My Hero Academia Chapter 374 Review – “Butterfly Effect”

Just as it looked like everything was going in the heroes favor in the war against All For One and the League of Villains Kurogiri has broken out to change the game. With Kurogiri’s Warp Quirk now back in play the villains have a powerful trump card that sets things up to be even more dangerous for the entire world. This will particularly be helpful for Tomura Shigaraki as he was being pushed back by Izuku Midoriya in their fight to the point it looked like the My Hero Academia #1 villain was going to lose. Let’s find out how much Kurogiri reimergence changes things with My Hero Academia Chapter 374.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

SYNOPSIS

With the news reporting on the tremendous heat coming from Japan (due to Endeavor, Dabi, and Shoto using the max of their Fire Quirks) a reporter speaks on the “butterfly effect” and how it will lead to chaos in the world.

In Kamino, much to Burnin and Shoto’s shock even with his body burnt to a crisp Dabi continues forward with his revenge plan on Endeavor through sheer willpower. Dabi’s body is suddenly consumed by one of Kurogiri’s Warp Gates.

Over at the U.A. High School Flying Fortress Phantom Thief (while still using Eraser Head’s Quirk with Manual’s help) speaks about how the history books will include his importance in the heroes winning the war while placing faith in Izuku Midoriya and the others.

Suddenly Present Mic comes flying out of one of Kurogiri’s Warp Gates behind Phantom Thief, Eraser Head, and Manual.

At Gunga Mountain Villa Ruins, All For One reveals he placed a microchip in Nana Shimura’s hand that Tomura Shigaraki had to ensure Kurogiri was aware of everything that has been going on even while locked up.

Dabi suddenly appears out of Kurogiri’s Warp Gate and tells Endeavor “HEYA DAD!!”

More of Kurogiri Warp Gates open with a pair of Twice appearing out of one of them greeting Hawks.

All For One then reveals that thanks to Hawks killing Twice it fueled the hatred in Himiko Toga’s heart to bring the world to ruin.

Hawks immediately calls out to all the heroes, saying “KILL THEM!! RIGHT NOW!!” End of chapter.

REVIEW

My Hero Academia Chapter 374 is the definition of transition chapters for a manga. We just ended a major arc within the Final War Arc that will ultimately lead to this story being bigger than before. That is clear with this latest chapter titled “Butterfly Effect.”

Having this type of transition chapter is not a bad thing. With how much has gone on in the Final War Arc thus far Kohei Horikoshi needed to tie all the battles closer together. We get just that thanks to Kurogiri finally entering the story to change the landscape of every major battlefield. In doing so all of the events in this Final War Arc are now firmly tied together in terms of a time frame of when they are taking place.

What I particularly liked about what Horikoshi did was position Kurogiri to have a role similar to Eraser Head and Phantom Thief. As we’ve seen throughout the U.A. High School Flying Fortress battle the difference maker has been Phantom Thief’s Quirk that’s allowed him to use Eraser Head’s Erasure Quirk at its full capabilities with Manual’s help. It’s a game changer that’s kept the heroes in the fight against Tomura Shigaraki. We even see how this has elevated Phantom Thief’s ego as it means Neito Monoma is finally achieving the main character status he craved.

That all went into building up how Kurogiri is an even bigger game changer as he uses his Warp Quirk to change the outlook of every battle in an instant. As soon as Kurogiri warps Dabi out of his battle you knew things would go in the direction of the villains favor. Neito’s monologue nicely transitioned into making Kurogiri’s use of his Warp Quirk have the biggest impact possible as now we have no idea where things are going.

Dabi showcasing his inhuman drive to kill his father added to how dangerous of development this is for all the heroes. The visual of Dabi’s body completely being burnt to a crisp and him still moving made him even more of a frightening villain than before. Horikoshi went all in on the horror villain turn for Dabi with how he greats Endeavor as soon as his head peaks out of Kurogiri’s Warp Gate. Endeavor’s cold expression spoke volumes for how this was the last thing he needed to happen but knew in the back of his mind was an inevitable event he had to contend with.

The true surprise of My Hero Academia Chapter 374 was the return of Twice. Or at least what appears to be Himiko Toga using her Quirk to turn herself into Twice and using his Quirk. Horikoshi works the previous event of Hawks killing Twice to make this development even more impactful. As All For One said in his monologue, Hawks actions to make Twice a villain he had to take off the board before the war began could very well have been the worst decision made in the series. Because it has lead to an even more dangerous version of Twice with how Himiko has been given all the motivation needed to want to see the world destroyed. Hawks panic reaction when yelling out to the other heroes they need to kill Dabi and Twice right away plays into what All For One said as being the truth.

The only fumble in this aspect of the story that Horikoshi made is by spotlighting Himiko Toga at the end of the chapter he reminds the reader we haven’t seen the villain or that battlefield since Deku rushed off to deal with Tomura Shigaraki. Horikoshi has dropped the ball hard when it comes to not at least dedicating one or two chapters to that particular battle that had a lot going for it. This speaks to how there is just way to much going on in the Final War Arc that Horikoshi can’t find room to break away into every battle. Hopefully that changes and we do because Ochaco Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui deserve as much of a spotlight as there Izuku, Bakugo, and Shoto.

With the continuation of everything going on it was interesting to see My Hero Academia Chapter 374 open with a news reporter in the United States speaking on what is going on in Japan. We know that governments in other countries around the world are making contingency plans to possibly make some sort of agreement with All For One if he wins. The reporter talking about a Butterfly Effect and the relation to the world pandering to All For One speaks to that being a direction we could be heading towards. What I hope this actually leads to is that we actually see characters from My Hero Academia: Vigilantes reappear since the way that series ended left the door open for Koichi Haimawari and the others could play a role in defeating All For One.

FINAL THOUGHTS

After everything that has gone down in the Final War Arc My Hero Academia Chapter 374 acts as connecting chapter to bring together all the plot developments together. The transition being made so there is more cohesion with all the stories going on at the same time was very much needed. Now we are left in a spot where Kurogiri has completely changed the direction of the story to favor the villains. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10