Quirk. He was able to reassure him because he possesses the spirit to become a hero, but needs an appropriate power to carry it.
- Hero Does Public Service: All Might outright states that these are the roots of heroism, and that pro Heroes can't waver from them, no matter how fancy they may see themselves as.
- Heroic Build: This is the end result of Midoriya's training: after ten months, he becomes ripped!
- The Klutz: Just as Izuku decides to take the exam with confidence, he immediately trips over his own feet, Uraraka having to stop him from falling to the ground.
- Mood Whiplash: A Rousing Speech from All Might as he prepares to hand over some of his power to Izuku is undercut by him forcefeeding Izuku some of his hair, as physically consuming his DNA is how his power is passed on.
- Skyward Scream: As Midoriya completes both his training and the cleaning of the beach, he screams proudly from the top of his lungs, and the top of the efforts of his hard work.
- Training from Hell: Averted. All Might's training regiment is strict, but he specifically designed it for Izuku to be able to complete in time for the UA exam without overworking himself. He calls out Izuku for going overboard with it.
- Training Montage: Most of the episode involves Izuku strength training under All Might's guidance over the course of months so that his body can handle All Might's quirk.
- Unexpected Inheritance: All Might decides to declare Izuku the inheritor of his quirk after his heroics in the last episode.
- Wham Line: Izuku is overwhelmed by All Might's words from last episode, but it's when the hero says that he's ready to "inherit his power" to the boy that gets his attention. He believes that the concept of transfering a Quirk from one person to another isn't possible.
