WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 5, Episode 12, "The New Power and All For One," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
In Season 5, Bakugo has demonstrated immense growth, particularly in his team's match against Class 1-B. Often considered a character who does not work well with others and relies heavily on violence, that was not necessarily the case in this match, as he relied on his classmates and actively put their safety first. Once again, Bakugo shows how far he's come as an aspiring hero after passing his remedial course and receiving his provisional hero license alongside Todoroki in My Hero Academia's 100th episode.
Bakugo and Todoroki are some of Class 1-A's best students, consistently demonstrating immense potential to be top heroes in the future; however, where everyone else in Class 1-A earned their licenses, Bakugo and Todoroki did not. For Bakugo, this had to do with the fact that he did not prioritize civilian's well beings, using harsh language with them, advising they save themselves and favoring attacking enemies over reusing innocents. While this prevented him from getting his license right away, the potential he demonstrated earned him a second chance if he passed the remedial course.
During this course, Todoroki and Bakugo struggled alongside Shiketsu High School students when it came to dealing with a group of rowdy children, but they eventually learned to win those kids' hearts. While this may seem like a minor challenge for heroes, it is a crucial part of the job, as they are supposed to inspire hope in people while also protecting them. By challenging the students to work with a group of troublesome kids without resorting to violence, it gave Bakugo a major lesson in dealing with civilians.
The other lessons they learned from their remedial course were not expanded on like this one was, but it's fair to assume there was a heavy focus on properly dealing with civilians, especially when that part of the job was the downfall of one of U.A's top students. It appears that these lessons truly paid off beyond the classroom, as Bakugo applied them in the field only thirty minutes after earning his license.
Returning to U.A with All Might, Bakugo and Todoroki come upon a group of villains in the midst of a robbery, and they spring into action since there are no heroes in the area yet. Bakugo initially starts off as his usual self, easily blasting the criminals after Todoroki unleashes a wall of ice. He then knocks several of the villains unconscious with his explosions, again relying on his old ways, but when a civilian and All Might are about to be crushed by a falling light post, Bakugo prioritizes their safety over fighting the bad guys.
Like with his match against Class 1-B, Bakugo recognizes that the safety of others is more important than taking out the bad guys. Bakugo saving the woman and All Might also allows Todoroki to deliver the finishing blow against the criminals' leader. Whether or not he knew this would end the fight is unclear, but it shows that Bakugo is willing to trust other heroes enough to hold off or stop a threat while he deals with civilians.
He even takes this a step further, remarkably recovering the stolen bags before they could be destroyed in the middle of the fight. While this may not seem like the most important part of this confrontation, it does show that Bakugo has become more aware of the damage these sorts of fights can lead to. He is considering damage control and the safety of others while also apprehending several of the villains and trusting his classmate to finish the job.
This Bakugo is far from the hothead he was in Season 1 of My Hero Academia. He still has the same stubborn, confident and violent personality, but after his remedial course, Bakugo has become an even better hero, one that prioritizes the safety of others while still delivering devastating blows when appropriate.
