My Hero Academia Volume 20: “School Festival Start!” (Chapters 178 through 188) Manga Review
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 and finished reading My Hero Academia’s Volume 20. This volume concluded the “School Festival Arc” in the first half and began a whole new arc during the second half. With the conclusion of this volume, I have officially caught up to where the anime ended (season 4).
I cried a good amount during this the first half, reminding myself while reading the “School Festival Arc”—specifically Kyoka Jiro’s musical backstory—that the choice I made to be a writer is a heroic one. My Hero Academia is an inspirational series. Seriously.
Before I dive into how I feel about Kyoka Jiro’s character though and what made her story inspirating, let’s backtrack here and discuss where the story left off in Volume 19:
Volume 20: “School Festival Starts!” picks up with Deku fighting Gentle Criminal and trying to stop him from ruining the School Festival. During this fight scene, we were given glimpses into Gentle Criminal and La Brava’s backstories, showing us readers how they came to be the people they are today. While the Gentle Criminal isn’t nearly as strong as the previous villains Deku encountered, I would argue the stakes were just as high—if not higher—when it came to saving Eri’s innocence.
In addition, Gentle Criminal is a foil to Izuku Midoriya, representing a potential path Midoriya could’ve gone down if things turned out differently for him. The trope of power and love was also utilized in this fight, but it wasn’t applied to the heroes. La Brava’s Quirk—giving power-ups to someone she dearly loves—favored the villains this time, giving the readers a conflicted sense of emotions. I found myself wanting to root for them to win even though I knew that was wrong, but Gentle and La Brava were just that sympathetic.
The rest of the first half was dedicated to the School Festival itself, giving us an amazing over-the-top performance from Class 1-A. The emotional payoff to Eri’s struggle to smile also made my eyes water just like Mirio Togata’s.
The actual song in the anime made this scene even better, so seeing how well it was portrayed in the manga—without music—was incredibly fascinating.
Apparently, the concert manga panels didn’t look the greatest when they were released in the Shonen Jump magazine, and the volume book had greatly improved upon the quality. My favorite two-page spread of Kyoka Jirou singing her heart out was an extra addition too, so I felt like I didn’t waste my money at all.
During the concert performance, we saw Jiro’s background and how she told her parents that she wanted to be a hero rather than a musician. I was pretty emotional when her parents wholeheartedly supported her decision, assuring her that being a musician and a hero have more in common with each other than she might realize. As long as you can put a smile on someone’s face, you are considered a hero. The same can be said for all the artists in the world—writers especially in my case. In a way, we’re all heroes.
The second half of the volume is dedicated to Hero Rankings and officially making Endeavor—the former Number 2 to All Might’s Number 1—the new Number 1 Hero. We are also introduced to the new Number 2 Hero Hawks, the former mentor of Tokoyami during the Internships.
The plot went burst into flames during the last chapter, showing the new 1 and 2 teaming up against a Nomu. The cliffhanger had me wanting more of the story—where the anime left off with their season 4. Luckily, I had Volume 21 ready to go on my bookshelf. Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading! PLUS ULTRA!