Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: Written and drawn by Kohei Horikoshi, the main series follows Izuku Midoriya—nicknamed Deku—and his dream to become a hero someday. In a world where 80% of the superhuman society had powers—dubbed Quirks in this series—the dream to become a superhero became way more common. Sadly enough, Deku fell into the 20% category, effectively making him average—or Quirkless. After a fateful encounter with the number one hero All Might though, Deku’s fate changes forever.

On August 7, 2020, I started reading My Hero Academia’s Volume 21 and finished on August 8, 2020. August 8 also happens to be Endeavor’s—the newest number 1 hero and Shoto Todoroki’s father—birthday. As a result, reading this particular volume book was incredible. I have also entered manga-exclusive territory for the time being. The next few volumes—21 through 24 at least, maybe more—will be covered in My Hero Academia’s upcoming season 5. This is a spoiler warning for those who only read the anime.

Volume 21: “Why He Gets Back Up” picks up where we left off in the previous volume, dedicating a third of the chapters to concluding Endeavors and Hawks’ battle against the Nomu. Endeavor gained a deep scar in this brutal fight. This particular battle was reminiscent of the epic match between All Might and All For One ten volumes ago.

The major difference between Endeavor’s fight and All Might’s fight lies with the public. While the public believed in All Might—their Symbol of Peace—the same cannot be said for Endeavor. So, when Endeavor—the new number one hero—is temporarily taken down, everyone starts to panic. To ease the crowds, the Natsu-lookalike fanboy makes an emotional plead about Endeavor’s flames not being out—metaphorical or physically—and things start to turn around.

Hawks’ last feathers surged through Endeavor—who declares U.A.’s school motto “Plus Ultra!” despite hating it—like a second wind as he finally lands a devastating Prominence Burn on the Nomu. In the wake of victory, Endeavor stands and raises his right arm similar to All Might’s last act as the number one hero. What an epic way to conclude Endeavor’s first outing as the official number one hero. In the aftermath though, the heroes face Dabi from the League of Villains.

There’s a fan theory that Dabi has a secret familial connection to Endeavor and the Todoroki Family, which I believe is real based on Dabi’s blue fire Quirk and interest in Shoto. Endeavor’s vision is also temporarily blinded due to his new scar, so conveniently he couldn’t confirm or deny the fan theory in the moment. How interesting indeed…

The Todoroki Family and their relationship with Endeavor was also explored in a chapter, reminding us that he was abusive to his children and wife. While Endeavor is slowly changing for the better, Kohei Horikoshi uses this one chapter to emphasize that forgiveness and atonement aren’t easily achieved. Endeavor has his work cut out for him as the number one hero in addition to becoming a better parent and husband to his family.

We also learned more about Hawks’ backstory during this volume too, and his secret mission involving the League of Villains and Dabi. It’s a mission that he didn’t want to undertake—being a triple agent like Itachi and Kabuto from Naruto—on behalf of his superiors. Hawks also agreed to this high-level mission in order to reach his dream of heroes being able to have free time someday. Everyone deserves to have a break once in a while. Hawks was made a fan-favorite quickly as a result due to his new role connecting him to the main story.

In the second third of the volume, the story refocused itself on Izuku Midoriya and his dream about the vestiges of One For All. I felt like this dream was a rehash of what we already knew like how All For One gave his younger brother a Quirk and a means of creating One For All. There was new information given in this dream sequence like Deku having access to 20% power, but most of what we read was stuff we already knew.

The rest of the volume was dedicated to the “Joint Battle Training Arc”, where Classes 1-A and 1-B train together. In addition, fan-favorite Hitoshi Shinso from the “U.A. Sports Festival Arc” returned to join the battle training in the hopes of proving himself worthy for the Hero Course. Shinso returning at the same time Deku had that One For All dream is interesting. Remember, the last time Deku saw the vestiges was when he fought against Hitoshi Shinso.

The battle training is broken down into 4 teams with 4 members each in addition to Shinso teaming up with Class 1-A and Class 1-B once each, making him the fifth extra member for 1-A Team 1 and 1-B Team 4. Before the volume concluded, we were treated to two matches and one of them already featured Shinso immediately.

Giving Class 1-B and Shinso a chance to shine in the spotlight was long overdue. I have a special interest in Hitoshi Shinso and Class 1-B’s big sister Itsuka Kendo since their debuts, so seeing them in action at the end of this volume was a welcomed change of pace. The Momo Yaoyorozu versus Itsuka Kendo fight is going to be spectacular to read in the next volume.

Overall, this volume started and finished strong. My Hero Academia’s flawless ability to make the side-characters feel like protagonists in their own right is an incredible feat. Kohei Horikoshi is an amazing writer for being able to do that with his ensemble cast. I look forward to seeing what else he has store for us in the next couple volumes.

Thanks for reading my manga review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading! Plus Ultra!

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