Just as things looked to be at their worst Izuku Midoriya had a timely save from all of his allies in Class 1-A and others he has met throughout his life. Now with every capable hero assembled the endgame of My Hero Academia is here. It is now or never in the final fight against All For One, who has fully taken over Tomura Shigaraki’s body. How will things turn out? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 421: “We Are Here.”
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Kōhei Horikoshi
MY HERO ACADEMIA CHAPTER 421 SYNOPSIS
Deku is awestruck as he sees Red Riot, Tentacole, Anima,Pinky, Can’t Stop Twinkling, Invisible Girl, Chargebolt, Creati, Froppy, Earphone Jack, and Grape Juice leading all the heroes able to fight against All For One.
As All For One prepares to launch a horrifying attack he is hit from his right and left side by Shoto Todoroki and Endeavor, who arrive through other Warp Gates, by their Flash-Fire Fist attack.
Present Mic then leads the next charge of heroes. When All For One prepares another attack Thirteen and other heroes use their Quirks to divert the attack.
As the heroes continue to launch continuous attacks and defenses Deku tries to get up but Eri’s Quirk only healed him from the damage he suffered up to a few minutes before he lost his arms. While One For All and his other Quirks are gone, Deku tells Eraser Head the Embers of those Quirks are still inside him.
Eraser Head gives Deku the All Might shirt he got from one of the refugees to wear.
Can’t Stop Twinkling then tells Deku that they still need his strength.
With everyone watching cheering him on, Deku starts running. End of chapter.
REVIEW
My Hero Academia Chapter 421 is a great example of how even a set-up chapter can be important. There isn’t much progress made from this chapter and the previous one. But what Kōhei Horikoshi does is stage a greater sense importance for everyone that is and will show up.
That is all done by what Horikoshi does immediately after the big Avengers: Endgame portal scene that opens My Hero Academia Chapter 421. Horikoshi immediately has Red Riot, Tentacole, Anima, Pinky, Can’t Stop Twinkling, Invisible Girl, Chargebolt, Creati, Froppy, Earphone Jack, and Grape Juice all have a line. No matter the level of development each has had the fact remains the entire cast in Class 1-A has been important to the success of this series. As we get closer to the ending of My Hero Academia they should all get their moment. Horikoshi accomplishes that by making the “We Are Here!” be a something that is a collective Class 1-A moment.
Elevating this “We Are Here” moment was how Class 1-A is back-up by other students and heroes seen throughout My Hero Academia. No matter how beat up mentally or physically they all are everyone capable showed up to defeat All For One. It drives home that how this is truly the final battle for the fate of the future we are witnessing.
Adding to this is how Horikoshi made, of all the heroes on the battlefield, Cellophane be the one that counters All For One’s speech. Once again All For One speaks on darkness and tragedy being the spark for true strength. Cellophane immediately countering saying that a person does not need to go through a dark origin story to become strong was well done. Even without saying the word, Cellophane does speak to how being able to provide hope and pillar of strength can be what drives people to be strong.
Seeing Shoto Todoroki and Endeavor appearing with their Flash-Fire Fist combo was a cool surprise. This set the tempo for how all the heroes were doing everything they can. Whether its attacking, defending, or diverting, all the heroes were working together against All For One. This all helps to further push All For One as the endgame boss of this story. Which was certainly needed after how All For One went out when Katsuki Bakugo and All Might defeated him.
With all that said, there is still the question of how Izuku Midoriya will end up factoring into things. Midoriya confirms that he has lost all of his Quirks even with Eri’s Rewind Quirk healing him to a degree. While he may still have embers of One For All and other Quirks we’ve see that not be enough when All Might did what Deku is trying to do. How exactly All For One and/or Tomura Shigaraki is taken down is a big question still driving this story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My Hero Academia Chapter 421 is the ultimate set-up chapter. We get the continuation of the incredible Avengers: Endgame portal moment while still leaving the question of how All For One will be defeated unanswered. It all keeps the excitement high for the next development in this story.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
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