The previous chapter of My Hero Academia briefed us on how the heroes were able to get Gigantomachia on their side using Hitoshi Shinso’s Brainwash Quirk. With Gigantomachia on their side, it seems that the heroes have what they need to finally stop All For One. But we know All For One didn’t get this far to let anyone or a group overpower him. With the odds against him does All For One have one last trick up his sleeve? Whether he does or doesn’t what will the results of the battle against All For One mean to everything else in this story? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 384.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi
SYNOPSIS
While defending himself against all the heroes’ attacks All For One quickly realizes that Hitoshi Shinso is controlling Gigantomachia with his Brainwash Quirk as he did with the Aoyamas.
Much to everyone’s surprise Gigantomachia, recognizing All For One’s scent, asks All For One why he abandoned him. As the heroes continue their attack Shinso reveals that his Brainwash Quirk can’t control a person’s heart.
Meanwhile, various reporters, including the one that called out Endeavor, use helicopters to fly above the skies to report in on the battle. They are doing this as they’ve been inspired to help inform the world how the heroes of Japan are still fighting after seeing the live broadcast of Deku and Tomura’s fight.
We then see people around the world, including Melissa Shield, Salaam, Death Arms, the Shimano siblings, and others, watch the live streams of Deku fighting Tomura Shigaraki. End of chapter.
REVIEW
Kohei Horikoshi is certainly showing us that there was a purpose to every moment in My Hero Academia. This latest chapter is just further proof. As we saw in previous chapters, Horikoshi used My Hero Academia Chapter 384 to show the beginning of the payoff of everything we’ve built.
First, continuing the battle against All For One in the Gunga Mountains we once again see an emphasis on Hitoshi Shinso. Horikoshi addresses the fact that in using Shinso’s Brainwash Quirk the heroes are using what many would consider a villain move. All For One trying to use this fact to break Shinso and it not working is a great moment. This shows how far Shinso has grown from his introduction as he accepts how he can use his powers to be a hero.
This led naturally to a major aspect of Shinso’s Brainwash Quirk only working on a person’s mind. As we saw in his fight with Deku, Shinso cannot use his power to change the heart, and by extension emotions, of a person. Gigantomachia showed this as his own emotions of realizing his All For One abandoned him were too powerful to control. This made the fact that Gigantomachia continued to show he is helping the heroes as Shinso’s Quirk still worked was handled well.
All of this further showed how one thing All For One continues to underestimate is human emotions. Whether it’s All Might, Tomura Shigaraki, or Gigantomachia All For One downfall is the feelings of others. Because to All For One, everyone is just a tool for him to achieve his immortality as a Demon King. With this turn of events along with his suffering from the effects of the Quirk Erasing Bullet the question of how All For One’s part of the narrative will end becomes even bigger.
Now one thing that Horikoshi does need to fix is the transition within chapters from one battlefield to another. We are so deep into this story that it does leave you slightly disappointed that each battle is being dragged out because we have so many different locations. Each fight is certainly important but the transitions between each location and the fight have not been smooth even this late into The Final War Arc.
That aside, it was great to see how Horikoshi paid off a sub-plot introduced back in My Hero Academia Chapter 306. Specifically, a payoff to the press conference Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist held that officially turned Japan’s citizens against the heroes. For two years worth of chapters within the world of My Hero Academia, we’ve seen the world turn against the idea of heroes. With how we’ve seen the heroes who chose to fight in order to stop All For One even if the idea of the Pro Heroes spotlight was shattered.
Making his scene stronger was bringing back the journalist that called out Endeavor during the press conference. Even though she still hasn’t let go of that pain she knows what her job is right now. That is to help tell the story to the world of how the heroes are trying to save everyone. This further shows how The Final War Arc is being utilized to usher in a new era of heroes.
It was also a nice touch by Horikoshi to make sure we saw characters from the entire My Hero Academia franchise. That includes characters from the movies like Melissa Shield and the Shimano siblings for the final double-page spread. This shows how the final battle against All For One and Tomura Shigaraki is important to the entire world.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My Hero Academia Chapter 384 does an effective job of continuing Kohei Horikoshi’s trend of paying off various character arcs. The ending effectively uses a sub-plot introduced two years ago to amplify the importance of The Final War Arc.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
