A Big Thanks goes to Viz Media and Net Galley for the chance to review this title.
Following last week’s review of the Kodansha Title, Wandance, we’re moving back into the world of Superheroes with Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. In the newest volume of My Hero Academia, the battle has ended, and in the aftermath, the Heroes are reeling. Many heroes have died after the Battle of Jaku City, and society is on the verge of collapse.
Although Midoriya and the others have driven off Tomura, the villainous All-For-One is just getting started. After the battle with Dabi, and the startling revelation that Toya Todoroki is very much alive and has become a villain, now, the Todoroki family must come to face the darkest time in their life.
Midoriya soon begins to realize what One-For-All is and that reaching his fullest potential might also mean that it will test his convictions. Will he step up to face this new challenge?
Readers who have followed the story, whether it was on the Shonen Jump App, from Viz Media, or Shueisha’s Manga Plus are familiar with how heavy the price has been paid to stop Tomura from carrying out even more chaos, and destruction with his new found power. When being in a war, either in real life or fiction, there are countless casualties, lives lost, and or injured. That’s the case at the beginning of this volume. Despite all of the effort made by the heroes, Tomura and the remaining members of the League of Villains, managed to escape thanks to the Near High-Ends.
Out of the volumes in My Hero Academia that I have read, this by far was one of the most emotionally invested stories so far. Especially when it came to learning about Hawks’ backstory, Keigo (his pro-hero name is Hawks), and his family living in Extreme Poverty. Because of the situation, his mother completely shut down mentally, and his father started to drink heavily and became abusive. Keigo’s father would later get arrested, and caught by the Pro-Hero, Endeavor. Keigo would eventually catch the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission where he saved a group of people from a car wreck. Even though this meant that Hawks and his family would go their separate ways, and erase any connection between them. It was a backstory that was tragic but cemented the idea that out of all of the heroes in this story, he was the most realistic. I know most fans will not agree with me on this idea, but it’s just an opinion.
What was different about this volume was how visibly dark the tone has gotten. For example, Tomura and the Namus have broken into Tartarus to break out All-For-One, and the villains who were locked away began to escape their confinement. Society was already beginning to lose even more faith in its heroes, due to the fact of Dabi’s startling revelation, and the broadcast of Endeavor’s toxic past. To make matters worse, villains run amok in the streets. The situation is causing most of the heroes and pro-heroes to begin to either resign or retire.
But on a lighter note, there is a great sequence involving Deku, and the wielders of One-For-All, with him putting everything on the line, and his convictions being put to the test. One of the hardest choices he had to make was to leave UA behind. In order to keep his friends, and family safe.
My Hero Academia Volume 34 is available now where ever books are sold, it is one of the most emotionally invested stories in the series. Great character-building moments involving Bakugo, Shoto, and Deku.
Final Grade:
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