A Ph.D. in N.O.M.U. [My Hero Academia 221]

Oh boy! So much to drool over this chapter. Skipping the banter, let’s just talk about…

Gigantomachia. The guy is confirmed to be All For One’s bodyguard and has multiple quirks! No doubt All For One made him powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with All Might. An All Might in his prime to be exact. Yeah, he’s the real deal, Y’all. Remember the League’s crappy construction site base? Gone. That and the surrounding area wreaked from one attack by Gigantomachia. He’s final arc strong. Seriously, I’m happy to see him now, but no way we’ll see him fighting anyone anytime soon unless it’s a completely one-sided battle. Hm? If AFO benched Gigantomachia, why was he in a town looking for a hero in Kirishima’s flashback during the Overhaul Arc? I wonder if he ever found that hero? He must’ve if it was an order from the big boss. Gigantomachia’s so loyal he’d power through anything to see All For One’s will carried out. So, I guess the real question (and assuming this wasn’t some personal vendetta) is why did AFO sick his biggest baddest bruiser on one hero? Hope that gets addressed one day.

Anyway, the Doctor, calling himself Daruma Ujiko, decides to throw the League a bone and teleports them to his secret lab. And, he did it using the same quirk All For One used in the Kamino Arc. That right there confirms Ujiko knows how to replicate quirks! That is huge news. Sure, we speculated it when seeing the first High End and his Muscular neck and Black Mist-ish face, but now that we know it’s true. The High Ends we’ll see in the future can possibly have any combination of the previous Nomu and League quirks. We’re talking an army of walking, talking, and thinking Super Skrulls. That’s insane!

Did you notice how different all the Nomu look? And, no I’m not just talking the female and the chubby one. I mean some have designs reflecting their quirks, like the female having what looks like sea animal fins and (maybe) Toga’s hair, or the only one with mechanical parts. Cyborg Nomus. Cy. Borg. No. Mus. Wow! Okay, okay, breath, Red. Let’s move on. Wait. Horikoshi implied Ujiko turned his own grandson into a Nomu. Does that also mean…

Dexter is very protective of his true identity. Makes sense, the guy wants it all, to create monstrosities and live a somewhat normal life without being hunted by the law. And, yes, he’s definitely the Doctor who diagnosed Deku being quirkless. And, no, I don’t think this means he stole Deku’s quirk. Why would Ujiko do that then make up some lie about quirkless people having an extra pinky toe joint? A lie that can easily be fact checked if Mama Izuku went to another doctor or did a google search. Nope, I don’t think the doc would risk it. Deku was born quirkless and I’m sticking to it.

And so, we end with Ujiko crapping on Shigaraki, saying he’s accomplished nothing. Of course, the doctor’s partially right. Shigaraki doesn’t have the big brain or power like Daddy AFO, but he’s getting there. I’d say Shiggy’s got a surprisingly high amount of charisma, something AFO had in order to command such loyalty from his followers. We’ve seen it when he asked Toga and Twice to do what they felt was right during the Overhaul Arc, and even now, despite hitting rock bottom none of the League members left the group. Quite the contrary, they’re all still working to keep the organization alive. Even Spinner never said he wanted to leave, he’s just frustrated and wants Shiggy to explain why they’re not following Stain’s ideals as much as he wants them too. Shigaraki is still rough around the edges, but once you get close to him, understand him, see his potential, you don’t want to leave. It’s all about loyalty, folks. Once you have that, everything else will fall into place.

So, yeah, Shiggy’s gonna break out the quirk erasure bullets and Uijko is gonna lose his mind. Can you imagine? The Doctor has studied and mastered the quirk gene to where he can copy them into other creatures and will soon have the power to weaponize their permanent removal. And, maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to replicate Eri’s quirk and put it in his High Ends! Game. Set. Match. Uijko is about to have the best day ever.

Great chapter. Next one will most likely finish our flashback. Too bad, the League is a joy to watch. Well, they have to show up again and fight the Liberation Army. Good luck with that, LA. You’re gonna need it.