My Hero Academia Chapter 355 Review – Jiro Kyoka Time To Shine!

There is no slowing down in the world of My Hero Academia. We are in the middle of a full on war between the heroes and All For One’s forces. After an intense battle between brothers that took place as Shoto Todoroki fought Dabi we are now in the middle of a fight against All For One led by Endeavor and Hawks. Things did not look good in the last chapter as All For One severely injured Endeavor. Though lucky for Hawks he has some back-up in the form of Tsukuyomi and Earphone Jack. Will they be enough to stop All For One for good? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 355.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

SYNOPSIS

While fighting through the pain his arm injury and thoughts of Shoto and Toya, Endeavor comes to understand that his anger has been misplaced and he brought everything that has happened onto himself.

In the sky Hawks knows that Endeavor was able to survive All For One’s attack so he plans on fighting until Endeavor recovers. Tsukuyomi calls out to his mentor to continue their attack together.

Analyzing the situation All For One picks out Earphone Jack as the weak link in the trio he is fighting. Hawks is quick to counter All For One’s attack on Earphone Jack.

Seeing all this Jirō Kyōka realizes that Izuku and Aoyama have been fighting against the demonic threat of All For One this entire time.

All For One relentlessly attacks Hawks, Earphone Jack, and Tsukuyomi. As he attacks All For One mocks Earphone Jack and Tsukuyomi for being nothing more than extras who believed themselves to be special.

My Hero Academia Chapter 355 Extras
Jiro Kyoka understands what Izuku Midoriya and Yuga Aoyama have been up against with All For One in My Hero Academia Chapter 355. Credit: Viz Media

Fighting against the pain of her injuries Earphone Jack shouts she does not care about All For One’s words as she is motivated by stopping those responsible for making her friends cry. Earphone Jack then launches a powerful Heartbeat Surround: Legato attack.

All For One attempts to counter but is stopped from within his Vestige World by the spirits of the Quirk users he stole their powers from. All For One realizes the spirits of the Quirk users have been motivated by Jirō willpower, which he calls a “weakness.”

Hawks then launches a combo attack using the soundwaves of Earphone Jack’s attack to power up his katana feather for a new move called Soundwave Vibration-Enhanced Flight Feather Blade. Hawks this slashes All For One in the same spot of his mask that he has constantly targeted since the fight started. This attack leads to All For One’s mask breaking, exposing his face. End of chapter.

REVIEW

You got to give it to Kohei Horikoshi. He sure knows how to build more and more tension with each new chapter of this story arc. There is never a moment to catch your breath to take everything that’s been going on in while reading chapter 355 of My Hero Academia.

This frenetic pace makes the character work going on for Endeavor, Hawks, Earphone Jack, Tsukuyomi, and All For One shine even brighter. Each character is give one or multiple moments where their characters shine in different ways. Its to the point because of how Horikoshi is pacing the story you are placed in the moment with the characters in front of us instead of thinking of all the other characters also having fights at the moment.

The opening with the status of Endeavor further cements the desperate struggle the heroes are in with All For One and the villain forces. While the heroes have been able to rally together All For One’s overpowered nature makes this a difficult fight. For Endeavor he has been so clouded with his family drama he caused himself that his injuries actually made him come to terms with. This builds greater interest in seeing how things will turn out when Endeavor is able to launch his final attack as his injuries are at a point that they could be fatal.

Endeavor’s predicament set up well for Hawks, Earphone Jack, and Tsukuyomi mission was to continue the fight against All For One. Without their heaviest hitter Hawks, Earphone Jack, and Tsukuyomi were forced to fight more defensively. Horikoshi really got across the struggle of not having a powerful frontline attacker to counter All For One’s attacks. This fighting was more about the speed of our lead heroes for this chapter as they were doing their best to buy time.

By going with this direction Horikoshi was able to provide us with a new perspective on this struggle against All For One as Jirō Kyōka finally got a character spotlight. This being her first time facing off against All For One we got to see how quickly Jirō understood what Izuku Midoriya, Yuga Aoyama, and others have been fighting against. Having this understanding further motivate Jirō to fight even harder was well done. Seeing the physical injuries not being something that gets her down but instead further motivates Jirō to do all she can to stop All For One made her Heartbeat Surround: Legato attack even more impressive.

My Hero Academia Chapter 355 Extras
Hawks hits All For One with Soundwave Vibration Enhanced Flight Feather Blade in My Hero Academia Chapter 355. Credit: Viz Media

Jirō’s rookie perspective with big fights balanced out how Hawks was taking in what the heroes should be doing with Endeavor out of commission for the moment. Hawks understands that they are outmatched not only because Endeavor is not there to help fight but also his powers being weaker. That is where having Tsukuyomi there to pump up his mentor worked so well. Hawks needed that support to bring him up so he can take the lead in this fight. And we see how his leadership shines through with how he does his best to protect Earphone Jack and Tsukuyomi while quickly thinking on the spot of how to use the consistent attacks to All For One’s mask to land the blow they needed to hit.

The character work for our heroes further pushed All For One to be presented as an unstoppable force. There is a sense of dread that All For One feeds off of in the current battlefield. He knows that he is in full control of the battle as the most powerful combatant. The way he tries to get into Jirō’s head as he recognizes her lack of experience makes you hate him even more. It is exactly the type of development you want to see from the big villain of a story. It makde the moment Hawks and Earphone Jack land a successful combo attack on All For One something you cheer at as a fan.

What did make this moment even more interesting is the way All For One’s Vestige World once again factors into the story. Horikoshi once again highlights how the greatest weakness that All For One has is the Quirk users he stole from as when they are able to fight back from within the Vestige World he has no counter. The spirits of the Quirk users being motivated by Earphone Jack’s actions in stepping up as a hero further pointed towards how Izuku Midoriya and the others can ultimately overcome All For One, Tomura Shigaraki, and the villains.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Chapter 355 of My Hero Academia is excellently paced with Kohei Horikoshi’s character work shining through. Jirō Kyōka stepped up big with strong character moments as she got the long overdue spotlight. The way the heroes current situation further elevated All For One as the big bad of the series continues to make My Hero Academia a must read.

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10