Category: My Hero Academia

Woo doggy! What a chapter! Originally, I was going to start by talking about Re-Destro but screw it. I’m diving into my Shigaraki talk.

There’s no doubt now, All For One gave Shigaraki his families’ hands as a constant reminder of his pain, all to corrupt his feelings and turn him into a tool of destruction. What a dick! It also explains why Shigaraki regained his memories as he lost his hands. Make me wonder if he’ll gather the hands up or leave them moving forward. Maybe he’ll only keep his father’s hand for his face. That should be enough.

We’re introduced to Shigaraki AKA Young Tenko’s mother and maternal grandparents. Shigaraki mentions them not telling him something he needed to hear as a child. Something to comfort him after his father told him (if my theory is correct) he couldn’t be a hero. Remind you of a certain One For All user?

Tenko and Hana wanting to be heroes is all but confirmed in my book.

But, what about dear old Papa Shimura? We haven’t seen him yet. Well, that’s because Shigaraki’s daddy issues is the meat and potatoes of the flashback. Horikoshi’s saving that magnum opus for last. Shiggy’s hate for his dad is also why I think he’ll only need his father’s hand to fuel his hate moving forward.

Hm? Could it be…

Anyway, about the chapter, we learn Hanabata AKA Trumpet, indeed has a quirk that power’s up his allies through the sound of his voice. The louder it is, the more powerful they become. But, from what Trumpet implied in the chapter, this power-up takes a toll on those affected. Which explains why he didn’t bust out the megaphone mask in the beginning.

Spinner! He has an animal quirk called Gecko, which allows him to cling to walls. Oh, sweet, Horikoshi. You can’t fool me. If wall-crawling was all Spinner could do, it wouldn’t be called Gecko. Like, Froppy’s Frog quirk, I believe Spinner will unlock more lizard abilities in the future. All he has to do is train his quirk. Wouldn’t be surprised if he discovers a new ability in this very arc! Oh, yeah, it’s definitely coming.

Finally! We have some idea what Re-Destro’s quirk can do. And, boy, it’s a whopper of a power.

While we don’t get the name of Re-Destro’s quirk, let’s review what he did and make a hypothesis, shall we? In the chapter we saw Re-Destro move incredibly fast, take out a Twice clone with one finger, destroy a group of League clones with one hit from an enlarged arm, fight Clone Shigaraki with said mega arm, and survive a fall from a disintegrating tower. Phew! That’s a lot!

Now, what does everything Re-Destro’s done this chapter have in common? Answer: All his attacking limbs were covered by his birthmark. Re-Destro’s birthmark is the key to his powers, a given, yes. But, what does it exactly do? I’d say it manipulates his body on a molecular level. Anything Re-Destro wants his body to do he can do it as long as the birthmark is covering that body part. Strength? Yes. Enlargement? Yep. Speed? Sure. Elasticity? Uh-huh. Defense? Of course. Re-Destro can make his body do whatever he wants, making the Detnerat CEO an easy contender for top 10 quirks seen in the series so far. Top 5 even, depending on what his weakness is.

So, how is Shigaraki gonna beat that? Well, fortunately, the real Shiggy has an idea of what Detnerat can do, so that helps. Other than that, I got no clue. Now, would be a good time for Twice to whip up some more Shigaraki clones after he pulls Giran out the rubble, assuming there’s any Tower Twice Clones left.

Hanabata VS Spinner. Wasn’t expecting that. Maybe next time, Mr. Compress.

While I assume Mr. Compress marbles Toga and keeps watch over the injured OG Twice, it’s up to Spinner to take down Hanabata. Or, should I say Team Hanabata because it looks like his quirk boosts, energizes, or just plain hypes people up so they’re more powerful. How will Spinner deal with that? Well, using his quirk, of course.

Let’s talk about what Spinner’s quirk could be. I heard a theory somewhere online that Spinner has a transformation quirk, making him bigger and stronger and more lizard-like. I like that theory because it explains why Spinner never used it. Now, that we know Spinner was harassed in his hometown for being a mutant, it stands to reason he has issues concerning the way he looks. Sure, the League would accept him no matter what, but Spinner won’t accept himself. So, he doesn’t use his lizard quirk and instead fights with a sword.

Atsuhiro Sako AKA Mr. Compress, member of the League of Villains and snazzy dresser. He’s helpful. He’s powerful. But, why is he a villain? Well, it looks like we won’t learn Mr. Compress’ true motivations anytime soon in the manga, but why let that stop us? Let’s take what we know about our favorite marble master and come up with some theories on why exactly Mr. Compress is a villain.

First things first, it was never stated Mr. Compress admired the hero killer, Stain. So, we can assume he joined the League under different circumstances. Next, Mr. Compress is a showman. He loves showing off and seems to be at home performing for an audience. Another clue could be him wearing a mask. Sure, the police know his identity now, but either he was trying to keep it a secret in the beginning or the mask is part of his act. You know, I’d say it’s a little of both. The mask is part of his act and he also wanted to keep his true identity a secret. If true, that means Mr. Compress was a well-known figure, either on a national or local level.

We also know Mr. Compress is well versed in using his quirk. He knows its limits and when best to use it to catch people off-guard. And, while we don’t know his official age, Mr. Compress carries himself and talks to the younger Leaguers like he’s a seasoned professional. Based on that, I’d say he’s over 30 years old.

I love Twice. And, I love Twice. And, don’t forget Twice. I also love Twice. Oh, and Twice. Can’t forget Twice. Not to mention, my dude, Twice.

Yes! Thank you, Horikoshi for referencing the Yakuza bullets. I knew they’d be important, but who knew it would happen after the League of Villains recruits Gigantomachia and Doctor Ujiko? I sure didn’t. Whatever Shigaraki ultimately does with them will be game-changing.

Enough about that, let’s talk Twice. With his fear of cloning himself gone, it’s open season on the Meta Liberation Army. Twice alone should be enough to take the entire town out now. And, I’m only talking if all the clones are Twice copies. If the Twices cloned Dabi and Mr. Compress like they wanted I’d be an instant game over for Team Redestro.

Humans are social primates. We all want to belong, be part of something greater. Sometimes that greater is good, other times it’s not. The point is no one likes feeling they’re alone in the world. So, what happens when a person with a cloning quirk feels totally alone? Easy, you clone yourself.

Jin Bubagawara AKA Twice. His quirk, Double. His family, dead. It’s understandable he cloned himself. The committing crimes part, not so much. But, it’s not only feeling alone that drove Twice over the edge, but it was also, well, himself. Can you imagine not trusting yourself? Not in the I’m a failure sort of way. We all feel that at one time or another, more or less. I’m talking if you cloned yourself and that clone, that copy of you, tried to kill you. That itself would drive anyone crazy, but compound that with the yearning for companionship and you get…Twice.

All of that explains the strongest aspects of Twice’s personality, his insanity and his desire for family. It also explains why we’ve never seen him really get hurt. He was always holding back, afraid he was a clone and if he took too much damage he’d dissolve. Yikes! Twice had a lot on his plate, but everything’s okay now, right?

Just when I thought it was safe to hypothesize about a Dabi flashback, we shift gears to focus on Twice instead. Even better!

But, first, let’s talk Dabi and Parka Guy. Horikoshi isn’t skimping on the art. Everything from Dabi’s design to the Parka’s ice dragon, to the fire and ice double page spread looks great. Parka can move and mold ice in seemingly anyway he wants, even floating in the air on it. Interesting how he mentioned Redestro supporting him in his quest to train his quirk. Something tells me Mr. Freeze isn’t the only guy Redestro’s been helping out.

It may seem like a no brainer Dabi wins but ice is tougher than most people give credit for, plus Snow Meiser has move maneuverability and can mold ice constructs. That’s more than enough to keep Dabi on the ropes.