"Rescue Exercises" is the 19th episode of My Hero Academia's third season and the 57th episode overall.
The instructions for the second stage of the license exam are revealed: following a simulated disaster, trained professionals from the Help Us Company will pose as civilians in need of rescue. The heroes-in-training are supposed to rescue them and score higher than the benchmark number of points to pass.
Class 1-A soon realizes that they are not reacting as comprehensively and professionally as the students from other schools due to their relative lack of training in this regard. They soon decide to split up so they can divide the labor more efficiently. However, just as the examinees get comfortable with the search and rescue operations, Gang Orca and a squadron of Mooks arrive at the scene, pretending to be villainous terrorists. The heroes-in-training must now continue rescuing civilians while suppressing the villain threat.
Tropes:
- Chekhov's Hobby: Midoriya wants to be a hero so he can save people just like All Might. Back in the first season, his class was supposed to practice rescue missions at the USJ facility before the League of Villains interrupt. Now, he'll finally get his chance to perform rescues.
- Damsel in Distress: Invoked with the Help Us Company, professional "damsels" hired for simulated rescue operations such as this one. They can calculate how effective a hero's rescue strategy is, and give them advice on how to do better against any flaws.
- Family Eye Resemblance: Yoarashi notes that Todoroki has his father's eyes. Played for Drama as he doesn't seem happy about it.
- Love Is a Weakness: Uraraka resolves to tamp down on her feelings for Midoriya for the time being, since it'll get in the way of her dreams.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Everyone when Gang Orca and his henchmen appear with instructions to continue rescue operations while battling the attacking villains
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Bakugo expresses his refusal to save the HUC members who aren't as "hurt" as others, ordering them to climb up themselves. Two of them don't disagree his priorities, but criticizes his overall attitude.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The second phase involves rescuing people. The reality is that it's not just about saving them, but ensuring about their well being, the safety for anyone close to them, determining who needs help first, as well as strategies on how to get them out of difficult areas (i.e. crumbling structures). By the end of the episode, one more factor is added: a "Villain" who disregards the citizens' safety to cause chaos, forcing the "Heroes" to juggle priorities and choose which is more important. The process of dividing, spreading, and shifting focus on different tasks at a moment's notice is no different from how Firefighters, Police, and Medical Workers operate in Real Life situations.
- What the Hell, Hero?: A positive example with the HUC workers, who give the heroes-in-training a summary of all the mistakes they commit while performing the rescues, making emphasis on how badly this would go if helping a real victim. This actually helps Midoriya and company as they soon start doing a much better job.
