My Hero Academia Chapter 382 Review – “Don’t Let Him Go”

Things have been getting more and more chaotic with each passing chapter of My Hero Academia. That’s been especially the case as the Gunga Mountain battlezone is filled with heroes and villains fighting. The addition of Himiko Toga utilizing Twice’s Quirk has made the battle insanely packed. This is something All For One is trying to make use of to get to where Tomura Shigaraki is to complete the takeover of his protégé. The heroes continue to do everything they can to stop that from happen. Will they finally be successful? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 382.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

SYNOPSIS

With all the chaos going on in Gunga Mountain, Froppy mentions to Uravity that things could be a lot worse because Himiko Toga is unable to use the Quirks of Dabi and Tomura Shigaraki while using Twice’s Double Quirk. Froppy theorizes this is due to how unlike her feelings for Twice and Ochaco Uraraka, Himiko does not love Shigaraki or Twice.

Nearby, Himiko is freaking out internally as she believes she does love Shigaraki and Dabi but can’t use their Quirks. This makes her even more emotional that she can’t use the full potential of Twice’s Double Quirk, something Uravity catches while fighting the clone horde.

Elsewhere, Hawks continues to lead Tsukuyomi, Earphone Jack, Illus-o-Camie, and Gale Force to launch continuous attacks at All For One to stop him from leaving the Gunga Mountain.

All For One unleashes a massive explosion that sends the heroes flying back. When the dust clears the heroes notice that All For One used the Rewind drug effects to appear younger. All For One utilizes this moment to use the rest of his Quirks to make his exit.

Much to All For One’s surprise Gigantomachia appears and hits him with a giant part of the mountain.

Red Riot and Hitoshi Shinso are shown riding Gigantomachia, who Shinso is controlling using his Brainwashing Quirk.

REVIEW

Kohei Horikoshi loves the chaos that he’s created with the battle in the Gunga Mountain. You can see that with how through the chaos he is challenging the heroes and villains more than ever. Its something we saw him do back in a similar mountain setting during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc and is doing once again her in My Hero Academia Chapter 382.

Much like with Paranormal Liberation War Arc we are seeing all the character arcs paying off for the entire My Hero Academia cast. That starts with Froppy showing her growth as a hero and person with how she breaks down why Himiko Toga likely can’t utilize the full power of Twice’s Double Quirk. This is showcases how well Froppy is at reading the situation and people around her. Remembering previous confrontations with Himiko she takes it in to put together a strong theory that helps to further the personal conflict between Ochaco Uraraka and Himiko.

Hearing this from Froppy is another indicator for Ochaco that she can still get through to Himiko. This is further showing with how during Himiko’s mental breakdown that Ochaco is quick to notice that Himiko as Twice is crying. It’s a great touch to show that not every hero has to physically defeat the villains. This battle Ochaco is having with Himiko is on an emotional level that has multiple layers to it.

Speaking of, Himiko’s breakdown does a well in showing that Froppy’s theory was right. There is a difference between believing you love someone to actually loving someone. That is what Himiko is going through here as we see because of her strong, real feelings of love for Twice and Ochaco, on different levels, is what has allowed her to use their Quirks normally. The same is not the case when she tries to use Tomura Shigaraki and Dabi’s Quirks.

While she has worked with Tomura and Dabi for a year now we haven’t seen Himiko build a bond with them. That results in when she tries to force strong feelings when taking Tomura and Dabi’s forms through Twice’s Double Quirk she can’t go beyond that. Himiko is already doing a lot by pushing Twice’s Double Quirk to create hordes of clones in multiple locations. Being stretched that much while tapping into her strong emotions is a great way to show the multiple layers to Himiko’s character. It all leads back into the greater arc between Himiko and Ochaco throughout My Hero Academia.

With this story going on Horikoshi adds to the sense of urgency The Final War Arc has. That urgency is carried into how the heroes are doing all they can to keep All For One from reaching Tomura Shigaraki. Adding in how All For One is under the effects of the Rewind drugs effects makes the clock tick down even faster. The sense of desperation as all the heroes are throwing everything at All For One radiates out of every panel.

This makes All For One’s big gamble of using a Quirk to he has access to thanks to being under the Rewind drug effects that has him currently in his youthful prime. At the same time the way All For One is acting shows that the villain knows he is running out of time. Even the way he escapes plays into that as even with having access to the Quirks he stole in a body from his prime he chose to escape rather than following up with another attack. He knew in that instance that he needs to get to Shigaraki before the Rewind drug negatively impacts him.

Which makes the moment where All For One believes that Gigantomachia reappearance was the final nail he needed for the heroes coffin. The heroes using Gigantomachia against All For One is an excellent payoff. The heroes did everything to take down Gigantomachia during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. All that hard work paid off her as the heroes where able to use one of All For One’s greatest assets against him.

This ending for My Hero Academia Chapter 382 was another payoff moment with Hitoshi Shinso coming into play by using his Brainwash Quirk to control Gigantomachia. The moment you see Shinso you can tell this is where Horikoshi has been building the character since his debut. Red Riot being there added to the hype of this moment. It all delivered on building greater momentum to wanting to find out what happens next.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My Hero Academia Chapter 382 is the best chapter of 2023 for the series so far. Kohei Horikoshi nailed every character moment to further every character arc in The Final War. With how things ended with All For One getting a major surprise created even greater excitement for what is next.

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10