My Hero Academia Volume 15: “Fighting Fate” (Chapters 129 through 137) Manga Review
Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.
On August 4, 2020, I started and finished reading My Hero Academia’s Volume 15. This volume explores the beginning of the anime’s season 4 in a post-All Might world, where most Pro Heroes need to take super careful precautions now rather than jump into the action recklessly like All Might—or his successor Deku—would normally do.
Another thing I noticed while reading this volume book and all the previous ones as well (the link to those reviews are here): I appreciate reading the chapters in quick succession rather than waiting weekly. Some fans had been pestering me about catching up to the latest chapter released online, but I think I’m going to stick to reading the physical volume books to enjoy the reading experience better. I have started growing fond of reading manga in my hands as opposed to reading them on my computer screen.
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.
The beginning of the volume kicked off a new arc regarding the work studies. Deku and Lemillion—Mirio Togata’s hero name—are patrolling for crime and encounter the big bad Overhaul, the villain Sir Nighteye had been investigating. They discover a young girl with Overhaul named Eri, but due to the situation, the young heroes were unable to save her. This early encounter weighed heavily on Deku and Lemillion, and it led to other hero agencies being called upon for assistance.
While all the hero agencies who accepted the call—including Pro Hero and homeroom teacher Eraser Head—gathered for a meeting lead by Sir Nighteye, the encounter with Eri and how Deku and Lemillion handled the situation was discussed extensively once they learned Eri was being experimented on—based on the bandages she had on—to create Quirk-destroying bullets. Learning what Overhaul was doing to Eri made the burden heavier on Deku and Lemillion.
Some Pro Heroes thought they did the right thing by not taking action while others believed they should’ve taken action. Both sides had effective arguments, but there wasn’t a clear answer about which method was actually correct: do you take immediate action to save someone or do you take the necessary precautions to gain the upper hand later? Think about this thought-provoking argument in the context of Captain American: Civil War. One side was Iron Man, and the other was Captain America.
Aside from Deku’s work study with Sir Nighteye, we were also given glimpses into Kirishima’s work study with Fat Gum and Uraraka and Tsuya’s work study with Ryuko. Tamaki Amajiki and Neijire Hado were also a part of Fat Gum and Ryuko’s work studies respectively, having earned respect on par with the other Pro Heroes.
Out of those two work studies, Kirishima’s time with Fat Gum and Sunmaker—Tamaki Amajki’s hero name—was explored more in this volume. There was an amazing action sequence with Red Riot—Kirishima’s hero name—fighting off a small-time villain enhanced with a Quirk-boosting drug.
The villain was also in possession of a Quirk-erasure drug, which led to decent plot development and a subtle connection to Fat Gum’s time in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. I recommend checking the spin-off manga series out if you hadn’t already. The link to those specific manga reviews—the first 7 volumes—are here.
There was also a lot of emotion—as per usual—packed into this volume. The young heroes—particularly Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsuya—were experiencing fear and uncertainty going into this “Rescue Eri” raid mission. Not being allowed to talk about the details of the raid mission—or its existence—to anyone at school wasn’t helping their mental health either.
Even their teacher Eraser Head had a heartfelt conversation with Deku about not trusting him still, but he knew asking Deku to sit out would be a tall order that he would ignore anyway. Eraser Head also offered the other students a way out if they didn’t believe they were up to the task, reminding the audience once again while these are student heroes, they are also still children too.
Overall, this volume had a good mixture of action, plot development, and many heartfelt moments. In other words, what excellent build-up to Volume 16: “Red Riot”! I’m excited to read the next part of this arc! Let’s keep it reading, everyone! Say it with me now—you know the drill—PLUS ULTRA!