Tag: My Hero Academia

Seriously, is she Number 7?

And here we are. After years of speculation, it finally happened. Toru Hagakure is revealed to be the U.A. traitor. No surprise to me and a number of the community, but that’s expected. The clues were there. No, like with the Toya/Dabi reveal, it’s not about the who as much as the why and how. Not to mention the general repercussions and Horikoshi’s decision to reveal the traitor to us, the audience, before learning her true identity along with Class A.

I’ve got several questions. Let’s see if any can be answered as of now.

Is Toru a Number? For those who don’t know, a Number is what I believe are experiments specially meant to help All For One achieve a new stronger body unaffected by quirk singularity. Tenko Shimura is the tenth experiment. Nine, from the second My Hero Academia movie, is the ninth and Number 6 from My Hero Vigilantes is the, well, sixth experiment. If Toru’s among them, then it’s safe to say she has more than one quirk. A revelation that would help explain how she escaped exposer by someone as smart as Nezu other than simply no longer communicating with AFO or Ujiko after AFO’s defeat at Kamino.

I’m not sure I like where this is going.

And by this I mean “Tenko”. Okay, sure, Tenko is very much the victim as any other innocent affected by All For One. Buuuuuut, at the same time, didn’t Horikoshi establish Shigaraki wanting to destroy the world? That it’s his decision? Which is it, Hori? Tenko being manipulated by All For One doesn’t excuse ALL the death and destruction he’s called over the years. Yes, Tenko needs saving, but Shigaraki needs prison.

Now, I’m willing to let this angle play out given Horikoshi’s track record with Endeavor. I don’t want to be one of those internet haters coming down on him. Endeavor’s quest for redemption was a lot more complex than people first thought and maybe this is a similar situation. Maybe “saving” Tenko means killing him. Maybe Shigaraki will sacrifice himself to help take down All For One. I don’t know. For now, I’ll stick to my theory Shigaraki will gain control of his body and kill the OG All For One.

Well, we knew it was only a matter of time…

Star And Stripe is dead. And, I gonna say, I’ll miss her. We didn’t know her for long, but I really liked the character. A shame she got introduced in the same arc she died. Why, Horikoshi? Why keep America’s top hero under wraps just to kill her off? It would’ve been great seeing her interact with Toshinori and Deku and…any of the main cast. How about a movie set in America where we see her show up? No? Okay…

Horikoshi has created such an interesting world filled with interesting characters and concepts that it boggles my mind he’s so seemingly reluctant diving deeper into it. This arc, this whole final arc in general, just feels…too soon. Did we really need My Hero Academia to enter its final arc now? What about more inter-school interactions? Trips abroad meeting foreign hero students? Chapters focused on other characters? More, Horikoshi. I wanted more!

Star And Stripe lost to save her friend. Now, they can die together. Yay?

Sure. Star losing was the most likely outcome by a long shot, but it still sucks. I’ll say it again. It was a mistake for Horikoshi to introduce Star in the same arc she (allegedly) lost her quirk. Such wasted potential. NOW maybe I’m wrong. Maybe, juuuust maybe Horikoshi will subvert our expectations, having Endeavor come in and save her, but even I’ll acknowledge that’s wishful thinking. The more likely scenario is Star losing New Order. Oh well. It was a fun battle, at least.

Star And Stripe ain’t done, yet!

We learn a bit more about New Order but nothing that matters, at least for now. It’s an overpowered quirk with restrictions. That’s all we need to (and already) know.

So, Shigaraki. What’s gonna become of him? At this point, I’m thinking this merged Shiggy/All For One version IS the new mind. The only question is whether the AFO vestige or Tomura will emerge as the bigger influence. Of course, Shigaraki will come out on top at some point, meaning he’ll be a more cunning version of himself thanks to the AFO merger. Yep. Think Shigaraki, but with AFO’s experience. Scared yet?

Things aren’t looking good for Star And Stripe…and Tomura Shigaraki.

New Order is the name of Star’s quirk. And, boy is it overpowered. Basically, the number 1 U.S. hero can warp physics on any target she touches and knows the name of, living or non-living. That explains why she looks so much like All Might. She literally turned herself into a version of him!

And with the ability to keep two rules active (herself and one other) at once, Star is pretty much a weaker All Might with a quirk. Yeah, that’s why she’s America’s top hero and Captain Celebrity isn’t. Hmm… I wonder how much weaker she is compared to All Might? Given Star probably gave herself the All Might rule when he was in his prime, even becoming HALF as powerful would be pretty damn strong! And, that’s me low balling it. The lady can survive travel on top a stealth fighter. She’s got to be legit tough to do that!

Obtaining One For All is the mid-game goal? Hmm…

Then, what’s AFO’s ultimate goal? If I had to guess: World Domination. Why be content ruling a country when he could rule the entire planet with the combined power of the All For One quirk, One For All, and Star And Stripe’s quirk. Plus, all megalomaniacs want to rule to world. It’s in their contract.

Heteromorphs. Discrimination against them has been peppered throughout the series. Now, Horikoshi’s bringing it to the forefront. I’m excited about it. Horikoshi has done a good job so far blending real world issues into his story, and he’s had a long time to prepare for this one. I’m very hopeful for this sub-plot.

Well, hello there U.S. Number One.

Was not expecting to see America’s top hero in this chapter. And I sure wasn’t expecting them to be Star And Stripe. She called All Might “Master”. Was she his student once? Just how long did All Might live in the States before returning to Japan? 6 years? 10 years? 15 years? I sense a flashback coming.

And what’s her quirk? She’s standing on a stealth fighter jet flying to Japan. That’s quite a feat! Magnetism? Solar Powered (like Superman)? Apple Pie? I can’t wait to find out.

This chapter truly felt like the end is nigh.

So, the heroes have about a month to prepare before Super Shigaraki/AFO reaches full power. The final war is indeed coming. I’m a bit sad about it. There’s so much the series could’ve done before reaching the endgame. Inter-school tournaments, trips abroad, an A.I. arc villain, so much more about this world could’ve been explored. Oh well…

Did you notice Hagakure wasn’t among the students talking in the living room area? Just making a note of it.