Well, that was an adventure. Lemme put on some calming music before we get into it.
Pent up anger. Tenko Shimura felt his family was against him. Felt his father was a monster for punishing him for wanting to be a hero. Felt the rest of his family stood by and let it happen. This was the result, an angry child lashing out with a newly emerged quirk. A quirk that kills.
We knew Tenko would kill his family but I had my doubts. Namely, how did every family member keep their hands if they were turned to dust? Well, the answer to that was pretty simple. Decay, when it first manifested, broke things down into chunks, rather than disintegrating them like what we see from the current Shigaraki. Guess someone’s been training their quirk over the years.
We also see Tenko using a long-range attack and decaying his house (the one his father had built), confirming he’s been capable of doing those attacks from the beginning. And, while attacking, Tenko’s hair is turning white and I assume his eyes are turning red, just like Eri. If All For One had nothing to do with Tenko’s quirk then that confirms someone with a mutant quirk gets those physical attributes only when their quirk first activates.
What makes this chapter so scary is the art. Seeing Tenko kill his family, seeing their bodies break into chunks of hair and flesh is creepy. That, along with his commentary, makes this one of the darkest chapters in the series. The revelation Tenko wanted to kill his father and how good he felt after doing it is enough to give anyone chills. Again, pent up anger. He hated his father so much, and when Kotaro hit him with the gardening tool (no doubt trying to knock him out), that was the last straw. But, I do wonder what was Kotaro’s quirk. Was it something useless, or did he choose not to use it because he didn’t want to hurt his son? Well, he did hit Tenko with a gardening tool, so maybe, it was just useless in that situation.
Okay, so Tenko killed his family and we know All For One finds him in an alley. What happens between those two points will be interesting. Did Tenko forget he killed everyone by then? How long had it been since he killed his family? And, how in the world didn’t the neighbors hear all this commotion and call the police? Are the neighbors working for All For One? All good questions I hope get answered next chapter.
This was an amazing chapter. The story, the art, the raw emotion, and gore all comes together beautifully in a way only Horikoshi could do. Bravo Sir for this chapter and for this villain arc in general. This arc will go down as one of the best in My Hero Academia. There is nothing like a compelling villain in a superhero story. Thank you Horikoshi for not forgetting that. I’m sure your hard work will pay off.
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 