My Hero Academia Chapter 422 brings us back to the final battle against the All For One controlled Tomura Shigaraki. In the previous chapter we saw Class 1-A lead the heroes still standing after all the intense battles against the villains to rally behind Izuku Midoriya. Though it is tough to say that this turns things to our heroes favor. Afterall the heroes are all injured or at least exhausted by all the battles they’ve had during the Final War Arc. Meanwhile All For One has now gotten control of the younger body of Tomura Shigaraki with all his Quirks. Let’s find out how things will go next with My Hero Academia Chapter 422.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Kōhei Horikoshi
MY HERO ACADEMIA CHAPTER 422 SYNOPSIS
With a push from Yuga Aoyama, Deku is able to start to catch up with the other heroes attacking All For One. Eraser Head contacts all the heroes to open a direct path to All For One for Deku.
Seeing what they are doing All For One unleashes a beam at Deku. Invisible Girl appears and deflects the beam. Creati and Chargebolt follow-up by using an Electro-Magnetic Rail Gun to attack All For One.
Other heroes from UA High School help to block All For One’s counter attacks. At the same time, Tentacole and Froppy help propel Deku forward. Red Riot and Pinky provide further back-up by blocking a massive attack from All For One.
With everyone’s help Ingenium is able to reach Deku and provides him with the speed he needs to continue to make his charge.
Watching on TV eople from around the world, including Melissa Shield and Rody Soul, cheer on Deku. It’s to the point the Unite States President orders the US heroes to deploy to Japan immediately.
As that is going on a still recovering Ochaco Uraraka thinks of how when she heard the name Deku the first time she thought it meant “Do Your Best!”
With everyone for Izuku to “Do Your Best,” including his mom, Deku reaches All For One with a punch. End of chapter.
REVIEW
You know when Kōhei Horikoshi utilizes “Rising” as part of the title for a chapter that it is important and a turning point. Thus far Momo Yaoyorozu, Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, and Toshinori Yagi are the characters that have gotten the “Rising” chapter title. Each time these characters accomplished making an important next step in their character arcs but also a big impact on the story. Having that history built behind that word made the moment we see My Hero Academia Chapter 422 title be “Izuku Midoriya Rising” you feel its immediate importance.
The build up to the chapter title reveal is what made the use “Izuku Midoriya Rising” hit as hard as it does. Everything from the time Horikoshi started My Hero Academia to now a decade later has built to this moment for Izuku Midoriya. Everyone who showed up was inspired by Midoriya in one way or another. That inspiration led to everyone still have hope that they can defeat All For One no matter how powerful he is.
Seeing not just Class 1-A but all the students Midoriya has met at UA High School and the other hero school was something you can’t help but geek out over. With everyone not at 100% we got to see some cool team-up attacks and defensive moves to make up for it. Everything built into how everyone was working to make sure Midoriya can fully utilize his remaining power. While they were all acting as a shield in some way they weren’t looking to be sacrificial lambs. Each one was there to stop All For One in whatever way they could.
All of this building back up to how the definition of Midoriya’s hero name, Deku, has changed from why Bakugo used to be. That definition becoming “Do Your Best” was a cool callback to what Ochaco Uraraka told Midoriya she thought Deku meant when she first heard it. Ochaco’s positive definition for what Deku means taps into how Horikoshi likes to pay homage to superhero comic books. Like with Superman’s “S” standing for hope, Midoriya’s hero name now officially stands for something that also inspires hope.
That was all driven home with how Horikoshi once again had everyone watching the battle on TV screaming their support for Deku. Including characters like Melissa Shield and Rody Soul from the movies drove home how Horikoshi is making sure everything is paying off. This is all one big pay off to what My Hero Academia is as a franchise.
Something that was not expected but is something to watch for is the United States President ordering his countries heroes to be deployed. One thing we haven’t seen brought back into play during the Fina War Saga is the developments from the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes series. Given how the series ended with Vigilantes’ lead, Koichi Haimawari, moving to the USA to continue on as a hero it would be cool to see him make a return.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My Hero Academia Chapter 422 does an incredible job living up to the title of this chapter, “Izuku Midoriya Rising.” Seeing everyone Midoriya has met working together to help him out against All For One was incredibly cool to watch. That leading into how Horikoshi further tugged at our heart strings with the definition for what Midoriya’s hero name, Deku, means now made this a memorable chapter.
Story Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
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