My Hero Academia Chapter 394 Review – “Ochaco Uraraka vs. Himiko Toga”

Things appear to be heading to their conclusion with the battle against Himiko Toga and Twice’s Doubles army. Though given the emotional toll the battle has taken it is still not clear if there won’t be some major casualties. That’s where Ochaco Uraraka has stood up to not only stop Himiko but save her rival at the same time. Will Ochaco be successful? Let’s find out with My Hero Academia Chapter 394.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kohei Horikoshi

SYNOPSIS

Realizing her Zero Gravity Quirk has grown in power Uravity stays focused on getting her words to reach Himiko Toga and get Himiko understand she is there to stop her sorrow. As she goes to stab Uravity all of her life memories flash through Himiko’s mind and stops.

Himiko admits that she falls in love with everyone easily and that Izuku Midoriya reminded her of a boy she liked in the past that she was too scared to ask for his blood out of fear he wouldn’t think she was cute. Himiko once again goes to stab Uravity but misses on purpose.

All of sudden the time to use Twice’s Quirk runs out and all of Himiko’s Doubles clones disappear from the battlefield.

Uravity says while she is not a replacement for the League of Villains but she thinks that Himiko’s smile is the cutest in the world. Himiko smiles as all the remaining Doubles fade away. End of chapter.

REVIEW

With My Hero Academia Chapter 394 we end another major battle with the League of Villains. Not only that but now it looks like all that is left is All For One and Tomura Shigaraki. That is a major accomplishment for Kohei Horikoshi to reach as Himiko Toga, like Dabi and Spinner before her, was defeated in a way that is a payoff to her character arc and the heroes closely tied to her, in this case Ochaco Uraraka.

One of the running themes throughout all these battles in the League of Villains final battles is each one has proven Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory to be true. Through their battles with all the heroes Tomura Shigaraki, Dabi, Himiko Toga, and Spinner have seen their Quirks evolve to a state of overpowered. The use of their evolved Quirks has been shown as creating terrifying scenarios for our heroes to overcome.

While the terrifying aspect of the Quirk Singularity has been showcased Horikoshi gave us an example in Ochaco Uraraka how the “Doomsday” part in the name is a creation of All For One machinations. Because like Tomura and Dabi before her, Himiko’s evolution came from strong, painful negative emotions tied to the trauma of her past. That is something that became a theme of how All For One groomed all the villains to feel once he found them, whether they knew it or not.

But now with My Hero Academia Chapter 394 we see that with how Ochaco’s Zero Gravity Quirk evolving in the middle of battle that Quirk evolution isn’t scary or negative. The way Ochaco’s Zero Gravity Quirk evolved was done all threw her desire to save Himiko Toga from drowning in her sorrow. Horikoshi did well in showing that a heroes drive to save others can lead to something like the Quirk Singularity Theory without it being out of control.

This also spoke to the strength of Ochaco’s heart as she has come so far as the hero who was originally attending UA Academy for the fortune that being a Pro Hero could lead for her family. From the beginning Horikoshi has made it a point that Ochaco was self-aware of how selfish that original goal sounded. That self-awareness gave Ochaco a long-term character arc that evolved from aiming to be a Pro Hero for the fortune to one where she wants to obtain that spot to save people. All of the experiences she has had has shown that growth in Ochaco.

Which brings us to My Hero Academia Chapter 394 where all that she has experienced made everything Ochaco said to Himiko be spoken with pure honesty. There was no deception going on because Ochaco was the hero who was trying to do everything to stop the villain Himiko. Ochaco was genuinely trying to reach out to Himiko and stop who became her rival in the My Hero Academia narrative from drowning in her sorrow. In her words reaching Himiko what we got was a satisfying payoff to both Ochaco and Himiko’s character arcs.

With that in mind, we got to give Horikoshi credit for making the ending for the League of Villain battles have such emotional payoffs. The battles with Spinner, Dabi, and Himiko have all been done in a way that has been specific to these villains. They have all carried deep emotional weight to them that makes all the visuals of how Shoji, Shoto, and Ochaco defeat them even more visually impressive.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My Hero Academia Chapter 394 does a great job bringing an emotional end to Ochaco Uraraka vs. Himiko Toga. Kohei Horikoshi paid off the character arcs that both Ochaco and Himiko have been on throughout My Hero Academia that spoke to all of their respective experiences. In the end both characters are stronger with Ochaco’s character growth being so rewarding to have seen.

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