My Hero Academia is in the middle of its final battle between Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki. Midoriya and his One For All predecessors seemingly found a way to defeat Shigaraki. That was to attack Shigaraki from within by transferring the vestiges of the previous One For All users to the villain. Shigaraki has caught on and has now gone on the defensive. With how things are going it looks like we still have a ways to go before seeing the end of this battle. Let’s see if that is the case or not with My Hero Academia Chapter 416.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Kōhei Horikoshi
SYNOPSIS
Eri is stopped from leaving a bunker to help Izuku Midoriya by Ectoplasm. Ectoplasm reminds Eri that she doesn’t have the built-up energy with her Rewind Quirk to help. Kota then tells Eri to continue to place her faith in Midoriya.
Elsewhere while being carried by Momo Yaoyorozu an injured Denki Kaminari is left wondering if he doesn’t have the same faith in Midoriya as he did All Might because of how anxious he is watching Midoriya’s battle.
Over at the Gunga Mountains, Ochaco Uraraka is getting emergency treatment after the battle with Himiko Toga. An injured Hawks is left thinking about Ochaco’s previous speech about everyone being united as one again.
At Central Hospital’s rooftops Rock Lock asks Lady Nagant why she helped the heroes. Lady Nagant states that after witnessing the tough road Midoriya has chosen it made her want to back him up.
As all of these statements are said people around the world are shown watching Deku vs Tomura Shigaraki.
As Deku launches another punch at Shigaraki he is suddenly transported in front of the Shimura Family home. End of chapter.
REVIEW
With all the big things that have happened thus far Kōhei Horikoshi chose the right chapter to take a step back a bit. Rather than continuing all the giant action sequences, My Hero Academia Chapter 416 spotlighted the surroundings of this story. Specifically, it gave us a look at the world’s reaction to the current state of Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki.
The timing of focusing on the world reaction with My Hero Academia Chapter 416 was a good one. There was only so much of Midoriya and Shigaraki trading blows that we can get. This helps mix things up to provide further perspective of where we are at this stage in the fight. We have seen so many giant battles with our heroes defeating all the major villains in Shigaraki’s group. This was a reminder of how far we have come.
While not shown a lot it is important to see how captivated everyone was in Midoriya vs Shigaraki. Before this we saw how terrified the world was as it seemed as though All For One and the villains one. There was complete chaos in the world. But now as the heroes have built up the wins things have culminated in this final fight. The world knows this is the deciding battle and is now holding hope for the heroes to ultimately win.
Eri being what sets off this focus on other characters was a smart choice. This is a great call back to the last time we saw Midoriya in this type of “final fight” situation with Overhaul. You can tell Eri recollected how she helped him and wanted to help Midoriya again. That desire was even stronger as she has gained a deeper sibling relationship with him.
Bringing back Kota to be the one to remind Eri why they should have hope in Midoriya being able to do it himself was one of those perfect moments for the series. Like Eri, Kota was a kid that Midoriya provided hope for the future when they had none. Kota showed the growth to step up in a big brother role for Eri. At the same time he wasn’t trying to hold back his tears. This shows to Eri it is okay to cry while still believing that Midoriya will win.
This transitions in well into Denki Kaminari’s part. Denki admitting to Momo Yaoyorozu that he doesn’t believe in Midoriya like he did All Might was big. While he couldn’t understand why he felt this way Horikoshi uses this moment to spotlight heroism. Whereas Class 1-A saw All Might a God-like hero, similar to Superman, they personally know Midoriya. They’ve been through so much as friends that Denki and the others have seen Midoriya at his best and worst.
Hawks reminiscing back to Ochaco Uraraka speech about being united brought all of this together. With the collective focus on Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki this gives greater weight to how true Ochaco’s speech is. This fight isn’t to get simply defeat the biggest villain of My Hero Academia. This is to bring the world together after the villains broke what society was before.
Lady Nagant scene spoke to what we will likely see the world become after all this. Midoriya’s fight isn’t getting us back to the black-and-white world from All Might’s era. We are going to be going into a tougher world where there are many shades of grey. Midoriya has shown the strength to navigate this and provide hope for others, including those like Lady Nagant.
That said, the timing with Lady Nagant scene was a bit off. Hawks memory of Ochaco’s speech would worked better to transition into the return to Midoriya and Shigaraki’s fight. It did make these moments feel extended a bit too much.
The final moments of My Hero Academia Chapter 416 sets up the next stage of this fight well. It looks like Midoriya has been transported to the moment Tenko Shimura became Tomura Shigaraki. The question is if Midoriya will simply relive this flashback we saw before. What would be more interesting is if Midoriya learns something about this period that Shigaraki tried to forget. Specifically, what All For One’s role was in making Shigaraki become what he became.
A wild card in all of this will be Nana Shimura. Horikoshi has made it a point whenever he can to show Nana Shimura reactions to what is going on inside the Vestige World. It does seem like she will be positioned into a prominent role in the upcoming chapters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My Hero Academia Chapter 416 takes the time to show the world’s reaction to Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki. This decision sets the stage for the next phase in this final battle to be even bigger than what we’ve seen thus far.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
