My Hero Academia Chapter 380 Review – “A Skosh”

My Hero Academia is back to continue where it last left off with Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki set for the final battle. While this final battle is set to go there are still many other hero vs villain fights going on all over Japan. With so much still left up in the air how will Kohei Horikoshi address everything? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 380: A Skosh.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

SYNOPSIS

As Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki wait for the other to make the first move Gentle struggles to keep up the U.A. High School flying fortress.

The U.A. students from the business course, who are recording everything, yell out to Gentle that they are doing everything they can to make up for not helping properly document heroes’ actions for society to connect to.

Hearing this gives Gentle the second wind he needs to keep the U.A. High School flying fortress up so that La Brava can have the time to get the systems operational.

As that is going on, Eraser Head falls off the fortress from all the shaking. Present Mic dives after Eraser Head and they are both mysteriously saved by a portal made by Kurogiri.

Over at the Gunga Mountain Ruins, not looking to waste time All For One annihilates Hawks for getting in his way. This Hawks turns out to be a clone made by Camie Utsushimi using her Glamour Quirk (which allows her to create visual and auditory illusions using a smoke-like substance).

Camie is joined by Seiji Shishikura and Inasa Yoarashi leading Shiketsu High School to back-up Endeavor, Hawks, and the other heroes against All For One. End of chapter.

REVIEW

Kohei Horikoshi returns with another set-up chapter in The Final War arc. That is not a bad thing at all for the story developments we do get in My Hero Academia Chapter 380. But this set-up approach after so many major things happening with lead characters is something that has been more noticeable now than ever before in this series.

This set-up approach is something that Horikoshi created for himself as the creator. The story has been split in so many major angles that the final battle between Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki isn’t the only point of interest in My Hero Academia. We have several fights going on over at the Gunga Mountain and the Jaku Hospital Ruins. That’s on top of the different sub-plots also at the U.A. High School Flying Fortress. All of these things are what have made The Final War arc compelling but also a lot to juggle for Horikoshi.

As we see with My Hero Academia Chapter 380 Horikoshi is at the point he can just do his best to give everything the attention it needs. That does come with the use of a standoff to delay the Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki completely dominating the series. You see that it isn’t until the end of the U.A. High School segment of this chapter where Izuku takes the first lunge into the fight. With all that in mind, Horikoshi does create an avenue for things going on at Gunga Mountain and the Jaku Hospital Ruins to be timed with the true start of Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki.

Given the chaos going on with the U.A. High School Flying Fortress, it was the right call to continue Gentle’s arc. In doing so Horikoshi was able to not only complete Gentle’s turn from villain to hero but also address a major part of society turning on heroes with the public focus being on all the negative things Quirks and their users bring to the world. Because of this perception to go along with the chaos All For One is leading villains to create all the heroes have done is play defense.

That now appears to change the business class students from U.A. High School show that they do want to help the stories of heroes. Gentle is a great poster child in this case as a villain turned hero he shows Quirks can be a positive thing that helps people. This added to the show of strength Gentle gained and made you care even more for seeing his personal arc through in this chapter.

But while Gentle gets his moment to shine Horikoshi is quick to remind the reader that things are not even close to being calmed down. That instant reminder comes from how we see Eraser Head and Present Mic teleported out of the area by Kurogiri, taking out the Erasure Quirk trump card with them. What makes this development even more intriguing is what Horikoshi plans on doing with why Kurogiri did this. We once again get hints at the possibility of Oboro Shirakumo regaining control of his body that All For One used to create Kurogiri. This is yet another major sub-plot that could be a game changer later on that deserves getting a chapter or two of attention in fully developing.

With all this going down Horikoshi does give us a good idea of there being time that is passed. This made the transition back to Gunga Mountain Ruins something that isn’t as sudden as it could’ve been. The battles at the Gunga Mountain Ruins are something that needs to conclude before the final battle to go down uninterrupted from other battle zones. In particular, how All For One will end up factoring into Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki.

Paying off how All For One’s plans continue to crumble around him Horikoshi makes a great decision to have Camie Utsushimi, Seiji Shishikura, and Inasa Yoarashi from Shiketsu High School join the fight. These are three characters that Horikoshi clearly set up to have a role in the story with the attention they got during the Provisional Hero License Exam and Remedial Course story arcs. Because of that previous development, it does feel like a payoff that Camie Utsushimi, Seiji Shishikura, and Inasa Yoarashi would enter the picture as wildcards All For One could not predict appearing.

All of this does create a sense of unknown when it comes to how the fights against All For One, Dabi, and Himiko Toga will turn out at the Gunga Mountain Ruins. It is exactly what you want because there really are multiple ways things could go for each of these major fights. And depending on what route Horikoshi goes with it could alter the story for either side with the impact all the characters have on this story.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While not perfect Kohei Horikoshi does his best to juggle multiple plot lines in My Hero Academia Chapter 380. When all is said and done in this chapter you can’t help but be more excited for what happens next in every character arc and plotline going on right now.

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10