My Hero Academia Chapter 315 Review

The battle between Lady Nagant and Izuku Midoriya has gotten more personal with each passing chapter. The more we learn about Lady Nagant the intensity that is felt in this fight has increased. And now finally the presence of Overhaul looks to be playing a role in this fight as he made his presence known to Izuku at the end of the last chapter of My Hero Academia. With Izuku now learning that one of his greatest nemesis is at the battle scene as an observer how will he handle things now? Let’s find out with Chapter 315 of My Hero Academia.

Writer and Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Sometime in the past Overhaul tells Lady Nagant he will help her find Izuku Midoriya on the condition that she take him to the one thing he has left in his life: the Shie Hassaikai boss (who was last seen still in the coma-like state Overhaul put him in). Lady Nagant agrees.

In the present, Overhaul yells at Lady Nagant to live up to her end of their deal. Knowing that Deku would save someone viewed as an innocent who is placed in danger, Lady Nagant fires a specialized bullet right at Overhaul.

Seeing this Deku combines Fa Jin (the latest Quirk Izuku Midoriya has access to which allows him to build up kinetic energy through constant movement), Blackwhip, and One For All to launch himself at a speed that matches All Might’s 100% One For All speed (which he coins as Faux 100 Percent). This allows Deku to save Overhaul from being shot by Lady Nagant’s bullet.

Deku then thinks how the reason his body previously froze was because he tried to switch between One For All at 45%, Danger Sense, Smokescreen, Blackwhip, Fa Jin, and Floatin rapid succession. This made Deku realize that he needs to narrow his use of Quirks to a few, which in this case he decides to only combine One For All at 45%, Fa Jin, and Blackwhip, though it still injured his leg.

Even with his injury Deku destroys Lady Nagant rifle right arm with a Faux 100 Percent: Manchester Smash that once again combines One For All at 45%, Fa Jin, and Blackwhip.

Lady Nagant is left stunned by how Deku did not hesitate like she thought he would. This causes her to remember her own past and wonders when her platitudes start making her want to puke.

Deku uses his Float Quirk to catch Lady Nagant before she hits the ground. Deku then mentions how Lady Nagant’s shot at Overhaul earlier was off and that she only shot no vital points during their fight. He goes on to say that there is still light within Lady Nagant and pleads with her to join him as a hero.

Hearing this Lady Nagant smiles and begins to call Izuku Midoria a real hero. Before she can finish saying this One For All senses Lady Nagant turning on him and activates the failsafe he planted in her if she failed to live up to their contract. The failsafe ends up causing a massive explosion in Lady Nagant’s body.

Lady Nagant charred body then begins to fall as Deku couldn’t hold on. Just before she hits the ground Hawks appears and catches Lady Nagant while saying “No dying on me now NAGANT!!” End of chapter.

The Good: My Hero Academia Chapter 315 starts delivering on the payoff of all the world building that has been done with this new story arc. Because while this arc has very much been about Izuku Midoriya’s progress as Deku post-timeskip and establishing Lady Nagant’s character both characters have been shaped around the world they are in. Kohei Horikoshi has doven deeper into the history of My Hero Academia’s universe to make the characters arcs even stronger.

The opening involving the flashback to show us why Lady Nagant brought Overhaul along with her in the hunt for Izuku Midoriya worked very well. For Lady Nagant, Overhaul was nothing more than a tool to complete a contract she had taken. While for Overhaul he sees helping Lady Nagant not a means to get revenge but instead return to the side of the Boss of the Shie Hassaikai. Showing that to be his only goal pushes the narrative of how Overhaul really lost almost everything during the Shie Hassaikai Arc and his Boss is the only thing left. This creates questions around Overhaul’s questions that leave us unsure where his character arc will go given the current state of My Hero Academia.

Overhaul’s character coming across as someone who has nothing in life worked well in parallel to Lady Nagant’s arc. Lady Nagant once again is presented as someone who has become completely jaded by the lifestyle she led through the assignments she was given by the Safety Commission. She’s seen things no other hero has and that path led her to view the hero vs villain world in a very black and white way. Which is shown with how she believed that Deku would hesitate in what to do when firing a shot at Overhaul because of what she knew about the hero training courses. Her narrow view on things led her to make a mistake that we haven’t seen her make as she let Deku not hesitating leave her completely stunned.

Which all furthers how this story has continued to show us how much Izuku Midoriya has matured since My Hero Academia started. Lady Nagant’s perception of Izuku as Deku hesitating would’ve been right if this was the early days of My Hero Academia. But now over 300 chapters into this series we’ve seen how harden he has become through all the experiences battling various villains. The Paranormal Liberation War Arc was a particularly big chapter in Izuku’s life as he has let go of some of the mental blocks that held him back.

We see that here with how he quickly realized that using to many Quirks alongside One For All overtaxed his body. By limiting things his usage rate to only combining One For All at 45% with Fa Jin and Blackwhip Quirks he was able to mimic All Might’s max speed without damaging his body. Going from saving Overhaul to taking out Lady Nagant’s Rifle Quirk was one of the most hype moments from Deku in this series. Horikoshi does a fantastic job at telling this evolution of Deku’s decision making through both his artwork and writing.

This display of his power usage and decision making made how Deku opened Lady Nagant’s eyes in that hero society isn’t so black and white as she believe a great payoff. Izuku admitting to knowing how the world is grey and is not naïve to that fact shows that he knows that there is a lot for him to overcome. But even then Izuku still believes that you can be a hero that reaches out and provide help to others in need. This leads to make Lady Nagant’s eyes being opened by this display of heroism a cool, unexpected turn for where this arc has been going.

But as we’ve seen with so many of the recent My Hero Academia chapters things aren’t going to end as nicely as our heroes would hope. All For One reminds us of this as he revealed that he had set up a failsafe in case Lady Nagant failed to complete the contract he gave her. This was a strong reminder that All For One is the epitome of evil as he blows up Lady Nagant’s body the moment she turns. It is yet another example of why All For One must be feared.

Hawks last second save of Lady Nagant was a good way to set up even more stories involving all of these characters. Horikoshi can continue to explore the history of this world while making it about the characters. Given that Hawks has some past with Lady Nagant it’ll be very interesting to see if we do see Lady Nagant possibly join our heroes after all of this.

The Bad: Nothing.

Overall: Chapter 315 of My Hero Academia delivers on paying off on everything that this arc involving Izuku Midoriya’s battle with Lady Nagant. The way Kohei Horikoshi has Izuku as Deku combine the different Quirks he has access to along with One For All was an incredibly hype character moment. The growth of Izuku as a hero continues to be satisfying. Which made the ending with All For One reminding everyone of how evil he can be effectively builds further interest in where this story will go.

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