Level Grinding For the Final Boss [My Hero Academia 309]

Muscular’s down for the count. Nice work, Deku. Now only several thousand to go.

With the immediate crisis over, it’s time to backtrack and learn exactly how Deku got into this situation. Not surprisingly, it’s part of a larger plan to track down the League of Villains. It’s not the best plan ever, but it’s better than Deku hanging out at U.A. around a bunch of displaced civilians who’ll get caught in the evitable battle.

Plus, Deku’s getting stronger while constantly in the field and gaining experience. No textbooks, no classes, no studying. Just pure unalliterated level grinding. Reminds me of how The Crawler from My Hero Vigilantes became proficient at using his quirk. Oh, Deku. I had no idea you gained another quirk: Copycat.

By day, they hunt the League. By night, they’re a Backstreet Boys tribute band.

Mid-gauntlet compression support items. Deku is using them to keep from breaking his limbs. All Might got them from America. Hmm… Could Melissa Shield from the first My Hero movie have made them? And, if so, does that mean the movies are 100% canon? But in that case, why did Deku get mid-gauntlets instead of the full version in the movie? Maybe Melissa only had the one pair from the movie? Hmm… for now I’ll just assume it was Melissa Shield who made the mid-gauntlets. Whether this is a new manga Melissa or the same one from the movies remains to be seen.

Stop! In The Name of Haki [One Piece 1010]

Ah! So that’s what Gol D. Roger and White B. Eard were doing.

The two legendary pirate captains were infusing their weapons with Supreme King Haki! Nice callback, Oda. And now, Monkey D. Luffy knows how to do it. But Luffy attacks with his body, not with swords or anything like that.

Enter Zoro. Turns out he’s got a little of the Supreme Pizza Haki too. And, look! He performed an Asura attack. We haven’t seen that in 40 years! Oh, yes, I remember humming along to Kool & The Gang’s Celebration as I read Chapter 417 so long ago. And right after, I watched Little House on the Prairie while eating Better Cheddars. But I may be wrong.

And don’t forget to use #supremehaki, #rubberyonko, & #prayforkaido

Anyway, that’s two members of the Straw Hat Pirates who can use Supreme King Tutankhamen Haki. Will we get a third or fourth? Sanji? Jinbe? I hope so. All the Straw Hats don’t need to learn it, but it’d be nice if the strongest 3 or 4 do.

Thank You For Smoking [My Hero Academia 308]

Deku, my boy! What’s this? Don’t you know only a fool thinks smoking is cool? Oh, sorry. I thought you had a cigarette. Here’s your Cool Card back.

Smokescreen. Yes, my fellow My Hero fanatics, Izuku Midoriya has unlocked another Past User quirk. It’s a very complex superpower, but I’ll try to explain it in the most simplistic way I possibly can: Deku makes smoke.

Another simple, yet effective tool in Deku’s growing arsenal. This chapter has confirmed what I’ve been saying for a while now. The Previous One For All Users’ quirks are to be thought of as tools, not overpowered super moves. They work with the prime OFA quirk, not separate from it.

It’s either Deku or Ace Bunny from Loonatics Unleashed. …Yeah, I made a Loonatics reference in 202X. Don’t judge me!

Koichi’s Got 99 Problems… [My Hero Vigilantes 99]

But a Six ain’t one. Wait, no. That’s not right.

No. 6 is an immense problem. Especially now that he somehow knows what’s going on throughout Naruhata from his location. Some type of radar quirk? Could he be getting reports from his goon squad spying on the heroes? Is he working with Wendy Williams? I hope it gets explained later.

Operation Anonymous. It’s a good plan. Causing a complete blackout and traffic jams while at the same time causing minor destruction. Not enough to warrant All Might stepping in, but more than enough to cause citizens to panic. It could even snowball into fights and/or riots! There’re tons of possibility for trouble, which means the heroes could be more and more distracted from No. 6’s hospital attack.

Who needs bomber monsters when Aizawa’s there putting Koichi on blast?

But at least the heroes seem to be done with chasing The Crawler. They’ve got bigger problems to worry about now. They’re ain’t stupid. Eraser Head and the others have figured out pretty quickly this was all planned. Now’s the time to find the real villain!

Homies Over Hoes [One Piece 1009]

Look out, Big Mom! It’s a trap! Oh, well. Hope you can swim. You can’t? Uh-oh…

It was a good plan. Separate Big Mom from her three homies, then throw her off the dome. Simple, yet effective. But will she fall into the sea and die? I’d say at least half of that question is possible. Sure, she may fall into waters below, but her kids will probably save her.

Franky’s clothes say Cyborg Hentai. Zoro’s says Three Swords. I bet Jimbei’s says Heavy Stud.

Orochi’s dead…again. You can stop chopping off his head, Oda. We already know hydras don’t die from that. Maybe third times the charm? Nah! I doubt it. But I do wonder how Orochi plans on escaping Onigashima. I guess he doesn’t know it’s flying. Whoopsie!

My Ketsubutsu Academia [My Hero Academia 307]

Heroes being heroes. No U.A. students anywhere to be seen. Yes, my friends, the world is now a scarier place with people like Jailbreaker roaming about. Fortunately, there’s someone who may do something about him.

No, I’m not talking about Ketsubutsu Academy’s Yo Shindo AKA Grand or Tatami Nakagame AKA Turtle Neck. They were useless in this chapter. Sure, it’s great seeing them again. And by their character descriptions we know they’re 3rd years, meaning U.A.’s Class 1-A is officially in their 2nd year at the school. Nice. Things have changed and Horikoshi seems to be slowly showing us just how much is different at our favorite hero school…by not showing anything at all.

So we meet again, Justin Briner!

But, hey, it’s Jailbreaker, kids! Or should I call him, Muscular? He’s just chillin’ and killin’ like we all figured he would be doing. It’s gonna take a powerful hero to take that monster down. Enter Deku.

Still A. Live [One Piece 1008]

Od*n. Shogun Orochi. Ashura Doji. Let’s go down the list and see just who’s alive and who’s living impaired.

First up, Od*n. *SHUDDERS* Thank Enel he’s still dead! Like many had predicted, the former Whitebeard and Roger pirate was a living painting controlled by Kanjuro. Yep, turns out a notable villain in this arc didn’t get off-screened. Shocking, I know, but now he can get a proper death. Death, you say? Yeah, I don’t think Kanjuro’s making it out of this arc alive. But, then again, this is One Piece. Hmm…I’d say YES. He’s a dead man. Not by Yamato’s hand. He’ll protect Momonosuke long enough for Kin’emon to make the killing blow.

Introducing Kaido’s man-beast form! Isn’t it simply…underwhelming? Seriously, Big Mom looks more imposing than him.

Next, Ashura Doji. Is he dead? Given how seriously Oda is taking the Akazaya Nine’s plot, I’d say YES. He’s dead. Oda gave him a very dramatic death, named the chapter after him, and even showed a portion of his charred body. Yep, he dead like disco, Y’all.

Lights Out [My Hero Vigilantes 98]

The final battle begins. Nightmare Night. Terrible Twilight. Nasty Nocturnal. Deadlight Saving Time. Okay, that last one didn’t work so much but, yeah, welcome to My Hero Vigilante’s last battle arc.

It makes sense. Everything going down in Naruhata. It started here. Most of the series took place here. So, naturally, the good guys will have to work together in order to save it in the finale. I really like that. The whole fighting for your home thing. But, from the ending narration, things are gonna get worse before they get better.

This chapter’s sponsored by L’Oreal. Because You’re Worth It.

No. 6 is looking a little crazy this chapter. Well, crazier. He’s still talking to that image of O’Clock and he’s not even trying to look cool and collected. He’s going all out this time. Looks like All For One gave Roku 6 another quirk or two. We’ve never seen him use that EMP ability before, and he was also “activating” those creatures walking around Naruhata. Yep, our good friend No. 6 has been upgraded. I probably should’ve seen that coming. The Crawler is really in trouble now!

School’s Out Forever [My Hero Academia 306]

The Final Act? What do you mean, Horikoshi? The final arc? The final “season”? The Final Fantasy? Tell me!

Fine. I’ll guess what you mean. Based on how far Midoriya has mastered One For All, Shigaraki needing to take his top villain spot from All For One, and other future plot points like Toshinori dying, the traitor reveal, etc,; I estimate we’re at least at the series’ halfway point. You know, like the 2 year time skip in One Piece or whatever year time skip in Naruto (I’m not wasting my precious life looking the exact number up.). My point is I think there’s still LOTS of stories to tell in My Hero Academia.

Deku left U.A. High School! I’m surprised, but not really, if you know what I mean. I once predicted Deku leaving Japan to escape Shigaraki, so Mr. Ninth User dropping out of U.A. isn’t a complete shocker.

Um…I don’t get it. Are you saying heroes are villains and vice versa? AFO and OFA are the same? Red shoes are best? WHAT?!

Here’s a question: Is Deku leaving U.A. part of a plan thought up by Toshinori and the top 3 heroes to keep Deku safe? I’d say yes. There’s still a chunk of time we haven’t seen yet. I’m guessing after Toshinori told the top 3 everything they realized there was no way Deku can safely stay at U.A. and decided he had to leave. Toshinori too, since his whole reason for teaching at U.A. was looking after Deku. I believe both of them are traveling together.

Somebody Save Me [My Hero Academia 305]

One For All is a quirk meant for saving. …Or, killing. Depends on what type of day you’re having.

This was a pretty straightforward chapter. The OFA predecessors wanted to test Deku’s resolve, and he came back with an honest answer. Deku saves people. But if he has to kick ass, he will. I like that. There’s no universal answer to being a hero. Unique situations will come up and Deku has to be prepared to do what he must, but that doesn’t mean he can’t at first try doing what he wants: Saving lives.

We learn AFO tried stealing the OFA quirk on two separate occasions other than from Deku. Interesting. So, Mr. Steal Yo Quirk knew full well he needed more than his quirk to get the power. He needed a stronger will and emotion. This also plays into my theory: AFO killed most of the other users but made sure they survived long enough to pass on the OFA quirk.

Sure. How much money you got? No checks.

When exactly did AFO learn about OFA? For that matter, when did the 1st User know? How did the Younger Shigaraki brother pass on a quirk he probably didn’t know he had? There’s still a lot we don’t know about the origins of both All For One and One For All. And, I don’t think Deku (and the audience) will find out until the 2nd and 3rd User cooperates. Their story seems to be linked to the origins of OFA so we can’t learn about one without learning about them.