My Hero Academia has hit a major crossroad point as Izuku Midoriya has been brought back to UA High School after going down the solo vigilante route. This return has not been met with a big welcome back by the people at UA High School. All the citizens that have come to UA High School for safe shelter from villains have voiced their displeasure with Izuku Midoriya’s return. With an angry protest going on Ochaco Uraraka has stepped up to defend Izuku. Will her words be enough to convince others to let Izuku back into UA High School? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 324.
Writer and Artist: Kohei Horikoshi
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: As she makes her speech to the crowd of protestors Ochaco Uraraka spots her parents. She thinks about how her parents worked so hard for her throughout her childhood and how painful that was to watch. She thinks how when she saw heroes for the first time her gaze went to the crowd first.
As she goes on to talk to the protestors she tells them all to look at how tired, weak, and ragged Izuku Midoriya looks after fighting alone for so long. The woman that Izuku saved the day before (My Hero Academia Chapter 310) speak up to reveal Izuku saved her.
One of the protestors yells out if this means that the heroes expect them to be covered in filth too. Ochaco says no because only heroes have to be covered by filth which is why everyone should give Izuku a chance to rest and clean himself up.
The rest of Class A stands in amazement at what Ochaco is saying. Tenya Iida tells Izuku that right now Ochaco is fighting for him and everyone else to have the right to smile again.
Ochaco goes on to say that while she can’t promise to reassure everyone of their safety because they all are griped by the same fear and unease. She goes on to say that they are all neighbors and that they should still help each other out.
Ochaco then remembers seeing her first Pro Hero in action and how much joy and excitement it brought her and the people gathered.
Ochaco asks everyone to lend Izuku their strength so they all have a shot to smile together in the future. She goes on to remind everyone that Izuku is still a high school student and he should get the chance to continue to learn and not shoulder all of the responsibility that comes with his power alone. She then yells out that UA High School is his Hero Academy as well and begs the crowd to let him stay there.
Izuku is reminded of how Ochaco helped him when they first met and how she said “It’s a bad omen to trip and fall.” He falls to his knees as he reflects how he thought this was the story of how he became the greatest hero. Izuku realizes that this is really how he and all his friends all became the greatest heroes.
Kota Izumi and the woman Izuku saved earlier then rush to be by Izuku’s side. End of chapter.
The Good: While we don’t get a definitive conclusion to the current story arc of Izuku Midoriya’s return to UA High School Kohei Horikoshi delivers big with My Hero Academia Chapter 324. What particularly worked so well in this chapter compared to the previous chapter is that it had a strong focus that wasn’t just about retroactively explaining things.
No doubt Ochaco Uraraka has become the standout character of this story arc. There have been many in Class A like Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida that have had a chance to shine as every classmate of Izuku Midoriya was crucial in grounding him and bringing him back to UA High School. But it is Ochaco and her speech to the protestors that will be standing out most. Horikoshi knocks it out of the park with having you as the reader get behind everything Ochaco says.
And unlike the previous chapter where the flashback felt like rushed development on Principle Nezu’s character all of the flashbacks made sense here. Each time Horikoshi employed a flashback panel or page they had a purpose to drive the story forward. Ochaco’s story of being inspired by heroes and how it has helped shape her made My Hero Academia chapter 324 have a strong focus.
It also helped to further back-up the evolution of Ochaco’s character from where she started. Because we know she was originally motivated to become a Pro Hero to provide for her family, as she admitted to Izuku and Tenya early on in this series. But like so many characters Ochaco has grown as a hero through all the experience she had so that isn’t the only motivating factor to her. Her entire speech spoke to this evolution as a character who has become a leader in her own right.
Making Ochaco’s speech even more powerful was how she did not brush aside the concerns of those protesting Izuku’s return to UA High School. She showed through her dialogue that she and the others understood why there is so much concern as they are all living in a world filled with fear and unease because of the villain threat. At the same time, Ochaco was able to turn this around by speaking on how all of the heroes are tirelessly working to protect everyone and rallying people to understand the weight Izuku was carrying since he has been away.
Bringing in the woman that Izuku saved back in chapter 310 was a great use of continuity. She is someone that witnessed the good that Izuku was doing before he got overwhelmed by what All For One told him about being his sole target. This was a great use of long-term planning that Horikoshi does so well, which is wonderfully followed up by the woman and Kota Izumi running to be by Izuku’s side.
Everything that is said by Ochaco awakening Izuku to the reality of his situation that he does have a strong support system was a wonderful way to end My Hero Academia chapter 324. For a long time we have been led to believe My Hero Academia is the story of how Izuku becomes the greatest hero in the world. That is what Horikoshi has stated early on and a big thing in the anime opening. But now with everything that has happened in My Hero Academia it has become clear to both Izuku and the reader that this series is not just about one character. It is about so many of the young heroes we have seen throughout the course of My Hero Academia and their respective journeys to become great heroes. Izuku stating this as he recognizes that everyone in Class A will become the great heroes who can also surpass All Might was a great way to build greater interest for the entire cast we’ve seen grow in this series.
The Bad: The only minor complaint I have for My Hero Academia Chapter 324 is how much this chapter made chapter 323 unnecessary. Horikoshi really could’ve combined chapters 323 and 324 into one and still effectively gotten the same impact across. There were a lot of crowd shots and dialogue that repeated themselves. In reality chapter 324 was able to largely hit the same impact if this chapter followed chapter 322 instead. It doesn’t impact what happens in this chapter but was something that just came to mind when thinking of all the recent chapters.
Overall: My Hero Academia Chapter 324 does an excellent job with having Ochaco Uraraka step up in a big way. Kohei Horikoshi knocked it out of the park with Ochaco’s speech showing how much her character has evolved since being introduced. The impact it left Izuku Midoriya creates even greater interest in seeing where Horikoshi plans to take the story in My Hero Academia next.
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