Would’ve been nice if Shigaraki was the final villain.
But, it doesn’t look like that’s the case anymore. I hoped Horikoshi wouldn’t make All For One so important to the creation of Shigaraki. Sure, we saw the Demon Lord of Formal Wear returning a young Tenko home during Shigaraki’s origin and figured he at least had a hand in giving Tenko the Decay quirk.
But, now? After reading this chapter? It’s clear AFO’s plan goes deeper than that. Much deeper. And that’s a shame. A shame because it looks like Deku will indeed save Shigaraki … from All For One.
AFO, the Big Bad who refuses to die. I really wanted Shigaraki to defeat AFO instead of All Mech & Friends, earning his place as the final villain. But that, like Beyonce attending my birthday party last year, never happened. And, that’s fine. My predictions are always a toss-up, but I wanted something better. Better than having AFO’s vessel return. Better than it revealing AFO’s completely behind Tenko Shimura becoming Tomura Shigaraki down to the tiniest detail. Maybe I’m overreacting and Shigaraki will wrestle control back from AFO, but that won’t undo what’s being setup in this chapter. That AFO, once again, is the biggest baddie bad boy of My Hero Academia.
From the looks of things, AFO found and befriended Kotaro Shimura because our undisputed final boss is a petty asshole who just wants to hurt Nana’s family for shits and giggles. He learned about Kotaro’s hatred of Nana then decided to go a different route than simply killing him. So, instead, AFO goes for Tenko. Bing! Bang! Boom! AFO gets to destroy the Shimura family and get a future potential vessel for the oh so intelligent emergency-body-transfer-just-in-case plan for the future. Isn’t he the greatest at being evil, Y’all?
So, yeah. Shigaraki is basically a tool for AFO. That’s the ending we’re most likely getting because that loophole will allow Deku to “save” Shigaraki. What. Ever.
This chapter gets an incomplete from me! Whether or not it’s good comes down to what happens next. If AFO is the ultimate villain and Shigaraki officially stays the number two villain of the series because he was manipulated most of his life by AFO, it sucks. If Horikoshi’s gonna somehow cement Shigaraki as the architect of his own destiny overall, this chapter gets a pass. Why did this series fall so hard from grace? Maybe I’m dreaming? That’s it! I’m asleep! But, then where’s my personal spaceship? And, my dream house in Japan, complete with a pool full of candy corn? Darn it! Reality sucks!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 
3 replies on “The All For One Show [My Hero Academia 418]”
In the finished post on my other site, I proposed the idea of Tomura sacrificing himself to take out All For One, freeing Tenko from him for good and becoming “The Hero.” ‘Cause i still don’t think that the 2 of them are the same person. In fact, I think this now explains better what Tomura is in relation to Tenko.
I’ll keep it brief, but I basically talked about what “Being A Hero” meant in the context of the first Deadpool Movie- that “4 or 5 moments” line about what makes a Hero. Tomura- or rather; the vestige of whoever “Decay” once belonged to- was thrusted into a situation he had no control over. And he chose to “Save A Crying Child” the only way he knew how: Destruction. I think sacrificing himself against All For One will be another moment where he’s “The Hero of The Day.”
I still say that Tenko and this original body are going to split off- it’s just going to be All For One in the “Driver’s Seat,” “spitting” Tenko out and taking Tomura and “Decay” back. But Tomura will rebel and attack All For One’s vestige directly, giving himself up in the same manor that got Izuku to this point in the first place.
I also think that Tenko will follow in Tomura’s footsteps. Becuase- after everything is said and done- Tomura WAS the one who saved him from his famoly and potentially All For One. He’s still his “Hero.” And I think he’ll try to become a Hero who “stands up for the dregs of society” or something like that.
Everyone wonders what to do with a kid like this who still wants to stand up for villains like Toga and Twice, but- after everything- I think they’ll understand. Which is when Izuku will decide to make Tenko his successor- deciding to give Tenko the same opportunity HE received. The context has changed from this single chapter, but I think it’ll all ultimately end the same way.
Did you hear about this series reaching 100 million copies in circulation? It’s 60 mil in Japan- 40 mill the rest of the world. It is now the 10th Best selling Shonen jump series of all time- right behind “Fist Of The North Star!”
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I haven’t thought about this as much as you but I can see AFO taking over Shigaraki’s body after popping out Tenko. That “reborns” Shigaraki allowing him to be saved while AFO gets destroyed, again.
Not sure about the successor part since I’m not even sure if Deku still has OFA.
That’s great news! While I have issues with MHA, I can’t deny its a fantastic world to lose yourself into and has great art. Good on you, Horikoshi!
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Good point; I forgot that possibility.
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