That was fast.
I was totally prepared for at least four chapters of flashbacks before getting back to the present. You can’t blame me, right? With the Aizawa/Yamada/Shirakumo drama plus the Gashly battle, I was sure Horikoshi was gonna pay off those plotlines with good action, character development, and drama.
Nope!
Shirakumo AKA Kurogiri just sorta snapped out of it and instantly became Hero Uber, while Team Sero’s fight against Gashly was wrapped up OFF-SCREEN. Gashly was a Tartarus villain! You know, one of the most dangerous villains in Japan. If all of this isn’t a sign that Horikoshi is rushing towards the finish line, I don’t know what is.
And, for the record, I’m not coming down on him personally. I think there’s something going on with Horikoshi—either physically, mentally, or both—that I feel he needs this series to end in order to really get himself together. This is all speculation, mind you. Maybe he simply wants MHA to end so he can do something new, like, get a good night’s sleep or not stress over deadlines. Either way, I wish him the best.
Getting back on track, I did like how Eri helped Deku. It was done in a way to keep her out of danger but at the same time showed her commitment to helping her friend and hero. From a meta perspective, I wonder if Horikoshi did it to remove Eri’s Rewind quirk off the table permanently? It’s possible, but if her horn can grow or shrink depending on how much energy it holds, I think it’ll be back to normal one day.
Eri’s power is fixing Deku. No surprise at Eri helping the young hero out. It was either that or he dies. Now the question is will the overpowered quirk rewind Deku back to a point where he has OFA? Of course it will. There’s no other way for Deku to fight AFO. And from the looks of AFO at the end of the chapter, he’s ready to rumble. Good thing Sero, Ojiro, and Sato are there to hold down the fort until Deku’s back in action. Yes. That was indeed sarcasm.
This was a decent chapter! The only thing keeping it from being totally disappointing with Eri’s determination and Aizawa rallying the troops. I’m trying to be positive, Y’all! If I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, I would’ve ripped this chapter a new one. But, it’s chapter 420, so I’m being real chill today. Mmm… There brownies are so good. Anyone else in the mood to watch SpongeBob SquarePants?
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 
4 replies on “AFO Wants All The Smoke [My Hero Academia 420]”
I was strapped in for a chapter like the Machia Containment Area Flashback- at least a full chapter on that last area. But I guess even Horikoshi didn’t really care to write all of that and extend the series by a chapter. I agree that it seems like he’s rushing it, but it also feels like this series has gone beyond what it was naturally supposed to be- like someone told him “It can’t end too soon.” This coming from a guy who had thought- when he really got into the series with Villain Aca- that this series could reach around 96 Volumes in length.
Somewhere down the line, I think Horikoshi became…………. It almost feels like this series is “bipolar-” some weeks it’s this………… Soulless Manga that’s just going through the motions. And others- Bakugo vs All For One. Deku vs Tomura. Even Himiko vs Uraraka felt like it meant something!! Then BACK to something “Soulless” like the Edgeshot think or the conclusion of the Todoroki story or………. All For One’s return. Some weeks I want to give this series another chance- other’s I think I’ll never pick it up again after it ends. It never feels consistent anymore.
And I think Horikoshi just wrote himself into the same corner that he did with Bakugo and All For One:
1. Something cool and thematically perfect
2. Undone with something dumb
3. A Visually Awesome Pay Off
Izuku sacrificing One For All showed his willingness to make a Sacrifice, proving himself a hero; this could come off dumb if he does something like “Revive the other holders and give Deku their quirks back,” making their sacrifices seem empty and pointless; Deku vs All For One will be eye candy. He gave up those other quirks, leaving him with just the stockpiled power. Even YOICHI’S vestige- the “passing The torch” part of the quirk- were no longer. If it just takes him back to accessing that power, with “lingering” effects like………… maybe “sharing” that power to give everyone else’s quirks a quick “boost,” then I think it’ll be alright. But if one of the past holder’s comes back, then this will have been another example of “The Fall” of the series.
Someone had once proposed the idea that One For All- being an ability gifted from All For One- might be able to do a similar thing to the “All For One” quirk and give and take quirks. And the end of the series would see a similar moment to what Nartuo did towards the end of the 4th Great Shinobi War in which Izuku swaps around people’s quirks to keep Tomura(at the time we thought him to be the Endgame Villain) from knowing what he was up against. Naruto did something similar, but I don’t want to………. at least COMPLETELY spoil you on what happened there. Sorry for that, by the way.
Now, if Izuku can just “Share Stockpiled Power,” then……….. SAME OUTCOME with All For One not knowing how strong everyone’s quirks are when it comes to defense, keeping him off balanced in the Huge Melee to come. But ALSO playing RIGHT into his hands because Izuku will have made their quirks stronger- much like HE did in Vigilante’s prior to stealing the quirks of those people in that Underground ring.
…………………… This series is…………… “Complex.” Haters hate on it regardless of what happens; Fans cycle between being disappointed, loving, defending, and downplaying the series over the course of a month; the anime was this HUGE THING when it came out but now it’s just this “also came out this anime season” type of thing; the movies peaked at the 2nd Installment and can’t seem to garner the same amount of hype- be it because of what they(supposedly) do to the anime’s production or because they’re just BORING now. The Games………. EXIST, ALSO. It just…………. it’s like it was just on a constant “Upward Keep” and then- somewhere down the line- it just……….. “Lost Something.” It feels like Manga readers are the only one’s who care anymore. And even THEY’RE starting to cease caring about what’s going on.
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Wow! I never considered he’d just have the stockpiled power, making it so he can never pass on the quirk again. Interesting.
Naruto spoilers? NOOOOOO! Nah! I don’t care, ha.
I think a chunk of those “fans” are just people into the big think, and then it’s off to the next big thing. I am planning on watching the new season but it doesn’t have that sparkle because I’m not as invested in the story.
The only MHA game I played was Ultra Rumble and I like it. Problem is I’m bad at it and the gacha/RNG lottery part of the game pissed me off so much I don’t want to play it on principle.
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I’ve never played any of the MHA games. I kind of wanted to play One’s Justice, but in all honesty I’m not sure how well it holds up. One’s Justice 2 came out and……….. I didn’t hear too good things about it. Same with Ultra Rumble. But with how little they’re all talked about(Ultra Rumble I saw had very little promotion), it doesn’t seem like people even care about them.
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They do. It’s not the biggest game in the world but people play it. My big issue is having to play the gacha/lottery in order to fully unlock characters. I honestly would recommend it since it’s free to download, just beware of the gacha system.
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